Bessie's just a few days shy of 11 months old and I haven't been on the forums much because life has been busy, and a lot of the puppy stuff has really subsided. She is a sweet, loving thing who can also be pretty determined and high-energy. She and Burke play outside often, and have bonded to the point that they sleep next to/on top of each other without issue (he wouldn't let her within 3 feet of him at first). I'm just so pleased I got her and despite really struggling with the puppy blues (I came close to bringing her back to the shelter during the first two weeks, thinking I had gotten in over my head), things have smoothed and she's mostly a positive in my life now. Still have to watch the shoes and anything else chewy. She will chew the chest strap of her harness if it's left on her. I cope by giving her marrow bones, new ones or old ones stuffed with canned food or PB, Kongs, Pork Chomps (porkskin rolls easier to digest than rawhide), and keeping shoes and such put away/up for now. Left the dogs for a week and she regressed a bit with potty (I think the housesitter let her pee on an area rug and didn't wash it right, as it's now stopped with that rug out of the picture) and chewed the housesitter's knit hat and part of a strand of Christmas lights (unplugged thankfully!) when housesitter left them alone. She is also fairly determined to slowly eat a particular rag rug I have...ha. I redirect and substitute a soft cloth toy to chew instead, but I need to douse the thing in bitter stuff again. But mostly I've been working on separation anxiety for both of them and it's better than it was. In fact Burke seems worse than she does. But I make sure to leave them for short and longer times, give them Kongs and put on DogTV (Bessie loves to watch it), mix it up and sometimes pretend to get ready then don't go, that kind of thing. She's adopted Burke's habit of barking when people arrive, but one or two barks and she's done, unlike him. I'm okay with that. The other big behavior that remains is jumping up. And duh, but I was saying "no" or "off" and pushing her away, and other people were looking at her, asking her to sit, yelping when she jumped on them, etc. Holding her leash down so she couldn't leap only worked sometimes; she can pull it out of my hand or if I got distracted for a second she'd pop up. She's incredibly good at leaping from the ground and getting her snout right in your eye, nose, or mouth. Ugh. FINALLY got it honed to "please just turn your back and cross your arms and do not say a word" and that is working, with everyone doing it (including me, she will jump on me if I go outside to play with her, or when I just get home, etc). Then when she has all four on the floor, turn around and pet her with very little verbal praise - too much praise and she gets overexcited and jumps again. So, progress. Another area we need to work on is loose-leash walking, but we're getting there--winter means she did not get a lot of practice with this, so we're kind of starting over. And I need to get her back into town to see cars, people, other dogs on leashes, etc. Meanwhile, I started my older dog in a Reactive Rovers +R training class to try to get his issues under control. This is going well, but lots of work on my part, of course. Just started a few days ago, and need to work on the Name Game with 30 seconds of food/petting/praise for turning to me for name; Sit/Find It/Sit repeatedly with click/treat; click/treat for all barking/reaction at visitors, UPS, etc; avoid rehearsing the beahviors; "nothing is free" where food is up, they must sit for everything, must be asked onto the couch, etc. This will help both of them, I'm sure. And I definitely "spoil" my dogs if that's the benchmark; they have food out all the time, and are allowed on couches and beds freely. I make them sit for treats and we're working on sit/stay before going outside (Burke's got this but not Bessie quite yet--that door opens and she wants to bolt). Anyway, just wanted to update and say that things really do get better! Yes, we have lots of training and building our relationship still to go but life is so much more manageable. She's a joy to have around, so soft and sleek and pretty, sleeping on my feet at the moment--bliss.
It is amazing when you sit down and write how much they have learned and changed in such a short period of time. Well done for persisting with them both.
Thanks, all. Because my 7yo labradoodle had major issues from early on, it's been a long time since I've felt successful. Around this age, he was getting worse and worse, and though I hired a trainer, I never got hold of his issues (but ironically am doing so now - and I did some things like, unfortunately and ignorantly, use punishment, that made his issues worse). So it's reassuring to know it wasn't just a failure on my part, but some dogs are harder than others, and it feels good simply to experience the joy of successful training and progress. Hoping to make progress with the old guy, too, and actually have seen some recently, switching up how I handle his triggers a bit. Having the pup around has been good for him on a lot of fronts, and lowered his reactivity to where I can actually work with him now.
Well done with the progress you have made. I have your situation in reverse, my gorgeous Labradoodle Hattie has been a dream, she is 9 years old and hasn't given me a single problem at all, she is also a Pets as Therapy dog. We then rescued Charlie who has been so difficult to train, so I always thought it can't be my training because Hattie is so good, so yes, some dogs are just more difficult than others and we have to train those dogs accordingly and alter the way we train to help that dog. One size most definitely does not fit all. That is what we have done with Charlie and he has also come a long way from what he was when he arrived with us. xx
I'm glad to hear you've had success with Charlie. Your dogs are both gorgeous, and I have met some incredible labradoodles, such gentle and loving temperaments. Bessie's a rescue at eight weeks, fostered with the shelter manager and well-socialized, and really a dream minus the rug-eating and chewing, ha. I know she'll outgrow that, but it is persistent with her. I'm realizing that it really is a relationship. Burke has caused me a lot of stress and I have thus projected stress at him when he barks, which has made his issues worse. I have had to change how I respond when he starts barking, right down to not having a physiological adrenaline response. Not easy. As I have learned how to comfort and reassure him and make the experience positive (clicking and treating, getting him far enough from the trigger that he isn't over threshold), his anxiety has eased all around, and he has started to trust me to take care of things. When there is someone there, I thank him for telling me and then give him petting/praise/ear rubs, and that seems to quiet him right away now. Work in progress, but we're finally getting somewhere instead of just managing it at the same level of reaction. The rest of the time, he's a happy, cuddly, mostly-obedient Muppet of a dog.
And then he just got up from a dead sleep, barked, jumped off the bed to bark some more, because my STOMACH growled. Baby steps. It's like What About Burke over here (the Bill Murray movie?).
