Duggan will be 11 months in a few days no longer jumps on people when he meets them. Except for trying to abscond in the water delivery vehicle the other week ( he loves road trips ) he has learned 4 on the floor. He was never really bad and you could tell he knew it was wrong but just got so excited he couldn't help himself. Only with new people did he do this, but now greats everyone nicely. After months of training him and training the people who visit we are very happy with our hard work and results. Persistence is key and for those of you struggling, never give up when you don't see immediate results. There are fantastic pets inside those balls of energy if you only take the time and learn how to bring them out. The rest of your life will be better for it. I'm grateful to my wife for being on board with training and that she took a year off work to stay home to raise our baby and our puppy. On another note, I've seen a lot of posts about Recall lately. We have suffered a bit in this area too but have noticed that just giving greater food rewards isn't enough. Especislly for puppies who spend a lot of time alone. You really need to combine this with making him want to be around you. What you do after a recall is just as important to its success as the treat. Don't put them on lead immediately or be upset it took too many tries. If he's been in his cage, he might want to recall but not to go back in the house or the cage, so he won't come, he will decide the treat isn't worth it. And the trick, as I understand it is to not let him decide but to create a connection so strong in his mind that he instinctively recalls without thought. If you play with him (I know I'm saying him but I mean your puppy.. male or female) after words and give another cue and treat again then play some more he'll find you more interesting than what he was doing or forget he was in a cage or that he might be going back into one and it will really streanghen your bond and boost your recall. My boy will recall till the last 10 feet and stop if he even senses an incling that I'm upset. All in all we are very happy with his progress and we owe it all to Pippa and the rest of you here so willing to share your training and experiences. Keep it up !!
What an awesome post! We are also struggling our way through similar things like jumping on people and recall. It really helps to other people and pup's stories. What a good boy Duggan!
