[Jannie]

Sadie is making me crazy today. She refuses to come when called, and plays keep away when I try and get near her. I took me half an hour to get her in the house this morning, and that was by getting her food dish and waving it in front of her! It is REALLY frustrating because she always came eagerly when called prior to this (for a treat). Now, she could care less about the treat. It's as if she suddenly thinks SHE is the alpha dog and does not have to listen to me. I am quite upset with her. She has also been peeing in the house again here and there. She is now 5 months - is this just a phase, or is it behaviour that will continue without correction? How can I make it stop? I know that you will say keep her tethered, and I guess I will have to do that, but it's really frustrating because she was so good before.

Thanks for letting me vent!

 

[Keith]

:lol: Im sorry, I dont mean to laugh, but we have been going through this over the past month or so.

Seems that Bandit hit the stage and now all of you with Oct/Nov puppies are running into the same thing.

Our trainer told us this:
Think of him as a pre-teen child at this point. He is testing his/your limits and where the boundaries are.
Be fair, firm, and fun with teaching these limits, and most of all consistent.

I understand Sadie is female, just illustrating the point from what we were told.

He still loves to play keep away and its great exercise for Kyren (our 12 yr old) too. From what I have found is that is his way of saying, "No, I dont want to come in, or do what you want, its playtime."
Much like if Kyren told me that, I put the stop to it. Easiest way I found was commanding him to sit, taking the leash and bringing him in. Otherwise, if you do nothing, I believe it will continue.

Not certain about Sadie's temperment, but Bandit very much wants to be the alpha. We have demonstrated his place very effectively with Tia and myself, and continue to work with Kyren that he is above Bandit, slow progress, but there is progress.

Hope that helps.

 

[bmeb012000]

Our trainer said the exact same thing about Gunner's disobedience. Right before he graduated he started giving me a hard time about down. He would only go halfway and then pop up. She said he is testing and I just need to be consistent. I know it doesn't solve your problem, but at least you now you are not alone.

 

[Jannie]

Well, misery loves company, so thanks for sharing!

When we are outside she will not sit if I tell her to. She just wants to do her own thing. So . . . .I guess she has lost her off leash privileges for now.

This has taken my by surprise because a) she was so good before b) I thought she would become more obedient as time went on, not less, and c) we just started dog obedience classes last week!

I am doing everything the trainer says i.e. watch me, wave a treat in front of her, and give her the command - which she chooses to ignore!

By the way, she does NOT like the trainer. She actually hid behind us during the class to get away from her. The trainer was not mean in any way, but firm, and used a loud voice. Maybe that has something to do with her sudden change - but that wasn't the plan!!!!!!!

 

[wannadoodle]

All of this sounds so familiar. I do believe that taking away the off-leash privileges is the best place to start. Toby is going through a new stage now. He sits at the bottom of the porch steps and won't come up ----doesn't want to go back inside. Treats do not help at all. I have to drag him. This too will pass....... :wink:

 

[seazr]

YES--we're totally with you!! My Nov 8 boy, Dakota, will totally ignore us if we're asking him to do something he doesn't want to do! How long do the pre-teens/teens last??? He does like his obedience instructor and always does what the instructor asks--I think there's a bit of a smartie-pants ham in Dakota :lol: !
Diane

 

[mssteuer]

To answer your question - the adolecence / disobedient phase shouldn't last much longer than say 3 months. By 9-10 months of age it should be behind you. The nice thing is that after this you should really have established the relationship, and the bond your pup feels with you has never been stronger, as he should really regard you as the leader of the pack - and he'll just want to be with you and please you

so HANG IN THERE!!

 

[DunkinDoodle]

Hi Jannie...I have to tell you that our 5 month old male Dunkin has been pulling the same stunts. He was so good off the leash and came when called. All of a sudden he is not listening. My husband spent 25 minutes trying to get the leash on him outside the other day. Each time he approached Dunkin would run off like he wanted to play and be chased. After about 20 minutes of my husband trying everything ( and getting pretty annoyed) Dunkin had the nerve to look at him lay down in the middle of the field. My husband got a hold of him 5 minutes later by pretending there was something in the grass near by and Dunkin came to check it out. Funny also that Dunkin dislikes our trainer too. He refuses to greet him or come to him, we saw the trainer at the park and Dunkin plopped himself down and wouldn't move towards him. He even tried to pull me in the other direction. It's like Dunkin is saying.."wait a minute this is the guy who messed up my whole plan of training these people." I feel your frustration...let's hope they grow out of this stage real soon!

 

[susan]

Oh yes, I see those same playful disobiedent behaviors in our Biscuit. He's 5 months old and I figured he's testing his boundaries. Running away, disobeying a down, jumping up on the counters, getting into the garbage, running out the garage door. These are all areas he was doing perfectly until we hit this point. He used to be able to be in the front yard without running away but now he just takes off and he won't come when he's called, even for a treat. It takes a lot more time help him learn to obey. We just keep being consistent. Enjoy, I do!

 

[Jannie]

Wow - that is so interesting to hear that your dogs are acting up the same way as Sadie. Must be hormones! I don't remember going through this phase with our male cocker spaniel at that age though. I wonder if there is a bit of "snooty" poodle personality coming out with these dogs. Frustrating as it is, it is good to hear from some of you that it will not last.

We do love her dearly, and because of that, we want her to be the best dog - i.e. well behaved, dog she can be.

Thanks for the support! This forum is the best.

 

[2doodsmom]

I have no great advice...but I can encourage you that it will pass. Grace and George are now 8 1/2 months old and have really gotten over a lot of this kind of behavior... most of the time. Grace even went through a phase where she would come to the door to be let in and when I would open it for her she would run away!

One caution: try not to call your dood after he/she has demonstrated that he's going to ignore you. The more you call and they ignore, I think it reinforces things. Go get them, or ignore them, or bribe them, but don't say "come" until you're pretty sure you can make it happen.

These doods will outgrow their willfullness. You can bet on it.

 

[Missy]

ROTFL...I just couldn't help myself....had to chuckle. I also have a Nov 11th pup too. I feel for you all. What a great suppport group!

 

[dms]

not coming when called

our dog is 10 months old and has suddenly decided not to come when called. When we approach her she jumps away playfully. My big fear right now is it is -16 C for our 'warm' temperature and she will not come for over half an hour and then is most likely so cold she finally will let us approach her. She did this 3 times yesterday and the first was when I was just trying to get her form the door to the car, something she has done most willingly before. Luckily we have in-floor heating so she can warm up easily but I guess it's back to leash time. She is very inconsistent with this behavior. Dms

 

[rbm32]

Haha the same thing happened with our dog. As soon as we finished training she went through a "rebellious" phase. She wouldn't listen to my commands. I found it was very helpful to stay consistent with my rules, and eventually she grew out of it