Hi all, I'm just on to let of steam! Isla is draining my patience! How much longer can I call out " she's just a puppy" to explain her over excitement and great joy at everyone and everything at the park or woods! We go to training every week and have done for well over a year, we've had one to one training and really work hard to keep on top of behaviours and training. She still 50/50 recall, digs holes all over the garden, barks loudly when we arrive anywhere in the car(lost count of how many times we've abandoned a walk and brought her home) as instructed by our trainer. Barks at training class, barks at our neighbor, I'm exhausted! I've never experienced a dog like her before, my others have been placid and much calmer, she's very strong willed I think. We love her to bits but boy is she pushing us! Rant over, lol
I know that you aren't looking for advice just to let out steam but i'm gonna risk offering some input. mental stimulation > physical with a willful puppy. I find that fetch is great exercise but it doesn't seem to be as effective as an attitude adjuster as 'the find it' game. I don't know the ins and outs of your routine so obv this is just my experience but I correlate willful with intelligent and intelligent dogs need to be mentally stimulated. With Buddy I didn't ever make him stay while i hid a ball in the garden/ park and then asked him to find it. With OP and Rusty I play this game for like 10-20 minutes a day and they love it and it really seems to calm them down more than an hours worth of fetch could. The brain muscle is the most tiring for a dog i think.
Oh @Saffy/isla - big e-hugs coming your way from our part of the country. I'm sorry you're feeling so drained - it's pretty relentless isn't it? We've said this a few times on here but I think Isla and Luna have very similar temperaments and it often feels that maximum input yields minimal progress (I have been practicing LLW for about 6 months now, and she still managed to pull me over on a gravel lane a few weeks ago). It's easy to think that this will be the case for the next 12 years but in all probability it will tip the other way and we'll get more progress from less input as they grow older. I've had 3 instances this week of meeting people who have dogs younger than Luna, who are doing minimal training with their dogs, but are loving every minute of their dog owning experience and have an impeccably behaved dog that never jumps up and sits patiently at their feet. After my initial inner reaction of "damn you!!!" I guess I just remind myself that my journey is different to theirs and when I do get success (when she's about 10 I reckon) I can be that bit more proud of myself. Something helpful maybe? Try choosing one thing to work on and feel progress on that. Accept that the other things might not improve, but don't put pressure on yourself to fix everything at the same time. In June, I chose LLW because I didn't want another embarrassing gravel tumble. In July, if I feel like I've had enough progress, I'm going to work on greetings. Maybe isolate the thing that you find the hardest and most disruptive and work on that. And don't be afraid to ask for help from a behaviourist. We've worked with one before and they're brilliant and giving an outside perspective which is invaluable when you're frazzled, tired, cross and feeling in the midst of it all. Good luck - do me a favour and do a little exercise for me. Write a reply to this thread and list the 3 things you love most about Isla and the 3 things she does now that she couldn't do 6 months ago......
Hi,thank you, any advice greatly appreciated. Isla does "find it" but not very often. I shall try doing it every day to see if that helps. We also got her a sliding bone puzzle that you hide treats in for her to find but she's so excitable when we put it down for her that she crashes into it in such a rush knocking it flying! I shall persevere. Thank you
@ Hi @LoopyLuna ,thank you so much for your reply and advice,you are always so helpful and understand exactly where I'm coming from!I completely agree our girls seem to be very similar and I've also met several other younger labs who are so much calmer and well behaved than Isla,even in our training class! I think your right, i am trying to tackle to many things at once with Isla. We had a one to one with our head trainer and she was very good and we have discussed a plan with some ideas to help Isla with frustration and excitement. We are sticking to them,although hard when she's giving us those big sad puppy eyes,but if the end results help Isla it will be worth it. It's quite difficult to decide what's the most disruptive behaviour i shall have a serious think about that one. On a more positive note 3 things i love about Isla..she snuggles up and loves to lay on my feet,she wiggles her bum as her tail is wagging so much to see us and her enthusiasm when trying to complete a task we've asked of her. Also when thinking about what you advised i realised that yes they're are things Isla can now do that she couldn't six months ago, she waits beautifully for the ok command,she has mastered the distance "sit and down" and she uses her ramp to get in the crate in the car,which she was frightened of just a few months ago.for Thanks again for making me look and value what we have achieved. I hope you continue to see progress with the LLW with Luna(funnily enough,Isla is good at this!) And the task you've set yourself for July. I'm sure we'll both be on here again soon for more help
Let off steam again and again! My puppy has given me the blues, made me cry and not enjoy sitting in my own house! It’s tough! I don’t want to tempt fate but at 22 weeks I think she is getting better with her biting which was the worst thing for us , I hope we have turned a corner . As other say hang in there, ride it through and let off steam indeed!
This is brilliant! Honestly, if you've got the LLW then you're going great guns! That's a really tricky one to crack (well, I tell myself that to make me feel better ) Hoping not to jinx things, but after my LLW mornings and sniff walks this month, I've had 4 nice walks in a row. I actually felt like a normal person walking a normal dog (well normal except for the fact I'm often going round in circles, changing direction, running, walking, stopping, and clicking). I've lowered my expectations lately. Instead of "my dog just passed her graded gun dog test today", I'm content with "my dog didn't hump my leg this morning" or "my dog didn't escape the garden fencing today" or "my dog did a solid poo"!! It's all relative Hope you're having a better week @Saffy/isla
Nope - every morning: OH - "has she done a poo?" Me - "Yep" OH - "good turd?" Me - "Yeah a stonker" OH - "Awesome! What would you like for breakfast?"
Willow is nightmare in the garden eating sticks chewing stones and poop when she finds it. I hide her kibble in the grass and on the ground she finds it too quick so now I hide it at nose hight it takes longer to find.
Hi I thought about doing that too but Isla digs holes in our garden (currently at 9!) And I thought it would encourage her to do more digging. She also eats sticks and pebbles little monster!
Sounds like our mornings lately also. Maggie has found all the raspberry bushes in our woods. Every time she goes outside these days she eats as many as she can before I make her come in because I am so worried about her tummy! Watching her Poops to make sure they aren't getting too runny is a new pastime of mine hahaha
Little madam got a chicken bone some idiot discarded she would not drop it for the treat I had to prize what was left out of her mouth before all of it went down.
