Dexter weighed in at 17.6kg today so weight gain has slowed a little over the last 2 weeks. Been an eventful couple of weeks as usual, back to a new term of training and unfortunately despite upping the treat to be freshly cooked chicken, a complete set of new puppies and trying out @Michael A Brooks suggestion he still went into sensory overload. This meant that every time he was not doing an exercise - some are individual, some are all dogs doing them at the same time he would go into barking and play mode when waiting or listening for instructions on what to do next or for his turn. Does everything he is being taught better than almost all the other puppies but is so noisy in between that people avoid coming near him and it is very, very hard work. By the end of the class he is so tired he can barely do the exercises and has no interest in treat bribery. Walking has been progressing well with him having at least one walk a day with time off the lead with recall being very good but he does keep coming back of his own accord to check in regularly anyway. He has found a pond on one walk which he loves to run through so working on avoiding that event but still going past it. Had escaped cows out there one day which he did not see, though he enjoyed eating some presents they left behind ..... Did have a bad experience one day when he met two dogs and was running around with one of them and yelped and was scared. I could not see any problem but put him on his lead and continued the walk letting him off further on where no dogs were in sight. He met another lab whilst loose and all went well, but on the way home met a very large male Rottweiler who was loose though Dexter was on his lead (I found him scary myself !) and yelped again. It was not until later on that evening I noticed he had actually been bitten on the face near the mouth and that had drawn blood and I assume this happened on the first encounter accidentally and was the cause of the problems. Have been more careful with the free interaction since but it does not seem to have dented his confidence or enthusiasm and no further problems or behaviour changes. Also walked him around a new area where I have now worked out the logistics and can let him off the lead to ensure more variety and a lead walk to get there rather than car so combines more training. Still barks when he wants to go outside, but as suggested we ignore him and do it on our terms though does not seem to stop him doing it. Being close to November 5th we have had a never end round of fireworks including some being set off a week early during daylight at 4pm when I was walking him. Fortunately like most things he seems to listen, look and then carry on as normal so no adverse reaction even during the worst evenings though walked him far earlier for his second walk to try and avoid the issue. Biting and mouthing continues to be less but when very excited or needing a walk he can be rougher and as ever he seems to destroy toys and eat anything in the garden if given half a chance. My daughter returns from university next weekend for the first time in over 6 weeks so hopefully he will behave better with her than before she went away - fingers crossed.
Hi @Diablo a very informative account. The morning of the obedience class, don't feed him. The treats you take with you will be more valued. And he will not get satiated. The treats should be no bigger than the finger nail of your smallest finger. During these moments reward and reinforce say a sit stay or down stay. That is while he sits say the marker word yes and treat every two seconds. If he gets up, the treats stop. If he is eating, then he will not be barking. Or drop treats in front of him so that he has to sniff and find them in the grass. Curious. Why are you restricting that? You want to encourage him to like the water. No? I don't know the reason why, but frequently dogs that have been traumatised at a young age start becoming reactive when they turn 9 or 10 months of age. It seems as if the memory comes out in what some behaviourists describe as a second fear period. For that reason, I would start LAT training now with your dog. Your dog may not become reactive but it's better to be pro-active and start the LAT training now. There is an entire folder on this site on LAT training. The LAT training will be also highly useful in getting him to be calm at the obedience class. I'm sure she'll will see an improvement. As you said yourself, he does the exercises better than the other dogs in his class. That';s down to you. Well done.
Thanks for the detailed response @Michael A Brooks, some additional things to try there. Will review the LAT training folders as would not want him to react later in life. Do want him to like water but not get wet every time we walk that way - the easy answer to that is not to go that route if I want him dry though it is on the way to multiple walks and route variations which makes the area so good for walking which is why we all enjoy it. Hoping to walk him near a lake with a small beach area early tomorrow but will be well prepared for that and the possible outcomes !
You've solved your own problem and you don't realise it. You need to keep him working all the time, even between exercises. You can do this with something very simple like a 'watch me' and reinforcing him for looking at you or focus. (I recommend something simple like watch me, as then you can concentrate on what the instructor is saying because you don't need to focus on your dog so much and can train him well without your entire attention.) The alternative, is giving him a Kong to do whilst in between exercises. But you can't allow him to bark and behave like that, because he is learning how to behave (or not!) around other dogs - learning continues all the time, not just when you stand up and decide you are training an exercise - a dog is learning every second of every day and if you allow him to bark in this way, he is likely to grow up to bark whenever he is frustrated and wants to reach another dog.... Like Michael says, it is typical to see fear issues first develop around the age of 9-12 months. I am unsure whether this is the 2nd fear period (since no one really knows whether that even exists) or whether it is simply the case that learning is latent and the results are not immediately apparent - any weaknesses in socialisation or bad experiences that are going to cause problems, pop up towards the end of the first year. What I would say, is that meeting 4 dogs on one walk which he is allowed to interact with, is an awful lot. Particularly with a young male dog, I would be much much more protective and choosy over his social experiences and would not be allowing him to interact with other dogs on walks in this way. As he matures further, male dogs in particular are likely to take a dislike to him during adolescence and unless you are very protective of him during this period, he is likely to have bad experiences which can be formative. Once dogs are outside the socialisation period (16 weeks plus, at the latest), they really don't need continued exposure to other puppies/dogs when this involves casual encounters away from the house. This is going to contribute nothing positive to them (since they are outside the socialisation period) and it is either going to teach them how amazing other dogs are to play with (and how boring you are, by comparison) or you run the risk of bad experiences. No dog should come up to your dog, when your dog is on leash - that is especially intimidating for a dog, because they can't get away or escape. It is impolite for another dog owner to allow their dog to approach yours, when yours is on leash.
This is what happened to us yesterday I was so angry! Kyko is very reactive to other dogs, people, leaves blowing by, rubbish etc so we decided to take him to the park in the nearest city where there would be more dogs and people around so we could work on him being calmer & not getting to meet everyone. A couple came towards us with a Rottie and another dog off lead, so I got Kyko's attention, got him to sit & look at me, & they let the Rottie wander right up to him, so of course Kyko wanted to play. They shouted over it's ok she's friendly & I very quickly countered that may be so, but we are training him at the moment & would appreciate if you could not let you dog just wander over. He came over to get the dog with a huffy face & dragged her off, as if I was a monster for not letting Kyko play
Hi @leighxxxx Sorry to hear about the run-in. I can only think of one partial solution to the general issue but I do recognise that it too has some drawbacks. If your dog wears a Give Me Space coat then you can train your dog and potentially avoid the confrontation wth ill-mannered individuals, who allow their dogs on lead to approach your dog. Dogs on lead are more likely to be aggressive, so the coat does have a distinct benefit. It will not stop dogs off lead--unfortunately they cannot read! My solution there. Join an obedience club where all the dogs off lead are controlled by their handlers.
I usually shout that my dog has a contagious skin disease, and that's why they are on a leash. And they might want to keep their dog away from dogs on leash in future... it usually works
