The Dog Training Failure And Regression Thread, A place to wail, rant and gnash your teeth Options

[celia]

Thanks Celia for that recipe, although after my first experience of baking liver cake i'm in no rush to try it again! Bleurgh...

She's apparently been just as reactive with my dad last week as i was off on 'holiday', I think it's a bit long to keep blaming the damn ham.

I'm wondering if the setback with Madam is due to pain...I just discovered her limping after jumping out the car to go on our walk. As a result I had to keep telling her to slow down and cut the walk down to 10 minutes

PANTS!!! I thought we'd escaped the horror of another cruciate surgery...hmm. We'll see how she goes with restricted exercise, short walks etc.

Ahh well you see that is why my patent method involves masses of vegetables and herbs, tarragon and rosemary both really disguise that liver smell. Plus the vegetables clean out the liver from the blender making washing up an awful lot nicer. In fact one day I had a batch cooling and a friend called round and helped himself to what he mistok for chocolate brownies, he said they were a nice savoury bite once he had got over the lack of chocolate .

[laa]

Ahh well you see that is why my patent method involves masses of vegetables and herbs, tarragon and rosemary both really disguise that liver smell. Plus the vegetables clean out the liver from the blender making washing up an awful lot nicer. In fact one day I had a batch cooling and a friend called round and helped himself to what he mistok for chocolate brownies, he said they were a nice savoury bite once he had got over the lack of chocolate .

AAaaaaahhh, I understand. It might be worth another go then

[kimthecat]

We've had some Fenton moments recently. Oscar has also noticed an abundance of squirrels. The fact that he's now housebound as he has developed a limp is directly related.

Oh dear Hope this heals soon. Nothing worse than a housebound dog.
ali

[woofgang]

Oh dear Hope this heals soon. Nothing worse than a housebound dog.
ali

last spring one of my idiots was on the lead everywhere outside the house for 10 weeks. I still have the grey hairs. Happily the should strain healed eventually. The first time it happened (the year before)I got Rimadyl from the vet but once he wasn't in pain there was no holding him so the second time I was a mean mummy.

[pangolin]

I was literally just telling OH's friend on Saturday about Kiki's barking issues and how frustrating it had been/how pleased I was we could leave her now. Yesterday she starts barking again Not sure what's triggered it or quite where to go next when we seemed to be sorted. Little madam hopefully it's a really temporary blip on the radar

[KB Merlin's Mum]

I was literally just telling OH's friend on Saturday about Kiki's barking issues and how frustrating it had been/how pleased I was we could leave her now. Yesterday she starts barking again Not sure what's triggered it or quite where to go next when we seemed to be sorted. Little madam hopefully it's a really temporary blip on the radar

It is because it's Spring. At least that's my excuse.

Kes had a bark at a Flattie yesterday. OK, it's black. OK, it was on lead. And OK, it sort of appeared out of nowhere. But...

Temporary blip I hope.

[jackied]

GAH! Beats head on wall.

I have been getting somewhere with the barking at passers by, a combination of keeping the curtains closed whenever I am upstairs, and Turid Rugaas techniques when I am downstairs.

YESTERDAY THE EFFING CURTAIN POLE FELL DOWN!

This morning the dogs are going bonkers and so am I

[nikirushka]

This isn't exactly a failure per se, but not a good development and I need somewhere to muse out loud

I am musing on Raine. She's getting gradually less and less confident around dogs - a LOT of that is down to the whippet that chased her back to the car some months back and terrified her, and Rai being the sort of dog that one bad experience sticks with We walked with a lot today - the evening group were late, normally we just say hi then walk off with a friend but today we walked with them and she spent a lot of it on the edge of the group, lots of sniffing and tracking type behaviour and generally distancing herself.

But I've just (perhaps a bit slowly) come to the conclusion that she relies on toys as a sort of safety blanket out and about - with a ball in her gob, she is very happy, energetic and confident. But she can't have them, because she also becomes totally manic, loses all self control and also becomes quite aggressive towards the others after she's had them. Last time she had them it took 9 days for her to come back to calm and sense, and for a few days after she was even being aggressive with Remy at the start of the walk (it's always been River before, sometimes Opi or Paige but never the boys). So not an option at all.

I've tried many times to work on her attitude/reaction to toys and balls but it's just not getting anywhere - she just gets so overstimulated by them so, so fast that I don't stand a chance. She's marginally better with non-ball toys but only marginally. So better for everyone to not have balls at all, and only non-balls at home (she doesn't do tug play so that's not a worry).

Need to do some solo walks with her I think, really work on building her confidence without toys and around other dogs, and training a safe spook behaviour as if any dog sniffs her bum now, she immediately thinks it's going to chase her and spooks so I need her to run to me rather than away.

[Jenny.Wren]

I was literally just telling OH's friend on Saturday about Kiki's barking issues and how frustrating it had been/how pleased I was we could leave her now. Yesterday she starts barking again Not sure what's triggered it or quite where to go next when we seemed to be sorted. Little madam hopefully it's a really temporary blip on the radar

I'm sure it's just a blip. Sam does this too and has the odd moment when he barks when I go out just to the car - silly dogbot! Then the next morning when I go to work (as usual), he's absolutely fine.

[pangolin]

I'm sure it's just a blip. Sam does this too and has the odd moment when he barks when I go out just to the car - silly dogbot! Then the next morning when I go to work (as usual), he's absolutely fine.

Thankfully we seem to be back on track One bark on Monday, nothing Tuesday, forgot to record Wednesday but no barking today. And they're doing well because OH is away so that means long stretches with just a lunchtime break, not ideal but fortunately only for another week. At least if she can manage that, she should be fine once OH is back.

[jackied]

Lucy's recall seems to have completely gone out of the window. I know all the things I should do but the logistics of doing them correctly (including retraining family members), right now almost reduces me to tears.

[nikirushka]

[woofgang]

Lucy's recall seems to have completely gone out of the window. I know all the things I should do but the logistics of doing them correctly (including retraining family members), right now almost reduces me to tears.

I will lend you my family retraining tool aka cattle prod.

[jackied]

I am at my wits end. Lucy is getting so frustrated being kept on lead because of the bird chasing that she is now barking and lunging at other dogs before Twix does, setting him off. It's very easy to get angry with her, particularly when the entire rest of the morning walk is already spent trying to distract her from birds with hunt-the-sausage games while she leaps about at the end of the lead whining, quivering and sometimes barking.

If I start walking them separately again (1) the dogs will get upset (2) Lucy won't be helping Twix (not that she is just at the moment anyway ) (3) it's a pain in the bum (4) I will get criticised by family members (my mother and OH) for not being 'able' to walk them together. (5) I will be miserable, feel like a failure, and worry that I will never be able to walk them together.

In the afternoon I walk just Lucy so I can use the long line and throw balls and things are better, but there are a lot fewer birds around then anyway. But Twix is starting to ask to come too... I can't manage the long line with both of them.

Just thoroughly fed up this morning.

[Mrsmopp]

I wish I could offer some sort of usefulness But I can't, I'd have no idea where to start with bird obsessions (given that mine are sharing their lawn breakfast with the pigeons right now )


So and