I'm very close to rehoming our puppy. :(

MurphytheLabrador

Thanks for your replies, I appreciate it.

We have found a trainer with good reviews near us, I've emailed her. She does the first lesson as a kind of trial, gets to know the dog and the family. It's at a reduced price to start with, so going to take him this week, and see how it goes. My husband really isn't convinced by it at all, I'm not completely either ,but it hopefully worth trying even just to see how the first lesson goes.

Caroline_a

Well done you! I did wonder whether it was your attitude and, by you and your husband's skepticism it looks as if it might be. There's no shame in thinking that, due to inexperience, that you have a pup who can't be fixed. There's virtually no such thing, just as there are badly behaved children who can be helped by routines and different attitudes.

You'll be taught how to approach dog training and dog 'conversation' properly. These things you will be able to pass on to your children, so that they will be able to have happy and well behaved dogs when they grow into adults.

Mojisola

MurphytheLabrador wrote: »

I don't think he gets too little excersise, I walk him on a 20 minute walk morning and night, a shorter walk in the afternoon, and we let him play in the garden everyday.

Good luck with the training but I think you also need to increase the length of the walks. For a young dog like him, a 20 walk would just be a warm-up.

Person_one

MurphytheLabrador wrote: »

My husband really isn't convinced by it at all, I'm not completely either ,but it hopefully worth trying even just to see how the first lesson goes.

Please try to leave your doubts at the door when you go to the class and go with an open mind and be willing to listen.

Are you both going to go? I think it would really help if all the family were on the same page.

krlyr

A good trainer should let you go and watch a class or two before you even hand over any money - my local one even did a free assessment to see if Casper would be suitable for classes (fear-based reactivity issues) and has given me tons of advice over email yet I've not actually had any paid classes or anything with her. She's definately in it for the dogs

Oh, and in regards to length of his walks - remember that physical exercise isn't the only important thing. Mental stimulation can be just as tiring. Doing trick-training may seem pointless but it makes a dog use its brain. Think of a dog like a child - they can run and play all day on seemlessly endless reserves of energy. Get them to sit down and concentrate on something mentally challenging, like painting a picture or decorating cupcakes, and you can wear them out without taking them anywhere. Dogs are the same, so try to get a balance of both physical exercise to keep him fit and active, and mental exercise to give his brain a workout. Don't necessarily treat them as two separate things either - mental workouts out on walks can help build a bond between you and the dog and help with issues like recall too. For example, instead of walking him around the block and throwing a ball back and forth in the park, make his walk training by throwing in some show-standard heelwork training for fun (you know when the dog seems to glue itself to the owner's hip and stares up at their face - not really any need to teach it to a bog standard pet dog but it makes the dog concentrate on you a bit more). When you reach the park, play hide and seek with his ball instead of just chucking it back and forth. Start easy by letting him see you hide it and getting him to 'go find it' but slowly increase the difficulty - if the family is with you, get one person to hide it while the other distracts him, and then make him hunt it out blindly. His breed will help because he'll have a good nose on him!

MurphytheLabrador

Thank you all.

We're all taking him to the training classes.

marmitepotato

Got my boxer puppy a Kong Wobbler, it keeps her amused. She worked out how to get the treats out straight away, but it keeps her busy for a while and gives her some mental stimulation.

Good luck OP.

meames_2

Mojisola wrote: »

Good luck with the training but I think you also need to increase the length of the walks. For a young dog like him, a 20 walk would just be a warm-up.

I agree with this my 14 year old dog gets a 20 min walk in the morning! As Victoria Stillwell says "a tired dog is a hapy dog".

Raksha

Person_one wrote: »

I can't see why puppy classes would be an issue, he is still a puppy, most trainers are happy to take dogs up to a year.

Classes for adult dogs tend to be full of troubled rescue dogs with loads of bad habits, great if that's what you're dealing with but not right for these circumstances!

Lots of folk can't see why it's an issue, but at 6 months or so the dog stops being a 'puppy' and starts turning into a 'teenager'. Putting a dog of that age in a class with 10/12 week old puppies puts both at risk of learning bad habits/becoming bullies/becoming fear aggressive...

It would be like putting a teenage hoodie into a nursery class!!

Raksha

dannymccann wrote: »

For example, when we came in he used to hump us (even though he's been done), we were taught to give a swift knee in the chest (not to wind him or anything like that, but to knock him down) followed by a 'NO!' or 'HEY!'. If that doesn't work, you have to grab his paws and hold them, it gives him a sense of being trapped and he doesn't like it, ergo, he doesn't do it anymore. It's not a case of bullying him, it's a case of showing him who is boss, and because of the type of dog he is he needs to know he cannot dominate us.

Kneeing in the chest is outdated and has been known to be fatal - please never ever do this. Grabbing paws to stop an unwanted behaviour can lead to a dog who won't allow his paw to be held - tricky if he has a thorn or other injury.....

I can't believe this outdated advice is still doing the rounds...