Pup training trouble

[treefella 24]

Hi All,

Need a bit of advice on my pup and training, I'm having a bit of trouble and just wanted to check if hes being a puppy and he will grow out of it or im doing something wrong.

So I have worked lurchers since I was young but have always got one at 12months plus from rescue centres and trained them to a good standard and (pre-ban) worked them well on most things. So i know how to train an adult dog but never had a pup, I thought it would be easier.........i was wrong.

He is a mix of deerhound, bearded collie, bedlington and greyhound and 6 months.

Below are the issues I am having and what i have tried so far.

1) re-call when there are other dogs around, and wont leave them alone, if they dont want to play with him then he runs around them barking.  Iv tried calling him, offering treats etc I dont chase him trying to grab him as I know that will become part of the game for him.

2) Jumping up constantly on the lead and grabbing the sleeve of my coat, iv tried telling him off, standing still and ignoring and giving him a tap on the nose. eventually he gets bored of doing it, but it takes a while.

Any ideas, or am i worrying over nothing is this just puppy stuff.  He gets plenty of exercise at least 3 long walks a day

 

[Maximus Ferret 2,064]

I've had lurchers all my adult life too, mostly from pups but occasionally older and in my opinion pups are easier to train (obedience train that is). Here's why. Pups have their drive and enthusiasm untampered with and as long as you have a bit of patience and savvy you can direct this along the right lines. What you're experiencing does sound to me like puppy stuff so I'll tell you how I'd deal with it.

1) The recall. I'd keep him on a lead when other dogs are around to begin with. Practise recall when you're alone with him and run off if it needs speeding up. High value food treats like small cubes of boiled chicken, fried liver etc. are good for recall to begin with but they can't match the excitement of running after another dog or squirrel or rabbit for that matter. You should be aiming to become more interesting to the pup than other dogs are. This may take a while but make the walks exciting by playing a lot. Limit retrieves to 2 or three at first to keep him wanting more and be prepared to take a step back if you see him losing interest.

2) The jumping up. You obviously don't want a dog that jumps on you or anyone else but I'm prepared to tolerate this a bit in younger pups to keep their drive high so I just avoid situations where they'll jump on anyone else and discourage the sort of people who praise the pup when he does this.

Pups do need to be disciplined at times but this needs to be carefully done depending on the temperament of the pup. The impatient type of person that let's say smacks a small pup for growling gets either a slinking, nervous dog if it's a sensitive border collie type, or if it's a dominant type it may decide aggression is king, and may behave for the trainer but bite people it sees as weaker like the trainers spouse or children or pets etc.  Good training means assesing situations quickly and responding with the right response quickly. A pup I have on ATM started growling at an older bitch of mine (over food). My reaction was to grab him quickly by the throat, no shaking, just "no" in a quiet and firm voice. This was enough for him though I've had to reinforce it a time or two as I have 4 dogs living in the house and two are older retired types. I'm beginning to woffle on so I'll leave it at that but if you want to look at youtube vids on training I'd recomend Michael Ellis and Stonnie Dennis as two good trainers with good vids on tug play retrieving etc.

Hope this helps.

PS. He will grow out of messing with other dogs if you play it right and he'll get to like you better but it can take a while with some so play with him and enjoy your time with your pup while he's young.

Edited March 26, 2020 by Maximus Ferret

[white van man 3,390]

Some decent advice there. I can handle the not coming back if it’s with other dogs. Unless there’s something better on offer then it’s always a battle you will probably lose! Once he’s back then give him a treat and a fuss. Try and avoid walking up to him. Sit tight and he should start looking around for you. I don’t like dogs jumping up so I work on this straight from the start.  The kids have to enforce the same rules. My young bitch has never seen interested in other dogs and once she’s said hello is straight back to me. My saluki Lurcher is 5 and he kind of does his own thing but will come back fairly quickly. It’s good to let them socialise with other dogs. The older dogs will soon put him in his place. There’s a difference between playing about on a walk and then playing about when they should be hunting. He’s young and will soon click onto things

[socks 32,253]

Shoot it .........

[bird 10,013]

the key word i picked out (6 months old ) ,your at the trying it on stage ,. you said you had them at 912 months old, there still trying it on , but not as puppyish  as 6 month old pup.  you missed the most important stage, from 9 weeks - 6 month old, when there very young, you can imprint your mind on them , the older each dat they get , it get that bit harder . if it was my pup, i keep it on the lead when other people or dogs are about , just walk up to them steady on the lead, and do that . regards recall forget it when it got it mind on other things fact, i never call my pups back  if the y see people or other dogs, i just ask the person or got he dog to just hold him for me till go down for him. no point calling , all you doing his teaching him( not) to come back . far better to bond/ play with him  1st, train him   latter,  plus  most training classes    dont have dogs till there about  8 months old, and thats just pure basics .!! 

[treefella 24]

Thanks for the advice gentlemen

I got him from a pup at 9 weeks, but he was very ill for quiet a while so by the time I could take him out after all his jabs he was 4 1/2 months.  It sounds silly but one of the biggest problems is he is still a puppy but he is 25inchs at the shoulder and already pretty muscled so compared to most young dogs hes huge and wants to play rough and most other young dogs he comes across cant handle it.

It's annoying as I thought i would find it easier to train him as a young pup over an adult dog.

He seems to have taken after the terrier mentality wise so he will be quiet the beast if he carries on growing and filling out the way he is, iv always had bitches before him

 

Again, appreciate the advice, I'm sure I will get there. Hes a smart dog really, I'll put a pic up soon

[Runner96 514]

Mine used to be obsessed playing with other dogs at that age, as soon as I stared to put things in front of him it stoped and his work head went on. He hasn’t Done it since. 

[bird 10,013]

16 minutes ago, treefella said:

Thanks for the advice gentlemen

I got him from a pup at 9 weeks, but he was very ill for quiet a while so by the time I could take him out after all his jabs he was 4 1/2 months.  It sounds silly but one of the biggest problems is he is still a puppy but he is 25inchs at the shoulder and already pretty muscled so compared to most young dogs hes huge and wants to play rough and most other young dogs he comes across cant handle it.

It's annoying as I thought i would find it easier to train him as a young pup over an adult dog.

He seems to have taken after the terrier mentality wise so he will be quiet the beast if he carries on growing and filling out the way he is, iv always had bitches before him

 

Again, appreciate the advice, I'm sure I will get there. Hes a smart dog really, I'll put a pic up soon

haha   thats nout regards being  puppyish  , i got  7 year old dog here  still like to play with other dogs , prob  is you got 90 lb dog flicking them over when he plays, he likes to drop his neck over them   lol

[Black neck 16,502]

3 hours ago, bird said:

haha   thats nout regards being  puppyish  , i got  7 year old dog here  still like to play with other dogs , prob  is you got 90 lb dog flicking them over when he plays, he likes to drop his neck over them   lol

Get the bloody gret thing away

[Casso 1,261]

Forget all that socialising bollocks , pups are born social , social is the foundation 

the expression of physical force /energy /flow / drive is key to bonding with you and everything else, 

when a dog is stimulated it Has  to move , unless trained otherwise,  which is another days work 

look at it this way ,

dog see dog, dog get energised by sight of other dog , dog is stuck with said energy, to ground this feeling a dog must move , it can’t  just do f**k all , if your not the answer , your the problem 

you correcting the mutt in your space when stimulated, makes everything else much more inviting ,  because you can’t return his system to neutral if ya get me ,  which f***ing about with other dogs will 

the biggest issue by far for every dog is 

“what do I do with my energy “ answer that from the start and the dog will happily ignore everything else and invest himself in you , YOU CREATE HIS WORLD ,  that’s the bottom line  

forget titbits treats any of that shite, don’t bowl food , only feed  all food when on walks , getting him to push into you with your left hand on his chest to get food in your right , 

get him hooked on a tug item  Or a ball but I prefer a tug item it gives a great work out   5 mins training is better that 5 hours walking  because the dog is in a drive mindset , a state of flow , it reduces his charge and it’s all happening in your space , 

teach him to bark on command, teach him to down, keep him on a long line while out 

dont play in the home, in fact ignore the f****r, inside calm outside play 

only let him express himself energetically through you that’s the key ,

Dont let other dogs correct him fucks sake your creating a bigger problem you’ll have to solve later 

your the problem but also the answer , best of luck 

[Blackmag 6,156]

24 minutes ago, Black neck said:

Get the bloody gret thing away

I think you need a bigger hat ray

[bird 10,013]

2 hours ago, Black neck said:

Get the bloody gret thing away

haha  told you  loved  brown dog ,feck me it was getting very close, he nearly pulled me over, when he 1st seen it