Doesn't listen to a word I say

Harvey hasn't been here long, but I'm finding it difficult to keep his focus and attention on me. He's obviously used to getting his own way and pretty much doing whatever he likes and I'm finding it very difficult to improve his behaviour. He was neutered yesterday so been trying to keep him calm which is pretty much impossible so periodically i've been putting him into his crate to rest as otherwise he leaps all over the furniture, leaps on the other dogs heads and bodies and pretty much is like a demented teenager. I'm just wondering how I can go about getting this to stop and what' the best way to go with training. My other two are really responsive to me and I'm not used to this to be honest and it's getting me a little stressed.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Patience.

Not what you wanted to hear, really, is it? He's going through several problems at the moment - he's been recently rehomed so there will be a touch of anxiety & stress, he may well be going through a later fear stage, he's just been neutered and he's going through a rampant teenage phase! Poor fella, I bet he doesn't know whether he's coming or going & neither do you!

The good news is it won't last.

Firstly, what do you feed him? Also how much and what type of exercise does he get?

Start simple training games with him whilst he is in recovery, build a simple and strong bond

Caryll wrote:Patience.

Not what you wanted to hear, really, is it? He's going through several problems at the moment - he's been recently rehomed so there will be a touch of anxiety & stress, he may well be going through a later fear stage, he's just been neutered and he's going through a rampant teenage phase! Poor fella, I bet he doesn't know whether he's coming or going & neither do you!

The good news is it won't last.

Firstly, what do you feed him? Also how much and what type of exercise does he get?

No but I know you're right Just feel I need a bit of support just now to re-assure me, so thank you.

Yes I feel so sorry for him as he's gone through a lot and he's only 7 months, poor boy. Thank goodness for the good news

As for feeding, I give him Burns puppy and some Naturediet puppy mixed in. He was originally on Adult Bakers (previous home) but I took him right off that as I think it's awful. He itched like mad and I thought he had some sort of skin condition or mites but as soon as he was off the Bakers the itching has stopped. He gets fed twice a day - except today when my back was turned and he had dessert of half a jam doughnut that he leaped up and stole when my son was sitting eating

Exercise is 3 walks a day on a flexi lead as I've not even had him here a week so don't want to risk off the lead for now until he's settled properly. It probably adds up to around a couple of hours. He gets off the lead in the garden for a boing around but I think he's extra boingsome just now as he's got to be kept calm after the neuter so not to cause damage to the stitches etc. I think once he's recovered properly he wont be so bad as will get more exercise again.

Janey - what sort of training games?

Hide treats/treat balls/simple waiting games (these help in the long run)/basic commands/make commands a routine/fetch/leave use boxes anything you don't mind being chewed.

Anything stimulating is good for them, and will make progress and training fun and easy

Another vote for patience, there have been times I've been furious inside with Stig and thought he was just a tw4t, but after reading some of the posts on here I quickly relised they're just a bit mental when they're puppies, Stigs just coming up 9 month and has only recently started to calm, but only a little bit. The attention problem is one I had and training was very difficult at first, even with a quiet room and my attention on him alone he always had something more interesting to do, I had a read on here and changed his rewards from the shop bought treats to Cheese of all things, worked a treat (excuse the pun), try different things like cut up pieces of hotdog (I microwave them a little to dry them out a bit), small cheese cubes, cubes of chicken etc, I was amazed at the difference.

Try hiding some treats or toys around the room & let him sniff them out. Maybe get some plastic cups & place several of them upside down on the floor. Put some treats under one of them and tell him to "Find" or "Seek" & then see if he can sniff them out.

Try some simple recall exercises with him indoors, or teach him some tricks like high 5 or give paw etc. It all goes towards building a bond, plus it tires them mentally so goes towards calming them down.

stig wrote:Another vote for patience, there have been times I've been furious inside with Stig and thought he was just a tw4t, but after reading some of the posts on here I quickly relised they're just a bit mental when they're puppies, Stigs just coming up 9 month and has only recently started to calm, but only a little bit. The attention problem is one I had and training was very difficult at first, even with a quiet room and my attention on him alone he always had something more interesting to do, I had a read on here and changed his rewards from the shop bought treats to Cheese of all things, worked a treat (excuse the pun), try different things like cut up pieces of hotdog (I microwave them a little to dry them out a bit), small cheese cubes, cubes of chicken etc, I was amazed at the difference.

Thanks for this, you've helped put my mind at ease. I thought I was doing something wrong so your post has really helped me.

Janey - thank you, it's appreciated. I'm going to take him to training class next week too so hopefully this will help things along.

Caryll - thanks so much, they are all things I will give a go

Let us know how the training class goes.

Really the same advice as others patience, exercise and mental stimulation. Short training sessions on the basic commands several times a day will also help. End on a positive note and use reward based training.