[Annies-Mom]

Today I was walking Annie, my ten week old golden, when I met a man with a boston terrier that was a nine weeks old, and I was shocked to see how well behaved the puppy was compared to Annie. I could visibly see that the puppy was so much more calm sitting at his owner's command, while Annie would ignore me and lunge for the other puppy instead, pulling on the leash as much as she could.
Her tail would be wagging like crazy and she would just try to jump on him. She does this with the other dogs in the community, and it scares them, but she doesn't seem to mind and does it more. Maybe she's just being playful but I think she's doing it too hard. Is there any way that I could fix this? Calm her down so she doesn't play so rough with the other dogs?

She also goes crazy when she sees the ducks. I've tried calming her down and feeding one or two in front of her (very up close) and she usually does fine, but whenever there's a mass of them or we're just walking by, she lunges for them as well.

Also, when I was with the boston terrier pup, I saw that he knew like four commands already, while with Annie, I'm struggling to teach her her second, the down. She knows how to sit, but whenever I try the down, she looks all confused, even though I've spent two weeks showing her how to do it and using the voice command over and over again, so she just stares at the treat, and when she gets tired of waiting, she lunges.
Was it this hard for you guys to teach your dogs tricks? I want to be sure that I'm on the right track, because meeting the other puppy un-nerved me. I want to be the best owner possible for Annie and I don't want to let her down. If you guys could give me advice on helping her out, I would really really appreciate it!!

 

[Goldenmomma]

Scotty, 16 months, has always been calm, but Sully, 2 1/2, is a whole different dog. She is always excited to see anyone; I mean anyone. We went through two obedience trainings to improve her, didn't work to calm her because she was so smart that she could do tricks within two tries. Agility was her favorite, but still she would want to greet everyone. Finally, I got her private lessons with the Kennel/Training Center owner. The owner worked magic and suggested the halti. Sully is not a big fan, but the behavior improved a whole lot. As she is getting older, her behavior is becoming more controlled, but she still believes everyone should be happy to see her.

 

[Oaklys Dad]

Your Annie sounds pretty normal to me. Dogs vary a lot in their temperments. If I were you I would keep up the training several times a day for 5-10 minutes each time. Puppies have very short attention spans. When she is old enough I would sign up for a puppy class and a basic obedience class.

 

[jjacks]

Charlie will be four months old tomorrow and at 10 wks he was VERY excitable. He wouldn't listen and would jump all over anyone he could find. I enrolled him in a puppy class and the behaviour changed dramatically. The class basically gave me the tools to properly teach him and it made Charlie a much more focused dog. I do small training sessions daily (15 min) with him using what I learnt. I am so happy with the results that I enrolled him in the next class starting in the new year. It also made him a lot more calm around other dogs since he had to learn how to be attentive even with other puppies around.

He still gets very excited when we meet new animals/people, but I find it much easier to get his attention since we've completed those classes.

Good luck!

 

[BeauShel]

She sounds like a normal golden puppy to me. The training will come with time and like Oaklys Dad said keep the training sessions short as her attention span just goes out the window any longer than that. Plus some breeds are different as puppies. My Shelby was the most calm puppy I had ever seen but as she got older the more rambuncious she got.
They are bird dogs so she will most likely always want to chase the ducks.

 

[K9-Design]

Seriously? 10 weeks? Oh lord. You've got a long row to hoe

And FYI -- golden retrievers are um, retrievers. Of birds. Hence, liking the ducks. I guarantee feeding the ducks in front of the golden retriever is NOT going to "calm her down."

I bet the boston puppy was "calm" because he was 100% freaked out and in a state of nonresponsive shock. Your puppy was being the normal one, trust me!

 

[zephyr]

Oscar is my first dog... I read tons of info about training before we got him, but after "sit", I was a little concerned when we first started to teach him "down" because all I was getting was a blank stare for the first while... but honestly, just keep at it and eventually it will "CLICK"! and that first realization that he figured out what I was trying to get him to do was SOOOO rewarding! The same with "stay"-- honestly I thought he would NNNEEVVVVEERRR get it, and then one day it was like he just was programmed to do it... that one I can't even explain how he "got" what I was asking for!! LOL

We also did puppy class, but honestly the at-home (short) training sessions are going to be where the behaviors are really solidified, so it sounds like you are definitely on the right track. Oscar was also a "lunger" if he got impatient, in the beginning... but you can also work on "leave it" (and obviously make sure she never gets "self-rewarded" to sneak something out of your hand before you are ready to give it up, otherwise she'll just keep trying!)... I'm not sure when the lunging stopped for Oscar but eventually it does, I promise!

Also, you might want to try different treats, or make it extra-special to do the mini training sessions... I did training sessions with Oscar with little (tiny!) pieces of sliced ham that I kept in the fridge in a special baggie, and I'd take them out and he was VERY attentive cuz he knew it was time for something special (and he had to work to get it). Also, with something like "down", you might try different ways of shaping... with Oscar I would put it between his legs until he naturally went down to try and nibble at it, which worked very well for him. But, in puppy class, I saw that some of the other dogs did not naturally get down when the treat was placed like that, so sometimes their owners had to move the treat further underneath them, or they would gently move the puppy into position (never forcing them).... stuff like that.

Best of luck! Sounds like you're on the right track... puppy class might help but keep up your work

 

[GoldenOwner12]

Hi i never had a problem training Shelley i got her at 14 weeks old she wasn't even use to a collar or lead didn't know any commands what so ever. Within 2 days she knew sit command pretty well without food, i don't train using food. once she knew the sit command well i then moved her to down command which also only took 2 days for her to get the hang of it. I then moved to stay which didn't take too long either. Shelley was quite the fast learner and still is.

If you are using food do not show the food till the comand is done cause if you show the food first the dog focus on the food not the command. To teach drop get the dog in the sit position then say drop while saying it move the front legs forward or push gently on the shoulders normally by doing this the dog will lay down and once it has reward. The dog will soon learn the word with the action. It may take a couple of training sessions for the dog to click. Some dogs take longer to train then others, I guess i had some help owning a older dog who knew the commands so i would get the older dog to do the command first then do it with Shelley.