I'm So Frustrated... *vent*

[BC_MoM]

I'm sick of the puppy behaviour already.

First off, I can't take the dogs to Cabot Park anymore (not a DP, but Mickey's friendly and reliable, so parents never minded if I took him offleash) because the weather is nice and NOW everyones using.. Gosh. I used it all winter and now they're back. ARGH. Molly barks and is very exhuberant so I wouldn't even chance taking her off lead, parents would think she's crazy.

Second off, we don't go play in the backyard as much anymore because the weather is getting nicer and our next door neighbours ALWAYS have their Yorkies out there who both absolutely HATE Molly and come snarling, growling and barking at the fence which then Molly starts in, and Molly isn't good at refocusing.

Thirdly, she's rude with other dogs. Two doors down there's a BC/GR who's on a chain and when I walk by with the dogs, he goes crazy, jumping up and growling.. which ALSO starts Molly! So I pulled her all the way in, not giving her any slack and told her "NO." When she didn't listen and didn't stop barking, I moved her against my leg and covered her muzzle with my hand and told her "QUIET" and didn't take it off until she stopped barking and settled down. As soon as I took my hand off, she went did it again. So I just took both dogs back home.

Molly has a sensitive throat and has outgrown her harness, so she gets very hot on our walks and pants like crazy. I've never had any luck with leash manners with her.

I just wish she would behave!!! I've NEVER had a dog that caused so much stress.

I'm sick of my parents saying we don't have the money for obedience classes.. which she desperately needs. And when I have money, my parents usually borrow if for groceries or gas so I can't save up for them either!!! I almost want to go and beg for money because I am NOT a good trainer, which has been made obvious.

Ughhh..... I'm so attached to Molly, and I love her. So there's no way I'll get rid of her..... but she's really upsetting me lately.

Sorry for ranting you guys.

[joycenalex]

i wish i had training advice, i don't but to suggest a new harness, expandable if possible and send a cyber hug ((hug)) i'm sure others will have better advice.

[Pembroke_Corgi]

Well, I know how frustrating it is to have a puppy with tons of energy and does not take to training very quickly. Adele was a very hyper puppy and also the 2nd dog, so maybe Molly just needs more exercise (even though I'm sure you give her a lot, some dogs are just that way) and more alone time with you? I think I didn't give Adele enough time with just me when she was a puppy, I usually had Marta with me, too, and I think she would have learned what I wanted from her faster if I just had her without any distractions.

Do you think maybe you could do some work at a place that trains dogs in exchange for classes? When I was 12 my family didn't want to pay for me to have piano lessons so I was able to help my teacher with her lessons in exchange for my own lessons. Or maybe you could convince your parents to let you save your own money for classes. Well, anyway, sorry I'm not better help, but I can understand how you feel! Good luck.

[Aspen and Misty]

Have you ever tried a head halter with her? I use it on my dog Nova. It helps to stop bad walking behavior and makes it very easy for anyone to control the dog. If you are serious about getting her to walk nicely on a leash this is what I would try.

Buy a head halter ($15 - $20) and walk her EVERYDAY on it. Continue to do this until she walks nicely on a leash. (It took Nova [my dog] three weeks of 45 minute walks everyday to walk so that there was slack on the leash and she wasn't constantly pulling her head backwards.) Once Molly is walking nicely take her off the head halter and put her back on the harness. Keep the halter with you and if she begins to pull or act crazy (barking at other dogs, lunging ANY bad behavior that you do not want her to do) put the halter back on her and walk her with it on. Nova learned very quickly that pulling meant the head halter went back on. She has since stopped pulling and no longer needs the halter but I still take it with me just incase. This worked for us and given time and patience it could work for you and Molly to.

This is a head Halter in case you have never seen one before. I recommend the one by Coastal because it has a piece of fabric that goes from the part around the muzzle to the part that is behind these head.

Coastal Head halter

In this link you can see a similar product on a dog.
Dog Wearing a similar product


Ashley

[BC_MoM]

Thank you very much Ashley!! This is giving me some more motive.. Too bad I can't order things online.. do they have stores in Canada, I wonder?

[wolfsoul]

Have you tried Rescue Remedy? Visa is an extremely high drive dog (being a Belgian), and I could rarely take her anywhere without her being a freak. She is not the least bit dog aggressive, but when a high drive Belgian sees another dog running offleash, it's general instinct is to want to kill it or just have a complete panic attack. It was never an issue of calming her -- she didn't need to be calm -- she just needed to stop her behaviour. The Rescue Remedy did just that. Now I can take her to agility and have her be completely focused on me and the task we are doing. She is no longer looking elsewhere and screaming and biting my hands and clothes and completely freaking out (not an anxiety thing, just a Belgian thing. God forbid another dog have fun in the presence of an onleash Belgian). I had tried everything before that. Tons of exercise, herbal sedatives, everything. All it did was make her tired and therefire even worse. The Rescue Remedy doesn't do that --- She's completely herself without the freakiness. I love it, I recommend trying it for all behaviour problems. My friend had a cat that would bite (not out of meanness, it would make little "love bites"), and when she started giving him rescue remedy, the behaviour stopped.

You can buy it at natural health food stores. I bought mine at Nature's Fare for $15 and it's lasting me forever.

Good luck!

[Aspen and Misty]

Thank you very much Ashley!! This is giving me some more motive.. Too bad I can't order things online.. do they have stores in Canada, I wonder?

I would check out your local pet store, most likely they will have. I used to live in a small town in Pennsylvania before I moved to Atlanta and even they had it. If not, I would call all the Pet Stores within a half hour of you and see if they have it.

I know that it has worked wonders for me and Nova and she is a VERY headstrong, determined dog. If Molly is a quick learner or enjoys pleasing you, it most likely shouldn't take you as long as it did me and Nova. It has to be an everyday thing though. I know that even now that Nova is trained, if we go a week or two without walks, she will sometimes need the head halter in the beginning to calm her down, but after 5 minutes she is on her harness and very well behaved.

Ashley

[Crazy-Cat-Lover]

Thank you very much Ashley!! This is giving me some more motive.. Too bad I can't order things online.. do they have stores in Canada, I wonder?

I live in Canada and every pet store where I live has Halti's.

[MariaM]

I live in Canada and could only find the Halti at one store lol, Superstore. It was like $18, but I think it's $20 now. I've had mine for 2 years and still use it. Major hasn't outgrown it or anything. (It was a little big when I first got it though).

Oh, and something you can do in the meantime. I had to do this for Major when his Halti was lost.

You can make a homemade one, depending on your leash. Major just has a flat nylon leash.

This is a picture of Major with his halti on, and what our leash looks like. http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...aandmajor1.jpg

I'm afraid I don't have any pictures of his 'homemade halti', but what I do is attach the leash on his color, and then wrap it once around his muzzle. Then wrap the end once around the part of the leash thats still there, and you can leave it at that, or tuck it under the collar. I'm sorry, it's hard to explain. I will see if I can get a picture for you. Good luck!

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

Jess, if you can't find a halti for Molly and would like one I could send you Tango's. She doesn't use hers anymore...it didn't work for her for some reason. It'd probably fit as I think Tango is roughly the same size as Molly. I bought it at PetsMart but have seen them in other pet stores aswell as Superstore and Wal-Mart.