Difficult Walks

[Laura and Angus]

This is part vent part plea for suggestions. Walks have become a real difficulty with Angus...he is now 6 months and has started to test us at every turn. Last night he kept repeatedly jumping into our bed and he never gets to sleep in our bed! It finally took my boyfriend putting his shirt (the one he was wearing!) into Angus' bed before he stayed in his own bed. So this is about his behavior on walks...every time we take him for a long walk, he has 2-3 "freak-outs" as we call them. He starts grabbing the leash, jumping on us, and biting my gloves or clothes. Sometimes it works to just keep walking and ignore it, but sometimes I've had to stop and hold him against me saying "settle" and wait until he calms. I've actually had to put him down on the ground on his side before, saying "no bite" and "settle" because he is so out of his mind/out of control. We've also used treats to get him to sit and heel - he acts like a perfect angel for the treats and then he's right back to having his "fit." He is now 45lbs and throwing his weight around makes it pretty tough. *Sigh* Feeling so tired and frustrated right now. Angus is currently in the kitchen for a calm-down period....which is for both of us.  

We will be starting with training in two weeks since he gets neutered Thursday, but I'm wondering if anyone has encountered this behavior...any recommendations?  Should we just stop and wait it out or keep walking? What works for you all with difficult behaviors on walks? 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts! 

[Judith and Addie]

I have sympathy for you. Addie is now almost 13 months, and she still gets excited and goes after the leash. She has destroyed one so it was unusable and gone through a second. My trainer when she was 5 months old suggested putting bitter apple on the leash. That didn't work. Then it was coating it with Vicks Vaporub. Nope. that didn't faze her.

Anyway, onto some suggestions. Although it is difficult, and slow, do not continue walking if Angus is acting crazy, grabbing the leash, jumping on you, or biting. One thing that may help is to let him carry something in his mouth. With Addie, I used an assortment of stuffed toys that she could carry easily. I would keep it in my pocket while she was behaving and take it out when shortly after the walk began but before she got excited. You may also not be able to do long walks for a bit. Try keeping the walks shorter and work up to longer walks as be behaves better. When he starts getting antsy, do some training to get his focus on you. Does he know "watch me"? If not, that would be good to have him learn. Another thing I did with Addie is I kept a second toy with me that squeaked and if she started going crazy, I would squeak it to get her attention. You need something to draw his attention off his inappropriate behavior.

Walking on a leash is training and you have to be consistent. Long walks are a privilege that he has to earn. It is your walk, not his. I can attest that getting the right behavior on a walk is a long, slow, frustrating process at times. Right now, my trainer and I are working with Addie so that she doesn't over-react to people and other dogs. She started lunging and growling at other dogs who pass by her while she is on the leash. I know she wants to play but the other owners don't necessarily and it is not appropriate leash behavior. So the training doesn't seem to stop; it just morphs into some other issue.

[Laura and Angus]

Thanks so much for the suggestions! A toy to hold might be a good idea. He used to hold sticks, but we recently had to visit the ER due to him cutting the back of his mouth and irritating his throat....likely from sticks :( so those are not an option since he tries to eat them. He does know "watch me," but this only works until he gets a treat and then he's back to being a madman. i know we just have to stay consistent and patient, but it can be pretty difficult sometimes ....

[Shoney & Ruby]

So sorry about the struggles on the walk. I think the trainer is a good idea---it's funny how dogs will suddenly understand and do the right thing with a trainer. 

[Laura and Angus]

Oy thanks! It's just the weirdest behavior and it's like his brain clicks off or something...

[Ollie's Mom]

Hi Angus mommy!  Ollie is almost 6 months and is definitely entering "teenager" stage: his thing is grabbing my bra/shoes/pencils etc and taring a_ _ around the house. I try to ignore it but meanwhile he's doing damage to my stuff!  He will only "drop it" if I give him a treat right after. Stinker. Ok this is about you and Angus and walking! Ollie, too, goes through phases w/ walking. We have a regular nylong collar and he PULLS like the dickens so I feel like I'm choking him. My neighbhor gave me a chain choker type collar to borrow but dang if Ollie STILL pulls like crazy, wheezing all the way down the damn street. So, others at the park have said to get the harnass thing.. I think I will definitely get that soon. What does Angus wear? My thought is to try a harnass.

[Laura and Angus]

Oh man...we can definitely relate to those behaviors in our house! Ollie and Angus are total twins! He will grab the remote, clothes, or pillows and try to get us to chase after him. In terms of collars, Angus has a martingale collar and a harness. The martingale collar helped with the pulling, but like you said, he would sometimes still pull and pant, but not stop pulling. The harness almost completely stopped the pulling! But it did not stop the crazy "freak out" sessions. It's like they stopped for a few weeks or so and then started up again recently. I'm kind of hoping that it is just part of his adolescent faze -- testing us and dominance. Everything I've read about this phase just says to stay consistent, patient, and firm to show you're the dominant one in the home..,mostly we're just trying to not lose our minds sometimes :-/

[Ollie's Mom]

I man aren't doodles supposed to be the BEST DOGS? Do you think other breeds test their owners like our doodles do? mercy.  Right I am chalking it up to adolescent phase! OH, so Ollie's doing good ringing the bell to go out and pee but last night my daughter was "training" him reviewing sit/etc with treats and afterwards he walked over the shag rug and peed. Like on purpose. so he still is not potty trained. AND he's doing the excited pee everytime someone comes over. 

[Laura and Angus]

Oh my goodness. Sounds like he's a pretty stubborn cookie (similar to our Angus). From what I understand, labs and goldens can be particularly tough during the adolescent phase. It says to give them almost an hour of "running" a day in a training article I just read. So I'm thinking to amp up our exercise. It's just difficult right now since he landed us in the ER from eating sticks..and so having him off-leash can be tough! Siiiiigh. Hoping that it's one of those THIS TOO SHALL PASS scenarios!!

[Ollie's Mom]

we try for a daily walk after I get the kids off the bus, but sometimes the kids have activies, homework, i need to make dinner or it's freezing and dark so ... it's hard.

[Laura and Angus]

Yeah I hear ya on that. It's definitely so much work. Angus gets like a bajillion walks - we take him first thing in the morning before we leave for work, he gets a midday walk from a dog walker, I walk him when I get home from work (or we head to the dog park), and then he gets an evening walk before bed. AH! I just wish we had a huge backyard for him to run and run and run and run... I know that's what he'd like to do.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I think that both choker chains and martingale harness are meant for dogs that have a trained heel.  They are mean to be used to make a correction for other types of training, but to correct a puller.  With a puppy you could seriously hurt their little necks by letting them pull on either of these types of collars.  The effective use is the little pop that you use when you are correcting and when they are pulled out tight you cannot do the little pop.

[Laura and Angus]

Yes we did not find the martingale to be