Paco the Troublemaker-how do I break this habit?

[Mumita]

Hello!  This is my first time posting here, I'm usually on the pregnancy forum.
Anyway before I got pregnant, I have two kids (dogs) they are my children, we do everything with them, take them everywhere with us, I can say that our dogs are very attached to us.
So Paco, is a Sharpei/golden retriever mix, he is really cute and has a very sweet and playful personality.  He is very attached to our older dog Santo who is an absolute saint, Paco always cuddles with Santo, pays with him, Santo is his best friend.
HOWEVER, ever since Paco was a puppy (we got him at 12 weeks) he's been very insecure when he's not around Santo or around us, he starts whining over anything, then if he sees a dog or anything move outside through the window, Paco starts barking until we tell him to stop a few times, when he's laying on the floor alone he's constantly licking his paws until we tell him to stop.
But those are not his worst habits, ever since he was little he's managed to destroy and shred anything that he finds around the house that he can grab when we're not home.  When he was a puppy we weren't able to crate train him because we tried and he destroyed to pieces the bed that we put in there and tried to chew his way out of the crate all within 30mins of being in it, so we started baracading him in the kitchen and we would allow him more space as he got better. Then we'd leave them both in the family room and if we left anything on the coffee table he'd destroy it.
He got better for a while so we gave him the freedom to be anywhere in the house while we were gone to work.
One day during the christmas holiday, he decided to attack our Christmas tree and he ate and chewed on ALL of the ornaments that were on the tree that he could reach, most were very old Ornaments and keepsakes from our childhood so we were extremely upset about this.  He's destroyed books, hats etc.  He's got about 5 different bones and 20 different toys to chew on, we give him a rawhide strip every  night to chew on so its not like he doesn't have toys or thing to chew on.
Also, when I walk him he starts barking like a mad-dog when he sees another dog, I try to shorten the leash so he doesn't launch on stuff but he ends up walking on two legs because he keeps trying to launch himself on anything.

Anyway, I'm beyond frustrated, I don't know what to do.  He doesn't do the walking thing with my husband he only does it when I'm walking him and I don't know if its beacause he's getting over protective of me because i'm pregnant or he's bored or has some serious separation anxiety.
About tearing appart the stuff in the house, WHY does he do this?! Why does he get better for a while and then go crazy every once in a while!?!?  

Please help, oh and sorry for the long post.

[Jaybay]

Good for you!  Changing the way you communicate with your dog and project confidence can be a kind of "fake it till you make it" proposition.  I think you'll make it!  :-)

[Mumita]

I tried to keep my head clear and confident while walking them yesterday, and he was a little better, I hope that it was me following the "Cesar approach" but it might just have been really really cold outside and we didn't see many people or any dogs outside.

I'll try to look for that book, we really want to try harder to make him a well behaved dog.  But he really is a sweet and endearing dog.  At this moment we can't afford a trainer  but I think we can do this ourselves if we commit ourselves to the discipline.

Thank you!

[Jaybay]

LOL!  He follows you around the house because in HIS mind, he is keeping YOU out of trouble.  Same thing with the walk.  He is going ahead and taking on all comers to protect YOU.  Your relationship is upside down at this point, but it can be fixed - and suprisingly quickly.  :-D

You might look into hiring a veterinary behaviorist to help you out with specifics.  Bark Busters is one group that does this kind of psychology work, and I think they're a nation-wide franchise.

Definitely look into the book that Ghilly recommends, or take a quick trip to the library and see what else is available.  

This kind of obsessive chewing is nothing more than a symptom of frustration.  That's why you don't see it directly addressed on The Dog Whisperer shows.  The idea is that once you have a mentally and physically balanced dog, that sort of obsessive behavior falls away.  I can testify to the truth of that statement in the results I got with my dogs.

Try not to rely on verbal corrections - particularly when you have a dog barking his head off.  When they're barking like that, they can't hear you anyway.  You have to physically walk over to the dog, claim the area, and if barking persists, give him the "Cesar bite" as a correction and to redirect his attention to you, which is what you want in the first place.  You can incorporate treats into that exercise.  When you touch your dog to get his attention, use your other hand to hold a treat up by your face.  The second his eyes go to your face, give the treat and praise.  

That is a very basic training exercise for a new dog or puppy who doesn't yet know his name.  If you have to say your dog's name more than once to get a visual response, this is a good exercise to begin.  Sit on the floor with him with a handful of treats.  Hold treat near your face and say his name.  Immediately reward with the treat and praise when he looks at your face.  Don't repeat the command.  If he doesn't look, use the treat as a lure and pass it in front of his nose and up to your face.  Reward.  You'll be surprised how quickly he'll get it.

Reinforcing this behavior is a must as a first step in any training.  If you can't reliably get your dog's attention with his call name, you'll be in trouble down the road.  The goal is to have you dog so conditioned to looking at you when he hears his name that he will stop any activity and look at you.  If you dog is chasing a squirrel, car or another dog, he needs to stop and look at you when you call his name.  THAT's how important this is.  That's also why you don't repeat the command until you get the response you want.  Otherwise, the dog learns he can respond ... oh, whenever he feels like it.  LOL!

Paco is a smart, challenging dog, but I don't think he really wants to be the pack leader since he's willing to follow your husband.  The signs are present that he's willing to be a follower, he just needs more leadership in his life from both of you.  If you follow through with your dog psychology education, you will thank Paco for being such a challenge.  Everything you learn from dealing with him will be passed on to any other dog you have in your life.  How's that for a great deal?  :-)

[Mumita]

We definitely watch the dog whisperer and love that show.  But I haven't seen one episode on how to deal with the chewing!

We never really had to train or do anything with our older dog Santo, he pretty much follows anything that you tell him, he's great! And we've treated Paco as we've treated Santo eventhough they both have an oposite personality. I know his behaviour is our fault because we've never had to deal with Santo misbehaving before.  
Santo is a different story, he doesn't bark, he responds to verbal commands very well.  He's polite and respectful with other dogs.  He doesn't even whine.  He could care less if there's anyone walking outside.  When someone knocks on the door and we go open the door, he waits at the top of the stairs to see who's there.  When we say "no!" he stops or goes away. He's awesome and I guess its just his personality.
Paco does listen to verbal commands most of the time inside the house, but never outside.  He learned to bark with his "inside voice" when we're in bed.  When we're awake he barks and fusses.  
Don't get me wrong he's a really sweet dog, but I also think that that's part of his insecurities because he's always following me around.
I truly love that dog, he's funny and sweet but we get sooo frustrated with him.

[Mumita]

Thank you for your comments!!!
He is awful with me on walks, he pulls and tries to get ahead from my older dog and pulls me, tries to chase anything that moves, whines at cross walks....barks uncontrollably at any dog and pulls until he's face to face with the other dog and then all he does is try to sniff the other dog unless the other dog gets defensive, then he'll get mean.  We walk him twice a day, in the morning and in the evening.  My husband takes him out for a walk in the morning and I take him out for a walk in the evening when I get home from work.  We also let them out to pee at night before bed.
In the weekends, we try to do activities with them, take them for longer walks, take them to the dog park (he loves the dog park and he's great there) or to Grandma's house (she has a fenced in back yard) to play in.
My husband is pretty much the pack leader but Paco also tries to get his way every once in a while.
We've never trained our dogs with treats, we've always used verbal approval or dissaproval and we only give them treats when they do what is asked of them.

I guess I need to be more of a pack leader but that would take care of the outside stuff, how do I fix the chewing problem?

Thank you sooo much for your advice!!!

[Ghilly]

There is an EXCELLENT book on training called "Leader of the Pack" by Nancy Baer that deals with training by teaching the human wolf pack dynamics.  It can be purchased online at half.com for next to nothing, and it's worth its weight in gold.

Ghilly

[Jaybay]

I so wish I could see you all in person.  You have a very frustrated dog on your hands.  You say you take your dogs everywhere with you, but how do you behave with your pack?  When you walk, are your dogs allowed to lead the way, or is it you?

Paco sounds a great deal like our old dog, Chica, who we lost to kidney failure a year ago.  She ate the kitchen floor; she ate a hole in the hallway drywall; and she chewed up a leg on my prized piano - among her myriad other transgressions.  Through her misbehavior, Chica also taught me a great deal about dogs.  Like you, we had an older dog who was a saint.  Chica was the anti-saint.  LOL!

It sounds like Paco wants and needs to see you as a pack leader, but she isn't sensing that about you.  She is looking to your other dog for leadership, which explains the separation anxiety.  Anxious, frustrated dogs do not trust their owners to keep an eye out the window for possible intruders, so they take that job on theirselves.

For that one problem, you MUST get out of the chair and deal with it.  No amount of verbal reprimand will teach Paco that his behavior is unacceptable.  Keep your mouth closed, and walk to the window (or door) where he is barking.  Use your body to block him from seeing whatever it is he's barking at and gradually move him away from the window by walking toward him.  By doing this, you "claim" the space.  It is no longer his, and he is no longer responsible for whatever is happening outside.  
You'll may have to do this exercise once, or a hundred times, but he WILL learn.  With dogs, the less verbal correction you give, the better.  Dogs learn and communicate with their noses first, eyes next, and ears last.  If you have to use a treat to redirect his attention from the window to you, then do it the first few times.

How does Paco behave on your walks?  This is really important, so be as detailed as you can.  How often is he walked?  He obviously trusts your husband as a pack leader who will protect him from any dogs in the area.  For whatever reason, he senses the opposite from you and therefore he is stepping up into a protective role.

We had all the same problems and more with Chica, and it was through watching The Dog Whisperer (Cesar Millan) on the National Geographic Channel that completely turned our lives around.  If you don't have access to that station, you can rent the videos at a video store.  His books can be purchased or checked out at a library.  I really think that all you need is some information about how dogs think and a few tools to get you both headed in the right direction.