Hi - been lurking for a while picking up tips but think I need some advice. Enzo has been great so far - he's nearly 5 months and sits well, toilets brilliantly (no accidents for ages and goes through the night for eight hours), his recall is fantastic (I never have to have him on the lead even passing other dogs) and the biting is getting better. We even went a weekend camping and he was really good, slept between me and my daughter all night and was the last one awake. He went to two pubs and was great whilst we ate even tho there was a dog at the next table However in the last week we've found we can't take him anywhere whilst walking - we tried a pub yesterday and a cafe today and he just will not settle. He barks and whines pretty much constantly which means we can't stay due to annoying other people (and it being a bit embarrassing). I tried a few distractions (chews, sticks, toys) but nothing worked for more than a minute. Any tips or are we expecting too much from the young man
Hello and welcome ! Your Enzo sounds fantastic ! I would think that what he is doing is showing impatience , he wants to be on the go and sitting quietly just isn't in his remit ! I would advise that you keep going to pups , sit outside , possibly not close to others who may get irritated . Make sure you have plenty of treats with you and completely ignore that whining , rewarding him only when he briefly stops , even if it is just for a few seconds ! Then stop the treats when he starts again , he will soon get the picture . Its only be repeating over and over that he will get used to the routine , so keep taking him . Now that the better weather is here , sitting outside pubs is an ideal way to get them used to having to fit in with what we are doing , if you stop taking him it will only make it worse when you start again . I can empathise , one of mine used to be just the same , I even took her dinner to the pub when we sat outside ! A filled kong is a fab distraction too, keeps them occupied and it will also sow the seeds of the pub being a great place if he gets a kong to get the food out of !
This is a hard one! I had the same with Mollie. It turned out that all my attempts at settling her (chews, Kongs, treats etc) were making things worse. So I took her to places where I didn't mind her barking and fussing - kind friend's houses etc. Stood on her lead so that she couldn't pull away and totally ignored her, no words, no eye contact. It took quite a few times for her to get the message, but it worked! She now settles immediately I put my foot on her lead and snoozes wherever we are. All she gets in cafes, pubs etc etc is water. (She's eight months old).
Hi. I found that it was better to start to train sitting at cafes etc after she had had a walk. As she's got older I know we can go to the local cafe without a walk and will settle with a special chew (dried fish skin). At 5 months old they can start to find their independence and just because they do something one day, doesn't mean they will do it the next. They need consistent exposure to things like this.
Holly was the same at that age. In her first summer we took her to places where she could sit outside and wouldn't be such a distraction. She soon got the hang of it and is pretty good in pubs and cafes now.
I train a settle with clients before any other behaviour. I take the same approach as @Boogie with the lead firmly placed under a foot and then the dog is ignored until a calm settle is achieved. This can be practiced at any time in the house and is invaluable out and about for pubs/cafes etc.
Thanks for all the replies. I'll be trying them all - we're certainly not going to miss out on the pub!! Ironically he's been a little b***** this afternoon after we got back. He jumped on the missus with a few bites thrown in when I wasn't in the room and had a go at me as well - something I thought he had grown out of (I think we forget he's only a puppy because he's normally so good). Turned out he was still hungry after his tea He is now lying on his back having a nice tummy rub which seems to have sent him to sleep
Kiba had this problem till about a month ago, it suddenly just stopped and just settles now. The most effective way for us was as above just treating everytime he was a little quiet and I always bring a treat he loves like an apple or a cucumber also we dont sit down until we give him a bit of a walk. His limit is about 30 mins any longer than that then he starts wandering around trying to act cute or beg for food from other tables...
Personally I would not try pubs or cafes yet until you have a settle on cue. What I mean by that is that you can ask your puppy to "settle" and they understand that this means, switch off, disengage from you and relax quietly on a mat. If you have not got this, then asking for a settle behaviour in a pub or cafe is really asking a bit much at this stage. I started this with Bramble very early. I used a small square of vetbed, and taught her to settle. Then took this square of vetbed to puppy training, on a quiet walk, so I would sit on a bench and pop her in a settle along with my older dog. Once you have this behaviour on board, you can then try a few minutes in a quiet cafe or pub. Here is a youtube clip you might find useful. I used vetbed instead. My cue was "mat". I then treat stream, when the pup is quiet and calm on the mat. At this point though I stop using the clicker, and quietly drop treats when in the dog has disengaged and relaxed. I then added a new cue "settle" now I have this on cue. So I have two cues: 1. Mat - go to mat 2. Settle - relax in a down, lying on hip, we are gong to "switch" off for a bit until cue'd to do something else.
