Last night we had our first argument over the pup.... Himself was away working for the weekend and came home looking forward to taking Morse for a walk so of course Morse decided to run away when approached with the lead. Himself nearly had him comimg to him when I spoke and he came to me instead. Like a twit I held him and Silverback exploded. Even worse SF managed to call him for a walk shortlyafter. Silverback dosent see why Morse should be rewarded for coming to get his lead on and thinks no come no walk and muttered about retribution for destruction when I voiced worries about this ..... it all got heated. Its similar to Little Bear - how do we get round this one?

OHH BOY What a situation :( you have my sympathy

Sounds like Silverback needs plenty bananas :D :D I recommend a big bag of bananas and re-reading the puppy training manual of choice, but if SB is like most of his kind and extremely stubborn - just point to the salient bits in the book.

It sounds as if Morse either became unsure of SB after he was away for a while or was very excited to see him and was doing the puppy thing :).

I hate having to chase a dog to put its lead on but this worked for me :)
To get puppy to come for his lead, practise him coming to sit in front of you (and SB) for a treat, attach the lead first, treat, then let puppy off lead for a play of tug or chase ball. Then he'll asssociate coming for his lead with treats and playing but not restriction :D If pup plays up or tries running away then fold your arms and turn your back to him with your nose in the air, a couple of seconds of this and he'll be back and you can then try again and reward him :D - whatever you do don't shout or chase him or it'll become his favourite game Once pup is reliable in this, then after the treat leave the lead on, say "walkies" or similar, and take him out for a walk, a few times of this and he'll get the idea and he'll come and sit for his lead. I refuse to chase my dog to put a lead on to go somewhere nice, if he doesn't sit for his lead then he can wait for his walk :) but he is an adult and has learned this over time so it never happens now, especially as he now knows what "walkies" means :D :D

Hope this helps some
Regards
Dill

Thanks Dill bananas went down well and have read SB the right bits - AGAIN. Putting yur hints into practice.:)

LOL glad to hear you sounding better :)

Don't know how you're finding it, but I found that the hardest thing about training the dog was training the family to be sensible and understand the training methods and reasons behind them, and the dog still 'got it' before they did :D :D :D :D
Now I have a well trained dog (most of the time) and a partly trained family :D and then there are oldest childs friends .....:(

This is the thing - it would be easier if I had Morse all to myself but that is selfish. Kids friends? Fiends I call them! :)No sooner have I sat down with a cuppa than they invade and start issuing orders Morse dosent understand, wind him up as a group and Im back to square one. Or squeals of " Hes jumping up at me!" Yes he will if you hold something above your head and wiggle it about you stupid child! MY lot are actually okay. Ive noticed my kids wont confront me with deliberate disobedience but try to weasel their way around rules, and swipe me if the dogs not the same......moral here?

Actually SB was quite right about the lead thing as its a habit just now - you cant tell me what to do ! - he just sounds as if hes Attila but hes really a big softy and was hurt that Morse went to me instead. Bless him.:)

AAAhhh the male ego :D

You're right of course, the fiends are the biggest problem :(

One of my eldest's fiends (20 for goodness sakes!!) taught my well behaved, non snappy, child safe dog to snap in 30 minutes then complained that the dog had nipped his finger!! well if he will keep waving his hands just over the dogs head wiggling them and whipping them back when dog tries to sniff.... what does he expect?? I pointed out that I could teach him (20 year old) to snap in less than 5 minutes and the dog had been very patient so far - if he'd really intended to bite the finger would have gone. I now have to make sure that dog won't get into a habit of snapping at hands over the head.

Another fiend (also 20) likes to call dog (very friendly Bedlington) and then give orders in a very BIG VOICE, just for the novelty of an obedient dog!! I have pointed out that this dog has superior hearing and there is no need to shout and we also usually only call dog for a reason not just to make the dog do its stuff and then ignore it!! GRRRRRRR to be honest I'm more likely to bite them than the dog!!!

On the other hand my 5 year old and his fiends are far more sensible around the dog -- that's scary

Youll love this, SB has seen the original post and said brokenly " Argue? I was just annoyed thats all....." Ive just banned the fiends from the garden and house until they stop treating my dog like a toy, and this morning called Morse to get his lead on , he ran and we left without him :D:D Resistance is futile!

LOL :D :D :D

I wish I could have seen Morse's face when he realised you'd gone without him

Good idea banning the fiends, at least a dog is amenable to training :D Good ole morse :D

Then once he's trained you can start on the fiends :D :D

Gosh, sometimes, just sometimes it would be nice if my boys went the otherway at the sight of a lead, instead of the mass charge to sit by the front door, sending doors flying and trampling people and child underfoot:D

Hey Mom, its a STAMPEDE! Head em off at the stairs! The problem is the gentle leader so I think we'll change to a harness or try the left right left right thing on the other board as soon as I have some drill revision to remind me which is which...... and go back to working for his food just to remind him whos in charge. Actually our little Stinkfoot who was phobic about dogs as a toddler is the best trainer - shes been reading Perfect Puppy on the QT and taught Morse to find meat under a cup tonight. She also had him harnessed for his walk while SB finished his tea.....:)

AAHHHH Bless :D

The younger ones seem to get the idea really fast, and enjoy it more (its a good game after all :) )

Hey guess what SB and Morse had a REALLY GOOD walk over the past couple of days! We decided to emphasise whos boss by getting Morse to move out of our way frequently, no tolerance of lead pulling and absolutely no entering other rooms without permission. SB has gallantly tried to praise and call in falsetto and its made a big improvement.:) I agreed not to interfere if they have a tiff.:D

LOL 'Falsetto'

MY SB never learned to do that - he felt too silly :D

Good idea with the Zero tolerance etc. we still have to do this as our boy is very pushy and still gets ideas if we stop - at least this way he's a sweety :D

Hi Lorelei,
When you say you don't tolerate any pulling on the lead, what do you do exactly? Sparky is driving us demented with his pulling and tugging when we go out. He even drops into a low stealth-like position and scrabbles at the ground as he tries to walk on. We've tried standing still, turning the other way, treats all over the place, you name it, but walks are beginning to be a bit of an ordeal :(. I'd really appreciate any advice on this as I feel like an evil witch with Sparky whining and half strangling himself at my side.
Thanks in advance,
Tracy

Hiya Tracy and Sparky, if he pulls we stop and take a step or two back so he backs into position with his head beside my knee and continue with a loose lead. The trick is to stop as soon as the lead loses its slack just as hes about to pull and keep the lead close to your tum. I can remind him now by tapping my leg and saying " With me!" I dont allow him to move until I say "Come". With the treats try throwing them when hes in the right position as it takes more concentration to catch. It is really tiring and you cant walk kids to school at the same time but it does get better. He dosent go anywhere at all on a tight lead is what I mean. We started using a really long lead and throwing treats just to get him used to a slack lead and now I use a normal lead. We find Gothboy the best at walking MOrse cos he ignores the dog completely as he swigs down Irn Bru and chats to his pals - any helpful teens to take a load off?:)

Thanks Lorelei, will try that tomorrow. Been to "school" tonight and they put a halti on him. Not impressed at all. He sulked all night, when he wasn't trying to rip it off and nearly scratching his eye out. Have ultra sensitive hormonal 12 year old who wants to be main handler, and have been trying to tactfully suggest she should put her foot down a bit more. Might do a bit more myself on the quiet when she's at school. 10 year old daughter is strop queen of the North, so could be a match for Sparky! :D Will keep plodding on - he's so lovely in every other way, and his training is coming on a treat otherwise, I just want walks to be fun!
Tracy

THAT'S SO TRUE!!!! I had my pup a week ago and my family think i am nuts and have "post-pup depression" :D as i had a cry on saturday night about how things were going - but it was because i'm TRYING to teach her to play nicely and not to play-bite and - albeit that they are only just learning to play with & deal with a dog too - they just were contradicting all the things i had been trying to instill in her when they played with her!! None of them are properly bothered to read the training manuals - although i am going to MAKE them or at least summarise them - and htey think i am stressed about hte pup!! Its not the pup, its the family!

But we ironed it out - they are much better with it now and are seeing htat my (or rather Gwen Bailey's!) strategies are improving her behaviour so they are listening to me.

But she's worth every minute of it - its such a lovely thing, having hte pup to be around. I had to give up work recently as i've been ill and have been lonely and bored at home. This week with the pup has been a revelation, despite the amount of time my brain is focussing on poo wee and biting!! :)

Hi Katie what breed do you have? Its scary how quickly you bond with them isnt it? I find its repetition all the time with the kids and SB and there is always one smarty pants who thinks its funny to break the rules until they see Morse has no respect for them. kep Gwen to hand as shes one of the best and play as much as possible with pup now as this is the best time to teach her you are the most interesting, marvelous person on the planet and shell live to please you. Pups are great fun too.:)

she's a cavalier king charles spaniel - so so sweet its unbelievable (except when play-biting too ahrd!) SHe is getting better - I think we just need to be firmer with her to really get the message across that biting is NO GO.

And the more she bites, the more the family are interested in knowing how they SHOULD deal with it, of course! Training going v well in that dept too...;)