Well they say pride comes before a fall and I have been blowing Morse's trumpet on here over the last few days. Since the thunderstorm episode he'sbeen trying to sleep in NO1 daughter's bedroom and had to be firmly put into the kitchen. Now it's bin raking, food stealing, jumping up on visitors - especialllly the ones who squeal and running to the basket when called for a walk. When out he's trying to pull on the lead and stretching compliance with commands. Looked up the Jan Fennell website last night and find it's all to do with adolescence and being alpha or whatever. Thought I'd done all that obviously not correctly, and now the magic clicker isn't working - he ignores it and the offered reward. Help!

Morse is about seven/eight months ?

Basically he is a young dog who needs lots of patience, he is going through puberty in human terms & will need careful handling. The thunder obviously came at a bad time developmentally for him. He might need a safe place of his own like an indoor kennel(crate)rather than a basket. Crate training is not punishing him but making him feel safe & secure in his own "personal"space

You need to reward good behaviour & ignore the bad, any reaction telling off etc will not help

I would try daily obedience training 5-10 minutes max & when he gets something right don't repeat it so that he remembers positive behaviour

I set my pupils goals each week a bit like homework-nothing much maybe a stay for 20 seconds the next week 30 secs etc

Jan Fennell-hm try real dog trainers like Jenni Watson or John Rogerson or Gwen Bailey, who have real experience of dogs, rather than someone who applies human pyschology to dogs-Ms Fennell claims to have "invented"titbit training-odd I did that over 40 years ago along with many other people

I don't believe in all this alpha rubbish - he sounds about right for an adolescent pup. Up the training on a daily basis and a crate is a very good idea. Good luck :)

He's being a teenager. It happens in even the best families! Grit your teeth, keep plodding on with the routine stuff, and he'll come out the other side no worse than he went in. Don't start chopping and changing methods - I've found that if they were reasonably good when they start this phase, they'll be reasonably good when it's over. It's a nightmare period, and lasts for about 8 months on average , but it's normal. He'll try your patience to the limit, (like all teenagers of all species) but if you can stick it out you'll have a terrific companion at the end.
:)

Thanks all - I needed a bit of encouragement! Good to know it's Morse monster himself being a teenager - I was muttering about spoiling the dog and blaming the kids and partner. All of what you say makes sense and I do the 5-10 minutes a day as we toddle about. Thanks for the tip about stopping while it works Moonmaiden - my weakness was doing it just one more time. JG thanks for reminding me he is a good little dog. Actually he's been out with his dad this evening and been great but sooooo MUDDY I shall draw a veil over the uprooted fuchsia bush and ripped bedding!

Keep your chin up Lorelei!! Im also in Edinburgh and if you need a break, want to chat or compare horror stories then Id be more than happy to meet up for a walk - would be good for my little terror to have a playmate and it might wear them out! Im in the Murrayfield area so hollar if you want! :)

Thanks Isla it would be fun to change walks sometime - we live in East Craigs so a bit further west. You could introduce us to Water of Leith and we could show you Cammo Estate - many empty fields, woods and muddy places to roll in. I'll give you a shout when kids are back in school. Things are improving it just need more patience and less panic. Today Morse and I played fetch the ball and that was a great thing as he didn't play at all before.:D