Maisie is now 7.5 months old and up until the last two weeks has been a pleasure to train. We have regularly gone to outdoor training classes and I've been lucky enough to go along to extra classes, at no charge, when the trainer has been doing small classes and she has needed a pup to demonstrate what to do. How proud did I feel ;D! Ha, until now ! Lead walking has fallen apart and I am having my arm pulled out of it's socket! When I do training with Maisie such as sit and stay, she's taking no notice and wandering off, parks her bottom when we do heal work, etc! Have I got a teenager on my hands! The look on her face is hysterical when she's asked to sit and wait/stay.....if she was a thirteen girl I'd be telling her to "wipe that look of her face"!! She's stealing food out of my hands, snatching at treats, etc. I've gone back to basic with her, and can see a little improvement, but I was wondering if I have a stroppy teenager on my hands!
Re: Training falling apart! Oh dear : This is very common , try not to worry and yes, you do right to go right back to basics , treat her like a very young puppy and repeat everything . The cause is often that they suddenly feel more confident and as such , try to make their own decisions , rather than just being defiant for the sake of it , don't worry , it will all come right
Re: Training falling apart! Yep, you've got the 'teenage' stage ;D we had to go back to basics a few months ago for exactly the same reason good luck
Re: Training falling apart! Thank you Katie and Ternya, I had a horrible feeling the teenager may be emerging! :
Re: Training falling apart! I experienced this when Molly was about 6 months old, which is when I bought Total Recall and joined this forum. So as the others have said it was a matter of going back to basics. I'm sure you'll soon have Maisie back on track!
Re: Training falling apart! Hi I soo empathise. Meg is 8 months and not showing too much teenage stuff yet but I am sure it will come. However I sooo know that arm bing pulled out the socket feeling. It's so hard as she too was so good. I know practice and patience will prevail but wow is my shoulder sore. Emma
Re: Training falling apart! You hit the nail on the head, you've got a teenager. Two bits of good news. 1. They cannot answer back. 2. It only lasts a matter of weeks.
Re: Training falling apart! Yup, sounds like the teenage months, I'm afraid. You have to train your way through and out of it. [quote author=Mollly link=topic=8404.msg118846#msg118846 date=1413928335] 2. It only lasts a matter of weeks. [/quote] I don't think that's quite true. I think loads of people that put in a big effort with a teenager (as Tina did with Molly - a huge effort - look back at her posts to see how much ) gets results and thinks "oh good, s/he has grown up a bit". Then we hear HELP! posts from people on the forum with 3/4/5/6 year old dogs still displaying the same "teenage" behaviour.... No, I reckon that teenage behaviour is "normal" unless you do something about it. Although growing up, and generally being less silly, definitely helps.
Re: Training falling apart! [quote author=JulieT link=topic=8404.msg118849#msg118849 date=1413928882] Yup, sounds like the teenage months, I'm afraid. You have to train your way through and out of it. [/quote] Looks like it's back to basic for us then! Fortunately Miss Maisie is quite a serious young lady, so I don't get too much silly behaviour, but she is definitely pushing her boundaries!
