I am at my wits end! Maybe it's having to do everything myself since the beginning, maybe it's all the health issues Corona's had since we've had her, maybe it's building a house, selling the house we live in, Christmas, or dealing with a selfish teenager, or a combo of everything above, but I have completely lost my patience with my pup. Her walks have become a nightmare, she has figured out how to get in the tree line that is full of things she shouldn't put in her mouth, has to be leashed to toilet every time now so she doesn't eat everything she comes into contact with, bugs to go out and doesn't toilet (just screws around), is jumping up on company ( never any other time), still bites, steals anything she can find, and on top of all of it, is up at the crack of dawn every single day. I know all of this is completely normal but I am utterly exhausted. I find myself scolding her repeatedly, even though I know that it is only making things worse and then feeling so bad later, that it brings me to tears. I feel so trapped and have definitely taken on more than I can handle. I was so happy and proud how well she handled Christmas Day with a house full of company, but it's as though she is trying to make up for it ever since. I am hoping a day at daycare tomorrow will give me some insight and allow me to get some things done. Until then, I will remind myself to keep breathing...
Puppy blues. Don't let it get to you. The happy face that greets me when I get home after a long day of work makes up for it. It gets better and there are moments I still want to pull my hair out like his poop incident yesterday. Him laying down next to me and falling asleep (first time) after an exhausting 6 hours. Also, I was really proud of him staying calm in the car today. You are dealing with alot of stuff right now and the puppy as much as you don't want to admit it eat up a lot of time. A day or two at doggy day care will be good for you and the pup. Will let you get things done and at the same time allow Corona to socialize. Not to mention an exhausted pup when you get her home.
Ah Jeanine,raising a puppy properly on your own would be a lot of work regardless of all the other things you are juggling too....you are human,of course there are times when your patience gets stretched.Christmas is a so busy and can be a complete change to 'normal ' routine for everyone I bet there's quite a few puppy/ young dog owners experiencing the same.I'm glad you had a good Christmas Day ,that's a great achievement .Choose your battles until things settle down and the holiday period is over .Daycare will give you a break ,I've used it myself over the years and it does result in a tired doggie .....just be aware it can also give your dog a chance to practise behaviours that you don't want .....you mentioned jumping up and I know the facilities I used didn't help me with that at all ..... Enjoy the break though and I hope the new house is coming along ok? X
She's being a puppy Stop scolding her, it doesn't work and makes you feel even worse. Here is a good article - http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-beat-the-labrador-puppy-blues/ ...
Write out a routine for Corona. Make sure that in it she has enough walks, play and training. But also put in slots for you called 'break from the puppy' time. During these times, pack up kongs or chews or whatever she is allowed (reduce the amount of food you put in a bowl if you need to) and put her away in a crate or pen or utility room, and have a break. Pick the one thing that is bothering you the most, and work on that. Is that her picking things up in the garden? Do you need a hand with how to stop her doing that? Let us know if so. Generally, you just need to chill about a lot of the behaviours that are annoying you. All puppies do annoying things. Scolding her doesn't help, and will ruin any bond that was developing (you know this, of course ).
Oh dear @jeanine I am so sorry you are feeling like this. You have so much to deal with, enjoy your day while Corona is at daycare and if need be book some more time there to give you a break. Dealing with a puppy is exhausting and all of us new puppy owners can, and frequently do, underestimate how much time our little bundles of joy take up. Let alone dealing with everything yourself and throw a stroppy teenager into the mix . Keep going as you are doing such a fantastic job, come here to unload until you turn the corner. Remember the wine too! Hugs and licks from Bailey and me x
Oh Julie, you mean there is a way to stop her from picking up leaves, mulch, sticks, pine cones, chestnuts and so on from the garden and on our walks??? We practice leave it and drop it every day, she does super well as long as I have a treat and she is in training mode. Otherwise I can't get her to listen when it's things outdoors. Not even for a treat. For the first part of our walk, she is totally focused on me, but all it takes is one distraction, and the nose goes to the ground. I think I stopped 100 times yesterday. Takes her a minute sometimes for her to come back to my side. I swear when we are walking, that she is part hound dog!! I would love any advice at all!
Exactly, as much as I rely on daycare, I have a feeling that her jumping up on people and over excitement at greeting time hasn't been helped from the facility. I do appreciate the break though and how tired she is at the end of the day. We have started training "kennel" as soon as the door bell rings, to give her some time to chill a bit and then letting her out with a short lead. At least I can step on it to prevent her from jumping up. At 5 months, and 45lbs, she can knock some people over! It's slow, but seems to be working. As for the rest, I think I do better when everyone is at work and school. At least if they aren't home, I don't expect any help!
Thanks for the article, I needed the reminder! And you are right, simply said and so true. She really has come a long way since the beginning, I have forgotten to remind myself at the end of the day, about the things we have accomplished so far. Like I said in another reply, I can't let my frustrations with the lack of help by family members affect how I deal with Corona. At the end of the day, it's me she cuddles with, (they are all so jealous) which is the way I love it!
Well, for a start, I'd completely relax about her picking up leaves, mulch, sticks, pine cones and so on. Most retrievers do this. Don't sweat about her picking this kind of stuff up. It's just no big deal. Indeed the more you fuss about it, the more she will do it. You will drive you and your puppy completely round the bend by fussing about this kind of thing! You can instead use the harmless leaves, pine cones, sticks to train your puppy heading towards you with things she picks up. This is absolutely ideal. There are lots of different ways to train your puppy to abandon the environment - the leaves, the sticks, the pine cones - and instead be with you. None of them involve trying to get her to stop this behaviour directly, but instead choose to do something else. One of the best ways is the 'give me a break' game. You can do this in your garden. Have you got the book 'control unleashed'? If not, do get it if you can and the full instructions are in there. I'll nip and get my book (it's in the car) and summarise the instructions for you later. Are you always walking Corona on lead or is she off lead? Betsy still is a horror for picking stuff up. But she will give it to me (I've trained this, I started on day one...). This is what my garden table looks like most days - it's where I put the stuff she gives me. table by julieandcharlie julieandcharlie, on Flickr
I've taught 'leave it' and 'drop it' with Mollie, 13 weeks. It took 3 weeks to teach 'drop it'. She will drop whatever is in her mouth now. But, like JulieT says, picking up stones, leaves etc is normal at this age - they explore with their mouths, so I don't worry about it when she's in the garden or off lead. Mollie has to be well trained in dropping what she picks up as she's already walking in shops and shopping centres where all sorts of bits are on the floor. I teach both commands by using treats. She doesn't need to see the treat any more, as soon as I say 'drop it' she spits out whatever it is. 'Leave it' I shorten the lead so she can't reach it and then treat her when she looks at me not the thing on the ground, then we are soon past it (on to the next thing ). ...
That picture made me bust out laughing! I WASNT stressing about Corona picking up "nature" things in the beginning. My other 2 labs always did this and I knew not to care about it. UNTIL... Corona started with all her tummy issues. The vet told me to not let her eat any of these things. And thats what she does, pick up the mulch, and chomp on it until it's digested. And then I see it come out the other end when she gets a bout of the runs. It doesn't take much. Unfortunately where I live, dogs need to be on a leash at all times. It's the law. We do play in the yard though which is quite large, until that is, she notices those damn toxic berries, and then back to the gates side we go. I look forward to your summary later, appreciate it!
You have a 5 month old puppy, on lead on walks, and now on lead or restricted in the garden? She must be going out of her mind. Is there really nowhere she can be safe off lead? Are there really no beaches, or dog clubs, etc.? Surely it can't be the case that dogs where you live spend their whole lives on lead when outside their own gardens? Anyway, you have got to have her somewhere safe, or have her muzzled, remove or fence off the mulch, berries or whatever it is that makes her ill. You can't keep telling a 5 month old Labrador puppy to 'leave it' when it comes to just things like leaves and pine cones in the environment. It's impossible. Is there at least a lawn area, in a park you can walk her? There are two games that I'd try. They are both based on choice so you need to take whatever steps you need to do to keep her safe. The first is 'give me a break'. Here you pick something to train that your dog finds quite easy (at first) and you use very high value treats. The author of this used a chair for the break, but I don't because I do this on walks quite a lot. You do 5 reps of something (it could be hand touches) and reward very highly. Then you tell your dog 'enough' or 'finished' and sit in a chair (in the garden). And you wait. This is where you are going to have to have Corona somewhere safe, because you need to wait - not tell her 'leave it' or 'come' or give her a cue at all. As soon as the dog re-engages with you in any way, you start up again (varying the exercise, or even just playing). Do a short burst and then 'enough' - take another break. Rinse and repeat. You'll find the dog soon doesn't leave. But stays focussed on you. It can take a while - days, and you do have to repeat in different places, but it's very easy to achieve a dog in a familiar garden that won't take his attention off you. The second is from a book called 'Retrieving for all occasions' and its was written for a dog that couldn't stop sniffing. Say 'go sniff' and let your dog put his nose down. Allow the dog to sniff for 10 seconds or so. Then click (yes, you are clicking the dog for sniffing - that's ok). If the dog turns back to you, give very high value treats. If the dog doesn't turn back to you, take the treats to the dog, put them on his nose and lure him away from the sniff. Walk on, then repeat, and repeat and repeat. Eventually, the dog will start to turn for the treat, and after that will break off from the sniff in the expectation of the treat. So then you allow your dog to sniff on cue, and then click to stop the sniffing on cue. In between, if you can't keep the dog's head up, then I'd do very short walks using two leads, a 2m one with a heeling lead (a very short light lead). I use this for Betsy time to time - but she doesn't really pull, I'm not sure it would be a good thing with a dog that pulls. I can try to do a video of it later to show you though.
That's probably getting to you as much as Corona's behaviour and the worry of her health issues. It will all improve eventually and she's probably reacting to the different routine over Christmas. I hope things improve soon.
Thanks for the training tips, I will definitely be trying these out, Corona loves learning new things. To answer your question, here in Ontario, at least in my area, there are very few dog parks to be found, none within 40 minutes form my home. I live across the street from a lake, but it is partially frozen and very unsafe at the moment. Corona will be swimming daily come late April, early May, especially since our new home is on the water. I look forward to having this outlet for her. I do have a public park, and a conservation area nearby, but dogs are to be leashed at all times. The best I could do is have her on a very long lead, to get her to come back if she didn't listen to her recall. So, yes, Corona is walked on lead twice a day for 30-40 minutes each time, and she is leashed for toileting at the moment, to assure she doesn't eat mulch, or pull the lower branches off the cedar tree line and consume that, which she does if I let her. We do play fetch in the garden and run around in the snow for 20-30 minutes in addition to her walks. She has lots of playtime in the house and goes to daycare twice weekly lately where she gets plenty of exercise and socialization. We do training twice a day and she gets frozen kongs, has tons of toys and even gets her meals in a kong wobbler to slow down her eating and stimulate her mentally. Having said all that, I don't think she is "going out of her mind", in fact, she gets way more than almost every dog I know. I think, if anyone is going out of her mind, it would be me, who does all of this with my very active puppy, gets little sleep and gets no help.
We have learnt the more interested you are in something the puppy has the more value she places on it. Rocks/sticks etc from the yard - only solution is to ignore what she has and offer her something she values far more. Then when distracted or put away remove whatever it is she has found. Current system we have is liberating her rocks collected from the back yard and putting them out in the front yard. She isnt interested in the ones there as other more interesting stuff happening. Out on walks we only walk on a standard length lead and we WALK as in power walk along with food treat in left hand. She heels she gets a treat, she looks at me and comes away from whatever has attracted her attention gets a treat, she picks up a pine cone I take it and replace with a treat (we have broken up liver treats here that are great for training). If I can find a clear grassy area we will stop and sniff but Im always watching for whatever she grabs if she grabs something. She is actually getting better (ours is 6 months old) on walks but will still try and grab stuff if its within reach and she has a chance. Her only off lead time is in the house and in the backyard she doesnt need it outside that at this stage and doesnt need to be on the long lead until she can be trusted. Our walks are only about 1.5 to 2km she doesnt have to go far being so young and power walking and putting a few training exercises in there and the zoomies in the yard when we get home is plenty enough so far. Id rather her not grab sticks in the yard and she actually likes to play chasey and will grab stuff in the yard - you can make a game of this and can encourage the 'prize' to be something preferred (here its the grass runners - not ideal as in theory over time it would affect the grass but not at the moment and she will grow out of it - Id prefer her trying to eat grass runners over sticks, bits off trees and rocks). And if you dont engage in playing chasey and walk straight back in she may or may not bring it with her but will come running and spit out what she has if food is offered. Yes I know its a bribe to get her back inside but at this age its the thing that works (seriously I'll call her and tell her food is inside and she will usually come running). YOu have to out think them and not panic if they have something they shouldnt (unless you KNOW you can grab them and remove from mouth). Telling them off generally wont work and change in behaviour is probably due to change in daily routine over Christmas - get the routine back how it was and she should settle down. Things like mulch best to restrict access as thats something they can just inhale down til she's past that 'phase'.
Kind of what JulieT said. My wife wanted to leave me cause of our pup. He is 7 months now and our baby is 4.5 months and we moved into a new house 6 months ago and she quit her job and is now dependant on me and and and. But the part about the puppy... I was completing losing my mind over everything he put in his mouth. I thought he was gonna die. His mother in law was using a laser to " entertain " him, and so on. He used to dig holes while standing next to me looking for the laser in the last spot he saw it. Long story short, you can change the behaviour, you....YOU... can make most of what is bothering you about them better because you are the one that probsbly caused the negative behaviour. As it turns, aside from the normal puppy behaviour, all the stuff driving me nuts has subsided because I simply ignore it. He was just doing it for attention. All the things he put in his mouth are usually in a pile next to where he found them. Not in his stomache. You do need to puppy proof but you also need faith. They will grow out of most negative behaviours if you don't nurture them into something else. Hope this helps.
Well, I can see how difficult that would be in the bad weather - but it's great news that in the Spring Corona can swim. It is very difficult for young (almost teenagers) puppies to walk on a lead properly, and you have an extra challenge if you can't have her off lead. It's much easier to let a puppy have a run round off lead, then train lead walking. Things might be very much easier for you in the Spring. If you have to have a puppy on lead for so much of the year, then I wouldn't use a heeling lead (as I said above) for much of the walk. I'd definitely work on the 'go sniff' on cue, and stop sniffing. Allowing a dog that walks on lead to sniff is a big part of walks for them, if they otherwise don't get the opportunity.
Many towns in ON have "off leash hours" at local parks etc. Not sure where you live - where I grew up there are no actual fenced dog parks, but a few parks allow dogs to be off leash certain hours/days of the week in a portion of the park. Have you tried your local town website? It's also impossible to start training a recall at a dog park with other dogs, so we just searched out quiet parks/trails/sports fields. I constantly hear about people being warned/ticketed for having dogs off leash, but I'm pretty bold about it and let her off leash pretty much everywhere we go and have never encountered a problem...knock on wood.
