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6 Month Old puppy losing it on walks

2K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  Elsa Cholla's Mom 
#1 ·
Hi

We have a 6 month old female puppy called Jess. She is really good around the house, knows a lot of commands and always listens. walking on lead has now improved due to the halti, as she used to pull towards anyone and anything that moved.

The main problem is when we get somewhere secure and let her off lead to have a run and release some energy, she completely loses, follows other people, will not listen, gets hyper and jumps up on people. I think she would actually not notice if we walked off an left her. Its to the point where we don't want to let her off lead at all, but then she still has this built up energy and becomes a pain when at home.

I think she is also quite bored generally, we have loads of toys buy she won't play with them herself for very long, and we can't constantly be playing games and entertaining her. Then she starts doing naughty things for attention, which some we can ignore and some we have to tell her no.

She is crate trained and behaves well in the crate, so we do put her away when we know she is tired, but she refuses to sleep a lot of the time.

I know she is just being a teenager, but is there any tips to get some of her energy out when she can't be trusted off lead.
 
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#2 ·
Hi Dan isn't this stage fun! Others I'm sure will have more detailed advice but it might help to know what her exercise routine is. It is great that she behaves well at home - when you use your recall command at home does she come running eagerly to you? If not can you play recall games at home. You could also put her on a long training lead when out and practise the game there - make sure you have some tasty treats and lots of praise. Have you been to training or would you consider going back. A training class will help you practice keeping her interested on you in an exciting environment -as well as many other thing. If she is bored regular short traning lesson at home will help as - you could start with even 5 minutes of getting her to practice the commands she knows really well or teach her a new trick.
Good luck (oh and we love puppy pictures ;))
 
#3 · (Edited)
Hi Dan!
Six months old without a solid recall is too soon to have her off leash. My seventeen month old with a CGC certificate STILL doesn't go off leash in the woods because she will chase any woodland creature she can find. You say "someplace secure" so I think you may mean a dog park? If that's the case, she needs to have the understanding that coming to you doesn't mean the end of fun. You can play a game of catch and release, if there are no other dogs, where when she's near you, you give the best treats EVER like she's at a vending machine. Then stop. Don't put the leash. She'll go back to play. Then get near her again and start giving her treats. Stop. Put the leash on. Treat treat treat. Release. Let her go play. When she's near you say her name and make sure she sees your hand going for the treats. Treat yreat treat treat leash release. Repeat. Then walk a few steps to the gate. Release. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Then walk out and treat treat treat treat.

I would suggest training classes and walk on a long 30 foot leash through a park or wooded area before you let her off leash until she's got a solid OUTSIDE recall.
 
#4 ·
When Chloe is out front with us she still has a long lead on. We dont have to hold it but it's there if we need to grab it. She is 1.5 and we are just now not having to be worried if we open the garage door ect. I think six months is pretty young to do off leash walks.
 
#5 ·
I agree that 6 months is too young to be off leash. My girl is 11 months and she is not allowed off leash at all on walks or in public places. In fact she has always been great at loose leash walking but recently she started pulling on the leash while out. There's no way she could be off leash, at least not for awhile!

She's allowed to run free in the fenced back yard but that's it.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the responses, I think we may be expecting too much from her, but she was off lead when she was younger, and was really good, but is now to confident and curious.

she has mostly been kept on lead more recently, its just difficult for her to release any energy when on lead all the time. She now can't be trusted in the garden as she rips up the grass. We have had toys and played with her, but she loses interest in everything after a few minutes.

We do regular training with her, and she goes to KC dog school.

But it generally seems that its going to be a case of waiting for her to grow out of this phase and calm down a bit.
 
#7 ·
Maybe I have been lucky, but I have had my Golden off leash a lot, we started with a 20 ft lead when she was young, did lots of fetching in a field. It's easy to run over and step on a long rope. Lots of recall for treats. From 4 1/2 months to about 3 weeks ago, (6 1/2 months), her recall was about 85 percent. Even then, off lead, it has to be a fetching situation or a dedicated walking situation. If we stop and loiter anywhere, she's going to range farther and farther, so we leash her. The other advantage we have is new walks in new places all the time. We can mix it up from week to week. But right now, at 7 1/2 months I would say her instant recall has gone down to 50 percent, so Elsa's off leash time has been severely restricted. I have tried to never let her fail at a recall, even if I have to stalk her down, or trick her with a fetch. I know it is the age she is at.
Seems like energy levels are an issue. Does your pup fetch? And have you given your pup a dedicated digging spot in the yard? What about swimming? A lot of keeping Elsa close off lead has to do with going swimming and fetching in water. When you do walk your dog on a lead, find logs for her to jump on, walk along. Jump up and down and over rocks. Find places where you can weaver her in and out of trees. Then you exercise mind and body at the same time.
 
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