Sometimes I just wish I had a 'normal' dog!

Wellyboots6

Am sat here now doing some indoor training exercises with Little Sod as I wussed out on his evening walk half way round. He is being the prefect student and looks so innocent...

I have been working from home this afternoon and have spent the majority of the afternoon retrieving stolen pens, purses, notebooks, mobiles etc from LS' crate and the flowerbed outside. Not exactly got much done!

Then decided to give up and take him out to hopefully relieve some of the boredom/mischief/paininthebumness so I could get some more work done when I got in.

Only trouble was, we had a rain shower and so he spent most of the walk lunging at passing traffic as he hates the sound of tyres on wet tarmac. Got half way round his walk (decided on a road walk as I wasn't in the mood for being dragged on my face through muddy fields) and saw a lady coming towards us with two dogs on leads. I admit it, I gave in and turned round and went home rather than have the drama of trying to walk down the opposite side of the road to pass her, whilst also hanging on to a nutty GSD intent on launching himself under the wheels of passing traffic. (I owe my sanity, and the safety of half the county to my beloved headcollar!!)

All of this after 2 hours sleep last night as he decided to empty his toy box and spend all night bouncing various balls, watering cans, tug ropes, shoes etc down the stairs and chasing them! After confiscating the offending items he then proceeded to open the downstairs curtains so he could sit and wait to bark at any passing cats/owls/foxes etc. I also gave up on trying to sleep

I'd never give up on LS himself as I love him to bits and he makes me laugh every single day, bit sometimes I do wish he was slightly more 'normal'!

libra10

Little Sod sounds high maintenance!

Your post made me laugh so much, sure he's get there in the end though.

Good luck

Wellyboots6

And now he is licking my living room floor, saves on mopping I guess!

skintandscared_2

oh bless, sorry I had to chuckle but on that much sleep I think I'd be crying by now!!! Do you have any area you could "baby gate" him in at night. Our pup has a section near the back door in a corridor that we've gated off. He has one soft chew toy in with him (which the squeak has broken in!) and a water bowl/mat for a wee if he needs to. He has one of my worn t-shirts and a soft blanket but nowhere to run about at night. He sleeps like a dream and we don't hear a peep out of him all night. Even if we pass his bed to go to the bathroom in the night, he may stir but he doesn't make a sound. I don't know what I'd do if he didn't sleep!!!

elsien

The lack of sleep would do for me, definitely. No chance of teaching him to use his crate at night to stop him being a pain?

The bit about spending hours retrieving items does sound familiar though - I think that bit counts as normal in our house as well, if nothing else.
Stick with it, when he's old and calm and asleep a lot of the time you'll be wanting some of the mischief back again.
And on the bad days just remind yourself of how far you've come. I've started keeping a little diary with gitdog so on the days he really winds me up, I can look back and see the progress we have made.

Edit - what sort of headcollar is it? Gitdog is getting very quick at removing his halti so I'm considering alternatives.

Wellyboots6

Sorry skintandscared, but you forget he is a master criminal and evil genius in a dog suit! Baby gates are nothing to him, I tried that when he first moved in and he worked out he could jump over them easily. I took him to a friends house for tea, and she has a baby gate to keep her dogs out of the kitchen while she cooks. He sauntered over to it, nosed at the catch and let all her dogs through!

I have tried shutting doors to keep him contained, but because it is a very old cottage all the doors have latches on that he can open easily. It is rented too so I can't change handles or put bolts on.

I have to lock the front door all the time as he can open that and goes wandering off down the garden path (usually carrying some embarrassing item to display to passers by). There is a chain around the front gate as he can also open that.

He does have a crate that he will take himself off to sleep and sulk in. I am reluctant to shut him in the crate unless I need to however as he would still be noisy, and he doesn't actually do any damage when he is up to his pranks in the night. He does sleep through the night when we have been to a training class, or done an intensive training walk in the evening.

Can you tell he is from a working line?!!

I do love him to bits but he is blummin hard work!

Wellyboots6

It is a Halti headcollar he has now. He did have a Gentle Leader but trashed it. Someone recommended a harness to me, but I was reluctant to try it as I could just see him using a harness as extra leverage to pull with. I will try and find it again though and see if any pet shops have one I could try on him just to see what its like.

He does sleep in his crate at night, its when he is awake that the trouble starts! I don't know there would be much point shutting him in it however as he would just be noisy anyway, and he can also wriggle it across the floor when he is in there so I would come down in the morning to find my furniture shunted and the crate half way across the room.

The diary idea is not a bad one. I am embarrassed to admit but he does have his own FB page! I use it more as a diary and somewhere to keep photos so I don't have to do the crazy dog lady thing on my own FB page. It is quite nice to look back and see how many more tricks and pranks he has learnt over the months I have had him!

elsien

You do forget what hard work a clever active dog can be, especially when all the "normal" things like agility etc are out.
I have to be honest TM went back because I just knew I couldn't do the 6 am walks and the constant reactivity every day for the next 10 years and I couldn't see any prospect of it changing. In that case "normal" won out. Not that I'm suggesting LS goes anywhere, just saying I do know how wearing it can be on the bad days.
Were the tricks and pranks intentionally taught, or is he extending his repertoire of his own accord?

skintandscared_2

katy721 wrote: »

Sorry skintandscared, but you forget he is a master criminal and evil genius in a dog suit! Baby gates are nothing to him, I tried that when he first moved in and he worked out he could jump over them easily. I took him to a friends house for tea, and she has a baby gate to keep her dogs out of the kitchen while she cooks. He sauntered over to it, nosed at the catch and let all her dogs through!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I do forget that not everyone has a little short-legged Jack Russell fluffball Our Ted doesn't even try and push the baby gate if it's pushed closed - even if it's not locked and he could easily nudge it open. I am glad that it's on porcelain tiles though, and when he's older he won't have a run-up to try and jump over it!!

MrsAtobe

A normal dog? What's the fun in being a slave to a 'normal' dog?

Dimey

I always look forward to a Little Sod thread as I know its going to be hilarious.

Sounds like you need to wear him out more so he sleeps longer at night. You'll wear yourself out too!