# Behavior issues of a Boston Terrier



## ToulasMom (Apr 21, 2009)

Hi, this is my first time to post some concerns here. I don't know why I haven't done it sooner. Lol. I have a delightful 21 month old Boston Terrier named Toula. I have not done the best job at training her, but have managed to get some done. Anyway, I have resolved to get serious about her training this summer while I'm off work. (I work at a school.) 
Here are some of my concerns: 
She loves to retrieve a ball or any toy thrown, but when she brings it back she won't give it up. She wants to play tug of war with it. She will usually give it up for a treat, but not always. I worked with her for weeks, giving her a treat every time she brought it back, and still she won't give the toy over. Often instead of trying to start the tug of war game, she sticks her toy under the furniture and then starts crying for it because she can't get it back. Several weeks ago when she would do that we started taking the toy and putting it away, thinking that would teach her not to do it. It didn't work. 

She barks and chases the vacuum cleaner the whole time I'm cleaning. (Also when using a rake or shovel outside.) I don't have a clue how to resolve this. She has done it since she came here at 7 weeks old. 

Last (for now), but not least, she knows and most times obeys the sit command, but won't stay seated. For instance I've read when someone comes in to keep your dog from jumping on the visitor, have the dog sit. Well, she will sit for and instant, and then jumps all over them. 

Thanks for any advice!
Martha


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## Platykey (Jun 18, 2010)

My dog likes playing tug when he brings back a toy too, the way I taught him to release things on command was gently squeezing the top of his nose and telling him to drop. He dropped the toy because his nose/muzzle felt weird when I squeezed it, and I praised him and gave him a treat for dropping the toy. He learned pretty quickly what I meant when I told him to drop something, hopefully it will work with your dog too .

As for her not staying seated, you'll need to work on the "stay" command for a while. When she obeys "stay" (for at least most of the time) without distractions around, then you can practice it around people. I hope this helps (sorry I didn't have suggestions for all of it though), good luck!


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## DJEtzel (Dec 28, 2009)

I'm just going to comment on the jumping thing since I'm not good at giving advice on drop it, even though my dog does it GREAT.

You should be more focused at keeping her from jumping than from staying seated, unless you really want her to stay too. Are you just worried about your visitors, or is there a reason you want her to stay sitting? 

To teach a dog not to jump is pretty easy- they jump on you or anyone else, stand like a tree, don't look at them, don't touch them, don't say a thing to them, and don't move. When she has walked away or sat (you can ask her to sit if you want once she stops jumping) give her a treat and move on. If she keeps jumping, keep repeating. Yelling commands or just yelling, touching, pushing, etc are all reinforcing to her so whenever a visitor or yourself does that it's basically telling her you like it when she jumps and you'll pay attention to her. Negative (to us) attention is better than none at all for most dogs.


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## Deron_dog (Feb 21, 2009)

Boston Terriers are wonderful arn't they (proud mommy to two) 

Chad is a pain in the butt about jumping, I have done every trick in the book and he still jumps. Roxie just licks, everyone who walks in the door gets a good bath from Roo. Heh, so if you can figure it out do tell me cause Chad kills when he jumps. 29 pounds of musicle is not my idea of a nice greeting.


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## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

Teaching a sit stay is really not that hard, take a look at the training levels at www.dragonflyllama.com for how to work on it. BUT, a stay under extreme excitement/distractions is very advanced behaviour. Expecting your young dog to sit stay when people come in or say hello without LOTS of practice is setting him, and you, up to fail. So, if you know people are coming over, put a leash on him. Prevention is half the battle. Put the leash under your foot so that he only has enough leash to be able to stand, not jump. This keeps it from being practiced.

Then, get a friend to help you do some training. Pup on leash with you. Ask for sit. Friend approaches. Dog gets up (to stand or jump) friend turns around and walks away. Ask for sit, friend approaches....repeat repeat repeat. Dog learns that he doesn't get to say hi UNLESS HE IS SITTING. Period. His reward is to be able to say hi. Repeat repeat repeat.

You can do the same thing with just you, by tethering him to something, walk towards him, he sits you continue, he gets up you back away. Done enough (meaning hundreds of repetitions in tons of environments) he ideally will develop an auto sit for greetings.

As for the ball thing, work on drop with other objects first, things he won't want to tug with so much. REPEAT MANY MANY TIMES. Teach him to play tug with a tug rope and only play tug with it. When he brings the ball, offer the tug, let him tug on the rope, 'out' the rope and toss the ball again. If he puts the ball under the couch, walk away. Game is over. If it ACCIDENTALLY goes under the couch and he can't get it, distract him with something else and go get the ball after, so he doesn't get into the "mom gets the ball for me, so I'll toss it under the couch on purpose" game.


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## spanielorbust (Jan 3, 2009)

I happen to be one of the laziest trainers ever, so I'm just gonna offer a solution that might work for you. It is not so much about training the dogs, but more about making your life easier when guests arrive (after all, making life easier is what it is all about).

I often have 4 -8 small/medium dogs in my home, some with less levels of training than others. I've found that the hyper excitable time when someone arrives, or when someone is marketting something to your door, doesn't lend itself to be a good training time. 

Behind my door is stashed two 24" wide pieces of 16" tall wire shelves (Home Deport acquired). They are wired together with large twist ties. When someone knocks, or if I'm anticipating guests, they are laid out, v-shaped so they stand on their own, as a barrier in the front hall (mine is only 4 feet long) to stop the dogs from getting to the guests until the dogs settle down just a wee bit, or shoes are off etc.

Usually, by the time mine are three years old, because they have become accustomed to not greeting people immediately, and because they are less excitable, they can then be expected to learn the 'off' command when guests come in.

'Off" when they jump up on myself or the family is also a constantly reinforced command from puppyhood onward here. It is usually learned very quickly in the lower stimulation times.

SOB


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## ToulasMom (Apr 21, 2009)

Thanks so much for all the great advice. The jumping on people thing is our biggest concern right now and I appreciate all the help. She doesn't jump on me because I ignored her when she was a puppy and did it. My immediate family thought it was cute and harmless so I didn't get any cooperation from them. I am definitely going to work on your suggested methods, especially the leash idea. I also really like the idea of the wire shelving. Why didn't I think of that?!
Cracker, thanks for the tips on the ball under the couch. I'll definitely give that a try. The weird think about dropping is if Toula has something she knows she shouldn't and I say "drop" she drops it immediately and walks away. If its one of her toys though - forget it. She's not going to give it up. Maybe that's her way of getting her tug of war game started. 

Thanks again.


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