# New parents to a lab collie hound mix



## mbarnes536 (Aug 20, 2012)

We just adopted a lab collie hound mix & she is a great girl. She is about a year old and very friendly, at least to people. Gentle with taking treats and has quickly learned tricks. Crate training is perfect. She is doing very well with us except for barking and other dogs. She has gotten a lot better while in the house barking, but when we take her for a walk, she is all over the place. The one thing that has worked well is using a spray bottle, but while out for a walk it doesn't seems to help. She jumps around, growls, and barks. We have been thinking about a bark collar but I have read some bad things about them. What is the best thing(s) for us to do while walking her?


----------



## kitley2001 (Aug 11, 2010)

Welcome to the forum...she is very sweet. I know nothing about walking and barking, but I am sure others will respond with their thoughts.


----------



## amosmoses89 (Jun 19, 2011)

She's beautiful! I love her color.

I would work on a focus word and treats. Something like "look" or "focus" or anything really that you aren't already using. Start treating every time she looks at you when you say the word, she should be very smart and catch on quick. Then on the walk when something interesting passes say the word and treat until it passes then tell her what an amazing girl she is and give lots of lovins! 
The squirt bottle only works when you have it in your hand, same thing with a bark collar or e-collar, most dogs are smart enough to know when its not around. If you train her to pay attention to you instead of going crazy and good things are given she will WANT to do better instead of being forced to, if that makes sense. 

She also may need more exercise. Both hounds and collies have some serious stamina and a little walk around the block won't do it for most.


----------



## mbarnes536 (Aug 20, 2012)

I agree that we need to be walking her more, I know I could sure use it also. Right now we get in about 1 to 1.5 miles a day which is not enough. Though yesterday we took her to a state forest and she did really well until she saw people. Any good directions on "focus" training?


----------



## amosmoses89 (Jun 19, 2011)

I think clicker training would be really good too, I sorta forgot about it, silly me! Here's a thread from a while ago on it that goes over the basics. Then I would just google the rest. Its really amazing what can be taught with a clicker!
http://www.dogforums.com/dog-training-forum/112324-clicker-training-everything-beginner.html


----------



## mbarnes536 (Aug 20, 2012)

So my fiance and I talked to an obedient trainer the other day. She gave us the same suggestions as you did and we have been trying to put them into practice. Our biggest down fall to all of this is that we, my fiance and I, don't have any kind of foundation on training in obedience. Inside the home without any distraction she trains very well but have a new person come in and I can't get her attention even if I put a fully cooked turkey on the floor. I know we have been only training with her for a couple of weeks but taking her on walks where there are other people, dogs and animals around is a bear. I am hoping doing obedient training will help us build a better foundation on training her. She is such a sweet dog and only give loves but can make people scared because of all the jumping and barking.


----------



## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

It takes time, it really does. 

Most trainers agree that it takes at least 300 successful repetitions for a dog to truly learn a command. On top of that, dogs are situational. I initially taught Kabota "sit" in the dining room. I asked him to sit in the living room and he just looked at me. I had to retrain for every room in the house. Then I had sit inside the house down 100%, but when I tried it outside, he totally ignored me. I had to start over from scratch.

I love Emily Larlham, kikopup on YouTube. She is fantastic and you can learn a lot just watching her. I can offer you a few tips, though:

1. Make sure your treats are high value enough. Some dogs will work for kibble, some require cheese (the Godiva chocolate of the dog world.) Whatever motivates your dog, use it.

2. Start small. Train in a distraction free environment. Keep sessions short and positive. 5 minutes at most. Stop before your dog gets frustrated. Begin and end on something you know your dog will do, even if it's just respond to his name. Success breeds success, so make your dog successful.

3. Don't give a command if you know your dog won't respond. That just teaches him to ignore you. You need to set up the habit of responding.

4. Be patient. I've had Kabota 8 months now. He loves to chase small animals, especially rabbits. I've been working on this since March, when we started seeing rabbits. At first, he'd run to the end of the leash and pull like crazy if he saw a rabbit at the end of the block. This morning, we walked past two rabbits 5' away. He stopped to look, but started walking again when I said "Kabota, come along" (that's my command for that). That's an incredible improvement, and it took 5 months of work.


----------



## Jewelianne (Feb 28, 2012)

I have a Beagadore (Beagle/Lab mix) Very interesting breed you have quite the mix yourself. My dog pulled for a long time led by her nose or other dogs, rabbits, squirrels or any moving animal would cause her to nearly yank my arm out of socket. Now my dog walks calmly at my side regardless of what is in front of us. What works is the second that your dog puts ANY and I mean ANY tension on the leash stop and don't move a muscle until the dog notices you and the leash goes slack ( you may have to get your dogs attention in the beginning or like me sit there for 15 minutes waiting) and when that happens the very second start moving. It may take time but it pays off. Sometimes if the temptation is too great and the dog is really pulling just turn and go in a different direction. You have to teach them that pulling gets them the opposite of what they want. These dogs are smart and they are teenagers so they will push the limits, if you give in just once they won't stop. They know which one in the family they can pull and who they can't. It took me 1 week to stop the pulling and tug-of-war, at one point just going out the front door in the morning to get to the field that my dog runs in to go potty which is like 50 steps from my house seemed a daunting task, it took us 10 minutes because we would have to take 1 step stop take 1 step then stop and we did it over and over again. I did not care what people thought as we went though this lengthy process of her being on this leash that was like 6 inches long (the short leash) but now she walks beautifully I am so proud walking her. But the second I feel any tension I stop, and if her nose wants to lose it and she wants to pull, we turn around and go in a different direction. It rally works but you have to be willing to put the time in to get there. (If she acts up I just tell her she is going on the short leash and she walks slowly. They know what is going on, she pulls because it works regardless of what happens she gets to where she wants to go)


----------

