Amos has been, shall we say, a little more difficult to deaL with than any other dog we've ever had.  It's mainly his hyperactivity and barking and jumping up on folks, etc etc etc.

I'm not much of a dog trainer, but he is mostly house broken, and will "sit" and "lay down" on command.  He also loves to fetch the ball.  My time on the computer is pretty limited and I post some on a 'bird' board, where I have some very close friends that I value their opinions and have received quite a bit of support from.  I have discussed Amos and his behaviors, mostly in a light hearted funny joking kinda way.  Just recently, Amos was trying to get my daughter to pay some attention to him and she kept scolding him and telling him to "Git Down!"  She's recently had knee surgery and didn't want him jumping on her.  So, because she wouldn't play with him, Amos squatted and peed right on her foot!  It was hilarious!  Her reaction was priceless!  If I could have just caught that on Video I would be a millionair!

Any way....I posted this on my other board and was given some advice by a woman that I really respect.  The advice seemed harsh to me, but in reality, if you were able to "DO" this, your life with your dogs would probably be less caotic.  I , on the other hand, can't begin to do all this even though I am trying to be more dominant with Amos and let him know that he is not the boss of me.  I'm gonna post what she wrote and you guys let me know how much of it you agree with.  This is not meant to be critical.  I just want some opinions of how much of this is necessary

Also, we've started using a crate with Amos if we leave the house.(hubby is home most of the day) and at night.  This is going really really well and I'm very glad that we started doing it.

Kim:

Here is the problem. Amos has been given the very difficult job of being the alpha dog in your pack. ALL of you are submissive to him. You have to take back that which is yours. He's not THAT cute and he'll get a whole lot less cute if he continues to run out of control. Sooner or later, he'll be snapping and biting the baby.(my grand son) You can absolutely write that check.

Never let him sleep on your bed. NEVER. (no problem, he's too rowdy any way)

NEVER let him enter or exit a doorway ahead of you or any other human. He must follow you and ONLY come if you allow him. He doesn't get to choose. (hmmm)

Walk him every single day. Do it in the morning and again in the evening. You have to wear him out. He's got way too much energy to burn. (I'm doing this every evening, don't have time in the morning.  He goes out by himself and does his business)

He may not EVER touch anything you do not give him, including his toys.(Yeah, right, uh huh) Claim everything in your home, including floor space. Invite him to join you and only cuddle him AFTER he is behaving and in a calm and submissive state of mine.

Don't EVER go back and baby him if he barks or acts frightened. You only reinforce his neurotic behavior. Instead, EXPECT him to figure things out or to look to you for leadership.

If he starts to jump, put your hand in a claw position and hold him in place at his shoulders. Don't say, NO AMOS, simply say NO. Leave his name out of the equation. (Wonder why you need to leave out the name?)

Anytime he tries to run ahead of you, put him back exactly where he was.

I would suggest that you keep him crated until you can walk him. Then, on a leash, take him for a walk. Make it vigorous, for he is a spunky terrier. Use a choke collar, not a harness. A harness will not work for training purposes. Be sure to place it on him correctly. If you are holding it in front of you, it should look like the letter P with the O ring that attaches to the leash hanging down to the left. If you put the collar on incorrectly, it will not release properly. (I am working on walking him on a leash, don't have a choke collar, but he did good yesterday)

Always place the collar high on his neck just under his chin.

Don't hold your leash tightly. instead, if he tries to run or go after something, pull him with a quick tug toward you. If you are doing this correctly, he will be to your left and you will be holding the leash with your right hand. A quick tug from left to right will get his attention. In fact, he'll probably look straight up at you and wonder what's going on.

Remain calm. If he does get nasty, flip him over on his back and hold him with you claw grip near his neck and shoulders until he loosens up and relaxes. You cannot train any dog unless you have its respect and its attention. (not quite sure what this means.  Can't quite picture what I'm supposed to do, but he's not ever nasty.  I've never had him growl, ever.  His cutting up is uber playfulness)

I am very good at training dogs. I really am. I don't get emotional especially with a leash in my hand. I EXPECT my dog to comply with my demands and they simply do.

Trust me: he DOESN'T really want to run the show. Its too much work. He'd much rather make you happy and for you to be really glad to see him, just like he's glad to see you.

BE FAIR. Make time for him every day. He is peeing because he's out of control. Once you keep him in a submissive state, he'll have no reason to pee.

This actually works very well. I have obedience trained 2 Old English sheep dogs (notoriously bad students) and both finished top of their class. Neither was even 6 months old and the youngest students in their class.

Doesn't matter if they are chihuahuas or great Danes, the rules of respect are the same. Bring him to me, I'll send him back fully versed in English.

Opinions? Comments?  Suggestions?

Thanks

Hmmmm---I have a comment---for what it's worth.  I think your friend's advice might be a little extreme in some things.  Maybe if she is already very secure in her position as a "dog trainer"  her sheer presence and demeanor alone would probally let a dog know "uh-oh---I'm NOT the boss here",  but if it' were my own dog, and I all of a sudden get this hard-acting,  MY dogs, anyway, would wonder why I was so mad at them all of a sudden.  I'd think that there has to be a "happy medium" between where Amos' behavior is now and these training tips from your friend. 

Just  my opinion, however!

Amos, always squats to pee, but just a little bend in the knee, not all the way down like a female does.  He's 5 1/2 months old and we've already had him neutered, so I wonder if he will ever hike to pee?

I have noticed that when Amos pees in the house it's usually out of defiance and aggravation, almost as though he knows it will make me mad at him.  Like, if I shut him in the bathroom or laundry room while we eat.  He will wet the floor almost IMMEDIATELY when we shut the door.  So, now we just put him outside during meal times now.

I honestly think when he peed on my daughter's foot he was just trying to get a reaction out of her.  He was quite successful.

I am doing the leash walk daily now.  I had been just going out with him and throwing the ball until he got tired but yesterday we power walked around our front yard.(4 times around is a mile).  It's so hot I can't do it for very long but I'm making him walk at my heel and he did good.  Still wants to chew on the leash, but he's getting the idea.  My biggest desire is to get that jumping up on everybody stopped.  He's just saying "Howdy", but it is sooooo annoying.

I felt like my friends advice was pretty right, but because Amos is not an aggressive dog(just overly friendly), I wasn't sure about putting him down with "the claw". 

Oh and by the way Amos is now up to 30lbs.  I'm gonna end up with a Great Dane at this rate!

Obviously you respect this woman's opinions... that's why you asked for advice, so I'm not going to dissect everything she said. I will say, however, that I agree with Paul in this situation. Some of her suggestions sound extreme, and although you do need to command respect (DEmand respect) from your dog, her comment of "Doesn't matter if they are chihuahuas or great Danes, the rules of respect are the same. Bring him to me, I'll send him back fully versed in English" I think the rules of respect are NOT always the same. YOu don't train a chihuahua the same way you train a great dane and you don't train all chihuahuas the same or all great danes the same either. Yes... ratties are energetic (I would NOT call them hyperactive... there's a difference)...but from my experience, they also have a sweet, calm and sensitive side and if a trainer is too hard on them, that sweet nature that we all love so much, can easily be squelched.

Kim, put Amos on a leash when he greets people and don't let him jump up on others. Or... when you have visitors come in, put him in the crate until they are in and settled. If this is your primary area of concern, then concentrate on it... you can get other people to help you with it for training purposes.

Your demeanor can definitely be "felt" by your dog. Inconfidence or fear can be easily read by your dog through their instincts (not knowledge). So try to demonstrate a more assertive, calm, demeanor when working with Amos. These dogs are smart... it is NOT necessary to be hard on them.... but it is necessary to be firm.