[CecilLemmons]

Hi! I'm a first time basset Mom! Cecil is 13 weeks old! He is crate trained, for the most part housetrained... I wouldn't trust him in the house alone, but he lets you know when he needs to go out For the most part he is a great pup, but lately he has been showing signs of aggression mostly when one of the two-legged kids riles him up, which in turn leads to them screaming and crying So he in turn gets fussed for biting(even though I think he's really just playing, albeit roughly), kids get in trouble for riling him up and trying to play to rough with him, its a vicious cycle. When is a good time to start training? He'll go lay down when I tell him to(for the most part) but thats about it. I plan on doing some sort of obedience school, sure wish they had that for children but not sure at what age he should go? We play outside a lot, but he doesnt like the leash that much, he's ok with it as long as he goes where he wants, but if i try to lead him, he goes flat and I can't drag him if i tried. So generally I'll just let him go out off the leash, he's always supervised, I don't just send him out alone and wait for him to come back in, BUT he doesn't listen, he doesnt come when called, he'll stop what he's doing and look at me, then goes right back to whatever he's doing(my children are teaching their bad habits, lol) My only other problem is he stinks so bad all the time, he gets a bath at least 2 or 3 times a week, doggy perfume, I wash his blankets and his bed once or twice a week, yet he still smells bad Is there anything else I can do?

 

[Mikey T]

When is a good time to start training?

where you like it or not dog training start as soon as he came home. Ity is never to early what the have for puppies is called puppy kindergarten, at most class the cholderen would be welcom. The purpose of kindergarten is more socialization but some training occurs as well

Puppy Training

, he goes flat and I can't drag him if i tried

this is a normal basset reaction to stress/ and physical force. Traditional training tactic do not work well with basset. You need to reward the dog for behavior you want. That need to be a reard that the dog values. With basset that is rarely simply praise. The way to train a typical basset is with food.

Hard to Train?
A look at "difficult-to-train" breeds and the reality of what shapes these canine minds

TRAINING WITH FOOD

but lately he has been showing signs of aggression mostly when one of the two-legged kids riles him up, which in turn leads to them screaming and crying So he in turn gets fussed for biting(even though I think he's really just playing, albeit roughly), kids get in trouble for riling him up and trying to play to rough with him, its a vicious cycle

You are correct but what is likely missing is teaching the puppy bite inhibition. Also you need to train the kid how to react when the puppy is ramping up which is calmly and not by pushing the dog away , screaming etc which only is a signal to the dog to ramp up further.

Bite Inhibition

My only other problem is he stinks

all hound have a hound odor some are more sensitive to it than other but in general over time when you are expose to a odor long enough the brain shut down and does not notice it. That said bassets are prone to some dermalogical condition that can exaserbate the smell. THe most likely to be such a cause with a puppy this age is seborrhea, the most common symptom is dandruff and an oily coat. There is no cure and the only treatment is frequent baths with antiseborheaic shampoo ordinary shampoo is not going to be effect In any case I would not recoommend self diagnose talk to your vet and find out if the odor is normal or part of a desease process.

 

[CecilLemmons]

Thank you so much for all the information, I am going through it all now. I didnt realize you started training so early! Definately going to start on it right away! He goes back to the vet at the end of the month for his last puppy shots, I'll have to ask him about his smelliness

 

[bubbad]

To own a basset you have to be more stubborn than they are.Don't put him in a position where he doesn't have to listen to you and you cannot enforce a correction.Example: Don't try to make him respond with out a leash on him.If you have his leash on and you call him and he ignores you you can bring him to you.Having a treat handy when he comes to you will reinforce him wanting to come on his own next time

 

[Mikey T]

To own a basset you have to be more stubborn than they are.Don't put him in a position where he doesn't have to listen to you and you cannot enforce a correction

Very much old school correction based training it can work You also can train using positive reinforcement in which one does not need to compel any action That is the punishment for not complying is a lack of reward. But it still means time it is necessary to put the dog in a position to succeeed. The rule of thumb is the dog must be successfull 70-80% of the time. to maximize training efficiency. You would not ask a dog to come when it is out side chasing a squirrel and you have one worked on recall inside with little distraction.

You can train either way ie if dog doen't respond you will be forced it to respond, ie compulsion ior reforcement/incentive if dog responds it gets something like a treat it wants. So you can see the motivation and snappyness of a responce for the the dog is general better when incetives are used that why dog sport the relly heavily on motivation and speed are almost exclusive trained with positive reinforcement sports like formal obedience where speed and motivation are not as critical not so much,

 

[Mikey T]

I didnt realize you started training so early!

the dog is learning the moment he interacts with you you are always training. With formal training the early you start the fewer bad habits that occur. Wait till the dog is 6 month old in the middle of adolescent rebellion makes little sense to begin training. The only reason that it has become traditional is that is when owners realize they need to train the dog but there is nothing harder than training and adolescent dog. It is much easier to train the dog when he is yourger or older. at the adolescent stage your doing good simply treading water.

 

[Wworm]

We weren't able to take Worm for formal training until he was 7 months old, due to the holidays, and needing to wait until we had a chunk of time when we could reliably attend class every week.

Tho agree w/below that "training" is always happening. by that time, he was housebroken and using the bell. "Training" can be a fast process, too-- in our evening playgroup, there's a woman who got Worm to "crawl" commando style (i never knew how to teach a dog to do that) within 10 minutes...! using food treat as reward...

Good luck w/training and keep us posted!

re: stinking-- could it be the horrible anal gland smell? (smells like fish...) or maybe it is the 'hound' smell, which i'm still not sure what that is... we did not have smell problems w/Worm except the occasional anal gland leak/expulsion...