SusanOgilvie

We found a field to rent for an hour. It's in the middle of nowhere, with no distractions. Baxter performed some terrific recalls and learned, very quickly that as we called him, he got a treat. He then went from one to the other, until we noticed what he was doing. Very clever! We'll go again when we can get a slot and I've ordered some more things for him to play with. Thanks for your help

I concentrated on walking today. To think about what was happening. As I told you, we walk in the countryside - woods and fields. We are surrounded by rabbits, hares, monk jack, badgers, squirrels and dear. These are all too interesting for a dog to ignore. When these other creatures are around, that's when Baxter pulls. Understandably. When I call him back 'here Baxter', he returns to my side, takes his treat and goes back to hunting mode until the beast has gone. It's not ideal, but I can put up with it quite easily. Also today, we stopped to talk to someone in their drive for about 15 minutes. Baxter stood and sat and was a very good boy until the person tried to approach him. Then he jumped. A back was turned and he got no attention. We are still in lock down in the UK and had to move on, but it was a good exercise for us. Oh, I forgot cats and dogs in my list of distractions. I'll carry on with this until I have read through a lot more of the information you sent to me. I don't see this behaviour as fear, anxiety or insecurity. Everything is just too exiting for him. I sent my initial query by regular email. I think the response regarding 'not murdering the affectionate dog' came from your offices, with the instruction to address my problem through the forum.

Thank you Adrienne for all of these posts. I have a lot to get through before I can comment. However, I do a harness with connection in front of the chest and between the shoulder blades. I also use a training lead to give a little extra distance when trying recall. I also carry a slip lead for when he is being particularly active, to try to get a little more control. I taught him to take a bow this week. I'll do a lot of reading and will be in touch, Thanks again, Susie

> From Susan: What do you recommend then? We got him from a shelter. They just keep passing the problems on and on again to other well meaning mugs. He'll just keep coming back. We have given him nine months. I'm 69. I need help to deal with him! > > > https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/forum/forum/5-dog-training-amp-behavior/?do=add > I definitely don't recommend murdering the affectionate dog, as many shelters would be glad to have him. > > >> From Susan: Dear Adrienne, >> I purchased your programme to help me with my dog Baxter. Baxter is a rescue dog, now about two years old. He'd been found as a stray and although he was chipped, the owner could not be found. >> We've had him for nine months. We call him a Staffrador, as we think he might be a Staffy x Labrador. We think he may have been thrown out by his owner as he is 'a handful'. >> For the first six/eight weeks he was destructive, but fortunately he seems to have gotten over that. Once we realised we had got ourselves a problem, we had some one-to-one training and then classes with a local dog trainer, using methods the same as yours. Baxter walks out fairly well, but can get a little bit pulley when we are in new places, understandable. He sits and lies down on command. He will leave food when told to and will wait until he is given the go ahead to eat his meals. He has no recall, just turns a deaf ear, regardless of the lure. He is never allowed off the lead outside of our home/garden. He has no aggression. He doesn't bark, growl, snarl or bare his teeth. You can take anything off him. He is quite affectionate. Our best friends have a two year old Standard Poodle and a huge garden. We took Baxter there to socialise him. They got on well, though a bit boisterous the first time. After the third occasion we had to take Baxter away as he was charging at her like a bull and had injured her. >> Our problem is that he is a serious jumper. He jumps in the house on us and our visitors. We have tried turning our back, leaving the room and putting him on time out. He does eventually calm down from exhaustion - us and him. When we are out, he jumps at people passing by, chases bicycle riders and when we see other dogs he goes absolutely bonkers. He jumps into the air and throws himself to the ground. He will take the lead in his teeth and play tug of war, often circling me. He has pulled me into the road and had me off my feet on several occasions. The dog trainer showed how to distract him from other dogs with sausage, but how much sausage can I carry around with me and have I got to do this forever? We live in a village surrounded by countryside. I walk him every day. This morning we went on a three hour hike. When we returned, he ate his breakfast and then ran through the house and garden bouncing off the shed, walls and furniture and knocking my husband to the floor. >> I was hoping that there would be something in your programme that would help me to solve these problems, but there's nothing new there, except some party tricks. If I cannot get on top of this and transform Baxter into a well behaved dog that I can be proud of, I will have him put down. I could not in all good conscience, pass him to some other unsuspecting person. >> You seem to be counselling your readers to contact a local dog trainer. Been there, done that. Why should I buy the programme if that's your best answer. What can I do? What can you do? As you can appreciate from my message, I am at the end of my tether. He just brings me to tears >> I look forward to hearing from you, Regards, Susan Ogilvie >