Today I took Dexter to one of the Doggie Day Care centres for his assessment to see if he is ok to join puppy obedience next week......Yes,we will be the veterans in the PUPPY class but it is the ONLY class,there is no graduating up to the next level....that is it!Ive signed up for this to work on Dexters focus around other dogs....he can do all the basic commands but we struggle with focus and duration when we are around other dogs.The park provides some opportunities to practice ......but as kind as people are,they are wanting to get on with their own walk so I don't feel we get enough opportunity to improve. Anyway the Assessor was a lovely ,young English girl who had a clipboard of questions which she worked through but basically she sat on the floor and watched Dexter and me and how I spoke to him and how he reacted( bit of a low point when he jumped on the sofa ......I told him DOWN and she asked me if I always used the same command for off the furniture as I did for LIE DOWN,I wasn't lying when I said he hasn't got a command for off the furniture because he never goes on it......made a right liar out of me hadnt he!) Anyway the time came for him to interact with another dog....this is one of our issues.....pulling to get to other dogs......if I don't make him sit,and stay and treat,he will get up and pull towards the other dog....sometimes he won't even look at me or take the treat,he will stay in his sit so he is listening but he peers round me to see the other dog.in a lovely way Amy,the assessor told me that Dexter has very bad dog manners!!!!She said he is actually displaying quite tense body language when he is pulling towards the other dog and the fact that he stares could get him into trouble ......I'm a bit gutted,he only ever wants to play when he meets another dog and i release him...I have never heard him growl and he backs off straight away if another dog gives him a bit of a correction.It does make sense as sometimes he lies down of his own accord when he is waiting to be released and I have read that that can be uncertainty about how an interaction will go so he is showing he isn't a threat. Anyway classes haven't even started yet and we have got homework :-[ I have to work on 'look at me' to break his death stare when he meets another dog. On a nice note,Amy was lovely and she has said she is going to try to teach my class....she gave me a pat on the back which has never happened before and said that considering Dexter was my first dog and i Have no dog experience I have done a really good job( bit of a negative compliment but nonetheless....im taking it! )she had also heard of Pippa and Total Recall and she has told me to look up Helen Phillips and Karen Pryor....I've come across Karen Pryor for clicker exercises ....but not heard of Helen. So I have a rude dog.....how embarrassing!Nevermind we will work hard to redeem ourselves....
Re: Dexter has bad manners! Oh Angela, dont stress over it, Dexter is still only a very young lad, he will learn I`m sure . I honestly find that they seem to behave badly when we are expecting better , I`m sure they feel our stress when we feel a but pressured . Sam was a demon at the Vets last week, he is usually good as gold and will lie down on the floor totally chilled, but because I was anxious, he was so dreadful , pulling to get to the others and not listening to commands, or chosing not too : There was a man sitting next to me with a Springer who say like a statue, the man was giving Sam the evils , I felt quite ashamed, but I know it was my fault for being in a state , when I relax he is good , I`m sure this played a part with Dexter
Re: Dexter has bad manners! Ah thankyou Kate .....it hasn't got us into hot water yet.....I'm not going into a panic over it,I'm just taking it on board and that its good to know and hopefully im doing the right thing to work it out. I cannot imagine that gorgeous lad Sam ever being a mischief....and how dare that man give out the evils....sounds like he needs a dose of Dex's Death Glare!why was Sam at the vet last week?its gone totally out of my head ??? X
Re: Dexter has bad manners! Nothing serious Angela, just about his spots under his chin which turned out to be nothing to worry about , over anxious Mother syndrome
Re: Dexter has bad manners! You be a good girl and do your homework Angela Dexter is a good dog and like all our dogs (except Heidruns ; ) we need to refine their skills and manners, so nothing to worry about there. Go on get to work!! ;D Helen x
Re: Dexter has bad manners! [quote author=charlie link=topic=2365.msg22674#msg22674 date=1377456657] You be a good girl and do your homework Angela Dexter is a good dog and like all our dogs (except Heidruns ; ) we need to refine their skills and manners, so nothing to worry about there. Go on get to work!! ;D Helen x [/quote] Oh, I am so glad none of you saw me and Murffi in our first obedience class a couple of years ago. Diiiisaaaaster! : ;D
Re: Dexter has bad manners! No way, I don't believe it Heidrun, never, never, only video evidence will do to support this so called disaster Helen x
Re: Dexter has bad manners! [quote author=heidrun link=topic=2365.msg22675#msg22675 date=1377457020] Oh, I am so glad none of you saw me and Murffi in our first obedience class a couple of years ago. Diiiisaaaaster! : ;D [/quote] Cognitive dissonance attack with my forum dog mental picture of beautiful, cute, angelic Murffi! Easier to refuse to believe.... ;D ;D ;D
Re: Dexter has bad manners! Well Angela, I must say I read your opening post and thought that as nice as Amy may be she sounds so DEMANDING! She certainly sounds like she has high expectations, and this is puppy class we are talking about. OK, so we all have ideals we strive for, and maybe she is just setting the bar high, but I know if I had been in that situation I would have felt so disheartened Our obedience classes are such fun! I do hope all goes well. (and I secretly hope the puppies are a nightmare and Dex shines through ) x
Re: Dexter has bad manners! Don't worry, Angela, I'm sure Obi would have been exactly the same ;D And he DEFINITELY would have jumped on the sofa and would just as definitely ignored any cue to get off it (because we don't have one...). He is a serious pain at the vet's for the first little while in the waiting room - whines, barks and demands to say hi to all and sundry (which he is not allowed to do, hence the barking and whining). They are always naughty just when we want them to be at their most angelic.
Re: Dexter has bad manners! Ahh...so that explains the blatant, prolonged crotch and butt sniffing of our visitor today, a mentally challenged young girl??? :-[
Re: Dexter has bad manners! Ah Simba....the temptation is just too much sometimes! Thanks Kate and Jacqui....Dexters age and my expectations of him are a topic of conversation that Chris and i Have often ???....its trickymwhen there's no previous experience to measure what Dexter should be like behavior wise at his age.Chris says I expect too much.....(probably I do :-[) of Dex and myself because I hardly know what I'm doing nevermind him!I just don't want to miss the line where its ok to say 'he's only young 'before it slides into 'he's old enough to not be doing that!'I know I've said it before but Chris is a lot more chilled out than me,sometimes when Im a bit disappointed in us ( like Friday when he jumped up on my 5 foot size 6 friend ) Chris says,don't worry,it will click ( click! Ha ha!) one day,how can it not when you are putting the time in.....I hope so :Dexter does know he's got more leeway with Chris....his responses aren't as sharp( not that he's always razor with me )and many a time if Chris asks him to do something,he looks at me as if to say,I'll do it if Mum tells me!!! He's not a bad lad and I love him whatever,I just want to look well behaved when we are in company .....told you I'm a big square! Gives me hope that Murffi was a menace Heidrun but I also know you would have solved his mischief pretty darn quick! He was really good on his walk today,it was just us,my friend couldn't come.....we had a bit of a standoff with a camel rib bone.....don't ask...wish id got a picture of that ......no doubt he will sniff it out next time we are there. Thanks again everybody,as always ,its such a good help to air your thoughts.....have a great day x
Re: Dexter has bad manners! Agree with everyone else. He's just young and will get there in due course. Lady was a complete nightmare for the thick end of 3 years especially when she was faced with something new. They know how to push your buttons that's for sure.
Re: Dexter has bad manners! We haven't got a word for get off the sofa either! After we had Bess spayed and she was on restricted exercise she had a few mad minutes running round and round the room and then leapt on to the sofa; she looked so surprised in a how did I end up here kind of way. Our puppy classes were very relaxed and a lot of fun - I hope yours will be as well. Bess still has some problems when asked to ignore other dogs (when she is on the lead) but we are working on it. I'm sure Kate is right about stress affecting their behaviour but sometimes it is so hard to relax. Good luck with the class. Alice.
Re: Dexter has bad manners! Angela - I don't know if it helps to say me and Charlie would have failed miserably (you'll have higher ambitions than us)! Charlie doesn't have a command to get off the furniture because we never tell him to get off! :-[ If OH wants his armchair back he picks up the back and tips Charlie out of it!
Re: Dexter has bad manners! Just to add Angela, our Charlie DID FAIL MISERABLY at dog classes : I have read that Labradors don't calm down until they are at least 3 years old - heaven help us all ;D You are doing a fantastic job and Amy hasn't seen you out doing all the training you do, your desert adventures and how well Dexter helped you with that. It was just an introduction and she should not have expected so much from you both. Onwards and upwards Angela Helen x
Re: Dexter has bad manners! they can also enjoy from being briliantly behaved in a situation to bloomin naughty monkeys in the same situation too, in the wink of an eye...Brodick is usually really really well behaved in his training class, has received numerous complements, until last night when it was mostly humans sitting listening to the instructor, and dogs not doing anything. so he got bored (to be fair it was very boring for teh dogs and he had been in his crate all afternoon), started sighing dramatically, rolling onto his back in front of me and wriggling about while grabbing my ankle while upside down, when that didn't work he tried leaping into my lap and licking my face, then when all failed he went for running off with his lead looking back at me with That Grin On to entice me for a game...monkey!!
