Need some help with dog discipline! (Long question)?

Sounds like she is adapting quite well as this is the behavior of a dog that feels safe, not scared.

You're dead on when deciding not to discipline after the fact.....that creates aggression in many dogs and in others it simply makes them distrustful of you.

I suggest you find a good obedience instructor and take some lessons. I owned three collies and they learn extremely fast and really do want to please you. Dogs need to know boundries and the best place to teach them is at with a good obedience instructor (not the ones at the pet stores).

Your Kennel Club should have some local clubs that can give you good lessons.....believe me it makes all the difference in the world in your relationship with your dog.

At this age and with this background I wouldn't use a crate, but confining her is an excellent idea.

Remember not to go overboard when you come back home, simply greet her quietly.

Here is a good training site for any problems you run in to;

http://www.dogtrainingbasics.com/

Good luck, and bless you for being a rescue angel

I agree with the previous poster about crate training her. This can be her special place, all safe and secure and will prevent the counter surfing.

I agree with how you handled the situation also, no point in trying to discipline her for that after the fact. You may want to work on leaving the house for short periods of time to get her used to being alone before you leave her for longer periods.

I find it a little odd she hasn't been spayed yet since she was in a shelter and that should be on your to-do list.

As for her shyness around other dogs, if you are able to participate in a doggie training class this could be beneficial, not so much for any specific training, but this would help to socialize her with other dogs and people in a controlled environment and there you could better train her how to walk on a leash without pulling as well.

You sound like a good owner with the right intentions. Good luck.

It was smart that you didn't punish her over the bread, and you're right- she wouldn't have made the connection. If she is doing something wrong, say going to the bathroom in the house, chewing, biting, show her the spot (if she went to the bathroom) and give her a firm "no!" Ignore her for a few minutes after that. You have to do this right as it happens or she will think she's being told no for a random reason.

If she starts jumping on you, the thing is to ignore her. They jump for attention, so all you have to do is turn your back, cross your arms and don't look at her until she stops. She will soon realize that jumping gets her no attention. I know this wasn't in your question but I just thought it'd be helpful :)

And if she continues to destroy things when shes alone, i would recommend a crate. Just make sure if has water if you'll be gone for a while, a blanket/bed and some toys. Hope this helped!

As with any new dog to the household, she should have been in a crate when you were not able to supervise.

I understand with her being a shelter dog, you likely don't want to do this. However, my newest dog was from a shelter and she spends all of her "down time" napping in that crate. It's a safe place for her.

And with the fear/confidence issues your new dog seems to be having, it would be beneficial to have a "safe place" for her.

Adding on that the crate will also keep her safe from potential hazards of the home, and your stuff safe from her.

Add:

I am not saying this as a permanent solution, or even a way of "avoiding" training. It's simply put a way to keep HER safe while you are not watching her. A way to avoid her getting something off the counter that could possibly be lethal to her.

If crating is a way of avoiding properly training, what is meticulously ensuring that *everything* is out of her reach on the counter - where she shouldn't go in the first place-? I'd see that as more avoidance than crate training.

Not that I am trying to entirely push this on you, ultimately it is your choice. I'm simply trying to understand how you're trying to "train" when you are not home. As you mentioned when you come home and the house is a mess, it's too late to discipline at that point.

As others have suggested, obedience training will likely show you great improvements with her confidence. I'm currently waiting to get my new shelter dog into a class as she similarly has confidence issues.

First, well done for helping a rescue dog.

Second it sounds like you are doing everything right.

I think the dog was bored (collies are super intelligent) and went for the bread because it was fresh and smelled so nice, she was probably looking for something nice (a lamb chop) at the bottom of the loaf that was making the smell.

I think she will be Ok if the food is locked away but you might consider locking the kitchen door, or lock her in the bathroom, A crate will work but I hate them and so will she.

Baby gates might work with a pup but a collie will jump over.

I know the problem with do I punish or not for an old discresion but collies are intelligent, if you had picked up the bread and said "bad Girl" she WOULD have got it. (no smacks of course)

Anyway, well done again and good luck, it will come good eventually.

Sounds like anxiety. I would highly recommend a crate for when you are not there. Crates do sound like a horrible solution when looking at it from a humans view point (and likely my chiweenie would agree as she has anxiety and chews things up and is crated when I am gone.) But if you have a dog with this problem it actually helps them feel more secure (not all, I'm sure) . After she calms down and finally realises she is safe and has a home with you and no longer feels fearful then you may not need to use it. But for right now, it may help HER feel more secure as she is in a strange place.

Expect her transition to your home to take a while. Most all new dogs coming into a home will take a couple weeks to open up before you see their true personalities but with sever situations it may take months, sometimes years. I adopted a puppymill dog. He was only 1.5 years old when I got him. He has been with us for 1.5 years. He took some time! but hasn't an aggressive bone in his body. He allows the 3 females in our home to take what ever he has, eat whatever he has, etc. So we are still working on a few things. It took him months before he would play with a toy, now he loves them. Amazing turn around!

Hang in there. Be patient, never raise your voice, at least until she totally trusts you. Be consistent. A schedule will help the ost. Feed some kibble from your hands. Be very very gentle. Walks are excellent bonding tools. Baths are great too but you must be very gentle ans soothing while giving them.

Bless you for adopting her. She now has opportunities she would never have had without you.

Hah!! So you've learned, the hard way, that the only way, other than crating, which I'll get to in a mo, is to completely dog-proof your home. Anything that's not bolted down, REMOVE. I use to sit a neighbours' dogs when they took off for 3 weeks round the world every year. We lived opposite, so my sitting could be done from a short distance so I could keep an eye on mine, and on hers. Fine except after the first 24 hours with her newest Whippet I realised leaving him, with the others, in the kitchen wasn't going to work without me moving everything out. Literally. I didn't want to crate him although they were crated at night so I had no alternative. He didn't do this when his owners were home, just when they went away like this.

So prevention, number one.

Now to crating. This would obviously be your best option in terms of avoiding this sort of destruction. But only if she's comfortable with being crated which she may not be. In which case rather than make her hysterical being crated, you will just have to do a clear out, apart from her bed and toys, and water of course. And no chairs - she'll start on the upholstry next time, guaranteed.

Right now, she's insecure with where she's landed this time - and if you can, I'd urge you to take her with you as much as possible, until she has realised that she's landed in a good place, and this one is going to last.

And do get her spayed. That may well help with the approaching dogs problem. Later - if you had her out while in season, small wonder a dog approached, and she hid!!! Big mistake there.

ps Just a smile - I'd gone upstairs one day, leaving my hounds down. I glanced out of the window to see one of them up the top of the garden with something blue in his mouth. Flash - the pork tenderloin I'd left at the BACK of the counter was packaged in a blue tray. Yep. He'd extended his neck (bearing in mind this is a Basset) to reach right to the back of the counter, grabbed the pork (which was uncooked) and legged it up the garden where he'd eaten the lot!! My reaction was a mixture of laughing, being furious and obviously concern because it was a fair chunk of meat. He was fine, but went without any more food that day!!! And this was mid-morning, after his breakfast, so he wasn't 'hungry'!! Lesson learnt.

1. Spay your dog. That goes without saying. It's healthier for her that way.

2. It is important that when she tries to cower behind you, that you don't acknowledge her or try to 'reassure her'. You don't want to reinforce that behaviour in any way, just ignore.

3. Crate training! This is super important. You left an insecure and scared dog alone in your home, and of course she went a little stir-crazy. This is not uncommon at all for new rescues. She likely didn't know what to do with the freedom, and so she just went a little nuts, explaining the bread. You really can't expect a new dog to know what to do in your home- she needs to be guided into more polite behaviour. Kikopup (youtube dog trainer) has a great video on that: (http://youtu.be/dUzF0g0PwY4)

4. You are right in thinking that she can't make the connection with the bread so long after the fact. You seem to know what you're talking about here...she didn't attack the bread with hunger, but more out of nervousness. So, honestly, I think you just need to work on acclimating her to your home and your rules. Give her a crate or a confined area with baby gates that she can feel secure in.

A well-trained dog makes everyone happy, including his owner. Take a little time training him, and you'll never regret it; you'll always have an obedient dog by your side. Find more https://tr.im/qadDG

By their nature, dogs are pack animals with a well-defined social order. Through basic training, you need to consistently make sure your puppy understands that you are the leader, not him. So in teaching him the basic rules, you take on the role of pack leader.

To fit into the family circle, your dog must be taught to recognize his name and such commands as come, heel, lie down and sit.

the dog is okay just play with him/her with your vacant time..