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Hi,
Maizie is our first golden retriever, first inside dog ever, and I wanted her because I'd read and heard about how easy goldens are to train and how they love to please their owners...well, now I feel like we're failing puppy class because she is soooo excited that I can hardly concentrate to hear what the instructor is telling us.
She is 4 months old and we have to travel 45 minutes to the nearest class which is the 6-week STAR class. She got sick the first time and I figured she was nervous with the new situation, but she was worse, if that's possible, the second time. The instructor called her "our bouncy one." And I've read on here there's always another puppy in the class worse, but I think I've got the worse one.
We try very hard to make sure she has plenty of exercise every day, especially on the day of class. We don't feed her evening meal before class, partly to keep the chances of her getting car sick down and also to make her hungry for treats. By halfway through the class she doesn't even want treats anymore. They have no effect. The best trick she's learned is to spit Cherrios two feet in the air. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot more high value treats, but she doesn't even want those she gets so wound up. The instructor suggested rewarding with a toy but that didn't work either.
Also, I should say we work with her every day, but my husband and I are both getting frustrated with her energy level at times. We're trying a Easy Walk harness at the suggestion of the class instructor and that works better than a regular collar, but still she gets so wound up after about 10 minutes into a walk that she pulls and jumps and generally seems like she's going wild!!! She does good the first few minutes when the clicking and treating are coming quickly, but its almost like that even gets her wound up and so excited she starts taking the treats rough and acting like she's demanding them.
I'm wondering if this is typical puppy behavior or if we are doing something wrong, or if it is just some goldens are like this. I'm worried about her getting bigger and being too much to handle when she gets so excited and rough. Also, at times she seems timid when experiencing new things and I'm wondering if we didn't expose her to enough stuff early enough. She hasn't been around many other dogs. Should I really make a huge effort and get her out to all kinds of places and situations to meet dogs and people?
I'd appreciate any ideas and meanwhile I'm combing these forums looking for help. There's lots of great info here and I've learned a lot from reading them!
Mom of Maizie
Maizie is our first golden retriever, first inside dog ever, and I wanted her because I'd read and heard about how easy goldens are to train and how they love to please their owners...well, now I feel like we're failing puppy class because she is soooo excited that I can hardly concentrate to hear what the instructor is telling us.
She is 4 months old and we have to travel 45 minutes to the nearest class which is the 6-week STAR class. She got sick the first time and I figured she was nervous with the new situation, but she was worse, if that's possible, the second time. The instructor called her "our bouncy one." And I've read on here there's always another puppy in the class worse, but I think I've got the worse one.
We try very hard to make sure she has plenty of exercise every day, especially on the day of class. We don't feed her evening meal before class, partly to keep the chances of her getting car sick down and also to make her hungry for treats. By halfway through the class she doesn't even want treats anymore. They have no effect. The best trick she's learned is to spit Cherrios two feet in the air. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot more high value treats, but she doesn't even want those she gets so wound up. The instructor suggested rewarding with a toy but that didn't work either.
Also, I should say we work with her every day, but my husband and I are both getting frustrated with her energy level at times. We're trying a Easy Walk harness at the suggestion of the class instructor and that works better than a regular collar, but still she gets so wound up after about 10 minutes into a walk that she pulls and jumps and generally seems like she's going wild!!! She does good the first few minutes when the clicking and treating are coming quickly, but its almost like that even gets her wound up and so excited she starts taking the treats rough and acting like she's demanding them.
I'm wondering if this is typical puppy behavior or if we are doing something wrong, or if it is just some goldens are like this. I'm worried about her getting bigger and being too much to handle when she gets so excited and rough. Also, at times she seems timid when experiencing new things and I'm wondering if we didn't expose her to enough stuff early enough. She hasn't been around many other dogs. Should I really make a huge effort and get her out to all kinds of places and situations to meet dogs and people?
I'd appreciate any ideas and meanwhile I'm combing these forums looking for help. There's lots of great info here and I've learned a lot from reading them!
Mom of Maizie