One step forward,3 back.

For a 8mth old dog Debo was doing great. He had his moments in the house but that didn't last long. Outside he was good in 90%, he came when called,when spot a dog ,on my command he would stop and wait till I come. When on the lead and spoted a dog he would look but when called he would walk no problem. For the last 2 days he's done opposite. He even run after the dog after I called him,he just looked at me and run opposite direction. I feel a bit like failure , I know I shouldn't because it's he's age. I think we back to basic. Do you think we let him sleep with us he thinks his like us and that might be the answer for his behaviour?

Hiya, I think it sounds like teenage mischief so yeah back to basics you are right there. Doubtful it's anything to do with where he sleeps, I might be wrong but I don't think that's anything to be concerned about. Just go back to what you did first that worked and keep on going from there and it will pass

Dont feel like a failure, it's part and parcel of them growing up, they have moments.

I'm probably in a minority on this board, in that I wont allow Taz in my bed (unless she has snook in) , her King of the place mindset is too strong when I do and she behaves much better with her own space (bed).

Firm, positive reward based training will pay off eventually

He was so good that I stoped taking treats with me on the walk,because didn't need them. Back to pockets full of yummy,smelly staff. One thing. Am I overprotective? Every time my OH takes Debo for a walk ,he has him of the lead all the time( he can't runaway or hurt him self) . When there are dogs we don't know running of the lead he doesn't put Debo on his,he just lets him to go and play with them. When I'm with Debo and I spot the dog I don't know , I put Debo on the lead. Just in case the other one is not friendly. We never had bad expirience but better safe then sorry. Right? Or i'm playing it too safe?

I'd go back to basics with the training aswell! He's testing the boundaries to see what he can get away with.

I try to have Bailey off lead as much as possible but I always put him back on lead when we see another dog, people don't often like dogs running up to them/their dogs, especially a staff . People who know Bailey are fine with him if he runs up to their dogs but I prefer putting him on lead just incase. You never know if the other dogs having an off day that could trigger something!

Don't think you have failed at all! Back to basics with him as you said. ><

Just the onset of the teenager phase. I don't think letting him sleep with you has anything to do with it. We always keep Suki on lead with a new dog and talk to the handler to make sure it's okay to let her introduce herself to their dog.

Teenage mischief. I've had to stop letting Loki off the lead now because his recall has completely gone. Just get him a long lead, one of those really long ones, and practice his recall then, so you know you can pull him back to you even if he doesn't listen. And then give him lots and lots of praise and yummy treats.

Also, I don't think you're being over-protective. If he's running to dogs now and not always listening to you, I think it's too much of a risk to just let him off the lead all the time even around new dogs, in case he gets hurt. But then, some people do, it all depends on how much control you have over him and how safe you feel with it.

He's becoming a teenager - knows everything, listens to nothing & nobody understands him! You are NOT a failure, you just need to go back to basics for a short while to remind him of his manners!

jola139 wrote: Do you think we let him sleep with us he thinks his like us and that might be the answer for his behaviour?

Taz wrote:I'm probably in a minority on this board, in that I wont allow Taz in my bed (unless she has snook in) , her King of the place mindset is too strong when I do and she behaves much better with her own space (bed).

Whether or not you let a dog sleep on your bed (and I don't because I like my comfort too much!) has nothing to do with his behaviour as long as he doesn't take the p**s and plaese himself - ie if you tell him to get off, then he has to get off.

jola139 wrote:He was so good that I stoped taking treats with me on the walk,because didn't need them. Back to pockets full of yummy,smelly staff. One thing. Am I overprotective? Every time my OH takes Debo for a walk ,he has him of the lead all the time( he can't runaway or hurt him self) . When there are dogs we don't know running of the lead he doesn't put Debo on his,he just lets him to go and play with them. When I'm with Debo and I spot the dog I don't know , I put Debo on the lead. Just in case the other one is not friendly. We never had bad expirience but better safe then sorry. Right? Or i'm playing it too safe?

Are you playing too safe? I don't really know; I just know that I do exactly the same thing with Dempsey because I think it's good manners to not let your dog go bounding over to strangers' dogs. Who knows, the other person might not want their dog to play, or even worse, the other dog might be totally dog aggressive!

Back to basic works wonder. Today was much better. We practice ,when there was no dogs or peple around. I let him off the lead,allowed him run infront of me,then said stop,sit and wait. He did it 8 out of 10. So ,not bad. I've noticed that when his of his lead,he runs in front of me but has to see me ,if he lost me of his sight( but I can still see him) he will come straight away. Will keep working on him. I keep forgetting his only 8mths.

Just look back to a couple of months ago when you were really tearing your hair out & wondering if it would ever work out!

He's come on so well in a few short weeks, so instead of feeling down, you should be giving yourself a pat on the back! ><

Caryll wrote:
He's come on so well in a few short weeks, so instead of feeling down, you should be giving yourself a pat on the back! ><

Agree ><

[quote="Caryll"]He's becoming a teenager - knows everything, listens to nothing & nobody understands him! You are NOT a failure, you just need to go back to basics for a short while to remind him of his manners!

jola139 wrote: Do you think we let him sleep with us he thinks his like us and that might be the answer for his behaviour?

Taz wrote:I'm probably in a minority on this board, in that I wont allow Taz in my bed (unless she has snook in) , her King of the place mindset is too strong when I do and she behaves much better with her own space (bed).

Whether or not you let a dog sleep on your bed (and I don't because I like my comfort too much!) has nothing to do with his behaviour as long as he doesn't take the p**s and plaese himself - ie if you tell him to get off, then he has to get off.

I have to disagree strongly with you here ... Taz is MUCH better behaved if she doesn't share my bed, her behaviour regresses and she ignores commands when she has shared... And she does remove herself when told to (when she has snook in). I did not generalise and say it was written in stone for everybody, That is 18 months observational experience with her

Sometimes they just get it into their heads that they are going to do whatever they want to do A hard habit to break.

Tell me about it. Today was full on. Pulling towards people,dogs. When oft the lead on the walk with me perfect,recall,ignoring dogs when told to do so. When put on the lead the old biting lead was back, noooo! And my OH has had lovely walk as well. Run of after some dogs,ignoring my OH. He had to run after Debo. That was first. Good that we only let him of on the beach. The rest of the walk was on really short lead. My OH called me really angry. So Debo is banned from the sofa today and he's back in his cage at night. No off lead walks for now. 10 more months.

Honestly, just keep up the basic training & he'll snap out of it - all of a sudden you'll wonder what happened to the little devil, and who's this new, well behaved angel!

Really,want to believe that:). We are back to basic, but it looks like when we trying hard to show him we know better,he's like '' ok,will do all the things you ask me to do but some times I'm gonna do it my way'' and today we had taste of it. What does it mean going back to basics? We always tell him to wait for food, sit when put on/off the lead. Say no when he does something bad, correct him when walking and he wants to say hello to everyone and every dog. Just now it's some much harder.

Back to basics means go right back to what you first did to start training him - show him what you want him to do & insist he does it! So, if you started off getting him to sit by using a treat, or by pushing his bum down, that's what you need to do now. Lead work the same - pretend he hasn't been taught anything at all & spell it out for him.

I know it feels like it's never going to end - but it does!

That's what we do,it just feels like he's one step a head. The only thing that keeps me happy its knowing that I'm not alone