Hiya x i need help with my 2 Springers - Logan & Mya xx

Logan is 2 years old, we have had him since he was 8 weeks old. He is a great family pet and very loyal.
My partner does most of the walking with the dogs but as of last week i have been walking them as my partner has the flu. Logan is great at walking on the lead but once i let him off - what a nightmare tryingto get him back on. I let him off in the park for a run and to do his business, but when i try to get him on the lead to go for a walk he just won't listen to me!! I call his name, whistle, shout stay, try treats and even walking away in the opposite direction but nothing seems to be working. And when i do manageto get him on the lead it takes me about 15-20mins to catch him first!!! Can anyone give me advise for him to come back to me???

As for Mya, she is only 4 months old, i know is still young but she won't walk on a lead, she either walks in front of me or behind me. If someone comes towards her when shes off, she runs home, if someone walks past her while on the lead, she trys to hide. Last thing at night, before bed, i take her to the park but if she sees someone, she runs home even if she has done her business or not. She won't walk past prams etc. She gets walked with my other dogs all the time and with them there she is still the same. If someone comes into the house, she hides and won't come out until they are away. And of course i can't forget this bit - she eats my other dogs business whilst out for a walk - Can anyone give me advise on how to stop this and how to make her not so nervous outside and inside???

Thanks

> And of course i can't forget this bit - she eats my other dogs business whilst out for a walk

That bit is easy, keep her on the lead until he has been and you have scooped.  As to the rest I think you probably need to get to training classes to learn how to train lead walking and recall unless you feel your partner can teach you when he is feeling better.

Hiya, Thanks for info.

As for the training classes that you mentioned - I also have another 2 dogs, not including Logan and Mya - Skye is a Whippet and Kyle is a crossbreed - i trained both of them myself and have trained my mum's to dogs. As for Logan, sometimes i think he is a man's dog rather than a Woman's but as for Mya - so far she is that hardest pup i have had to train.

Thanks Again

Not sure why you are asking then :-)  At a good training club you will get all the help that even our qualified posters can offer here with the advantage of actual observation and hands on help.  Even experienced dog owners go for the exchange of ideas, solving of unencountered problems and practice.

She sounds like a very worried little pup and is coming to the end of a very important socilisation period so you really need some help with her soon.  I would also recommend taking her to training classes but you really need to go along first and have a look and see how they are run.  Make sure they are reward based and would adivse that you go for a class that has small numbers as big busy classes can do more harm than good with nervy dogs.

In the meantime with her, you really need to keep her on a lead or a long line so that she can't run home, as not only will this become an ingrained behaviour but could also be very dangerous.  Try not to push her into situations that make her uncomfortable as this could just make things worse, but you do ned to keep up gentle socialisation and making a good association slowly with the things she finds scary.

As for the recall with your other dog, it doesn't matter whether his preference is men or women, you can still teach him a relaible recall, that really is just down to training and you finding something that motivates him and building up a training bond.  If your partner has done all the training with him he probably just hasn't generalised that recall means the same thing with you as with your partner.  Again a good training class will help with this.

How much exercise is he getting in total, off lead and on?

> Not sure why you are asking then :-)  At a good training club you will get all the help that even our qualified posters can offer here with the advantage of actual observation and hands on help.  Even experienced dog owners go for the exchange of ideas, solving of unencountered problems and practice.

not to mention she will be exposed to more people and dogs which would hopefully help with the nerves

In the short term, I'd keep Logan on the lead whilst you're walking him, specially if this isn't the norm.  With the pup you need to make sure that you spend lots of 1 to 1 time with her.  When you've got a number of dogs it's all too easy just to take pup out with the rest of the gang, but if you spend the time with her as an individual you could probably address some of the things you mention in your post quite quickly.  Have you been spending the time training her on her own?  Training classes are brilliant for socialisation with different dogs and all sorts of different people.  You'll normally find people there who are quite keen to cuddle your pup too, great if you've got one that's not too confident with people. 

You'll normally find people there who are quite keen to cuddle your pup too, great if you've got one that's not too confident with people.

This pup sounds far too worried at the moment to have people she doesn't know cuddling her and putting her in a situation where people try and reach out to pet her could do more harm than good. 

I would work on just having her in the vicinity of other people and building up a good assocaiation by feeding her yummy treats or playing with a toy, if she's not keen to do either of those things then she is too stressed and you should move further away from the stimulus to a distance where she is relaxed enough to take treats. 

Then when she starts to get more relaxed you can decrease the distance, when she starts to associate that being around people is a good thing and brings rewards you could ask some one to casually drop some treats by her but wothout giving her direct eye contact, then when she is comfortable with that you can get someone to feed her from their hand.

This needs to be done slowly and let her be the guide, she needs to learn that people equal good things.  It will be important not to over face her as it could just confirm her worries and reinforce that people are scary.

> As for Mya, she is only 4 months old

Is there somewhere you can go with her to watch the world go by?  If you have a busy place where she can observe without interraction you'll probably find lots of opportunity to reward her and she can start to associate the outside world with positive rewards. 

Choose a place where she has her back to something protective like a wall, so no one can approach her from behind, and just sit calmly for 20 minutes or so.  Place her in a comfortable position, not hidden but tucked in for her security.  Reward her for sitting, for looking at you when someone or something goes past etc.  If you've been to a class before you'll know 'watch me' so ask her to do just that everytime something is happening.  Choose a quietish place to start and build up to somewhere or a time that is busier.  At 4 months she won't need walks as such just some opportunities to experience the world as an enjoyable place.  If you want to avoid other dogs for now, or children, then go to church on a sunday!!  Dogs aren't usually allowed to take walks in the churchyard (although you can sit on the benches with them) and it's often older people around who may be less intrusive.  When you are ready for contact with children either go to a park or leisure centre.  Just like with a younger puppy make a list of things she needs to experience and tick them off as you go.

As others have said, take her back to a class too, she needs to bond with you away from her other dog pals at home and a class is a perfect place for some good quality 1:1 time.  Check out the  APDT site for trainers in your area, or if you give your location you may get some recommendations from other CD'ers

A final tip - if she is inclined to scoot off or go backwards - do make sure you have a collar she can't back out of.  You want to overcome the problem but in the meantime it's important to know she is safely attached to you.  A class will also give you lots of tips about keeping her in position with distractions.  I've seen a great tip on here too about using a tube of cheese spread to keep a dog focussed on you whilst walking to heel - yumm!!  :)

Hiya x thamks to everyone who gave me different suggestions xx i will try what everyone has said and see if they start to make a difference xx

As for the training classes xx i will do a search and see if there is any classes in my area xx

Someone posted a reply asking how often my dogs are walked in a day x well x they get 1 hour in the morning x 2 hours in the afternoon x and again 1 hour at night x they are off lead more than once when out for a walk xx

Also, someone posted a reply and was regarding to chidren and dogs x Mya is great with children and other dogs x not just my other 3 dogs that she stays with x i have a young sister who is 3 years old and my own son is only 4 months and she is great with them x aslo i stay next to a primary school and high school so she sees children young and older every day x also she is good with other dogs outside xx

Thanks again for everyones suggestions xx

PLEASE tell me you are NOT walking a 4 month pup for 4 hours a day.......

I never said that i was walking a 4 month old pup 4 times a day x someone asked how often i walk my DOG not the PUP xx Mys at the moment only goes out into the park which is outside the front door x i take my other dogs with me too xx

You have an awful lot on your hands including a young baby of your own.  I really think you need professional help to get this training sorted with the minimum effort but even then it is going to be rather difficult I would say.

I posted on here as i was looking for some advise and some info for the few problems that i have at the moment xx

Not for people to question that i have 4 dogs and a baby!!

I'm sure if you find the right training classes and make time for training them individually that you'll see big improvements :-)  Lots of people manage with dogs and a baby.  Would it be possible for your partner to look after the baby for a while while you do a bit of one to one training with the puppy and with the other dog that needs recall work.  That way you can give them your full attention - even doing five or ten minutes a day with on their own can will make a big difference, or even alternating doing one one day and the other the next day.

My young girl is just over a year old and I still try and take her out once a day on her own even if it's only for ten minutes.  It will be especially important for the pup, so that you can be aware of how she is coping and be able to reward at every given opportunity and to start building up that positive association.  Good luck :-)

> I posted on here as i was looking for some advise and some info for the few problems that i have at the moment xx

It is advise I am giving you.  In consideration of all you have I think you are going to need some direct assistance.

Hiya x

Yes my partner does look after the baby at the moment anyway when it comes to walking the dogs!!
As my partner works night shifts monday - friday, the way we work it is that, i'll walk the dogs in the morning when he comes in and again for a longer walk later on in the afternoon, once my partner gets out of bed, he takes them for a walk at night before he leaves for work. But through the day, i take my son in his carrier (it straps onto me) and i take the pup into the park a few times for about 15mins