Simular with me then - I taught VS's mat thing but with "bed" and "out" the next thing is the car, I trapped Louie's tail by accident a couple of months ago when he loved getting in the car, now he hates it until he's in - so I gotta teach him it's ok now.

Turning away isn't always enough. The main thing I used time outs for was Ruperts leaping on me, biting me and raking his nails down any part of me he could reach. Turning away didn't work, he just jumped at my back and raked his nails down that and it was impossible to ignore as it hurt so much. Leaving the room and closing the door behind me for 10 seconds meant it was impossible for him to continue the behaviour and he very quickly learned that jumping on me got him left all on his own rather than getting him the attention he wanted. Asking him for an incompatible behaviour was impossible as he'd had no training and when he was that excited couldn't be lured into a sit or down. I didn't remove him from the room, I removed myself as catching hold of him and getting him out would have just made him more excited. Short of never leaving the room without him not letting him get that excited wasn't an option either, I could go to the bathroom, come back in and be greeted this way.

A time out for a dog is NOT a sit there and think about what you did wrong, they don't understand that. It's short (10 seconds is what I've seen recommended), it's to the point and the dog certainly does understand that if it does X behaviour then it simply gets left all by itself for a few seconds. Won't work for everything but for the sort of thing I use it for it's fast and effective.

Oh, this was along with teaching him how I wanted him to behave, 4 on the floor at first was rewarded then as he learned to control himself a bit more we moved on to having him sit to greet.

yip same here.... my version of 'time out' is absolutely no eye contact...... altho it can sometimes be through the dog gate lol.

Good point Claire bed shouldnt be a place for punishment and didnt think of it in that way till you mentioned it

I have never used a bed or a crate for time outs for this very reason. It really isn't the same as giving a child a time out. Or at least it's not the same as time outs I was given as a child.

I suppose my thoughts were it wasnt time out as such its when we eat dogs sit in their beds which is sometimes in the same room , my grey and lurcher were such food thiefs and still can be !!! its progress for them to sit on their beds and let us eat without sniffing around the plates ! Difficult this doggy stuff huh to do the right thing !

I wouldn't class that as a time out at all, just teaching the dog what you want it to do at meal times. I've only used time outs for attention seeking behaviour and I remove myself from the room rather than engage the dog in any way. Turning away from Rupert works now on the rare occasion he forgets himself but when I first got him there's no way I could have stood there ignoring him long enough for him to get the message, it was too painful.

I think that used sparingly they have a place, but they must be used carefully and with thought.

I also think that the dogs understand it better when a marker word is used at the time of the problem behaviour. For example if a puppy is a very persistent biter, it's better IMO to say "ah, too bad" and put out, calmly, than just take the pup out ... of course at first the marker word will not be understood, but after a few times the dog will start to realise that the marker comes straight after it's nipped and starts to understand....

I think they can be part of kind training, but if the owner starts using them a lot then there's something wrong.

They should always be used to instruct, teach, calm, etc and not for any harsh reason

Wys
x

I was told to use "time outs" with Parker when he won't stop barking when there is someone outside in our close. He is too territorial and I am really noise sensitive which isn't a good combination at times!

He gets put in the downstairs toilet though when I first started doing it I would forget I had put him in there and when my husband got home from work he would ask where Parker was and I would remember! He knew not to bark in there or he would stay in longer poor dog. My husband said he had spent so much time in there he should be toilet-trained by now.

It was recommended to me by a Jan Fennell (yes I know) trained behaviourist we had for Cherry. It works as it gets him out of the way and stops me getting annoyed with him.

Betsy gets a time out about 10 seconds long in her crate with a chew and she tends to emerge a bit less wired...