patterdale girl

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DAWNPOLLARD
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2010 1:44 pm

TRAINING PATTERDALE TERRIER

Post by DAWNPOLLARD »

Hi

I have a 18 month old patterdale terrier, she has been spayed. She is constantly barking when anyone goes past the window, shes barks and growls at some dogs when out walking, yet she gets on well with mums labrador *****. The main problem is when i am on the phone, she humps my leg. Shes chews all my things and eats her bedding. Any ideas?

Many thanks
Dawn
DAWNPOLLARD
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2010 1:44 pm

patterdale girl

Post by DAWNPOLLARD »

Hi

With reference to the previous post, sorry I put labrador should have been girl. My patterdale also wakes me up every night from 2am - 4am. She sleeps downstairs in crate, we have tried her upstairs in a crate but she never settled.

Thanks
Dawn
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Emma&Tess
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Re: patterdale girl

Post by Emma&Tess »

Have you tried putting her in the crate right beside your bed. This worked with my puppy and she now happily sleeps in her crate in the kitchen.
DAWNPOLLARD
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Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2010 1:44 pm

Re: patterdale girl

Post by DAWNPOLLARD »

Hi Emma,

Yes she has a crate upstairs at the side of me but she cries all night, so I put her back downstairs, thanks
Dawn
maximoo
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Location: South Florida

Re: patterdale girl

Post by maximoo »

Tell us more about her day? what/when does she eat? how much playtime does she get?
What training have you done with her, any obedience? barking at dogs in window--easy fix do something to block her view. pull down curtain, or whatever you need to do. Tell us more about her & you will get some suggestions.
maximoo
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Re: patterdale girl

Post by maximoo »

Oh yeah maybe its time to put a nice comfy doggy bed on the floor next to your bed. Close your bedroom door & put away anything she might chew. (precaution) She might stop whining. Remember a tired dog is a good dog. Be sure she gets enough exercise (mental & physical) & she should sleep thru the night like other dogs.
DAWNPOLLARD
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2010 1:44 pm

Re: patterdale girl

Post by DAWNPOLLARD »

Hi

Im at home with her most of the day, she is alone about 4 hours per week including weekend. She has 4 walks a day, she still isnt fully housetrained. She plays with her toys, must admit my partner plays with her more than I do at night when he is home from work. I give her 2 bowls of dry food a day, which normally lasts her till 10pm at night from 9am. When she cries at night, I started taking her out as she was wetting her bed, the vet gave me some herbal relaxants but they didnt work. She sometimes as a couple of hours sleep a day if I have a sleep. Even if she doesnt have a sleep during the day she still doesnt always sleep all night, in the last 12 months I have had about 1 week of uniterupted sleep. She started this after we lost out GSD, they were in separat crates but together at night. Yes closing curtains does stop her barking. She chews on my computer chair, never touches my partners chair which is at the side of mine. Chews her bedding, even chewed the corner of marble hearth. Chewing isnt really a big problem as it is not constant now. She eats paper and card, especially on walks. She is a an inteliigent dog, she humps my leg especially whe Im on phone.

Thanks
Dawn
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Horace's Mum
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Re: patterdale girl

Post by Horace's Mum »

How long are the 4 walks? Terriers are bred for working, they are designed to be on the go and using their brains most of the time. If you don't find something to offer her then she will find her own fun. So those 4 walks need to be as long as you can make them, or at least 3 walks of 15-20mins and one good walk of at least an hour, preferably longer, and ideally somewhere you can either let her off lead or out on a longline so she can run and explore.

I would suggest doing some clicker training or similar with her, to use her brain and help tire her out. This doesn't need to be a lot, two 5-10min sessions each day, or most days, would make a big difference to her. Instead of just feeding her food in a bowl, get some toys you can fill with kibble and let her work for it - buster cubes are good for kibble, kongs are better suited to softer foods - or on a nice day scatter it in the grass outside and let her hunt for it.

If you are just putting food down twice a day but she is grazing it throughout the day, try giving her specific mealtimes, and take the food up if she hasn't eaten it within 20mins. This will help with her housetraining because she will be able to establish a better routine and you will know when she needs to go out.

It sounds like she has some separation anxiety from the loss of her friend - it might be worth trying her in your bedroom, in or out of the crate, until she sleeps through, and then gradually move her back out when she is happy being on her own again, and fully housetrained. More mental and physical exercise should help with the humping.
Fundog
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Re: patterdale girl

Post by Fundog »

The only thing I want to add is, it sounds like she is having some insecurity issues when you are on the phone. Is it a cordless phone? See about getting her her very own pillow (put it in your bed for a week, to get your scent on it) that she can hump. Keep it in a specific place, a corner perhaps. Then, when you are on the phone, and she starts to hump your leg, lead her over to her humping pillow, and let her hump on that, instead of you. The humping is a self-soothing behavior dogs sometimes do to release tension and anxiety, so re-directing her to something appropriate to hump, rather than your own leg, would be more effective than trying to stop the behavior altogether.

One disclaimer though: my two girls have never humped, so having never had to actually deal with the behavior, I don't really know from experience if my idea would work-- but it can't hurt to try.
If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
emmabeth
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Re: patterdale girl

Post by emmabeth »

Good advice there!

I agree that she possibly needs more constructive stuff 'to do' - these dogs are, in my opinion VERY difficult to turn into relaxed pet dogs - theres always an exception to prove the rule but Patterdales are working dogs and its a very demanding job they do. The way they are worked and kept, usually kennelled, suits them often much more than family life because really.. if they are not working, they are in the kennel and almost 'switched off', there is little to wind them up in a kennel. So the working patterdale is either on the go thinking, working, reacting fast, finding and possibly killing his quarry or, hes resting in a quiet place.

In a pet home environment, that work is missing.... but so is the quiet. Instead theres a constant low level of 'stuff' going on, just family life, things going past windows, noises, people coming and going... for a dog bred to do what a Patterdale does (and the same goes for many workign bred dogs), this can be incredibly hard to cope with and can send some dogs mad!

Where previously your dog had the security of your other dog, now... shes left to cope with this alone.

I would feed her twice a day, and pick the food up in between times. Give her ten minutes to eat and then put the food away. Dogs actually generally do not like having food around all the time, its just one more thing to worry about. Consider changing her food (what brand is she fed on now), some foods do not have a good effect on a dogs behaviour or can make them feel a bit under the weather.

Remove her access to the windows she spies things out of to bark at, either use a baby gate to stop her going in those rooms, or use frosted window film to cut out the clear view but still allow in some light. Again this cuts down on another thing shes currently stressing about (I have this instead of net curtains or blinds... its a lot easier to clean!).

I wont go over the stuff the others have covered, its good advice - bear in mind that you got a working bred terrier, and her job is in part, to yell about stuff she sees and to NEVER back down. You need to give her enough things to do and think about, and cut down on the number of things she is worrying about but neednt be bothered with, that she grows out of some of these behaviours. She will never grow out of being a terrier though!
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
DAWNPOLLARD
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2010 1:44 pm

Re: patterdale girl

Post by DAWNPOLLARD »

Hi all of you

Thanks very much for the advice it sounds really good and I will def try all this. I have had patterdales before but my ex used to work them, then they were good pets after that. (makes sense now) I feed her IAMS. The phone is cordless. I walk her for about 15 mins each time due to my health problems, she gets longer walks at weekend with my partner. (Everything seems to be falling into place now)

I am very grateful for all your advice, I will keep you posted

Thanks again
Dawn and Megan
maximoo
Posts: 1111
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:07 am
Location: South Florida

Re: patterdale girl

Post by maximoo »

Vs did a show on a Patterdale about 2 yrs ago. Dog was destroying the garden, so she told owners to get her a sandbox & hide treats /toys for dog to find, and satisfy her need to dig. Also on a recent show VS about a jack russel she brought tunnels and laid them out like a maze (kids play tunnel) for the dog to go through & find a toy. Point is: terriers need to do terriers things Also look into doing agilty or flyball. You can make your own agility equipment.
I would suggest also to chg to a better quality food. Read the DIET threads for good suggestions. Do you give her raw meaty bones or KONGS that can keep her busy? I also second Fundogs idea about giving her her own humpy pillow. My boy has one.
GOOD LUCK!
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