kirstyhen
Well-Known Member
I keep reading posts about people struggling with their dogs, and I thought I would create a post where anyone who has had success with a difficult dog can post, and maybe inspire someone else to keep trying!
I know there are lots of people on here who have put in a lot of hard work and created the lovely dogs they have now (or nearly have
) so now is your chance to waffle on about them
So I will start!
(Even though you are probably all sick and tired of Otto-bot's story
)
Otto was bought, in November, as a 5 month old puppy, having had no training, no socialising, no experiance whatsoever away from the stable he was born in!!
The first few weeks we began to realise what we had bought, our timid, quiet puppy gradually turned into a raving lunatic!!
In the house he would jump on the worktops, he would steal food from anywhere he could get it, he whined and howled when left.
When you took him for walks he would switch off completely, he would run and run, nothing got through to him, if you let him off the lead you couldn't gurantee you would catch him again, if you kept him on the lead he would pull and pull.
My OH and I dreaded walking him! He wouldn't react to being told off and he was impervious to pain.
Gradually he became better in the house, his daily tellings off started to sink in and he no longer jumped on the worktops or stole food. As he got more and more exercise he became quieter in the house, but he was still awful on walks!
He was no longer let off the lead, as we never knew where he would go or if he would come back, he was on a long line, which just encouraged him to pull so his short lead walks became even more of a fight.
His recall was still non-existant, despite us trying everything - we would make silly noises, lie down, hide, run away, entice him with treats, toys, rattley tubs - we rarely got any reaction out of him and if we did, it wouldn't work the next time.
After about 4 months of this, he started reacting to certain commands, "NO!" and "this way" seemed to have seeped into his brain, and every now and again he would look in our direction. We worked and worked until we decided to try letting go of the lead, he would be able to run around but we would still have something to grab hold of.
Gradually he progressed to being allowed to be completely off the lead, but on the lead he was still horrid, so we started work on that, again, trying everything until something seemed to seep through.
Now, nearly 9 months later, we have a dog that is rarely on the lead, that will come back (Usually
but is still improving
) when called, walks at heel on and off the lead, is the most trustworthy dog with food (he won't touch anything unless he is told to), is happy to be left in the house alone and is in all a pleasure to own.
He still has problems - he is very possesive around other dogs if he knows them (strange dogs don't count) his recall is still not 100% and his is a very stressy dog - but the successes we have had with him are made all the better for him being difficult.
Your turn. See if you can create a longer post than me, it'll be hard, I'm good at waffling on about my animals
I know there are lots of people on here who have put in a lot of hard work and created the lovely dogs they have now (or nearly have
So I will start!
Otto was bought, in November, as a 5 month old puppy, having had no training, no socialising, no experiance whatsoever away from the stable he was born in!!
The first few weeks we began to realise what we had bought, our timid, quiet puppy gradually turned into a raving lunatic!!
In the house he would jump on the worktops, he would steal food from anywhere he could get it, he whined and howled when left.
When you took him for walks he would switch off completely, he would run and run, nothing got through to him, if you let him off the lead you couldn't gurantee you would catch him again, if you kept him on the lead he would pull and pull.
My OH and I dreaded walking him! He wouldn't react to being told off and he was impervious to pain.
Gradually he became better in the house, his daily tellings off started to sink in and he no longer jumped on the worktops or stole food. As he got more and more exercise he became quieter in the house, but he was still awful on walks!
He was no longer let off the lead, as we never knew where he would go or if he would come back, he was on a long line, which just encouraged him to pull so his short lead walks became even more of a fight.
His recall was still non-existant, despite us trying everything - we would make silly noises, lie down, hide, run away, entice him with treats, toys, rattley tubs - we rarely got any reaction out of him and if we did, it wouldn't work the next time.
After about 4 months of this, he started reacting to certain commands, "NO!" and "this way" seemed to have seeped into his brain, and every now and again he would look in our direction. We worked and worked until we decided to try letting go of the lead, he would be able to run around but we would still have something to grab hold of.
Gradually he progressed to being allowed to be completely off the lead, but on the lead he was still horrid, so we started work on that, again, trying everything until something seemed to seep through.
Now, nearly 9 months later, we have a dog that is rarely on the lead, that will come back (Usually
He still has problems - he is very possesive around other dogs if he knows them (strange dogs don't count) his recall is still not 100% and his is a very stressy dog - but the successes we have had with him are made all the better for him being difficult.
Your turn. See if you can create a longer post than me, it'll be hard, I'm good at waffling on about my animals
(**growls jealously**)
