[rompinronnie_7977]

My 5 yr old Rottie, Hank. Is well behaved. Gentle and social with all. Now all of a sudden when we go out, he attacks the garbage paiL which is locked and chews all his favorite things ( leaves the coffee grains, and eggshells). I have made a big deal out of it, kept him locked in a room for an hour, frightened him by showing my anger. No physical abuse. But it just happened again. What measures should I take. I still have a cage, so keeping in the cage is an option, but he knows his actions are bad and still repeats it.

 

[big black dogs]

They like to keep us on our toes. He does it...because he can. They best way to prevent it is to put the garbage pail away so he cannot get into it. Dogs live in the moment...you can only show your anger if you catch him in the act of getting into the garbage. Doing it later just shows him that you are unpredictable and erratic with your behavior and most likely cause him to be confused. If it were me...lock up the garbage, or put it somewhere he does not have access to. He may have been hungry? or something in the garbage smelled pretty good?? Use the crate if you cannot put up the garbage pail.

He does not know he is bad...he knows you are angry about something....but does not understand why.

 

[rompinronnie_7977]

He's hiding in the bedroom when we arrive. Other times he's at the door to welcome us. Dixie is hiding too because she knows that I'll be angry. Hank is stubborn and will always do his own thing. If I let him out the door he'll take off. Dixie comes back. Hank just ignores me and checks out the neighborhood, until he visits a favorite neighbor who loves him and is his biggest fan. Stubborn. I can walk him in a park and he'll stick around but at either homes, Canada or Florida, he takes off.

 

[big black dogs]

If you know he likes to take off and ignore....why is allowed to??? Sounds to me like he needs more recall training. How much training do you do with him each day? It's common to slack off with training as they get older. This breed needs to be reminded about who is in charge...and that goes with a few minutes of daily training...right till they are seniors. To me it looks like you are going to have to prevent some of his behaviors (by locking up the garbage, and not letting him off leash,etc.) and start up some more training daily.

 

[rompinronnie_7977]

If you know he likes to take off and ignore....why is allowed to??? Sounds to me like he needs more recall training. How much training do you do with him each day? It's common to slack off with training as they get older. This breed needs to be reminded about who is in charge...and that goes with a few minutes of daily training...right till they are seniors. To me it looks like you are going to have to prevent some of his behaviors (by locking up the garbage, and not letting him off leash,etc.) and start up some more training daily.

Absolutely. Daily training. Don't train any more. Just Dixie. He only runs when he escapes out the door. Our yard in Canada and Florida is fenced. Training and giving no opportunities to run off or attack the garbage. Thank you so much for your attention. I am a big fan of yours.

 

[#5moose]

If he is doing the garbage when you are not home he is bored. Get him a deer antler or something similar for him to chew on when you are not home.

 

[big black dogs]

Absolutely. Daily training. Don't train any more. Just Dixie. He only runs when he escapes out the door. Our yard in Canada and Florida is fenced. Training and giving no opportunities to run off or attack the garbage. Thank you so much for your attention. I am a big fan of yours.

Good that you plan on doing some training with him once again. This breed likes to push it sometimes. If they think there is an opportunity to move up in rank and misbehave....they often will. Training, and implementing NILIF (nothing in life is free)...will give you some of that leadership role back. We all do it....everything is going smoothly....everyone is having fun...and then one day your dog decides "screw you....I don't have to listen" That's when you know things are slack and you better get your training mode going again.

After so many years of owning this breed and fostering....I am just experienced. Been there, done that. I never try to figure out why they are doing a behavior we don't want...don't need to know the reason. I try to fix the unwanted behavior. Sometimes it's just not to set them up to fail.