Attention Deficit in New Environments: Doodle Thing?

[Marion Carmickle]

Our baby Riley has done exceptionally well with training so we were very surprised at her reaction this weekend when we took her in our motorhome to a local park. We had her bell for potty alert in place which she used but when she went out she went nuts...she had to smell EVERYTHING, wouldn't potty outside but as soon as she came in, she would go! I never seen her SOOO excited! She has been going to puppy school, so she has been in new environments before as well with new people and does very well, but she absolutely exhausted herself exploring! Is this a doodle thing? Puppy thing? How do we get her to concentrate on the business at hand when in a new environment? We have another trip planned in October so I want to be prepared :)

[Adina P]

It's a "puppy" thing AND a "canine" thing AND a "not-done-training" thing. Dogs don't generalize on their own...they have to be taught to do so. By that I mean...just because a dog learns to sit on command in your house, in a class, and down the street...does NOT mean he will think he should also do so when there is new fun stuff around. And what is MORE exciting to a dog than new fresh wild smells?

So she's done well in other environments...but then WHAM she's in a doggy paradise full of new sights and new animal aromas and all sorts of natural goodies. So it's natural for her to be totally going on instinct and insanely curious. Like a kid in a candy store or at Disneyland.

So with training and using small distractions and building up to big distractions you'll be able to find a way out of the problem side of this. It may be hard to replicate THAT camping environment exactly...but you start small and work up. Start FAR from the excitement and get closer...inch by inch...day by day. Until she can handle most anything.

[Marion Carmickle]

Good point...I know the first week at puppy school, she was SOOO excited and, with each time, she has become more accepting. You are absolutely right about feeling like she was in at Disneyworld...that was the EXACT analogy my husband and I used to describe it to our neighbors. She was pretty disappointed to come back to her boring ol' backyard :) I was pretty impressed that she used her bell...she has made that association with getting outside and boy, she wanted to be outside in a BIG way this weekend. Marion