[BlueEyes]

I'm at my whit’s end with my dogs and I need help.
I have a 3 year old black lab rescue named Angie. She was my first dog; I made many mistakes with her as far as training goes. Basically she now believes she is the alpha and will not listen to me whatsoever.
I recently rescued a Basset Hound/Beagle mix named Skipper. I am very strict with him. He knows I am the boss and will listen to me. He is now 7 months old.
I've been crate training him since he was a puppy. When he would wake up in the morning and whine to be let out, I would take him out and then feed both of them.
They have now gotten into the habit of waking me up at 6:30am by whining. Neither of them needs to be let out to do "their business" they just want to be fed.
This morning I tried to ignore 45 minutes of whining which turned into barking. My lab Angie then proceeds to bark at me until I fed her.
HELP! I don't know how to become Alpha to her. I feel like they have taken over my life and I have lost total control of them. What can I do?

 

[Rain]

Get rid of the notion of alph. Dominance theory is outdated, and you don't need to be alpha in order to get your dogs to obey you.

Dogs repeat behaviors that work for them, and they will continue to do that behavior until it no longer works.

In your case your dogs have learned that whining and now barking work to get you to let them out of their crates. Angie's through process probably went like this, "I want out the crate so I'll whine, that's how I get her to open the door." 45 min later "The whining didn't work, I need to try something else. Maybe she didn't hear me, I'll try barking.". You are going to have to train them that whining and barking never cause the crate door to open, and that the only way the crate door opens is when they are quiet. No matter how much it's getting on your nerves, never open the crate doors until they are silent. Get some ear plugs if you have to, and wait till you get 5 seconds of silence then open the crate door. If they make any noise as you are reaching for the door, back up and wait for them to quiet back down, then try opening the door again.

 

[seebrown]

^^Ditto that. Do a search for extinction bursts. It goes something like this:

From How to Train a Dog
If the dog is used to getting your attention through barking, and suddenly you ignore the barking, the barking may intensify before it goes away. A human example is a soda machine - if for 20 years your dollar got you a soda and suddenly, no soda comes out, you may put in a few dollars before you start kicking the soda machine in frustration. Then, you give up and try the soda machine on the next floor, which is operating correctly. You must be prepared to ride out the extinction burst or the unwanted behavior may return, stronger than before.

The way I might handle this is for a few weeks take them out for potties later at night than normal (midnight maybe). This way at 6:30 a.m. you know they don't need to potty, and you can wait the barking out without worrying about them needing to be let out to actually potty until 8 a.m.

Either way, you will definitely need some earplugs.

 

[BlueEyes]

Rain, Angie isn't in a crate only the puppy Skipper is. Angie sits outside my bedroom door and whines/barks until I get up.

I take them both out for the last time of the evening around 11:30pm/12pm and I give them dinner around 10pm. Still they are up every morning at 6:30am.

I guess I need to just let them whine until they realize it doesn't work. However my only concern is I have a roommate and live in an apartment building.

 

[seebrown]

You could alternately try taking them out earlier than they whine (6 a.m.) for a few weeks, take them for potties, then crate them again with a treat and go back to sleep. You can then move that time up 30 minutes each week, until you are taking them out for potties and treat/crate at 8 a.m. I'm not sure if that will work, but that's actually how I trained my puppy to hold it overnight. If you are concerned about bothering your roommate/neighbors with excessive barking, I might try that first.

 

[LynneMarie]

Like above she is not alpha status. She just knows how to get you to do what she wants. She has taught you well... Also like above change the routine. I had a clients dog who had trained them to feed her when she barked. So I changed it while she was here for a week. When she barked I took her outside. She did not want that so much so stopped barking.

Make them wait to eat after they come in..Make your coffee...go to the bathroom...brush your teeth...anything to delay the feeding. That way you are feeding on your time not hers..More then likely it is the feeding more then the going outside that she is demanding from you.

 

[OliveLove]

Everyone here has given great advice. Welcome to the forum, by the way! How much exercise do your dogs get?

 

[seebrown]

Anything negative you do with your dog in training absolutely creates a negative association between the handler and the dog. You are the thing in common with the negative action, and dogs learn by associations. You don't get to pick what your dog is associating fear with; the dog decides. Please read some of our stickies and information before continuing to give advice.

http://www.dogforum.com/dog-training/suppression-modification-shutdown-fallout-4776/
http://www.dogforum.com/dog-behavior/calming-signals-10084/

 

[seebrown]

I already gave the OP advice on it (posts 3 and 5). Aversives aren't really even necessary here. I like my dog to know that the crate is her safe space to be calm in. Associating the crate (and inadvertently myself) with something negative would be the opposite goal.

Here is a video in general for crate training. Basically it's about management and rewarding the behavior I want.

 

[kmes]

I highly recommend that you read the thread Seebrown linked yout to. Here it is again, just in case. Pay special attention to suppression and fallout.
http://www.dogforum.com/dog-training/suppression-modification-shutdown-fallout-4776/

Also, as a new member, you are likley not aware, but we tend to frown upon aversive methods being recommended here. This is because of the possible complications that can arrise (ie. Suppression, fallout, shutdown) and also because some aversive methopds just are not safe to recommend ovrt hte internet.
http://www.dogforum.com/dog-training/training-please-read-before-posting-4330/

 

[kmes]

No more arguing. No more aversive methods!
Please and thank you!

Everyone, back on topic!

 

[BlueEyes]

Everyone here has given great advice. Welcome to the forum, by the way! How much exercise do your dogs get?

2 hours if not more everyday without fail.

I had a dog trainer come over to try and help with the situation.

Her thoughts were they are getting too many carbs and sugary vegetables. I do the raw diet with them and she said I'm actually not giving them enough protein.