we've had our 4 month old cavalier since she was 8 weeks and its our first ever dog, so i have appreciated lots of the excellent advice i've got form here.

she's been good, responding to basic obedience training (have her doing sit, down, and staying well in both, just beginning to teach stand too) she's v good at it during training sessions but definitely chooses to ignore us at times. its getting a problem as she's been alowed out off-lead for the past week or so - was excellent at recall at first but is now starting to ignore being called if she's seen something more fun or a different route to take. even if dad walks in the other direction, he bottles it before she does...... (maybe i need to be retraining dad there though :))

also - she is being a minx about jumping up on chairs. its not (usually) cos she wants to sit down there, its cos she wants something else, namely attention. she is the most attention-seeknig annie i have ever come across! suspect it started cos she was so sweet and cuddly and we were such novices when we first got her that she got an awful lto of laptime. i've always made her sit in front of me before picking her up, but in retrospect i don't think this was asserting our authority anywhere near enough - far too little a task on her part for such a big reward ifyou know what i mean.

i know that i/we need to spend less time & attention on her (she can take up almost my whole day, as i don't work and am here with her) but i find it difficult cos she starts being naughty to get my attention when she wants it. I don't want to let her chew the wicker chair or the bottom of the suite etc but she definitely does it for a dual motive - (1) she will get attention & if not well (2) she gets something darn nice to chew on and that's good enough. How can i give her less attention without letting her run riot? DO you think i should jsut hold my nerve a bit more and hope that the attention seeking naughtiness will die out on its own if unrewarded or will that do more harm than good?

We're starting training classes in a week and a half and that will no doubt help, but the thing is she is SO good when we have other people around, they don't see her minxiness!

I am a big advocate of crate training. It is not just useful when potty training it is also useful when you are busy and can't keep and eye on a pup. Get a crate and when you are busy put her in there with a toy or oa Kong with some cheese or peanut butter or something to chew on that she can have. In this way you are teaching her many things. 1. that she doesn't control you or the house. 2. She learns to have some down time and can handle being alone. 3. She learns what she can and can't have to chew on. This is not a mean thing because when you are ready to see her she wil be safe and sound and so will your household items. Plus as she gets older you can take the door off the crate and she will just go there for down time. I find my dogs will go to their crates to sleep or chew on a bone on their own.

Hi Katie she sounds full of personality, a confident pup ready to explore :) Get a flexilead or a washing line and tie it to her collar when youre in an offlead place so you can reel her in/step on the end to prevent a runner when she's called. Or you could only let her off lead in an unfamiliar place so she sticks close to you. Have fun with your classes. Pups run rings round experienced dog owners too, as you may see at the class, so take heart and remember all the things you and Ruby have learned to do so far. :D