is he progressing or am I failing him ?

(We have had Alfie 4 1/2 months and he is about 11 months old. Before we got him he had spent about 6 weeks in the rescue centre)

I just feel like we are not making much progress with him but I dont know if thats because I am being impatient or if we need to improve our ways.

He is very 'busy' but is that normal? I feel exhausted with having to watch him all the time cos he is always nicking stuff or chewing the furniture.

We are still struggling with biting, mainly in the evening when he gets hyper, yesterday he bit my OH pretty hard, no blood but quite alot of bruising.

He also still jumps up madly when he sees people.

We are telling him no, and putting him out of the room when he bites, also ignoring him when he jumps up.

He is better with me than with my OH, is this because I scream better when he bites or cos I am his main carer?

He is fed Skinners field & trial hypoallergenic,  and gets an hours walk a day, we are rural so alot is off lead. We also have a  big garden so he runs about in that alot.

He is not left much, 1 to 2 hours school days, 4 hours maybe once a week.

I am aware I buy him off far too much with a pigs ear or something like that, they have kongs/stagbar but he is not that interested.

But does his behaviour seem normal to you? I would like to walk him again in eve but its hard cos kids need me then (7&9) and OH is not home till late.

Sorry for ramble, I read other posts on here and other people are coping with much more than me, I just worry that we are failing him. He is a lovely boy really ( not sure my OH thinks so at the moment)

By 12 months he should be being walked more than an hour a day, this will help with his behaviour, I understand its hard but a tired dog is a happy dog. Could you not split his walks perhaps 45 mins a couple of times a day? Its all about routine and perseverance and everyone in the house doing the same thing.  

I can only echo Inez above on her advise, it is recommended they get at least 2-3 walks a day for 5 minutes per month of age. Consistency with everyone doing the same thing when he is doing something wrong, you have only had him for 4.5 months so there is still a lot of training to do, but please dont give up, patience is the key, and you will all get there eventually I find yelping when Rocky bites or nips has helped a great deal, also with the furniture chewing try a bit of VICKS rubbed over the furniture, they tend not to like the smell or taste, dont use this as a constant, just to get the chewing to stop. I hope this helps x

Before I answer your question a little story ....

Chiquito passed level 2 obedience last week, I was so proud I just had to post about it. Today he ate my front door frame and chewed my coffee table ... I was so upset I just didn't think about posting it. We all have bad days, 'bad' behaviors and struggles, we don't necessarily post them on here each time they happen though! Moral of the story is .. you are not alone

Millyjude8 wrote:

He is very 'busy' but is that normal? I feel exhausted with having to watch him all the time cos he is always nicking stuff or chewing the furniture.

This sounds a lot like boredom or attention seeking behavior .. does it happen at certain times of the day? Chiquito loves to do this when I am getting ready for work for example (stealing bras and knickers and running under the mango tree with them is his fave way to get my pre-work attention)

Millyjude8 wrote:We are still struggling with biting, mainly in the evening when he gets hyper, yesterday he bit my OH pretty hard, no blood but quite alot of bruising.

Using a very firm 'no' along with the time out will help with the biting ... it does take a lot of time and consistency though!

What do you do when it is 'hyper time' in the evenings? It is a great time to do a little training or consider a good game of fetch or tug in the back yard if a walk isn't practical

Millyjude8 wrote:He also still jumps up madly when he sees people.

What do you do to address the behavior besides ignoring? Do you praise as soon as he stops jumping? Does he know 'sit'?

Having him on lead when they arrive and using treats (either scattered on the floor to keep him down there or having guests give them to him when he sits) works well - as does removing him to another area until he has calmed down if he is particularly excited when people arrive.

Millyjude8 wrote:He is better with me than with my OH, is this because I scream better when he bites or cos I am his main carer?

Screaming usually excites them more so I doubt it is that ... you being more consistent than your OH (as you are there more) may make a difference though

Millyjude8 wrote:Sorry for ramble, I read other posts on here and other people are coping with much more than me, I just worry that we are failing him. He is a lovely boy really ( not sure my OH thinks so at the moment)

Everybody feels this at some point I am sure!! The fact that you are on here asking questions and looking for information and advice tells me that you are not failing him at all. Training is an every day for life thing, and anybody here (no matter how well trained their dog is) will tell you that they have to keep working on it all the time

I can only agree with the advice already given, definitely increase his walks if he's tired he'll be calm darcy was a awful biter I remember being covered in cuts and bruises with time & patience she got better, he will get there. Your doing the right thing coming here and asking for help

field and trial is designed for working dogs who will be in the field all day running after birds. I would not feed a family dog a working dogs food, this is why he is so busy and hyper.

As others have said you may want to up the walking time a bit to maybe a couple of hours a day. This may be why he is getting hyper in the evenings if he doesn't get enough exercise. Are you able to do an hour in the morning then an hour later in the day to tire him out before bed time ??

Hayley wrote:field and trial is designed for working dogs who will be in the field all day running after birds. I would not feed a family dog a working dogs food, this is why he is so busy and hyper.

I thought about changing the food to jwb or wainwrights but "which dog food" didnt seem to think they were any better. Cant afford the really good stuff like orijen and cant face feeding raw, but am happy to change to another kibble if it would help.

Do you think jwb would be better?

Thanks

Thanks for all the other comments, i will try the other suggestions too, particularly upping the walks.

Thanks again

[quote="Kell"]This sounds a lot like boredom or attention seeking behavior .. does it happen at certain times of the day? Chiquito loves to do this when I am getting ready for work for example (stealing bras and knickers and running under the mango tree with them is his fave way to get my pre-work attention)



Have just talked about this with OH and we think you are right, he bites Andrew like mad when he comes home from work. We think he wants daddy attention having not seen him all day, also he nicks loads of things while i am cooking tea.

If he is more tired with more walking hopefully he will be ok to be left to rest for a bit.

Off topic i know, but having a mango tree in the garden is sooo cool, does it fruit?

You will find upping the walking will help, as for the mango I don't know. 

[quote="Kell"]
What do you do to address the behavior besides ignoring? Do you praise as soon as he stops jumping? Does he know 'sit'?



He knows sit, down and stay, so we could try that. We have started doing the four paws game, so will keep going with that.

We did a 10 wk training course when we first got him and he was a little star at that, everyone thought he was perfect. But as soon as i got him home he would nick stuff and be really naughty again, but he had my whole attention at the class so maybe thats what he wanted?

Jwb & wainwrights are good mid priced foods and some of our members feed them, if you do change do it over a week or so to avoid any tummy upsets

They are hard work , no doubt about that , but very rewarding . My oldest was a dream to train and a little ah ah Tongues not teeth when I returned home worked really well and even she would know how to react differently if I came home in shirt and tie rather than jeans and t shirt. My young boy is struggling with this but we are getting there.
On the young one's improvements is he now knows that my grandson is only allowed to suffer a violent tongue thrashing and the mouthing is for grown ups , its all about patience and taking the advice as given

Darcy-may wrote:Jwb & wainwrights are good mid priced foods and some of our members feed them, if you do change do it over a week or so to avoid any tummy upsets

Both mine are on Wainwrights and recommend it , works for me

Thanks for all the replies, it helps to know its normal behaiviour. I was starting to worry that i was ignoring a problem and waiting for him to improve when he never would.

Thanks again, this forum is wonderful, i would be lost without it

i would def change his food over and up his walks also,they can be little whirl winds of energy at that age so if he's tired out by his walks life might be easier for your oh!

Your dog sounds exactly the same as mine - jumping up, biting, chewing stuff, treats my other half like a 2nd class citizen.
So you are definitely not alone. I have had lots of advice from here, and it does eventually work, but unfortunately it takes time and wont be over night.
Could you take the kids with you for the later walk? I know that when Lou starts acting up, we take her out with her ball for 15 mins (this is after she has already had her morning walk), and this sorts her out for another couple of hours. They have so much energy.
With regards to my husband, i think its because im her main carer, i feed her, i mostly walk her, esecially every morning, sometimes OH might do it on an evening if he is home before me. so we have started to make sure he feeds her aswell, and makes a big deal of it, makes her sit and wait and give her paw etc..
We will get there im sure. xx