FrederykBlot

Thank you very much for this most detailed advises We both know that she may have reinforce unvolontarly the behavior, but I wouldn't be harsh on her, given I'm pretty sure I could also have made the same mistakes in the same situation, if Loki would have been onto me like he was onto her... If you're working on something important, or have a meeting in a moment, and you have a dog that jumps on you, bark around, you may indulge here and there... I know, it's an easy way out, and short term, but sometimes you just don't see any other way And except for those "emergency moment", we're really in the same mindset about the education... so I cannot say for sure that he's more into her because she's more easy with him If he's no longer allowed in the yard, you may need to find some replacement activities to make up for the change. Foraging activities, nosework, clicker training, more sniffing adventures on walks (maybe on a long line), food puzzles etc. Abrupt changes (like if he was used spending time in the yard and now suddenly he cannot) may lead to a behavior vacuum which needs to be filled with other activities. Yard limitation is not new at all. It has been since months (when he barked so much we had neighbors trouble) that the yard is a controlled place. He's allowed in the morning between waking up and first walk, then at noon after we eat and before second walk, and after our work day and before last walk But no problem with that since then However, he has toys, and we still do training, but usually when alone, he naps, and doesn't play much alone you can take steps to preempt the behavior and the office change where your girlfriend is no longer easily accessible can help accomplish that. Yes we are firm believer of environment control before counter conditioning in order to set the stage for easier victories instead of too difficult too soon Don't want to pat us on the back too soon, but since then, while he's still a bit clingy when she gets there, it seems to have less "bad behavior" like pawing and jumping It surely is easier when she's not sitting at the desk, but even with sitting in the living room it seem there are less sollications... We'll try now to follow your advice about "prediction", trying to find the exact state and triggers that make him behave like that, to try correct that

I used the picture thread even if it's not really a picture Loki's first time with snow, but real snow, not the little layer in the yard

OMG ! They're so precious !!! Ivory and Ebony !! Twins from different wombs 🙂

And if I may : never underestimate treat value The more difficult is the behavior change, the more value the treat should have For example, to brush Loki, we had trouble to make him stay in place, while using normal treats, because some places were unpleasant to him as he has knots When we switch to cooked hot dogs, no problem anymore, he would stay, and I could even pull on the hairs quite strong without him bulging

A few precisions : - there is no health issue involved for sure : he got his last control check up at the vet few days ago, and everything's perfect, he's in perfect health, which is good news - after switching desk, we started ignoring the whining. And some times, my gf would come down, and play with him / pet him, making sure this is her decision, not his. It that the way to go ? It's weird as we also evolved as a owner : while little, we learned to ignore the whining, and reward the calmness... being hard at the beginning, it became normal.. Finally he evolved well, everything was fine, like no more whining, easier settlement... But now he is starting to whine again for whatever reason, and the worriness is coming back like "what ? why is he whining ? he wasnt whining lately... is something wrong ? what should we do ?" While several weeks we would have been "mehhh let him settle alone" 🙂

The problem with guests who are not collaborative is that they can be the very cause for major setbacks. I can't say how frustrating it is when you have progressed a whole lot and start to finally see results, and guests will start petting your dog right when he is jumping and you are then back to square one because behaviors that are reinforced intermittently (sometimes yes, sometimes no) are more difficult to extinguish. I hear you so well !!! 🙂🙂 They can be not collaborative, but not on purpose. Reminds me for of my father-in-law, in summer we were having a little apero in the garden, and while we were training Loki not to come begging, he went onto him with his little cute and fluffly face, offered a sit with nice eyes, and my in-law couldn't resist and gave him a little sausage !!!! thanks for the setback !!!! I guess "guest education" is also a thing : - Many of them tried to pet him from above, and right on the head, and of course Loki went on "full defense mode" and tried to get the hand. Even if we're not worry about harming the guest as we did bite inhibition while little, it still triggered a little excitement and play mode that encouraged the jumping - when he's getting excited, they still pushing with the hand, which becomes a nice target

Hello, I would like a little advice about one of Loki's behavior that evolved quite a bit lately (teenage phase is hard, it's all ups and downs, when you think the hardest is gone, something else coming right in your face :)) I think I mentioned it already, but Loki is a little "mamma's doggy", ingrateful boy as I'm the one more involved with the education and taking time 😛 But lately it is more and more expressed. Since several weeks, we switch offices from professional reason, and my gf ended up in the office next to the living room, in which he has access I'm now in the upstairs office, which he does not have access as the stairs are blocked by a baby gate. I'm usually the one doing the walks during the days, and after the walk, he would settle for some time, usually few hours, while we work. But lately, he would nap like one hour, and then, would go to my gf in the office, and start some kind of attention seeking behavior : pawing on her, biting feet, sit and look at her while whining... It may be also related to the will of going outside (the yard is now forbidden if not under supervision as he would sometimes dig, or bark on anything passing by), but even if he's allowed outside for a bit, he would come back, and redo all over again the attention seeking behavior When needed he is expelled, and office is closed because she may have meetings, or urgent matter, and barking and howling starts in the house, which is also new, to express his unhapiness He does not do that with me... I'm not sure if I'm jealous or not 🙂 I don't know if it's more "respect" towards me, in the sense "this is the boss, I shouldn't make weird stuff with him", or less affection (which I would find a bit sad, as I'm the one that wanted him in the first place :)) The thing is, she may have reinforce the behavior, as sometimes, to be sure safe a few moments, she would go play with him a bit, perhaps mistakenly showing him "if you seek attention, i would come"... but ignoring was difficult as he would become more "physical", like more pawing, a bit of jumping, louder whining... We tried a new approach, but I'm not sure it's a correct one : we switch back office again today... And it was quite hard... he whined a lot in front of the stairs... he barked a lot in the house... But he never went on me as he usually did on her... and at some point he settled. (I gave a chew to help soothe things a little, he took it a few minutes, then went back whining in front of the stairs, then back to chew, and loop...) Is it ok to make those kind of "changes" ? I mean, he seemed to settle in the end, but perhaps it "broke" his routine / usual environment ? With my gf being upstairs, it's easier not to reinforce the "you seek attention, I come" with me ignoring him, as he doesn't go much to me, and when she gets downstairs, then she plays, pet him, showing more "it's ok, I'm not there always, but if you're nice, I would come back to you and do stuff with you" We think a bit more of absence can lighten the clinginess, but can the "absence" cause anxiety / depression and the fact that he settles is more something like "pfff life sucks..." thanks in advance for the help

Hello everyone, I jump on this topic to get a little advice on the matter also, as Loki starting to get a bit jumpy on guests, which is quite recent. Before he was more likely to get to them and offer the belly but now with a bit of excitement, he starts to get a bit jumpy My main question is how to train without involving the guests ? I do not say they will never like to help, but when you're inviting guests over, it's not ideal to start the party with "hey can you help me do dog education ? he would try to jump on you but we will try to teach an alternate behavior like a sit or down" thank you

Thank you for your answer. It's very reassuring to know we can plan good holidays for us, without it being at the expense of Loki Btw, I have exactly the same question with frequency : we're planning the incoming ski season, but if we want to go to States next year, we won't have enough days off work for having a full week of holidays for skiing so we're likely gonna spend the season by going on multiple weekends Is there any threshold that can be inconvenient for the dog ? like 1 weekend over 2 would be too much ? for now on, we try to board him a weekend per month, but we hope for ski we could try 1 weekend over 3, 1 over 2 if not too much and not problematic for the dog knowing he will go for Xmas, come back a few days, and then go again for New Year Eve, as we're hosting the party at our place for the first time... still, it would be in the same place as usual, which he loves

Hi all I'm upping this subject while last message was long ago, just to share with the improvements, and to thank for all the great advice Actually we do not use the kennel anymore... When misbehaving, or having the witching hour, he would be expelled, and end up just sleeping in the entry zone downside And lately we tried training alone time with him free in the house : we're doing it after the evening walk, after which he would usually settle for the night... he would get a licking / chew while we eat, but he would no more be excited... The advance in age must help too... But some times ago we started going out taking take away food, and leaving him alone... He would sleep in his spot downstairs in the entry zone Then we increased with going to a restaurant next to the house, which would be 1h30 out during the night / evening Then we went to an autumn festival, about one hour... still sleeping next to the entrance door We don't know if he'd whined or cried while we're gone, but we think it's good, as there is no other sign of any distress or destruction. Sadly we have no way to monitor his spot with the camera, it's kinda in a blindspot And for the first time next weekend, we're gonna spend the evening to some friends for dinner and night, and we'll likely come back very late I'm pretty sure I'm the one who needs training, as I'm afraid something because of the time difference, but actually, rationnally, as he's sleeping, 1h30 or 4h during the night shouldn't make too much difference :D the thing is, being able to have parties with people again, which have been something we avoided before being sure he would managed alone, will bring a new source of enjoyment in the house :)

Hello there ! Have been some time since I asked specific question for Loki, and that's good news :) Lately he'd be adorable, and better in many things : recalls are better, settling during the day when we work also, the night routine is now almost perfect... And I'm sure being here is a big part of it (and a little of our work, little pat in the back for us :)) That being said, I have a little question about boarding : My girlfriend sister is living is the USA, and at some point, we would want to visit her. Giving the upcoming things (holidays, money...), it would likely take place in Fall of 2022, something around September I'd say We were wondering how long it would be problematic to board Loki ? Loki has been boarded here and there since he was 4-5 months. The pension he usually goes in is perfect. She has only 6 boxes, that means she can spent time with all the dogs... Also there are often dogs with whom he can play... Pension is "Le Domaine de Pandora", in France, there is a Facebook page, with videos including Loki. One thing that makes us sure he is very well there is the fact that every time we go, he always makes a hell of a party to the owners, and that speaks a lot We almost put him in one weekend per month for him to get used to be boarded... Max he made was 5 days for a holidays long weekend for us... During Xmas he will go 4 days... 2 days for New Year Eve... So being boarded does not seem like a bother to him, he never showed any signs of stress when back, or when we're going there But we were wondering how long it is "not recommended" to board ? As Europe ==> USA is kinda big trip, we don't want to go only for a week... And we're planning 3 weeks there Loki would be 1 year and a half at the time... Max he would have would be a full week in July 2022 as we have a wedding is a Mediteraneen island... Is boarding 3 weeks too long ? What should we take into account for this future trip ? Thank you for the help

Hi I'm not sure I'm knowledgeable to give much advice in your case, but just wanted to stop by to salute the rescue of a dog, specially an abused one My little grain of salt though : - destruction is not something that would go overnight, so environment control is much needed. With ours, when we couldn't watch him, he would be in a playpen, or to avoid destruction on stuff we really didn't want to, we would put that stuff in the kennel, not the dog :) One of our sofa was in a kennel during first chewing phase :) - redirection with high value treats : the importance of the treat value can be underestimated and is more significant that we may think. Some stuff we were struggling with, was settled quite fast once we change the treats - finding the adequate replacement : giving him an alternative thing to chew on and destruct would save the stuff you value... but it's not that easy to find : for example, the Kong, which is often "the Grail of toy to keep your dog busy" was a total failure with our pup... Chewing stuff like hooves, or horns, was the way to go for him It's personal experience that worked with our pup, cannot guarantee it would be efficient with your dog Still, hope it will help ++

Hi hear you there ! I guess it's pretty much the same for every pup. At home everything good, as the stimulation are low, but once outside, nothing else matters (yeah love Metallica :)) I think one of the key here is to have the most high value treat ever. It changed much when we switch : normal education low value treat, he wouldn't bother to even look at us, but when outside we switch to dry lever, of cooked chicken, rest of our beef steak, and then we managed to get at least a little gaze here and there, or some good recalls Also, I think if your training environment are House VS Outside around dogs, the difference can be too much to handle. If you have a yard, train him in the yard; Or if you can, set a puppy playdate : that way you can train with only one dog he knows as stimulation : it's easier than outside where there are dogs, new smells, and all at once... Training with little increase in stimulation would be more manageable We also attend puppy school : it's a good environement, supervised by professionals, where the stimulation can be controlled, and everyone is here for the same reasons. just a little self experience, hope that may help

Interesting.... does he have breakfast before or after walks? Is he on leash with you when he sits in front of the door? We give before the walk, but he usually eats after Yes he's on leash. Free walk is only limited to big places where we really can see and control the environment as the teenage phase made him a bit worse at listening to us in a stimulated environment If this is out of character for him, I would discuss with the vet just to play it safe in case there's some type of pain going on. I know he looks like he's just bored, but dogs can be stoic and hide pain and the only signs we may notice are a reluctance to walk or sort of lazy behaviors. It's only just with the morning walk. And it seems to happen more with me than with my gf... not other signs of anything worrying, poops are great, he has energy during the day for obedience, and playing... It could likely be he's undergoing a fear period. It's important to work on increasing confidence We still do lots of obedience and tricks, with lots of praise and rewards. I was wondering about tug o war ? I heard both thats it's an ok game, and it's a game not play. I also learned the dog shouldn't win, or shouldn't win the last round. What is your position on tug ? Fog can sometimes confuse dogs, and they may feel initially puzzled or maybe slightly disoriented and unsettled by the abrupt change in scenery. While sounds may be dampened, the humidity in fog increases scents, amplifying them significantly so it could also be he's smelling something unusual too. That seems really likely, as I noticed it happens only in the morning, and only from last couple of days, where the temperature decrease drastically

Hello, little news here : whining seemed to have passed... long time before he whined while we walked However lately, a new behavior showed up :) once again, nothing dramatic, but more curious While walks are Loki's best thing, in the morning, he's not much into it... He would sit in front of the outside door, sometimes even for minutes, and at some point he would go... Also, in the usual road that gets to the fields, he would sit, and stay, like he doesn't want to go there... Not showing any sign of fear, or distress... Just staying there, like saying "pffffff booooorrrriiinnngggg" But after a few minutes, he would go, and enjoy the walk, as his normal self I put it on the teenage thing, what you describes as the "duh moment" Also he seems to show signs of the "2nd phase of fear" like little noise makes him jump, and maybe it is related... perhaps the sit has a little fright, but I wouldn't understand why in the usual neighborhood... perhaps the morning fog that started to appear with the decrease of temperature

I'm going to add, always praise him for coming. Even if it took 10 minutes, refrain from negativity. Say you're late to a friend's house and they greet you enthusiastically and was happy to see you vs arriving at a friend's house and they yell and gripe at you for being late. Which friend are you going to want to visit again? Cannot agree more on this one, even if it's difficult, and specially for us during the teenage phase : last experience : we were walking, and he was with a doggie friend, we let them loose to play fully in a field, which is next to the forest... the 2 rascals started to play next to us normally and at some point, they decided having an adventure in the forest was much more fun... they fled like bullets deep in the forest... and took almost half an hour to come back... Emotional roller coaster. Just pissed at first, then annoyed, then angry, then afraid something happened, then sad because we thought of the end... And then they came back to us, just happy... I would have killed him on the spot for the emotional ride, and the total absence of obedience... but we praised and rewarded the coming back, otherwise he would quickly think "when I come back I get grounded / scholded".... punishment was ending the walk on short leash while he's usually on long leash

Hello I think most of us can hear you, come when called is a life saving one, but also one of the most difficult, and it will get harder with more distractions (ours won't do anything is there are other dogs around), and with the teenage phase... I'm sorry I'm not reassuring :) However, one of the things that mattered the most for us was the choice of the treats : what didn't work with medium value ones, worked far better with high value treats For our boy, those would be cooked chicken breast, dry liver, or dry smelly stuff like beef larynx / small edible chews, liver paste I'm not sure it's relevant, but when you say "he won't come in when you know he's finished doing his business", it seems that you call him back just once he's done with his business, and that's why he doesn't like it. He'd rather enjoy a little outside time. Maybe letting him enjoy a little outside time may help

Thank you for all the details We sure try to avoid inconsistency because we read so many times that dogs need strong rules, and won't understand what is waited from us if we keep changing the rules But as you say, being 100% is just too hard with "real life issues". We try to do it only by necessity. In case of the office, it's the need to have calm for an important call, or client meetings That being said, I sometimes don't understand my dog... After speaking about his barking issues, today, he was like an angel : we spent almost the all afternoon in the yard (it was sunny) as he didn't do any crazy barking. Just a little here and there, when someone passed by, but in a totally acceptable degree. I cannot assert if it's the payoff of the training, or just because today he's tired... he's actually sleeping quite much outside while 2 days ago, it was totally out of question... Smooth evening also yesterday... with the normal routine... I don't know if it's really the case or not, but we have the impression that his daily frozen hooves may actually "wake him up". We noticed that sometimes, after the evening session, while I cook, he would settle, just go lie down somewhere. When we give the chew before eating, after he has finished, he's quite "awake" and that were the times when he was expelled from the room. During the weekend, he got his frozen chew after the playing session, but before the evening walk, while we were just enjoying a drink at the end of the day. Then we did the walk, he just got ignored while we were eating, and ended up going to sleep downstairs... I'm not sure, it was just this weekend we noticed that, so it may be nothing but perhaps it's a better routine Something I have forgotten also, an important lesson... it's the value of treats... I didn't understand that what was valuable enough was not sufficient enough for a dog in teenage phase who wants more independance. during walks lately, it would refuse to advance when having another dog in sight : he would just wait until he'll be allowed to interact with them... I ended up pulling the leash quite a lot. But one time, I took the "quick edible chew" : for us, it's not an education treat, but more a calming chew, but those are soooooo high value. For example, it's dry liver, and lungs... all the stuff that are sooooo smelly... Using that I managed to have his attention on me (to be honest it was more on the chew :)) but still I managed to make a few steps of kneeling walk which was impossible with normal education treats so my big discovery of the day, with the teenage phase, there is a big need of increasing the value of treats and rewards to be able to get some reactions and some attention again :) I think we're gonna cook quite some chicken in the coming days :)

I read it seems to be quite a journey you're having Not much to say here, just a little encouragement words Take care !

Makes sense Thanks for all the information, it's really instructive Still, it was just out of curiosity. I do not feel any distress or anything

Hmmm.... is he allowed in the office sometimes yes and sometimes no? Or has the office always been off limits to him? Yes he sometimes get to nap inside with me when I'm working. The door closing happens when he's too excited and starts chewing of everything like chairs / furnitures and I cannot make control on him Are you responding in any way to his barking? I mean in terms of both negative or positive attention. In the specific case of the "office barking", no, because I'm usually busy on work. In other case of barking, sadly yes. When in the yard, we have to try to make him stop because of the neighbors, and when inside, and he's doing it strong, with the echoing, it's really unpleasant, so we also try to cue a stop command, and treat when he stops. I'm wondering if we're not creating a behavior chain Is anybody at home with him when you are working in the office? usually not Does he have access to things to do when you are in there? Yes he has some long chew in free access (hooves, horns...) and solid enough toys, but he rarely plays alone. When put in alone time, he'd rather just sleep How long are you doing the calls and meeting in general? He's rarely on alone time more than one hour Does the barking start the moment you close the door or random times? Midway? Beginning. He would settle and go sleep somewhere else after I ignore for a few minutes About the evening routine, yesterday we had another smooth evening. But it doesn't count as it was kind of a "special day". We had guests, so he didn't sleep at all during the day, as we did puppy school, came back to do house cleaning, then our guests arrived. He was a bit the center of attention and had plenty of stimulation from everyone, and at some point during the diner, he just went to sleep by himself as he was exhausted from the big day and we were ignoring the begging.

What was he barking at when out in the yard? Did it look like there could have been some critter or other disturbance outside? I wonder if he could have detected something from indoors when he started barking around 11PM. It's not impossible, as he went like an arrow in the direction of the fence as soon as I opened the door. With all the door closed (room + outside + living in between...) I didn't think about that... But the barking starts also to be more and more "problematic"... he tends to express more and more his unhappiness with it I know the breed is prone to barking, so to me it's more "just the way it is" rather than "a big problem that need to be targeted and solved" But during the day when I have calls and meeting, I close the office door. What was before a little scratching and whining become more and more barking and howling. The problem is the same (he does not like the fact that I close the door on him), but his way to express it starts to change To me it's a bit related to the teenage phase, and the will to assert himself... Is it relevant ? but I may be totally wrong We still train "look at that" for the barking, when in the yard... but it also increased despite the fence. However we have to do it though, as our works will take resolutions soon about coming again to the office, so we start more and more to put him alone during the day, usually one hour, here and there. Maybe he sleeps more during the day, and that's why he was less likely to settle... Assessing "too tired" versus "not enough stimulation" is not always easy :)

Not neuteured, and actually 8 months today :) It's his 8monthnniversary :D Her work, very far, it's a 30 min tramway trip. But the walk to the tramway, we passed by during Loki's walk sometimes She leaved at 8AM when the walk was at 10AMish But sometimes it's elsewhere, I'm just throwing ideas here It doesn't seem much like a problem, but just don't want to be sure it's not a sign of something bad

Hello I am curious about a new behavior Loki is displaying : at some point during walks, he would start whining in some directions There is no problem here per say, in the sense there are no symptoms of illness or anything. We just continue to advance, and it's over 10 meters further Sometimes he does that when he sees people or other dogs and want to greet them. But I am talking here about whining without any kind of visible trigger I guess he must smell stuff, I was wondering : - female in heat ? I'm not sure it's the time ? is he also old enough to sexual desires ? - my gf in the way to public transportation ? this morning he did it at the crossroads where we take the tramway, while she works at the office today, he even sat and waited a few seconds

Thanks for the words, I like the "goal of nap creation" :) However the line is thin indeed Yesterday, exact same routine : but after his chew, he started being crazy in the room, so he was expelled. He didn't like it, and start barking for almost 10 min straight, until he finally settled. We call good night around 9:30PM, no problem here. Around 11PM he started barking like crazy in the crate. after 10 min, I got up, thinking it was a need, let him in the yard a few minutes, where he barked again... So put him back inside in emergency, call "good night" in the crate again, and he made a barking tantrum during a good 10 min again before finally settling for the night Exact same routine, opposite behavior... this is the most difficult to tackle, in the sense that we didn't do anything different, so we wouldn't know on what we should adjust only thing that appeared different, is that the evening session was "harder" : we had a long walk, and he spent most of the time playing with a doggie friend, he arrived exhausted at home. We did go with the usual routine, giving him food while cooking, giving his chew while we dine, letting him settle after... He may have needed the nap before the chew as the session was more tiring... But apart from that, I don't know at all could be done