daisy&me

I have to finally admit I'm stumped, I've never before met a dog that is so difficult to train. My Daisy is almost 2 years old and in general a good dog. She's house trained so no more messes unless it's our fault. She's happy, loves kids and other animals but I can't get her to stay off the furniture or to follow basic commands. Don't get me wrong, she knows what they mean but unless she's in the mood she doesn't listen. Hubby pretty much considered her a write off about 6 months ago and I'm starting to feel the same way. Maybe she'd do better with somebody else but I'm not willing to give up yet.

Any suggestions? Somebody out there has to have had a stubborn basset to train

Wworm

Welcome!
That's good that you got Daisy to be housetrained, shows that she CAN learn but yeah, bassets are a stubborn breed. Also supremely huggable & loveable. but stubborn. Not a golden retriever type, who is happy to obey. You'll hear the folks here talk about bassets as dogs that will do things, but only if they've checked out "what's in it for me?"

For sure, that's the case with Worm. Fortunately, he will do a lot for food. When I first started training him in puppy classes, i went through a bag of treats in 3-4 days! too rapidly. so we took our teacher's suggestion to give his dry food out as treats (ie. part of his meal). for every good thing he does, he gets 1-2 pieces of kibble. and fortunately, it's motivating enough to get him to do most things. For long-distance recall, i give him super yummy treats (chicken hot dogs), since that is a hard one. it's actually worked really well, and he now comes back from long distances with a 'here, boy!' and i'm comfortable having him off-leash now.

anyway, long story to say, will Daisy do things for food??? most bassets will, tho i'm sure there are exceptions. If she does, you've got the hook! in fact, our teacher will say that instead of feeding your dog dry food for a meal, give it to her piecemeal by making her earn her meal : ) just divide up how many commands you want to give her. if she eats a lot of dry food, then give her 10 pieces or a small handful at a time. (ie. off furniture-- some kibble, go through her commands-- some kibble).

I'm not sure Worm would follow most commands if food weren't involved. I definitely get slower responses when he doesn't see the treats/food nearby.

re: bassets, it was interesting his teacher said that Worm was the most trained basset she's seen (ie. they have a reputation for being difficult to train and stubborn...). we are currently having issues with loose-leash walking, since Worm tends to pull quite a bit. teacher's solution? i need to treat more often w/Worm (more frequent rewards as we're walking). and it's true, that does work and he walks better.

good luck, and keep us posted..!

__________________
see what the Worm is up to: http://bassetworm.blogspot.com/

daisy&me

She's definitely a "foody", that's about the only time she will listen. Only problem is that she assumes all food is hers..lol
I have her counter surfing under control only because we've trained ourselves and the kids to make sure there is nothing she can reach although she still occasionally tries.If I can manage to train her to stay off the furniture that would go along way for hubby to relax and the idea of rewarding her with a treat to get off the furniture seems like a mixed message.

Wworm

Oh good, Daisy's a foodie that means she's got lotsa potential for training, that's the way i look at it.

well, the idea is really positive reinforcement training-- meaning that you get her to do something she WANTS to do. and while she's at it, she stops doing the thing you don't want her to do.

so, actually, it would make sense for you to use food in this situation. you'd be rewarding her for coming off the couch. ie. give the command, then she comes off, then reward.

and i would definitely use food for all the other basic commands. i did it so often w/Worm that now he does the commands w/out the food necessarily being there anymore. (Worm says, "I do them because here's hoping food will follow...")

make her earn her food and kibble-- there's lotsa training potential there..

__________________
see what the Worm is up to: http://bassetworm.blogspot.com/

Esther

wait... furniture isn't ours?

charady2

LOL you crack me up!

Is it wrong of me to WANT Flash up on the couch? Our rottie used to be allowed on furniture until he had issues of thinking he was in charge up there and then he learned not to sit on it IF we were on it. I like cuddling with the pup on the couch-I wish I had the pictures from my old computer, I have a picture of my 150 lb rottie laying across my lap and me using him as a table to do my sudoku book on I don't mind sharing with the dogs, they listen better than the kids lmao!!

MollyMcFrecklesMom

I let my guys on the couch. In the cold winter months, there's nothing like having a warm basset laying next to you

But I can totally understand not wanting them on there sometimes.

__________________
Michelle - proudly owned by Molly (21 mos) and Winston (14 months).

Molly McFreckles' World:
The adventures of a Basset Hound living with Addison's Disease and a baby brother named Winston

daisy&me

I wouldn't mind a dog on my lap but for some reason for a short hair dog Daisy sheds like crazy !! She get's brushed(probably not every day) but it doesn't seem to help. I don't think there isn't one thing in our house that isn't covered in hair

Wworm

Haha... well yes, Estha brings up a good point. The avatar right now is of Worm on the couch! we covered it with a green fuzzy blanket that gets all the hair and wash it, maybe, once/month.

and like Flash, Worm makes a nice table, too

yeah, bassets shed a lot... all i can say are vaccuum cleaner and those rolly things that pick up hair...

oh, that changes the score to Bassets: 10 Humans: 0

__________________
see what the Worm is up to: http://bassetworm.blogspot.com/

daisy&me

LMAO....I have a feeling having Daisy is gonna be the same as my boys....somehow they always come out ahead