Fin (1 yr Boxer)

Question
I have a one year old Bday was on 10/5 of this year boxer.  He has been with me since 8/1/2011, the family that had him could no longer keep him.

My wife and I are having trouble with his behavor.  He will not listen to us, plays chase game in the house with all sorts of items. Follows us wherever we go, if I levea the house he crys. We live in a city on a fairly busy street. We have also met with an certified master trainer. She says we have a wonderful dog with what sounds like confidence issues. I agree with her and will be going back for a Day train with her. However I would like other opions. He does not have any obience training classes.

Main issues we are having:
Outside: Scared of Everything! Shakes all the time, Cars, people, goes to his back with other dogs

Walks: We have a choker that has the prongs on it. Not the slip kind. He does well with this but still is almost zig zagging, bumping into me. (Trianer told us to create seperation by pushing him away with leg) I feel like I am kicking my dog :(. He does well sometimes but most times he is all over, trying to get away from the street and bumping into me.

Crate/ House: Was crate trained and does not have acidents in the house, 1 time got to excited and he peed no biggie. I was able to get him to learn "HOUSE" to go in his crate. He will no longer do HOUSE and will not go in the crate without piece of hot dog.  I dont want to over treat him, and I feel like he will end up only going into the carte for a treat. We are also trying to get him to ring bells by the door to let him out, but that has stopped his choice.

Play: He wont play fetch in an active area, but does ok when alone or in the house. Still wont bring the toy to me and doesnt respond to drop it. Fetch is his main place for excerise cause walks are so difficult but I can also take the time to do this. Plus I end up chasing the toy more.

Comands: can sit, stay (short time, 10-20sec), down.  Will not come when called though. We make sure we are the first through the door. Stairs not so much.

Feeding: we eat before him and then he eats, he is in our laps though, can get him to stay in one place. He eats then comes to find me, then back to the dish.

General: We let him on the couch/ bed. He jumps on some people not all, always when he is excited.
Grooming/Vet: when i take him to the groomer he nips on the hands of the people cutting his nails, plus he nips us when we play with his feet.  In the vet office, he was shacking and would not rest, seemed very scared.

Sleep: We let him sleep in bed sometimes but other times he is on the floor. I just recently started keeping him in the bathroom off our bed room, with a baby gate, cry's some but after 5 to 8 min will let it go (two nights of this)

My wife and I love our dog so much and would really like to have him safe.  We try not to get frustrated with him, but is hard, when I am standing there saying house 5 times and he just lays down.

Can you help me train my pup and get over his fears? We want a dog to listen to us, and know that when we call him he will stop. We also want to be able to go to the cool cafes around our house and have him sit with us and not pull and try and get away.

Answer
Hi Greg.  I'll try to address some of your issues.  

Take the metal collar off your dog.  Your dog is fearful and you recognize that (good for you!).  Adding pain to a situation with an already fearful dog makes things worse.  Get him a harness that hooks in front.  See the ones that I recommend here:  http://www.petexpertise.com/barbgadola.

Walk your dog so that you are between him and the traffic.  Don't push him away.  He's afraid and is looking to you for reassurance.  Take some really high value food rewards with you (beef, chicken or cheese bits) and feed him when he's walking in the position that you like.  If he's hungry and won't take the food treats, his stress level is too high.  Consider walking at a time of day that there is less traffic to start with until you can build his confidence a bit.

Make him want to get in the crate by putting a piece of hot dog in there and closing the door.  Let him see you do this, but don't let him in to get it right away.  Let him really want to get that hot dog.  After a while, open the door wide, let him go in and get it and come right back out.  Do this a few times a day just for fun and before you must crate him when you leave.  You could also feed him meals in there with the door open.  Always give him something good when he has to be crated - a stuffed Kong, a great bully stick or deer antler that he only gets when he has to spend time there.

When you want to play fetch, have 2 identical balls/toys.  When he comes close to you with the one he has possession of, say "drop it" and toss the second one.  

Hearing his name should be the best thing that happens for this dog during the day.  Call his name and when he turns his head, say "yes!"  and give him a small treat.  Do this around the house randomly and be sure to mark the head turn by saying "yes" and rewarding each and every time.  Don't call his name if he's in trouble or if you have to do something he doesn't like (bath, nail trim, etc.)

When you sit down to eat, give him his own food bowl within sight of your dining area while you're having dinner.  No need to eat before him.  

Desensitize him to having his nails touched by touching one toe, giving a treat.  Touch the next toe, give a treat.  Instead of something bad always happening when his feet are handled, make it something good.  Go to the groomer and tell them you'd like to make the experience more pleasant for the dog AND the groomer.  Feed him million dollar treats while his nails are being done.

Check out this great website:  www.fearfuldogs.com.  There's also a couple of books I recommend on my website under the heading of Fearfulness:  http://www.distinctivedogtraining.com/resources.html.

I would highly recommend that you be directly involved with your dog's training.  Find a local positive reinforcement/clicker training class where you can learn to communicate with your dog and build a trustful relationship.  

To find a good trainer in your area, here are some organizations that I recommend (in order):

http://www.karenpryoracademy.com/find-a-trainer
http://www.ccpdt.org/
http://www.apdt.com/petowners/ts/default.aspx
http://iaabc.org/consultants

Good luck!  Let me know if you have further questions.