My Perfect Puppy

[J.T.]

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Scrumpy is now nearly 10 months old & for the last 6 months had been a great pup. House trained very quickly, very friendly with people, dogs, cats. Almost the perfect pup o

No longer (w00t)

Over the last few weeks her list of crimes is getting longer & longer, she's sooooo naughty :devil:

She is chasing the cats, tormenting both other dogs, jumping up at people, barking at everyone walking past the house, stealing anything not glued down, she's eaten the A-Z, eaten part of a dead magpie today :x dug up loads of bulbs in the garden, the list is endless.

I hope this is just a phase & that my angel pup o is back soon.

Who?? Me???

 

[jue332]

NO NO NO Sorry i do not belive anything you have said, that is the face of one well behaved, pretty, inocent little girlie :lol: :lol: :lol:

Lovely picture BTW :thumbsup:

 

[tinabow]

love the pic shes a o for sure

 

[bappit]

COME ON NOW........................ :- "

Rearrange the following text! :lol:

Teenager...you...forget

 

[Lynn-Alexandria]

Lovely pic. Innocence personified right there...how could she do all those things?? (w00t)

 

[*Lesley*]

A dog with that face could not do the things you've said o o o it must have been the cat :thumbsup:

 

[~whitecross whippets~]

most dogs are rehomed between 6-18 months so that proves it is the most difficult period ....i will get better :sweating: .....i promise :thumbsup: ....she is beautiful :wub:

 

[juckler]

Ahh the joy of adolesance to be young and wild.

If i were you id suggest a couple of 20 mile bike rides or agood nights lamping but if you dont hunt and havent got a pushbike try running the pup at the side of the car on some quiet lanes sounds like shes found out what she was bred for.Once they get some exhaustion down em they soon learn to conserve energy between runs otherwise should calm down about 2-3 yrs old there clever dogs with active minds and hunting instinct can degenerate to hunting people,kidsetc might just need a firm hand but i doubt it try just and keep her tired out for a while.

cheers juckler

 

[~whitecross whippets~]

many dog trainers will agree that lack of exercise is responsible for a lot of dog behaviour problems....so good point ! .....however i am not suggesting scrumpy is not exercised enough i am just making a general point :thumbsup:

 

[Gazbo]

Dropping the protein can help, but i wouldnt at the dogs age? This is what i would do!

Make sure YOU invite the dog into your space. A bitch would not allow a pup to mess up her space. Get it to sit and wait before entering (by YOU telling it to) the room.

Missing silly little things can make a massive differance. Sounds like he is pushing his boundries. Nip it in the bud before it comes to day when you let it off and only comes back when it wants.

 

[J.T.]

Thanks everyone for your advice.

Lesley...it wasnt the cat who destroyed the box containing the clippers and leaked the bottle of clipper oil all over the settee (w00t) but then Rafferty Bedlington probably put her up to it as he must know hes due for a clip :lol:

Juckler.... Scrumpy would probably survive a 20 mile bike ride but not me :sweating:

Gazbo.... her recall is very good, better than both of the older dogs, she likes to be with me so comes flying back when I call her. She cant be any worse than Hebe was at that age, wanting her own way about everything NOW!!!!!!

She was a nightmare pup & we survived that so I'm not too worried.

Really shes a good dog & I wouldnt be without her.......thats so easy to say when shes asleep -_- -_- on top of Hebe :huggles:

 

[Gazbo]

Nice one, just being a teenager then? ha ha, have fun

 

[senga]

aw wee babe o just an angel in hidding

 

[Loopy]

Zephyr my collie x lurcher is also 10 months now and his recall has taken a downturn in the last few weeks. I think it's spring fever AND he's taken to humping male whippets! :b Watch out any whippy owners in Wiltshire! (he'll be getting the snip fairly soon)

I think it's just an awkward age but he's still much nicer than my 2 hooman teens!

Scrumpy looks like butter wouldn't melt :wub:

 

[Kane]

Hi JT!

Sounds like fairly typical young Irish Terrier behaviour to me!!!

Exercise certainly helps, as does setting firm boundaries, but here's a couple of things I did when mine was younger that helped:

Firstly, I adopted the phrase 'oh - look!!!' to let him know something really interesting was about to happen, based on me - for example, a game, a training exercise etc. which worked wonders for getting his attention when he was up to mischief.

Secondly, I use 'Finish!' to say that the 'game' is over and from that point on, until I invite him to play / interact again, he may as well go and chill out. If, during tis time, he picks up something or tries to steal, I calmly take the item from him, put it out of harm's way and give him no reward / attention.

You can channel the thieving into something positive in this way. Each time Logan picked up something that was not his, I'd use 'Oh - Look!' and he'd bring it over and exchange it for the treat or toy that I had in my hand (or close to hand, just in case!) This way, we taught him to empty the wasing machine and bring guests cans of beer!!! Of course, if he feels ignnored, he is not above pinching something to grab my attention - but I know if I ask him, he will bring it back to hand without trashing it! Once you've got the basis for a retrieve, you can use it for all sorts of things! If you start really laying down that law until she is reluctant to pick anything up, you will lose this opportunity.

Something we do for fun and to burn off a bit of energy is hide gundog dummies all over the house and send him from the kitchen, off exploring to find them. Once he got the hang of it - he loved it and it's also a good way to introduce some hand signalls if Scrumpy is struggling to find the last few dummies and you know where you have hidden them.

I'm no expert at all- but these worked for me. Irish are very, very bright and have shedloads of energy - but they do mature (eventually) The key is short, interesting bursts of training EVERY day and lots of exercise.

Lovely pics by the way!!! Best of luck with her - and MORE PICTURES!!!!!

 

[J.T.]

Thanks Kane, I think I'm doing similar things to your suggestions but I say "Whats this?" and "Enough" but the meaning is the same. I like the sound of teaching her to fetch beer, must start working on that one :- " . We are training her for agility & apart from being easily distracted by anything moving on the distant horizon she is learning fast. I will take some photos at the next training session.

 

[Kane]

Great stuff!

I've just noticed you are in Cheshire! We have our club show at Chelford Village Hall and we also hope to have another fun day in the summer. You'd be very welcome to drop in and say hello! (and meet lots more leggy, ginger fruitcakes)

When fun day date is decided, I'll pop details up here.

 

[J.T.]

Great, let me know when it is, Chelford is about 30 mins away from me. Hopefully it will be one weekend when I'm at home as I'm away a lot at agility shows in summer. :thumbsup: And she may not be such a fruitcake by then (w00t)