My 15 month old boerboel acting out PLEASE HELP!!!

[saintsmama]

Hi all! I have a 15 (almost) month old Boerboel who I have trained since he was a puppy. I was adamant on making sure I showed him I was the pack leader from day one. He was extremely socialized as a puppy (cats, chickens, people, dogs, kids, horses, you name it). We would go on field trips with our training class and walk around DC all the time and he would never act out. Little kids could come up to him and kiss his face and he would be a gentleman. He has been a very obedient dog and has never shown any signs of aggression. He's a big mush.
Well, I recently moved across country with him and I could tell it was hard on him. In a car for a week, new area, new house, new people, new everything. I could start to see some "boyish" behaviors come to the surface so I decided to get him neutered because that's when my trainer told me I should. So after being in a car for a week then he was traumatized by being neutered and couldn't exercise for another week. I didn't work when he was a puppy so I was around all the time. Now I am working so he is home alone a lot more often. He is all of a sudden doing things he has NEVER done before. He is starting to jump up a little on people when they come see him. He keeps having accidents in the house. He does this thing where he lunges at your face (he is just playing but he doesn't understand when I say no that I am not playing). He whines when I'm in the other room and he can't see me. HE DIDN'T EVEN WHINE HIS FIRST NIGHT AT HOME AS A PUPPY!!! I don't know what to do! Please any advice will help. I'm kind of struggling between just giving him attention because he's sad from all the changes or recreating that pack leader status again. Is he just using this situation to test me? What do I do???

Thanks!

 

[Hector]

Sounds like anxiety. There has been so many changes in the boy's life, but the biggest impact is him being alone where he use to have you all the time. Accidents in the house = anxiety. Some dogs stress out so much they can't control their bowels.

I think the jumping stems from a lack of training and a lack of an outlet. Remember, negative attention is still attention.

You need to find a way to help him with his anxiety whether it be meds and behavior modification or a large room instead of a crate or exercise before you work and kong in crate or a dog walker or daycare or something - something that works for you and the dog. Anxiety is hard to break. Encourage and train independence. Teach a place command.

Lunging at the face is a no-no and needs immediate correction. I would either have him on a leash and correct him when he shows early signs of jumping or you can discourage this behavior by ignoring and rewarding the behavior you want (all four feet on the ground).

I hope you can work things out.

Also, remember to spend quality time with the boy.

 

[musicdeb]

Totally agree with Hector. Your boy is stressed due to the environmental change and the surgery. He will need time to decompress. Go back to OB training and adopt NILF making him work for everything he gets including his food.

He probably has some separation anxiety. Check out this great article with some excellent tips: Separation Anxiety in Dogs - Page 1


Give the pup some time, he's a stressed as you are and probably feeding off your stress as well.

Keep us posted on his progress.

 

[saintsmama]

Thank you so much for your replies! Hector, when I leave I have always left him in the house and not a crate because he was always a good boy. When you say "teach a place command" what exactly do you mean by that? He knows "bed" and "inside" but is that what you mean?
The lunging at the face is a big problem for me right now. I agree, HUGE NO-NO. He will lunge at my face or others when they are laying on the couch because he wants to play. In that situation do I ignore him or give a command that means don't do that? Thank you so much for your feedback!! I've been worrying about this for awhile now and trying to research but it's so hard to find specific things on boerboels.
Musicdeb, you are totally right and I have been slacking with the NILF training because I've felt bad for him. The last thing I want to do after being away from him for hours is come home and be all commanding. That is something I'm struggling with for sure. Do you think that will work better though? Thank you so much for that article! That is Saint to the tee. Since he was a puppy he would follow me around the house all day. I'm sure he is feeding off my energy too. A lot of changes for the both of us. I just want to make sure I get him back to the great little boy he was before our move before its too late! Also, do either of you know anything about neutering him while he has these behaviors will cause them to stay forever? I read that on a forum and was curious how true that is.

Thanks again!
Saintsmama

 

[musicdeb]

When he jumps in your face, tell him "off" or "no" in a firm, stern voice. Make him sit and stay. Once he sits and stay and no longer lunges in your face, reward with motivational reward. Show him what you want him to do.

NILF is not treating him bad, it's bringing him back to the way you want him to act/behave. Do not feel bad, it's good for the pup to train and exercise his mind. You're doing him a favor.

Re: neutering him. Neutering does not usually change behaviors or cause them to remain behaviors. but what it does is rob the pup of the hormones he needs to grow correctly. Mastiffs continue to grow until 2-3 years of age. Behaviors can be modified/changed with consistency in training and LOTS of patience.

Can you post a pic of Saint?

 

[musicdeb]

Sorry, Saintsmama, I just re-read your initial post and you've already neutered Saint. Ignore what I said in my previous post about hormones.

 

[saintsmama]

I had heard that about mastiffs and was wanting to wait to neuter him because I didn't want to affect his growth but I had also heard to neuter him once he starts acting like that typical boy that's intact. He's been growing so beautifully, I hope I didn't do it too soon! I will for sure try the "off" command. I've tried "NO" and he continues to think its play time. We've got some back tracking to do for sure haha. Do you have any advice on how to help the separation anxiety? I just had a phone interview and closed my office door and I could hear him whining outside of it. This is Saint

 

[musicdeb]

Saint is beautiful! Love the tilted head look!

Be sure when you use "no" it's in a firm, stern voice. Personally, I do not use "no" unless it's a situation in which I will be hurt or Titan will be hurt. When I say "no" in a firm, stern voice, Titan usually stops dead in his tracks.

The article I posted about separation anxiety has great suggestions to help with SA. Is he crated? Does he have a special place to sleep? When you have to leave, place an article of clothing that you have worn so he can have your scent which will comfort him. It also helps to exercise him before you have to leave him. It also helps to keep your comings and goings very low key. Do not greet him when you come home until he has sat and calmed down. When I return from running errands, Titan knows to sit and wait or ignore me until I'm ready to greet him. Titan usually checks the bags for a toy.

 

[Hector]

Thank you so much for your replies! Hector, when I leave I have always left him in the house and not a crate because he was always a good boy. When you say "teach a place command" what exactly do you mean by that? He knows "bed" and "inside" but is that what you mean?
The lunging at the face is a big problem for me right now. I agree, HUGE NO-NO. He will lunge at my face or others when they are laying on the couch because he wants to play. In that situation do I ignore him or give a command that means don't do that? Thank you so much for your feedback!! I've been worrying about this for awhile now and trying to research but it's so hard to find specific things on boerboels.
Musicdeb, you are totally right and I have been slacking with the NILF training because I've felt bad for him. The last thing I want to do after being away from him for hours is come home and be all commanding. That is something I'm struggling with for sure. Do you think that will work better though? Thank you so much for that article! That is Saint to the tee. Since he was a puppy he would follow me around the house all day. I'm sure he is feeding off my energy too. A lot of changes for the both of us. I just want to make sure I get him back to the great little boy he was before our move before its too late! Also, do either of you know anything about neutering him while he has these behaviors will cause them to stay forever? I read that on a forum and was curious how true that is.

Thanks again!
Saintsmama

I'm going to just use a video to explain a place command.

[video=youtube;omg5DVPWIWo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omg5DVPWIWo[/video]

The place command is great. I use the "stay" with my belgian mix because he doesn't know what stay is. He is the true definition of a shadow. He knows I dislike it and have been trying to discourage it for over 2 years. Finally, I emphasized the stay. I put him back in place every time he got up. He's very flighty and fast and at times he got away from me and has very poor impulse control (my fault), but I chased him down (this is not recommended, but this dog is something else) and put him back where he broke his stay. Today, he didn't even beg in the kitchen when the other dogs did. I came into the living room and found him laying on a bed by himself. I didn't even have to tell him to go away today, yet I've been telling him that for over 2 years. Anyways, long story short the place/stay command has helped this anxious dog tremendously on a mental level.

Do you use a reward based system to train? How much exercise does he get? I imagine a boerboel at 15 months will have tons and tons of energy. Are you able to take him on long hikes or run on the beach?

Can you send him into a time out to calm down every time he lunges? Can you keep him leashed to prevent that? Do you use interrupters to break him of what he's doing momentarily such as words like ah ah or knock it off or a sound?

If I were you, I would make sure the behavior is discouraged every time it happens. I would give a very firm NO followed by a hard leash correction if he doesn't correct himself after the verbal. I would also come up with a way to prevent it from happening. You know what the chain of events are that lead to the lunging and jumping, so prevent it as best as you can. Don't lay on the couch, don't let him approach. Don't back away up when he jumps, instead use your body to move into his space. Don't fling your arms or yell, that usually creates more arousal. If you lay down on the couch, make sure he's gotten some exercise in or keep him occupied or have a way of keeping him at a safe distance from you using management tools. Lunging and jumping usually stems from excitement so be mindful of your tone, your movements, the way you pet him.

Can you set up specific training sessions where you ignore jumping/lunging and reward when he's not? Is he toy motivated?

Step up on training. Training will force him to use his noggin. Teach him new tricks/commands. Redirect with things to keep him occupied for awhile such as feeding him his kibble (if he eats kibble) using treat dispensers. Try frozen kongs or chews and give it to him on a specific spot so you can train him that these things appear in this spot only.

Commands need to be taught first. Always teach using things that motivate the dog. A command has no meaning to the dog if you have not taken the time to teach it. After teaching, you need to make sure the dog knows it by testing him. Once you know he knows it, then you need to let him know that there are consequences for disobedience.