Help with 1 year old english springer

Lifeisbutadream

I have a one year old English Springer Spaniel.

I have never had a dog before (we got him when he was 4 months old).

I have a number of problems, which is basically ruining my enjoyment of having him:

1. He pulls so hard on the lead that my children cannot take him out and i hate walking him so much I now just drive him to a field/river so that I do not have to walk him on the lead. I have tried everything (different collards, training etc.) - he does it for so long and then just 'forgets' (or doesnt care) I walk to places several times a day and if this didnt happen he would have absolutely loads of walks!

2. He is only allowed in certain areas in the house (i.e. not on carpetted areas) - he has done this beautifully almost since day one, but over the weekend I found out that as soon as we go out, or go upstairs, he goes into the not allowed areas. I feel really upset that he obviously isnt trying to please us as I had thought, and feel as though everything we have trained him to do is irelevant as he will just do the opposite when we are not there???!!!

3. As above I trained him to wee and poo in certain areas in the garden - the minute my back is turned he goes in the middle of the lawn (not good when I have children who play on the grass)

These may seem petty to some and basically he is a good dog, but at the moment I am feeling very indifferent to him and am not sure how to handle my feelings and how to change things.

Caroline_a

I do think you are putting really unrealistic expectations on a young dog. If he is left alone with access to the 'restricted' areas of course he will go. You need to either crate him when you are out (although he is quite old to crate train now), or ensure that he cannot get get to the restricted parts of the house by closing doors, safety gates etc.

As far as the toileting goes, he will identify what is a correct area to wee/poo in, so if areas are similar then he will probably use that - just as he will go when he is on his walks, he's not aware of what is a 'good' area and what is a 'bad' one.

For lead training, join a training club or use a Halti. If used correctly he cannot pull.

Lifeisbutadream

Caroline_a wrote: »

I do think you are putting really unrealistic expectations on a young dog. If he is left alone with access to the 'restricted' areas of course he will go. You need to either crate him when you are out (although he is quite old to crate train now), or ensure that he cannot get get to the restricted parts of the house by closing doors, safety gates etc.

He has a crate to sleep in but I dont shut him in it - because he is so good when we are here is was a massive surprise to find that he is going into the areas where he doesnt when we are here - we have no need for doors shut etc. when we are here, which is why I dont understand it.

As far as the toileting goes, he will identify what is a correct area to wee/poo in, so if areas are similar then he will probably use that - just as he will go when he is on his walks, he's not aware of what is a 'good' area and what is a 'bad' one.

Again, I dont understand, he seems to 'know' where to go when I am there, but 'forgets' when we are not there

For lead training, join a training club or use a Halti. If used correctly he cannot pull.

I have done both - and more - he still pulls using a halti (whilst grunting in pain) and I have spent a fortune on training - he does it for a while and then seems to just 'forget' He acts perfectly when we are doing the training.

Thanks - I am most fed up about the pulling TBH - it is getting me down badly now and I cant afford to keep getting him more training.

Lifeisbutadream

FireyFaerie wrote: »

Babygates are great to stop him getting into rooms you do not want him to get into. I think if you have a garden then unless you fenced off a section for the kids and a section for the dog I don't think you would be able to stop him weeing and pooing anywhere. I think to a dog its just the same as being in a field so would of thought scent etc determines where they go sometimes.
You could try some training classes for the pulling, if it has worked in the past then maybe he needs regular training.

I dont want to use baby gates - done all that when the kids were little! he does not go into rooms that he isnt allowed when we are not there, so he knows that he is allowed.

Lifeisbutadream

FireyFaerie wrote: »

I am not well educated with animals, but you say "he".. is he neutured at all? I may be onto something completely irrelevant, but I wonder if dominance or something may come into it when a male dog reaches a certain age? Like a teenager who starts to test boundaries maybe? Sorry if I have been no help whatsoever, just thinking out loud.

No he isnt neutered - I was hanging on to decide whether to do it or not, but am thinking now might be the right time as his !!!!!!!! are pretty much the most unattractive things I have ever seen dangling around whilst he runs about..:o

I never thought about that being one of the reasons though - might be an idea to do it sooner rather than later..

aliasojo

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

I dont want to use baby gates - done all that when the kids were little! he does not go into rooms that he isnt allowed when we are not there, so he knows that he is allowed.

No, all he knows is just that, when you are there, he is not allowed in certain places.

You're expecting him to behave in a way that is rational to you, but not to a very young dog.

Maybe try to think from a dog's pov to understand why he behaves as he does? A behaviourist could help with this but it would obviously cost.

DogsBody

Dogs tend not to think in terms of right/wrong, allowed/not allowed

Instead they tend to respond to safe/dangerous, so your dog has learned very well that while you are around, any attempt to go to a certain spot is 'not safe' (ie you remove him from the place, you call him off, he gets a disapproving look if he tries to go there, etc) However, if you are not there, none of these things happen, ergo place becomes 'safe'.

He's a clever young lad! But he can't do moral judgements, and he's not trying to annoy you deliberately.

It's quite hard to stop a dog doing something when you are not there if he has already found out for himself that doing the forbidden thing is 'rewarding' in some way - one of my rescues is a worktop surfer, although it is never rewarded here, it has obviously been rewarded in the past and she will keep looking, just in case

Does he have a 'command' for doing a wee etc? If he will 'go' on command it'd be easier to make sure he's 'empty' before he's free to womble around in the kids bit?

There are methods to make it 'unrewarding' for a dog to do something when you are not there - these rely on corrections being applied seemingly by the environment (ie having nothing to do with you), but they tend to be aversive (for example, for my worktop surfer, mousetraps on the worktop have been suggested - not the sort of thing I'd really want to be advising anyone to do). Sadly, prevention is better than cure for that kind of thing - a behaviour that is not rewarded ever tends tob e quickly extinguished, and if a dog is NEVER eg allowed on the sofa, he never learns that it is worth trying - done by crates/gates/shutting the door when you are not there, but much harder to do if he's already practising the unwanted behaviour, and will take a frustratingly long time.

Loose lead walking - the holy grail for most of us, so you are very much not alone there. Time, consistancy and a truckload of patience, whichever method you try - very frustrating, I know (I am teaching the counter-surfer LLW just now (well for the past 2.5 months), and sometimes we don't make it 100 yards down the road, which is a great improvement from the times we struggled to make it out of the door!). Have you done any clicker training with him? Google the 300 peck method if you haven't already tried this, small goals at least make it seem like you are making progress!

Lifeisbutadream

DogsBody wrote: »

Dogs tend not to think in terms of right/wrong, allowed/not allowed

Instead they tend to respond to safe/dangerous, so your dog has learned very well that while you are around, any attempt to go to a certain spot is 'not safe' (ie you remove him from the place, you call him off, he gets a disapproving look if he tries to go there, etc) However, if you are not there, none of these things happen, ergo place becomes 'safe'.

He's a clever young lad! But he can't do moral judgements, and he's not trying to annoy you deliberately.

It's quite hard to stop a dog doing something when you are not there if he has already found out for himself that doing the forbidden thing is 'rewarding' in some way - one of my rescues is a worktop surfer, although it is never rewarded here, it has obviously been rewarded in the past and she will keep looking, just in case

Ahh that makes sense

vax2002

Sounds perfectly normal to me, they are little devils tho .
For pulling buy a halti, they can not pull with their nose, they are like a muzzle and the lead goes on the end. When you are out the best place for any springer is outside in a fenced off garden with a big bowl of fresh water and a kennel if it rains.
PS where in Yorkshire, I could give some tips from a old hand.

Lifeisbutadream

vax2002 wrote: »

Sounds perfectly normal to me, they are little devils tho .
For pulling buy a halti, they can not pull with their nose, they are like a muzzle and the lead goes on the end. When you are out the best place for any springer is outside in a fenced off garden with a big bowl of fresh water and a kennel if it rains.

Done the halti (plus all the other types invented) and they can pull!!! at least mine can (and yes I did have it on correctly )

I probably need to get him into the habit of being outside when I go out - he hates been out there for some reason !

vax2002

I must admit mine pulls like a husky on a mission and he is knocking on now , I tried everything, they just want to get free and run.
Too much to see, to much to do.
I think it comes with them, but the bad bits ate far outweighed by the good ones.
If you can train him to run with a mountain bike you can have some great adventures.