Playful but really frustrating!

[metalmorphosis]

Whenever we take Hoofa to visit my mum he always ends up racing round her dining room table and I can't catch him. It's right in the middle of the room, and the room can't be shut off as you need to go through it to get elsewhere.

I try not to chase him, and bribing him with food doesn't work. He playbows, yaps at me a couple of times, then races off. Obviously if someone else is home I can get them to help, but it's really difficult on my own.

I've tried not to make it into a big issue by just walking off and leaving him but I don't want him to think he's one.

He does the same in my sister's garden, and he can't be left unattended because he charges round and messes it up.

[Carrie]

Well, it is definitely difficult to catch a running dog just as it's difficult to catch a running horse. LOL. You'd have to be pretty darn fast to do that.

It sounds like some obedience training needs to be in the works. I forget how old your pup is. Have you taken him to puppy kindergarten? That is always helpful to learn tips on training and get some real help with your individual problems or questions. Your trainer can help you. It's also a great way to socialize your pup and a whole lot of fun. Just be sure to get a reputable trainer who uses positive methods.

Every day a couple of short sessions is all you need to get started. Take the dog where there are no distractions to start out and practice, sit, let's go, come, down, stay etc. Use lots and lots of reward....treats and praise. Make it fun, fun, fun so he'll love every minute of it and want to work for you.

Don't try to teach all of those commands at once. Start out with one or two. Then when the dog is getting onto those pretty well, add one more. You can also practice in the house....not a real session, just when you're doing something like unloading the dishwasher, have your dog sit/stay while you do it. Then tell him periodically, "good sit, good stay" and pop a treat in his mouth. He needs to continue to sit/stay until you give him a release word. I use, "Ok" but you can choose anything as long as it's the same every time. If he gets up before you've released him, simply place him back in the sit/stay. You don't have to scold or jerk and make him have a rotten time. He'll catch on and learn in time and he'll learn that compliance=treats and affection. If you don't give your dog constant affection at other times, he'll value it more at training times. That is not to say to have no fun or normal interaction with the family pet. Of course not. But sometimes we lavish too much affection and the dog then doesn't feel he has to work a little for it.

It was described somewhere else here how you can teach the leave it command. That's a good one for the dog to know. You can also teach "out." That's the one I use to let my dogs know they need to leave a certain area, such as my vegetable garden or my kitchen if they're in my way when I'm cooking. "Away" is another one I use if they're too close and I'm trying to do something. Like yesterday, I was taking apart my carpet shampooer to clean it all out and Lyric had his nose right in there so I couldn't get the screw driver into the screws. I said, "away." And he didn't have to leave the whole room, but he had to stand back 5 or 6 feet. He understands these words pretty well now.

Also, is he getting ample exercise? A good off leash walk/run every day is what many dogs need. An hour or so, depending on his age and breed is helpful. Your dog is excited, but if he were a little tired and got some of that pent up energy out, he may mellow out a little. All dogs need physical and mental exercise every day.

Hope things improve. That would infuriate me too. I wouldn't stand for it. Either I'd shoot the dog or train him. LOL.

[metalmorphosis]

Originally Posted by Carrie

It sounds like some obedience training needs to be in the works. I forget how old your pup is. Have you taken him to puppy kindergarten? That is always helpful to learn tips on training and get some real help with your individual problems or questions. Your trainer can help you. It's also a great way to socialize your pup and a whole lot of fun. Just be sure to get a reputable trainer who uses positive methods. .

He's around 14 months now, so an older teenager really. I took him for one session, months ago, but didn't agree with the methods so never went back. We've moved so many times since then (Hoofa has had 4 different homes bless him) I've never got round to finding a decent one. When we get our new house (our first buy) hopefully sometime in the next month or so I'm planning on taking him and Cleo to one that's been recommended. Until then every penny is being saved for the house unfortunately.

Originally Posted by Carrie

Every day a couple of short sessions is all you need to get started. Take the dog where there are no distractions to start out and practice, sit, let's go, come, down, stay etc. Use lots and lots of reward....treats and praise. Make it fun, fun, fun so he'll love every minute of it and want to work for you. .

You'll probably cringe at this...but we've never been able to teach him to lie down. At all. Cleo got it in a few weeks (although she still needs a hand signal) so I don't think I'm doing anything drastically wrong. The only way I can get him to do it is by physically moving his legs once he's sitting. If I put the treat between his legs he just shuffles backwards.

He also gets distracted *really* easily. It's only relatively recently that he can be trusted in the park off lead. His recall is still far from perfect but it's a great improvement.

Sit, come and stay are good, he's quick to respond.

Originally Posted by Carrie

Don't try to teach all of those commands at once. Start out with one or two. Then when the dog is getting onto those pretty well, add one more. You can also practice in the house....not a real session, just when you're doing something like unloading the dishwasher, have your dog sit/stay while you do it. Then tell him periodically, "good sit, good stay" and pop a treat in his mouth. He needs to continue to sit/stay until you give him a release word. I use, "Ok" but you can choose anything as long as it's the same every time. If he gets up before you've released him, simply place him back in the sit/stay. You don't have to scold or jerk and make him have a rotten time. He'll catch on and learn in time and he'll learn that compliance=treats and affection. If you don't give your dog constant affection at other times, he'll value it more at training times. That is not to say to have no fun or normal interaction with the family pet. Of course not. But sometimes we lavish too much affection and the dog then doesn't feel he has to work a little for it.

It was described somewhere else here how you can teach the leave it command. That's a good one for the dog to know. You can also teach "out." That's the one I use to let my dogs know they need to leave a certain area, such as my vegetable garden or my kitchen if they're in my way when I'm cooking. "Away" is another one I use if they're too close and I'm trying to do something. Like yesterday, I was taking apart my carpet shampooer to clean it all out and Lyric had his nose right in there so I couldn't get the screw driver into the screws. I said, "away." And he didn't have to leave the whole room, but he had to stand back 5 or 6 feet. He understands these words pretty well now.

He knows "out" pretty well now. When we first had him we lived in a small flat and there was really nowhere to send him out to...so he didn't learn that until a few months ago. I'll definitely try and work on
the rest though.

Originally Posted by Carrie

Also, is he getting ample exercise? A good off leash walk/run every day is what many dogs need. An hour or so, depending on his age and breed is helpful. Your dog is excited, but if he were a little tired and got some of that pent up energy out, he may mellow out a little. All dogs need physical and mental exercise every day.

He usually gets around an hour, but I think he's under a lot of stress and pressure at the moment. Where we are waiting for our house to be ready we are staying with my sister and her 2 dogs. They have hardly been socialised at all and so even for walking past her dogs Hoofa gets shouted at when they growl at him. He's getting told off every 5mins for nothing. Still, when we get our house a lot more time can be allocated for training.

[flyndog]

I think Hoofa likes going to your mom's house! I think I'd try giving him a chance to settle down by keeping ahold of his leash for several minutes when you first get to your mom's house. Let him get over his initial excitement about being there before you let him off leash.

[linnie]

I had exactly the same thought... keep him on a leash till he settles down
I have a tibbie and its like trying to catch greased lightning lol
best of luck. He should settle down by about 18months

[metalmorphosis]

Originally Posted by linnie

I had exactly the same thought... keep him on a leash till he settles down
I have a tibbie and its like trying to catch greased lightning lol
best of luck. He should settle down by about 18months

Thank god!!

Cheers for the advice

[linnie]

roflmao I know believe me there were times i thought I wouldnt last the distance.
Now I am actually thinking of another one hows that for being mad eh!
Missing all that puppy stuff awwwwe

linnie

[oc_spirit]

OC does this a lot, I call it the "zoomies!!!!!" hehe All it is is excess energy that needs to be burned off. Actually I find if I try to restrain him and keep him still he gets very antsy and starts whining, kinda like trying to keep a 3year old still when they want to play. I would take him for a job before going to your mum's place, or let him offleash somewhere where it's safe and he can burn that energy off before going to your mum's where he'll be happy to just snooze.

Cheers!

[metalmorphosis]

Originally Posted by oc_spirit

OC does this a lot, I call it the "zoomies!!!!!" hehe All it is is excess energy that needs to be burned off. Actually I find if I try to restrain him and keep him still he gets very antsy and starts whining, kinda like trying to keep a 3year old still when they want to play. I would take him for a job before going to your mum's place, or let him offleash somewhere where it's safe and he can burn that energy off before going to your mum's where he'll be happy to just snooze.

Cheers!

Good idea, I'll probably be knackered by that point too though, he's got much more stamina than me!

Linnie...know how you feel! I got a bit of flak for getting Cleo when Hoofa was still young but hey my sister in law is having her second baby soon and the first is about the same age as Hoofa, so I see it as a personal decision really, and I love them both to bits!