Had to spend a week away with my Mum and leave OH in sole charge of Ripple. Came back to find the return of the monster . Not only has Ripple started biting again but I took him for a long walk on Monday and he ignored most things he was asked to do, disappeared when he was let off the lead and didn't come back until I hid and he couldn't see me. Yesterday his walk consisted of pulling, so I stopped, pulling, so I stopped, over and over again for nearly an hour. OH has confessed he was frightened to let him off the lead so all his walks have been on lead, very slow (OH is a wanderer), and also he has been pulling. I also discovered OH got the food quantities wrong so Ripple has enjoyed a week of being overfed . It seems very odd that on my return Ripple not only didn't show any signs of being pleased to see me, but actually ignored me when I spoke to him. Feeling really depressed about things (the week with my Mum was hard going) and I wonder if Ripple is ever going to be the lovely family dog I was hoping for .
Sorry you've had a rough week. It is really hard to understand how their furry minds work - I left Charlie at a rehab centre after surgery (I had no choice, I was working and I couldn't care for him at first). When I went to visit, I was expecting him to go mad, but no, nothing. He soon came round though.... If he was pulling on the lead, and you stopping didn't make things better....why did you do an hour of this? I would have stopped, gone home, done something else later (or some clicker heelwork in the garden or off lead). There is just no point in slogging at something for an hour if it isn't working (and no, your dog doesn't need to pull on his lead for an hour in the name of being exercised - must have been very frustrating for him too).
@JulieT - I dont know why I did an hour of this , my head isn't working well at the moment. Before I went away I felt I was making real progress with him, steps backwards then plenty of steps forward. At home I always go and do something else if things aren't going well, why on earth I didn't apply it to a walk I don't know. (Slaps head and writes a strong note to self). Thank you for pointing me in the right direction .
HeeHee - we've all done it, kept at something for too long, hoping it'll get better. It doesn't, it usually gets worse. Write out a bit of a plan...I find that always helps. Just pick a couple of things to work on at a time, and leave time to have some fun too.
You'll get back to where you were, don't worry The week with your OH in charge was probably confusing for Ripple too. All the consistency was gone, his usual routine was gone. The things he usually did to earn treats probably didn't get a response, so he started trying other things or just ignoring the human. Now that you're back things will start returning to normal for him and that will help. You'll get there! It might be good to have your OH take Ripple to some classes where your OH can learn about training and how to maintain learned behaviours. Just so that if you need to go away again it's easier on you all.
Chin up, you'll regain your lost ground! You said that Ripple came back when you hid so I'd do a bit more of this. If you have a woodland area you can walk him in, let him off lead and then don't stick to the path but keep changing directions every minute so that he has to concentrate on where you're going. I found this was a good technique (Pippa calls it the about-turn walk) when Molly was younger to get her focused on me. As regards giving you the cold shoulder, Molly is the same. If I pop to the shop over the road for 10 minutes I get a huge welcome home, but having just been away for a few days without her she didn't greet me at all on my return and it wasn't until today, 2 days later, that she suddenly jumped on my lap and wanted a cuddle. It's strange as my previous dogs have all given me excited greetings on my returns. Who knows what goes in their furry little brains.
Sorry you are discouraged! Try to stay positive though - the good news is that it is usually easier to get a dog back to where they were faster than it took to get them there the first time around. You'll be back to where you were before too long, likely!
Lots of normal routine and playing (and less food!) will help. Don't worry about Ripple ignoring you for the moment, as that too will pass. I've just spent time on holiday with my family, so ten of us, three dogs and a cat! For the first couple of days back home Wispa and Tuppence were lying in the hall waiting for people to come!
Thanks for all your replies. Further questioning of OH (and a few arguments) have revealed he appears to have little idea of Ripples routine - despite lots of instruction before I went away. He also doles out treats all over the place with no expectation of Ripple doing anything to earn them, so I guess that hasn't helped. It also seems Ripple has been shut in his crate for long periods (another big argument ). Definitely going to do more of the hiding and about turn thing @Joy. @Oberon OH has come to classes (on previous threads I have mentioned what a disaster that was) but it hasn't helped. Next week it's just me and Ripple as OH is away on business again so I will be making a plan as Julie suggested. I thought training Ripple was hard enough but training OH .
When we got Obi my hubby took him in his first obedience class so he could learn about dog training. It was torture to watch. So I understand! In our case it did help though and he (hubby) did learn. I'm sure it'll all be much better after next week.
I was thinking it's funny how we don't have many couples on the forum. The only one I can think of is @Beanwood and @Bensons-dad. I've learnt loads from books, but more from here. Maybe we should encourage our wayward OHs to join
He also doles out treats all over the place with no expectation of Ripple doing anything to earn them, so I guess that hasn't helped. I have the same problem!! He also shares meals creating a terrible beggar
I have the opposite - we go for a walk together at the weekend, OH has Coco and a bag of treats. He comes home with the same amount of treats. I ask him why he hasn't used any. "Coco didn't do anything". Errrr what? Try asking him to do stuff. Try noticing when he ignores a bird, or a person. Ask him to look at you. Ask him for a "touch" etc. etc....Grrrrrr
I suppose I had to expect things to get worse before they got better . Ripple has really been trying it on today, at lunchtime we had standing on the settee, ripping at the curtain and finally a full blown biting frenzy aimed at me. He seems to be establishing whether all the boundaries still apply - goodness knows why he thinks everything has changed because I've been away for a week . We've also had the bad news that the gun dog trainer we had just started going to is unwell and won't be able to train for a while. I've signed up for an assessment with a more formal gun dog trainer tomorrow. I'm not sure whether that's going to be right for us (or whether Ripple will be suitable for them), but I thought it was worth giving it a go.
You are definitely being tested by Ripple. Hopefully your efforts will get him back on track and he will be a cooperative well behaved pup again.
Another go at biting me this morning - he's 15 months old, surely we shouldn't have gone backwards so far? Feeling really fed up, hoping the training today does something to regain his focus.
Looks like the new trainer is probably not the one for us, and we're not for him. Much more traditional in his outlook and we would not be suitable for his gun dog classes with Ripple's current behaviour. He did put some things into perspective for me especially where I get uptight too quickly and transfer this to Ripple. Also the need to go back to basics when things go wrong and not rush ahead trying to teach new things.
I'm sorry you're still having such a difficult time with Ripple. I can't remember if you've ever said what sort of daily routine he has, but at 15 months he might benefit from more exercise. I'd suggest a couple of hours daily, spread over 2 or 3 walks.
