Thank you for the great tips, I have been dropping treats etc when relaxed but not given it a name, I think from tomorrow I will try it, our Luna sounds very much like yours so we try very calming things and she really loves finding her dry sprat s are etc when hidden around the garden. We still can't play with squeaky toys or even throwing balls before she is way over excited but maybe she will never be able to , it's a small price of everything else comes good
Hi, brilliant post, so nice to hear how well you and Luna are doing Isla is very much like Luna as I've said before. I can especially relate to your final paragraph!! The notable difference is that Isla barks continually, when she's excited, frustrated, nervous, attention seeking ect and we are struggling to correct this. Our poor neighbors, I'm now dreading the summer as we usually leave our back door open during the day but as she barks at every little noise I fear we'll be inside sweltering!
Hi @Saffy/isla - I do feel very lucky with regard to the barking, although I figure we could do with a bit of good luck after our less than fortunate start to puppy parenting Having said that, she may yet develop a tendency to bark - who knows what's round the corner. I know that Zak George does a lot of videos about how to positively train dogs not to bark - might be worth a look at on YouTube. I've decided to do a 30 day training challenge in June, so I've written myself a training plan (lots of short 5 minute games) and a morning "loose lead" practice before the world wakes up. I'll try and keep track of what works well and what doesn't and I'll report back at the end of the month. Wish us luck
That sounds like a good idea,yes let us know how you and Luna get on. Thanks for the info,I'll give that a watch. Good luck
June's 30 day challenge - loose lead I set myself a little challenge at the end of May because I was spending more time learning how to do things than I was actually doing the things which meant Luna wasn't getting much consistency between me and my other half. So, I had 2 goals: 1. To be able to walk the full length of the cemetery path at the end of our road with Luna walking to heel (about 50 metres long with grass either side) 2. To not feel sick with nerves before taking her for a walk. This was becoming a very real problem actually meaning I was starting to avoid walks because I didn't feel safe and in control of her. And I'm really chuffed to report that I've achieved both of them (smug face)! Don't get me wrong, it's far from perfect and there's oodles of room for improvement, but we both enjoy our walks a lot more and I've got a lot more confidence. A few things I've done, in case it's of use to anyone: I realised that Luna's usual response to leaving the house was more nervousness than excitement and sniffing every leaf on every bush at a million miles an hour was her way of calming herself down. Starting off with heel work practice just made her more frustrated. So I made a deal with her that she could sniff as much as she liked, but it had to be on a loose lead. That was step 1. To stop her bolting toward smells though, I tried out using Denise Fenzi's circling technique, which basically means that you keep the dog moving in circles, gradually moving forward to avoid them running to the end of the lead and creating tension. This was tricky to get the hang of, but she quickly learnt that if she went in the circle, then she could get to her smell. I now control all of the "sniff" bits of the walks in this way. I did only this for a week or so (with no heel work) to try and get her to enjoy the experience of being walked a bit more. When she got the initial need to sniff out of her system (which used to take the entire length of our road and now only lasts as long as the driveway) and she focuses on me, I say "let's go" and we do some loose lead practice - click treat and click treat. When I can tell she's starting to lose interest but is still engaged with me, I release her to "go sniff" and we start the whole process again. We just stuck to the same area for the whole month - walking up and down, from side to side, running, walking, sniffing and loose leading. She still finds new things to smell so she's definitely not bored of it, but there are rarely other dogs or people. If there are, then we move to the other side of the cemetery and practice some LAT. I must seem like the most antisocial dog walker in the village but if it means I can enjoy a walk then I don't care. Whenever we get to places that she tends to lose focus (at the end of a path, at the gates of the cemetery, at the gate at the end) then I ask her to settle, which gives her a few seconds to "think" rather than "react" and then she approaches more calmly and more focused on me. Using the clicker definitely works a lot better than just saying "yes" - she really responds to it. Anyway, it's baby baby steps and I'm a long way off being able to do a loose lead walk around the block, but I can definitely see some progress and that's good enough for me Now, I just need to think what I'm going to do in July..........
Well done to you and Luna, no more tumbles then hopefully! Keep up the good work and I'll look forward to hearing about July success
Your coming up on a year old! I love reading the log. I think I personally was putting so much pressure on Maggie being this "perfect dog" heeling etc. I really had to step back and take the pressure off us both. I swear she hated the harness because she associated it with anxiety. She is so much better in her collar and now I can put her harness on without her hiding. I wondered if anyone uses a different leash or bell or something so there are days she can sniff the mailbox poles and bushes but only when said "bell" is on. the main reason for wanting such a good loose lead was my hub having back surgery, heaven forbid she crossed in front of him tripping him. I have gone back to wearing the treat pouch, that is magic, so loose lead must not be solid yet. With the pressure off I love walking her and Im sure she senses it. Have you got her July plan yet?
It's great that you set goals for you and Luna. I really like the idea! Congratulations on taking control over the feelings you were having before/during walks. I'm sure that you and Luna (as well as your OH) will continue to grow and enjoy walks. I have been looking into the Fenzi training, and am very interested. It is only more interesting to me now because of your perceived success. Keep going, and congratulations!!!
Thanks @Anthony Abrao it's definitely a nice feeling to see some progress. Haven't decided on July yet but I think it will be to work on how she greets people. This may take us until December though
Sorry, I also meant to say that the Fenzi courses are great. I bought a GOLD level lesson a few months back, but I don't think I'll do that again until she's a bit more mature - I just didn't get the value from it because she was too distracted. There are some good courses on in August which I'll consider at Bronze. The circling technique that I mentioned above was actually just a Webinar that Denise Fenzi did which I think is rerunning this month or next month. Good luck, I think you'll enjoy the way they do the courses - and there are tonnes of obedience ones too.
HI @BacktoBlack - sorry I totally missed this comment. How are things going with Maggie? Luna is a little older than your guess - just coming up 14 months so still at that "silly" age but a bit more capacity to remember and learn. We had a very similar experience with the harness and I recently bought a new harness to see whether that had an effect (it didn't). I think she just associated the harness with training pressure, and with being pulled away from stuff. She's still not keen on it, and it takes a few minutes for her to give me "permission" but she doesn't run away any more. She also runs to the front door in anticipation of the walk which is lovely to see. Still haven't got a solid plan for July so I'm just continuing with more walking practice while the mornings are still light. Trying to work on her not stopping every 5 seconds to sniff something, so I'm trying to teach a "let's go" cue (with cheese).
@LoopyLuna were doing good. I did put her in the next size harness but for me she was a little hesitant the first time, but now its no big deal. I find if I keep my talking to a minimum she can concentrate on what I am saying more. She is 8 months tomorrow. I have been sticking with the treat pouch (sardines chicken beef stick) and she does really well. I treat for eye contact and checking on me and just anything I like. I think Ill try counting the treats I give and start decreasing, but not quite yet. We used to do a lot more of leash trail walking , which we loved, but we both kept getting poison ivy and chiggers etc . after a bout with steroids I stopped doing that. We do have a nice pond about 15-20 min away but I don't feel that comfortable going it alone so we don't get to go as often as Id like. I really need to work on recall, if we are in the woods on trails she checks in all the time and always comes but in my yard neighborhood not very good. I got Pippas total recall book but I honestly haven't dove in that far. I need to make it a priority, for now if Im out in yard I have a long line on her. I am a bit stressed on the whole spay thing. I am trying to wait till after her first cycle but I am concerned with having a trip this winter I can't leave her if she isn't spayed. UGH Otherwise Im over the moon about her. She is getting dare I say easy. Maybe its "easy to read", either way lol
I'm the same. I'm planning to spay her, but because she's so excitable, I've decided to wait until she's matured a little first and her moods are a bit more stable and she's over threshold on fewer occasions. I'm also a little nervous because I'm getting married in October and she's staying with a home boarder for 2 days (which she can't do if she's in season).
Lol mine is a family wedding but yours sounds more tricky. I would be making sure you have a back up plan. Maggie was definitely different than I recall my other labs. In some ways good because Im less likely to compare her to the infamous Lucy lol. I couldn't get excited when she was learning to potty train or she would stop or pee all over herself so I kept my excitement down to a yes. Luckily I saw a post on here about not announcing comings and goings and not getting excited when returning so she is very calm for that. But it was a challenge for sure (and continues for certain things)
I thought I’d update on how things are going here with Luna. She’s coming up 18 months now and is doing really well. We’re really enjoying our walks now - her loose lead walking is getting better and better with every day’s practice. We can now walk round the village and in distracting environments on a loose leash for a good 45 minutes which I never thought was going to be possible. I take her off lead every morning if I can see we have a field all to ourselves and I’m getting more confident in doing this. I think I’ll be working on a reliable recall as my next project with her. She’s quick at coming back to the whistle generally, but if there’s a more enticing distraction then she’s not as forthcoming - she’ll do it, but at a more glacial pace. She’s definitely interested in chasing pigeons and rabbits (thankfully she’s always been on the lead when the opportunity has arisen) so I’ll be working on her steadiness around small furries too which should be a good exercise alongside the recall practice. The main set back we’ve had this summer is her reluctance to travel in the car. She started showing signs of hesitation to get in the car for a few months, and then in June she started visibly shaking and drooling whenever she was in there. She then got spooked by the automatic boot on my car which touched her paw on closing and then she started refusing to walk past cars with their engines running. So since June we’ve been unable to get to our regular gun dog classes or go to any new places. We’ve been working on getting her happy with the car since then - having dinner in the boot, having “car parties” which is where we take her toys out to the car and some treats and just let her jump in and out and wander about of her own accord for 10 minutes or so. She’s now happy to jump in and out, do so with the engine running, and also watch the boot open and close from the outside, but she’s still panicking when the boot is closing and she’s inside. But we’ll get there with a bit more perseverence. Since her second season in August, she’s calmed down a lot. She’s still nuts compared to most civilised dogs but after walking a few miles in the morning, she’ll now settle next to us in her bed for a good 8 hours while we work. We’ll do intermittent training, play or games with her which she’s always up for with a wagging tail, but she’s so much better at just chilling out and not needing attention all the time. As long as she has company, she’s happy. So, next steps for us are to get the recall solid, get back to gun dog training and I’m also thinking of trying out one of the Fenzi TEAM challenges over winter while we’ve got less daylight to play outdoors. I’ll report back when we’ve hit our next milestone.
Hi there, so lovely to hear of your progress and news with Luna. She typically still sounds a lot like Isla! Who also walks nicely on lead but is selective with her recall too. Keep up the good work and let us know how Luna is getting on. Are you having her spayed but the way? We have waited until Isla second season, which she's having now and then thinking about having her spayed.
Do you think Luna and Isla are on a different "labs only" forum comparing notes on how to be a pickle?
Sorry, forgot to reply to this one. Yes, we are getting her spayed in November. She's really miserable when she's in season, so I think it will be best in the long run even though I'd really rather not put her through an operation.
