After a couple of weeks when I felt Ripple was finally starting to settle I have had a terrible weekend with him. Not interested in any training, any attempt to restrain him or get him to respond to commands has led to a frenzy of biting - my arm is covered in bruises from him grabbing me through three layers of clothes. And the rubbish eating ! We have spent a long time working on leave its and he was really quite good, now, suddenly, he's back to eating everything he did as a puppy - all manner of rubbish from the ground, plus of course the mud and the poo! This morning his tummy was upset from yesterday's rubbish and yet on his walk this morning (on the lead) he had his head down hoovering the ground constantly. I honestly feel like rehoming him as I am at the end of my tether, today I completely lost my temper when we came home and he went straight to the cats bowl (empty) which he has been taught from day one is not his. I put him in his crate while we both calmed down but I feel that if I am now at the point when I lose my temper that perhaps he is not the dog for me. OH is no help, when he walks him he comes back complaining of everything Ripple has eaten but has not attempted to stop him. Ripple is fed Millie's Wolfheart and I also bake lots of things as treats for going out walking, I also dry liver for occasional treats, I cannot see how he can be deficient in anything. I also feel he is getting too fat (being weighed tomorrow) so I just don't know what to do. I feel totally miserable, both about Ripple's behaviour and me losing my temper.
Oh dear, you do sound fed up! Ripple is still very young and if you can persevere things will improve. Here are my suggestions: Food - Indoors put any food, or items you don't want Ripple to have, out of reach. I think it's asking a lot for him not to sniff the cat's bowl (presumably on the floor) and if it's empty does that matter? When you're out offer a swap for whatever Ripple picks up and offer it in a cheery voice, not a cross one, because that's more likely to work. Jumping up and biting - I think Ripple is trying to get your attention. Do you have fun with him? Playing with your dog should be fun for you both and training should be part of this. So on a walk you could have a few minutes of off lead sniffing, then call him for a game of tug, then walk to heel for 30 seconds, then free to sniff again, a few minutes later call him for a game of ball, then a short stay, then more tug etc. This sort of activity will build your relationship. Also wonder how much exercise Ripple gets? At his age Molly was having 3 x 30 minutes a day. Good luck, I hope you can overcome your difficulties.
Oh Poor you I feel your Pain, Just hang on in there. Give your self some love. Poppy is just a few months older than Ripple. It is 2 steps forward 1 step back and some times its 3 back . But all of a sudden she has a light bulb moment and she can be an angel. I Don't feel in a place where i can offer advice as poppy is just as bad & My OH is also not getting it either. But there are plenty of fab people here that will give you excellent advice. I just wanted you to know you are not alone. I would say pop a bottle of wine in the fridge I find a a glass or 2 always helps. Also chocolate works wonders
Steffi, I dont remember, do you take him to any training classes? I think he is just your typical young lab, and that his mind needs to be stimulated as well as his body. Being in a class situation might help with that. And I must say I agree with Joy, put the cat bowl away when it is empty. It's just too much of a temptation for a young lab.
We have all had days/weeks like this with young labs, You know you love him. Chin up it will get better. Try and take him to a local training class and get support for you and Ripple. I am sure other members will have ideas for you too. Let us know how you get on.
Oh dear you are having a hard time but it will get better. Having a teenage dog is rather like having a human teenager in the house and has you pulling your hair out with frustration, but it is phase and he will grow out of it but it takes patience and sometimes a lot of patience. Unfortunately getting cross or shouting doesn't help, it's more likely to Ripple's behaviour worse - why would he want to do tings for thus angry lady. I have 2 cats and with introducing Juno into the family their food was moved to the upstairs landing, together with their litter tray as they are house cats, to prevent Juno from getting to either. It is seems a little unreasonable to tell Ripple off for approaching an empty bowl or even one with food in it whether it is his or not. Is it possible to put it somewhere else and remove the problem? Juno was an absolute nightmare for eating poo on walks and her nose was stuck to the ground searching for disgusting stuff to sniff. I tried extreme vigilance and Leave it but it was slow progress. I then taught her a "magic" word that I used only when she approached poo - as she approached I called out the word and she got a humungous treat for coming to me. Yes I felt an absolute idiot walking round calling "Bingo" like a lunatic but it had an effect and gradually the poo sniffing/eating reduce and now she may have a sniff of some poo but just walks on now. Unfortunately OH complaining about behaviour but not taking part in training is not unusual. My answer to it has been that I didn't allow him to walk Juno by himself until I could be fairly sure it would be incident free although I've had to train him as much in the last weeks as I have Juno to overcome her excited lunges to greet dogs. Please don't despair, life will improve but in the meantime come here and rant and rave and if all else fails a glass of wine in the evening can do wonders to relieve the stress.
Hi @SteffiS, oh boy I know where you are coming from. Dexter is a month younger than Ripple and although both our problems are for different things, it's hard work. I too have had an exasperating weekend, you are not alone, I'm definitely up there with you In a lot of areas he's just perfect and then in others has completely lost the plot What has really helped indoors is moving everything Dexter is not allowed to have out of the way for starters. Also playing clicker games ie 'in the box'. Do you play this? I can give you some pointers if you don't know it. These games help to get us working together and building up our bond. The biting also just stopped when I started doing more of this as I think before although I was doing regular walks, training etc with Dexter, it wasn't enough. He's not a puppy that really plays with his toys on his own or occupies himself for very long. I really made a point of rewarding any good calm behaviour a lot, at first it seemed to distract him from that but this time I persevered and it paid off. As for walking the 'hoover', we are still working on this too . I am going back to some very short walks just outside my house, actually, I'm going to start in the garden if I find I need to and work on his impulse control with high rewards and gradually reduce. I did this forever, it seems when he was younger but another area we both need to revisit. I'm now off to write out my training log and will post it on the forum later, where hopefully others with more experience can help me tweek it into the baby baby steps I need.
Ah Steffi,they get you down at times because they are young and we are only human....Dexter brought me to tears many a time and he is the 4 legged love of my life! Don't be hard on yourself just remember in losing your temper you will never achieve any progress,all they understand is Mum's cross not why you are cross x Consistent training and perserverance is what will help and I say that knowing it's tough when you don't feel you are getting anywhere but stick with it. To deal with the horrible eating habits I found Recall work, Leave it and Drop training helped me ( Drop it,actually probably saved Dexter's life a little while back when he picked up a piece of rat poison ) my other top priority was walking on a loose lead......I did play about with other things but I really concentrated on these few things at first.That might help things feel a bit less overwhelming......I would also agree with you trying to find out a good training class x Stop by again and let us know how you are doing and how you are feeling x
Thanks for all your replies. I know the cat bowl thing was just the final straw, but he has been taught from day one not to touch their bowls - I feed them on the way to take him out and then pick up the empty bowls on my return while he sits and waits for a treat. The cats have a had a chance to eat in peace and disappear before he returns. Today was a muddle from the start as he was so desperate to go out to the toilet because of all the rubbish he'd eaten yesterday so I was stressed straight away. He does go to training classes and is currently in KC Bronze but I don't think we've got any chance of passing - although that is not a priority for me just attending the classes is my main objective. Ripple's day is a 30 minute on lead walk early morning (too much traffic to let him off). About 11.30 he has 30 minutes in a fenced off area of our field, this is mainly training, retrieves, off lead heel etc - unfortunately the last few days this has just been Ripple eating grass and ignoring me. Then we go indoors, play some games, including putting toys in a box, impulse control games and general tummy rubs and sometimes grooming. He generally waits while I get my lunch then goes in his crate for a sleep. In the afternoon we have a 45 minute walk, which hopefully includes some off lead time but this makes me very stressed as the whole time he's off lead he's looking for anything (and I mean anything - the more disgusting the better) to eat. He gets a treat every time he checks in and does generally come back if I blow the whistle, although I try not to recall if he's too engrossed as I don't want to ruin the recall. Then home for a sleep, dinner around seven then he settles in his crate with a Kong and tends to sleep then until morning with a toilet break when I go to bed. The fact that I lost my temper when I know it's totally counter productive is what makes me think he deserves an owner who can cope with his behaviour. I'm also upset at the lack of support from OH, who is the one who wanted to get another dog so soon after our last one died. OH also works for himself and has recently spent quite a lot of time away. I do find Ripple's behaviour gets worse whenever OH comes back from a spell away, I'm not sure whether that's because OH indulges him or because my attention is split. There has been so much support from this forum over the months that has really helped me, I hope I can get over this blip (a very big blip at the moment) and I'm really grateful for the continuing help.
Why not instead of doing the same training, retrieves and heel work introduce just some play with Ripple, play tug with him, run around making silly noises and see how his attention switches to you. Hide toys and get him to find them. With Juno I frequently just give a whooping call and start running (well as much as my knees allow me to "run") and she quickly runs to catch up. Using high value treats is good but nothing seems to beat us being happy and silly to grab their attention. My husband spent a lot of time away from home when Juno was young and including much of the time when she was recovering from her surgery and on restricted exercise but for me it was a bonus so I could concentrate on training needs without any input, or lack of it. Being alone with Ripple is a great opportunity to build the bond between you so that when you ask him for a behaviour it comes more easily when your husband is back and that he looks to you for the guidance as to what to do. He is bound to be excited when your husband arrives home so it's always good to have rules as to what is or isn't allowed for both Ripple and your husband - the human is often the worst offender.
Why don't you make a list of what you want to do first with Ripple. May be, stop eating rubbish would be top of your list or stop biting your arm. Then start again from the beginning and see how it goes.
@Cath - definitely stop eating rubbish would be top of my list. Having already had some success with 'leave its' then for it all to disappear is what's making it all so hard. @MaccieD has an interesting thing with the 'magic' word - I might have a think about this. At the moment I'm so concerned about making a mess of everything I'm frightened to do anything .
Hello. Boris is now 11 months and I thought that he been trained to leave the cat food and for a couple of months he did leave it. Now if I am near the bowls he will leave them but if I go upstairs he is straight in and any cat food that is left is gone in aflash. I now try and remember to pick up the cat food bowls when the cats have finished. But he has a better memory than I have. Some evenings I feed the cats and go into the next room Boris follows me inand goes to sleep abou t 20 mins later he wakes and nonchalantly wonders off to empty the cat bowls. He will leave them if I remind him.
Aw Steffi....its a tough age..... I remember being in tears on walks at this stage. Do you think maybe using a long line might give you more control when you are out with regards the hoovering? Or maybe working on the loose lead and close work stuff without being off lead and leading into temptations? Keep your spirits up, it gets better.
That's because you love Ripple and want him to be the best dog he can be . Believe me I'm no expert on dog training or behaviour but have come to the conclusion that there are numerous ways for us to train a new behaviour or change a behaviour. As long as it is positive reinforcement, it's working out the best way for you and Ripple - oh and lots of high value treats but even more important consistency.
Better walk this afternoon. Took him to the park in town, met some brave people who came and spoke to him, watched the children on the play equipment (from a safe distance), and watched the ducks. Managed a few minutes off lead with me running and calling him every time he stopped. Practised some 'leave its', reasonably successfully apart from an icy patch which he chomped up. His tummy is still not right but I still gave him several squirts of Primula for good behaviour as well as his normal treats. I'm not sure if he still loves me though @Karen , I'm sure he's wary after I got so cross this morning. I think the long line would be a disaster for Ripple he can manage to get tangled in a 1 metre lead . I have got a couple of longer leads which I do use when I'm feeling brave, but I think the loose lead idea will work best.
I feel your pain..seriously when Benson hit 8 months he turned into the devil incarnate..and no I am not exaggerating. recall went to pot, not remotely interesting in us on a walk..stole food..and cat food? They are feed in a utility behind a child gate with a built in cat flap. It was embarrassing and he even got a reputation..a total stranger recognised him at our first agility class and commented on his poor behaviour. Agility has been good for building that bond, which is the main reason we went in the first place. I was wondering if teaching a simple "hand touch" cue may help? Nice and simple, just click and treat when Ripple touches your hand. You can up the ante on a walk with a high value chunk of roast chicken and that may be enough of a distraction for you. I this a lot with Casper, in an emergency when a trigger looks a bit close and I just need him to look at me so I can use this to change direction. When he is fixated and stiffened, it is almost impossible. It will get better. Benson is now amazing on walks, I can trust him to keep engaged, and this is important when out with Casper, as although he has improved he still needs me to be very conscious of our environment. Good luck, sorry you are having a tough time, it REALLY DOES get better!
Hi Steffi, please don't get down on yourself. Ripple will forget you were cross with him! I have lost my temper with Cooper and then feel bad. When he was Ripple's age I would have given him away to anyone that wanted him! I was desperate and was stressed every day and all day. I felt awful and, frankly, thought I had made a terrible decision getting him. He is now almost 2 years old early March. He is terrible at jumping on people and licking them, his recall is almost non-existent (my fault of course) but I've tried with the clicker and now going with the whistle. He will FINALLY come to me, but on his own terms so, NO RECALL! I know it doesn't help you to say they get better because you are right in it NOW....but it will. You just have to find a way to cope with his craziness right now. One thought....could you put him in day care a couple of days a week? That has worked for mine....he plays all day with other dogs his size and energy and, when he gets home, he has his dinner and crashes! That would give you some free time for yourself and Ripple will love going to day care. I did all the classes with Cooper and we passed with flying colors but that doesn't mean anything once you bring them home! It's HOME where you need to have him under control, where he can have fun and you can relax and enjoy your puppy. Give day care a try.....it has saved my life! Now all I have to do is work on recall and jumping....ha, ha!!! And what they once learned, they forget (conveniently), but my Cooper is my companion, partner in crime, loving, affectionate.....and I know things get better with time.....so hang in there, do fun things with him, try to relax and it will all fall into place. Thinking of you.
