Training a 2 y/o dog

[isitok]

Hey guys, I need help. 2 years ago, I rescued a male Indian pariah. I had no experience being a dog parent, so I hardly trained him. Except for stuff like sitting and pooping. He has massive separation anxiety, constantly whines when left alone (even after massively tiring him out). This is primarily because he was a covid dog and we were mostly at home during those initial months.

Another issue is he whines/barks incessantly when someone visits our house and he has to be leashed up (because the visitor is uncomfortable with dogs). He will try and break free to come to the visitor and create a ruckus barking and crying. He's not aggressive, he just wants to cuddle with everyone. Will a bark collar help? What should we do?

Any tips on how we can train him? I know we should've trained him when he was young, but I was inexperienced.

 

[bprice]

@isitok Do not get a bark collar. You shouldn’t train your dog to never bark, you should train him to shut up when you want him to. Barking is like any other unwanted behavior - it should be interrupted and redirected, with the opposite (wanted) behavior positively reinforced.

How much exercise does this dog get? I’m not familiar with this breed but it looks pretty high energy. There are a number of specific training techniques you can use to address the specific issues you mentioned, but it sounds like he has a lot of energy with inadequate physical outlet, so that energy is manifesting in all this anxious bonkers behavior. Figure out how to get this dog tired AF once a day. There’s the old saying “a tired dog is a happy dog,” which isn’t necessarily true, but a tired dog is almost certainly a calm dog, and a calm dog is a trainable dog.

 

[mysticalmiracle]

@bprice The penmanship at the end of the last sentence was fire

 

[mysticalmiracle]

@isitok Honestly the best bet to do would be to get a session with a trainer.

You can get through this behaviour but there are so many variables to this that you need to get yourself a structured plan of things you should and shouldn't be doing.

Yes people can suggest things for you to do here but some cases you need to treat the splash, not the ripples.

Even just one session with a trainer to get a plan together or look for someone you can have an hour online session with to discuss and make a plan.

The only thing I'd suggest out of this is doing obedience to build up the reinforcement to train and work.

It's going to be soooo overwhelming trying to figure the small stuff out

Best of luck!!!