paris, watching tv

[david daniels]

paris is a coton dog of 3yrs old. she's a good dog but she watch's tv. and knows all the programs w/dogs and as they appear she attacks the tv as she is barking aggressively and jumps up on the tv. also at times she turns the tv off. how do we get her out of this bad habbit?

[kjd]

Hi, David.

My Zoey would do that. Since the TV was not solidly perched, I was afraid she'd knock it over. What I did was get between her and the TV and walk towards her, forcing her away from it. Sometimes, I would back her completely out of the room, othertimes just far enough away so she couldn't touch it. Then I'd make her lie down.

It took consistency, but she finally learned to watch it without going into attack mode -- and she was very dog aggressive.

kjd

[david daniels]

thanks for the reply, but i'v tried that and it didn't work. i even get her to set and give her a treat and tell her good dog. but she'll be the other room and hear the commercel that dogs are going to come on, and she come's arunning, and attacks the tv.

[kjd]

David,
I know you've read this on this forum before, but consistency really is the key. Zoey didn't stay away from the TV the first, second, or fifth time I backed her off. I had to keep doing it, over and over again. Even after she learned, she'd sometimes come up and poke at a dog or lion. But she gradually did it less often and less aggressively. If you notice something is coming on that will attract your dog, stand up and be ready to back her off. Zoey would growl at herself in a mirror and attacked all other dogs, so she was adamant about biting the animals on tv. She did finally get it, and would sometimes lie quietly, without even looking at the tv, while animals barked and growled. It takes a lot of patience, but it is worth it.
Also: while you are backing your dog away from the tv, she is not jumping up on it nor turning it off. So, even during the training period, however long that ends up being, you win.

kjd

[david daniels]

thanks, i'll keep at it . dave

[LetsPlay]

Hi there,
I agree with kjd consistency is the key. You will have to practice this until she has learned what is expected of her. Perhaps you could also try getting her to watch televison with you when programms are on that don't feature dogs. That way you can praise her for good behavior and get her used to being around the TV in a calm manner.