About a year ago I received an energetic 3yr old maltese. I could clearly tell she was abused. Anytime you bent over her to pet her she put her head to the floor and either shook like crazy or peed. She also never used to play with toys or really interact with people. Now she loves toys and has way too many. She plays with people and my other dogs all the time. I've also stopped the peeing in the house and taught her basic commands which she picked up really easily. My only problem now is that she barks way too much and she constantly jumps up and scratches people when they first enter the house. I've tried the basic "no" , spray bottles with water, shaking a can with coins and even a barking collar but with all of these she starts shaking and peeing again. I don't really want to hire a trainer right now because my schedule at the moment is pretty hectic and I'd prefer to train her myself. Does anyone know of any good ways to train her? I don't want her to be that fearful of me since I now have her trust, but I do need these actions to stop...

You should give her a firm "No" and have her sit, then praise her. Just keep doing that 'till she stops barking. That's what I'm doing with my mother's dog, Ripley, and he doesn't bark as much as he use to.

I have never had much of a problem with barking dogs. I will leave that one for RubyPitbull. The best answers come from those that have had and solved the problem in many dogs.

One of the best ways to deal with the jumping dog is to just step backwards. Unlike punishing the dog, that just denies it its goal without giving it anything to fear. One of the tough things will be to get everybody to do it. I have a lot more trouble teaching my dog not to jump up on others and bite them than I do myself. If one person pets the dog when it jumps up, it undoes weeks of training.

There are ways to build a dog's confidence. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at Raising Your Dog with the Monks of New Skete As you praise the dog for following your commands, it will build its confidence.

Play tug of war with the dog and lose. However at the end of the game, take the rope or toy and put it up, less the dog becomes confused about who is top dog. Ropes from the pets' store quickly turn to hazardous shreds. Ones I made lasted much better. Go to a hardware or home center that sells rope by the foot. Buy 2' of 3/4" poly rope. Melt the ends, and tie knots in it. Get them as tight as possible, put it in a vise and pound it with a hammer. Watch carefully, and be ready to discard when it comes apart.

Finally, make sure it has a den to live in. If you are not using a crate, buy one. The dog may be happier in its den than loose in the house. It relaxes, it feels safe in its den. It rests, the body slows down reducing the need for water and relieving its self. Dogs that have been crated all along do very well. Many of them will rest in their crates even when the door is open. I think the plastic ones give the dog more of a safe, enclosed den feeling. Metal ones can be put in a corner or covered with something the dog can't pull in and chew. Select a crate just big enough for the full grown dog to stretch out in.

A dog that has not been crated since it was little, may take some work.
Start just putting its toys and treats in the crate. Praise it for going
in. Feed it in the crate. This is also an easy way to maintain order at
Feeding time for more than one dog.

Sassa, thank you for choosing to adopt a dog. Your wilingness to help that poor thing overcome her issues is wonderful! I wish more people had your good heart.

Just as an FYI, the things you have mentioned spray bottle, shaking a can full of coins, barking collar, are all considered negative outdated training techniques. Especially with abused rescues. That is why she took a step backward in her training and started peeing when you attempted those methods. She was already a submissive dog and using those methods reinforces the submissive behavior.

You have done a great job of helping her to gain some confidence through your leadership. If you have trained your dog to sit, lie down, & stay, you will be able to get a handle on the barking and jumping. Those are the first step to controlling unwanted behavior. You don't treat or show affection until after the unwanted behavior is completely extinguished. Once you have trained her to respond to those three things, when she starts to bark, you direct her to sit or lie down, and stay. If she continues to bark while staying, tell her "Sh sh sh" or "ch ch ch" in a loud, sharp, and quick staccato voice. As soon as she quiets down for a few moments and is looking at you, then you tell her "good girl", pet her and give her the "release" signal. That could simply be using the word "release" or "okay". It tells her that she is now allowed to move out of the position you placed her in and she can move about normally. If she starts up again, repeat the whole process. It will take a number of times of repetition for her to make the connection.

Just as an addition to labman's post regarding the jumping up probem, besides the stepping backwards method, you can use the ignore or turning your back method. Dogs are highly social animals and crave attention. Any kind of touching, even pushing her off, is a form of attention. So, you want to train her to understand that she will get your attention when she is doing what you want her to do. When you or your friends walk through the door, ignore her. Do not bend down, do not pet, do not make eye contact. She is small enough that her jumping all over someone's legs isn't going to hurt them. They only way they must be getting scratched up is because they are bending down to acknowledge her. Unless they are wearing shorts then you need to make sure her nails are trimmed so she doesn't scratch anyone, and if she jumps on their legs, they need to physically move away from her as labman has stated, and do not make ANY eye contact or acknowledgement of the dog. You and your friends should walk into your home, and act as if she doesn't exist. She will eventually settle down, either with all four paws on the floor, or preferably lying or sitting down. When she does that, very quietly walk over to her, no eye contact yet, stand over her, give her a good scratch under her chin and behind the ears (patting on the head of an already submissive dog creates more confidence problems), then look her in the eye and quietly, calmly tell her "good girl". Do this for a minute, then go back to talking to your friends. If before you can turn back to your friends, she jumps up as soon as you try to touch her, remove your hand, and turn your back on her. Again, ignore. Keep doing this until she accepts YOUR greeting without jumping up. Be consistent in repeating these methods. She will eventually make the connection that she will get your attention when she is sitting, lying down, or all four of her paws on on the ground. When she jumps up, it should always be when she is invited by you to do so.