Pent up energy, teenage angst or training lapse?

[BG and Gavin]

Gavin is 14.5 months old.  His behaviour in the house is near perfect (knows and performs all of his commands, impecible manners at the door and with house guests, free reign of the house when home alone and does not touch a thing, super-responsive).  However, recently I have noticed a decline in positive behaviour outdoors (more pully on the leash, jumping up on people, becoming over-excited and jumping up on ME and biting my hands, inattentive - less eye-contact).

Some facts:

- we have been out of formal training since April

- he gets two 30-45 minute walks every day

- he gets lots of play time in the back yard including tons of tennis ball catching/fetch

What do people think?

[Adina P]

Okay, I'm just thinking aloud. So if something makes sense, try it and if not, don't.

Maybe he needs to build up more heeling muscles--longer times heeling. Is he able to find heel from different positions (behind you, in front of you, etc)? Does he understand heel as a 'position' vs. as a 'movement'. Work him for longer lengths where you're really focused ON heeling so he knows it inside and out and also introduce distractions into the heel work so they are not things that take you by surprise but that you've planned for and are ready to correct if he should break heel.

As far as autosit, I'm sure there are a myriad of ways diff people teach it, but if he's not made to stop and sit EVERY time you stop (not just corners) then he won't know that he is supposed to. Also does he ever sit on his own out of habit? I think if you made him sit every time, eventually he'd start to do it on his own and beat you to saying "sit". At that point it would be totally fair for you to STOP saying it, give him1 second to do it and if not correct him.

[BG and Gavin]

No, it all makes sense. I think that since I have been out of formal training, I have likely lost some of my form and I need someone to evaluate my technique, position, etc. I quite likely am late on corrections or something like that. But the sit thing - man I am really consistent on that. I make him sit allll the time - corners, when people approach, during petting opportunities, anytime I stop.

[BG and Gavin]

So today we went to the dog park. It was a great group today - all puppies under 2 including a doodle. Anyways, 1.5 hours of all out play, running and wrestling. I then leashed him up and walked him (just on his flat collar) around the inside of the park under heel with the other dogs still running around. I did some sit stays and down stays and comes and he did great. I had his tiredness on my side. When we got home he took care of business, ate and drank and is now wanting to play indoor fetch. He should be passed out by now. Maybe the cooler weather IS bringing out more energy and new smells Camilla.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Wow, sounds like a great day of playing AND training. I've been so busy with Murphy that I really need to get back to doing this with Guinness too.

[BG and Gavin]

What a difference a day makes. This mornings walk was awesome. No pulls, even when the Jack Russell on the corner was off leash in his front yard. Brief acknowlegement and on we went. He was attentive and looking at me more often. Still no autosit, but he quickly responded even when I whispered "sit" and when I said nothing and ever-so-slighly tugged the leash. He was just more tuned in to me. So something good came out of the dog pat visit yesterday. Either it was the excess energy or I scored some leadership points at the park or he is just still tired. I will focus on your tips Adina and be more precise moving forward.

[Adina P]

Hooray for you and Gavin!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Excellent news. Maybe all the training you did at the park yesterday was just the "refresher" he needed.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

We have found ourselves getting into the same situation with Peri. When you forget to train, they forget their manners. She has been running from us when we get the leash out and WILL NOT sit or obey anything (she normally does!). So, we are back to training throughout the day. On the leash, in the house, sit & wait for your food, etc... She is already getting back on track, as I see you are experiencing with Gavin. Keep up the good work!