Almost six months old and drags me around the park!!! What training do i focus on

[EricKane]

My boxer pup, Kylo, is great at home. He'll sit, give a paw, go to his bed when asked to if people are eating. He'll sit before eating his dinner, he'll show no aggression around his food etc etc. Take him out for a walk and the whole drama starts. He will recall fairly well for his age but he won't stay to heel or pay me all that much attention when out as his brain is completely blown by whats going on around him. He wants to drag me to other dogs and jump up at every single person that he sees. He runs wild if off the lead and runs full pelt into my older dog with no regard for the fact that he's covered in mud and actually maybe that nice clean woman doesn't want him diving all over her. This makes me keep him on teh lead all the time and end up pulling him back constantly while shouting and screaming at him to quit it. He is a typical boxer pup and i'm really struggling. He's great with other dogs, no aggression and approaches other dogs with respectful caution...until he knows they won't bite him then he's an explosion of fireworks and paws and mouthing and jumping all over everyone and everything with not a care in the world. What training do i focus on as there are pages and pages of it on here and i've no idea where to start

[EricKane]

Just to add, he will focus on treats for a short time while walking and if he knows i have treats in my hand then i can distract him for a short time and make him focus on me but its brief and very little will distract. Should i walk him alone and not take my other dog so i'm 100% focused on him and he is not distracted at all by my boy Archie? Just for the record Archie is almost perfect, he won't disappear, he listens to me always, his recall is great, he can be off the lead at all times with no concerns but i do grab him if there is a dog on the lead so as not to worry an owner with a nervous or aggressive dog. Archie is not a problem at all. 

 

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello and welcome to the forums!

It's so great to hear that Kylo has learned so many things and is being such a good pup at home!

In regards to his behavior on walks, it sounds like he's overstimulated by all the stuff going on around him, however, this isn't unusual, especially for the younger pups. Puppies are notorious for having short attention spans, sort of like toddlers who struggle to sit too long to watch a long movie. The behavior when he's around other dogs sounds pretty normal as well. Pups tend to behave in a socially illiterate manner and they'll often act quite boisterous around other dogs.

Of course, we want to teach them good skills, but we'll have to firstly consider their age, as we may be asking too much too soon. The good news is that when you have an older well behaved dog, these can make great teacher dogs for puppies. 

I have a couple of questions to better understand the situation.

How old is Kylo? And how old is Archie?

When you take them together on walks, are you walking them both or do you have a family member walk one dog while you walk the other?

 

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Sorry I missed that you put your pup's age right in the title!

At almost 6 months, he's reaching the adolescent stage. Here is a read about what happens around this timeframe:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/

What type of walking gear are you using? Collar and leash (what type?) or a harness?

Have you trained heel in a quiet setting before going on walks?

Here is the guide on heeling:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/

You may also find it useful training a solid response to a smacking sound and using it on walks:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/

 

Edited November 2, 2021 by Adrienne Farricelli

[Adrienne Farricelli]

You may also find it useful training a solid response to a smacking sound and using it on walks:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/

 

Edited November 2, 2021 by Adrienne Farricelli

[FrederykBlot]

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