Hi all, I was wondering if anyone had any advice on the adolescent phase? Nora was doing really well with not jumping on people, not pulling on her leash during walks, and recall until about a month to a month and a half ago. Now it seems like she has forgotten her name, she jumps when she meets someone new or when I come home from work or even just to get attention, she is jumping on the counter (which is something she never did). There is one friend of mine who visits once a week that Nora seems particularly crazy when she visits and does not seem to calm down while my friend is at the house. I usually put up a baby gate and keep Nora confined to my bedroom while this friend visits because no matter what I do she doesn't seem to listen or calm down, and I do not want to allow her to just act crazy. Any advice offered would be appreciated.
Hi @Kara Opel Perhaps your visitor can help you with your training. Cue your dog to sit and stay. Let the visitor approach your dog. If the dog stays in a sit then the visitor can pat your dog, or better still give the dog a treat. If the dog attempts to jump from the stay, then get the visitor to back off. When your dog calms down and can follow your cue once again to sit, then ask the visitor to approach again. You will need to have your dog on lead, so that you can prevent the dog from jumping up or rushing forward. Enrolling in a n obedience class would also be a useful thing to do. It would give you an opportunity to reinforce all the cues Nora knows in an environment in which the distractions should be controlled, at least to some degree, by the instructor.
Michael thank you for the response and we will give that a try. We have had her go through obedience training so definitely going back to the basics will also help. We did have our usual visitor over last night and she did so much better. We let them meet and when she got too crazy we put her in my bedroom for a little while with the baby gate up until she calmed down. When I let her back out she was a heck of a lot calmer and much more polite. So we will get there.
You need to exercise Nora. Puppies have tons of energies and go through behavior stages - it will seem like monthly changes for a bit. Our 6 month lab kept jumping and barking at people and would not listen up until 8 months. We kept up the previous training with positive reinforcement and I was exercising him regularly (4 mile walking hikes and then dog park visits sometimes a day at daycare) which made the training more effective because he was able to calm down without the excess energy running through him. A tired dog is well behaved dog. Imagine having tons of energy and your favorite thing in the world is put in front of you. That’s what life is like for Nora - help her get out her energy. u
I would disagree with this. While puppies do need some physical exercise, too much exercise (as well as risking their growing joints) can often result in them being overstimulated (and therefore, horrible ). I would agree that a tired dog is a well behaved dog, but mental exercise is more tiring for puppies and also prevents overstimulation. Any mental exercises which involve her thinking and working on impulse control will tire her and also give her the tools to restrain herself when asked not to climb on your visitors.
Hi everyone, Thank you for the advice I really appreciate it. We do exercise Nora pretty regularly and nothing too strenuous because we want to avoid as 5labs stress on the joints, and/or overstimulating her. My weekly friend visited and Nora was a little crazy as usual but I let them meet then put her in my bedroom with the baby gate keeping her from leaving. She could still see my friend and I kept an eye on her, but let her calm down in the room. Once calm I let her back out and she was MUCH better. There was no jumping and she was polite, so I was able to let her stay outside of my bedroom for the rest of the visit. It seems being put away from the attention she was craving jogged her memory of the training I have done with her that jumping on guests/visitors is unwanted and not the way to get their attention.
Hi @Kara Opel Good. I would do it differently. I would not let her get a bit crazy before putting her behind the gate. I don't want to reinforce even a bit of craziness because instrumental conditioning tells us that that behaviour will get stronger. I would cue my dog to go to mat before the visitor enters. When she is calm, then you get let the visitor say hello. Or in your case, put her behind before the visitor enters, when she calms down, you can set aside the stair gate.
You make a very good point. I will do that because I don't want to reinforce the bad behavior or confuse her on what is expected of her. Thank you for bearing with me on this as I am a brand new dog owner and at times Nora is quite the handful.
I don't mind the questions. I recommend you find a good positive reinforcement obedience class. When your dog knows what she should do when faced with distractions, then you can implement the time out you described when she fails to comply. But first she needs to know how you want her to behave. A good class will supply you with sound training plans..
Yes - I specifically said ... Walking hikes - not running. Play dates and play time. Exercise as in movement and stimulation. So many people get dogs and at this age just let them sleep all day and then wonder.... why is my dog jumping and not listening and having so much energy at night.
