New here and having some difficulties!

Hi guys!

I'll pop in and say hello on the introduction page too

Ruby is fourteen months old, we rehomed her at 17 weeks old. I'm guessing she's a staffy cross as she's long, tall and too lean to not be crossed I think, everywhere we go somebody asks what she is! Maybe whippet or something?!

In the house she's the perfect girl, she's barmy at times but generally she's respectful, gentle and fantastic with our kids. Not so with visitors. Outside she's a different dog! We make sure she leaves the house calm and after us, she waits in the doorway for an 'ok'. We constantly have to stop start because she pulls on the lead. This is irritating with four kids in tow.

My main issue at the moment with her is that if I pop into a shop, leaving her outside, or leave her outside school while I pick the kids up when I get back to her she goes mental at me and the lead, like all the crazies come pouring out and I very publicly end up with her biting me, growling, hanging off the lead tugging, jumping at me.... Arghh! She gets a good walk and free run every morning, and usually walked up to school and back( an extra hour I suppose) on lead, but when she's doing this I'm rather reluctant to take her as she looks mental and is embarrassing and acting out of control. If I stand and ignore her for a while before going to untie the lead its easier to distract her but in the bigger picture we don't seem to be getting anywhere and I worry people will think she's vicious! She also does it after nicely walking past people, or dogs, or if another dog barks or snaps at her.

I also worry that she's getting protective/dog aggressive. On a few occasions she's gone at dogs barking and lunging if they approach us. This is new. I don't really have any dog walking friends, and to be honest I'm starting to worry what she's gonna do next :-(

She was spayed last month on the hope of calming her down.

We attend dog obedience which she's good at, they just describe it as a 'splash back' for being good, they don't seem to have any advice other than making sure she eats after us etc, which she does. She's not bothered about the dogs there, despite a few snappy little terriers hating her.

Any ideas would be greatly received!

Hi there.

Firstly, please dispel the outdated 'pack leader' methods, the eating before your dog, walking out the door first (apart from for safety's sake). Your dog knows you provide the food & as long as you don't allow her to charge to her food before you tell her it's ok.

Has anybody digested the 'watch' command?

This is the thing, we're new to all this, she's our first dog and I feel she has to be whiter than white and disprove the stereotype! She def has some issues and I don't know where to start and besides stating the obvious- that she's over excited when she's doing this the trainers at our group haven't helped. I've read some books, cesar Milan, jan fennel etc... All very pack leadery, any recommended reads from you guys?

How do I teach her 'watch'?

Thanks :-)

The thing to remember when trying to correct unsociable behaviour in dogs is to concentrate your attention on the things she does right and not to get hung up on the things she does wrong. Easy for me to say, I know but it is a principle that has helped me.
Firstly, what motivates your dog? If she is food sensitive, then use food to reward good behaviour. If she is play motivated then restrict access to toys until she is calm and compliant.

The watch command is used with a yummy treat, maybe some sausage or ham. Hold it on the bridge of your nose between your eyes.
As soon as she looks at you treat her straight away, after doing it several times introduce the words "Watch me". You will find its very useful in many situations.
You can then combine it with the "Sit" command then "Watch me".
Hope this helps.  

I hope your vet did not tell you that spaying would calm her down, and not to alarm but some young dogs have been known to stay in the same mind state (aka a puppy) when spayed early. My point is, don't wait for her to calm naturally cause it may not happen.

The watch command is a great tool if your dog has the attention span to get it, which a hyper dog might not. It might be worth your while getting a hiviz vest that says "dog in training" on the back which will be good for the winter mornings but also when you are standing going "watch watch watch watch" looking like a mad person people will be able to say ah shes training shes not mental

What is she fed at the moment?

The vet nurse was really great actually, at about six months I went to book her in like I thought I was supposed to and she sent me away to do some research! Before her first season she seemed to go skitso, then after mellowed right out after. Then just before she was done she started getting all crazy again, the trainer at group advised her it might help if it was hormonal. She was only done at the end of last month so was over a year old. I didn't want any worry about puppies so she was always going to be done sooner or later.

She was on purina beta puppy when we got her and we changed to Wainrights.

She's good at learning tricks so gonna give this a try :-). She knows sit, stay, leave, beg, down, roll over, paw, finish....... Liver cake all the way

The food is fine I feed Wainwrights too and no problems , it just sounds like you have to knuckle down with your training and be patient , my boy was a complete nutter , now he's just barmy , watch me is a good tool and the advice from Dafnpuppet is very good too

Ah thanks :-)

Inezmaria70 wrote:The watch command is used with a yummy treat, maybe some sausage or ham. Hold it on the bridge of your nose between your eyes.
As soon as she looks at you treat her straight away, after doing it several times introduce the words "Watch me". You will find its very useful in many situations.
You can then combine it with the "Sit" command then "Watch me".
Hope this helps.  

That's exactly it. Then, once she's got it indoors, start to do it outside, without distractions to start with, and then with distractions. But you need to get the "Watch" in before she kicks off, so you'll need to learn to read her body language, and of course have eyes in the back of your head so that you can see any potential problems before she does!