Overexcited dog at obedience class

[Yorkshire lass]

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My 6 month old unneutered male Norwegian Elkhound is quite good at walking to heel, sitting and lying down on command (less good at recall but we're working on that!) He is well socialised with people and dogs as he's been out in the park twice a day for months - he adores playing with other dogs and has a really friendly temperament. We started a 10 week obedience class a couple of weeks ago and his behaviour at the class has been a nightmare, because he gets so excited he won't listen or pay attention - all he wants to do is play with the other dogs. He skates all over the floor (it's slippy), pants and pulls and ignores any commands. He seems distracted by the scents of the other dogs and is constantly sniffing the air. The trainer said I wasn't being firm enough, which could well be true as I'm quite soft spoken (I use a whistle for recall on the park but can't use this at full belt in the class as it works on all the other dogs). Then the trainer took over and he ignored her too. The class can be a bit chaotic and the room is far too hot for him so I can sympathise a bit with his behaviour but the other dogs are OK with the situation. Can anyone suggest how to get him to simmer down and ways of getting his attention? If he's just as bad next week I'm going to stop taking him as he's getting less obedient out of the class as well as in it.

 

[Oreo]

Is there anyway you can get your dog to the class before other dogs arrive?

It maybe that he wants to explore the room?

We have just joined a class ourselves and Oreo behaved in a way she never has before and was really naughty, the trainer believes this will stop over time and just excitement.

Sorry I can't offer more help but welcome to the forum

 

[banana]

Welcome to Dog Forum!

One of my dogs wouldn't settle in a dog training church hall, I didnt take her back and did it myself but I would suggest looking for other classes that work with you and your dog instead of blaming you....

 

[Tigernidster]

This really is one for the trainer running your course! If she cannot help then I would find another club and ask for your money back!

 

[lurcherman]

my last lurcher at 6 months was a bit testing so i thought id give a class a try hahahaha i thought i knew more than them so trained it myself and by the time she was 13months she was a clever andbonding sought but that was over 20 yrs back now. i think trying to train your dog is a great experience.

 

[hanneroon]

this does seem a bit unfair of the trainer, my friend had a similar time, where the trainer just got her to stand there with her 'baddog' and the others practised walking past him!

Maybe arriving first as cadac says, so he can greet the dogs as they arrive and get it over and done with might help? Or go for a good play at a park first with some doggy contact so he's tired, and its not quite so exciting.

Or maybe some other practise at a place with lots of dogs, where you just stand around and ignore them, and practise being calm. It probably will improve if you do stick with it, maybe your goal could be to just get him to chill out there next time, and not bother with the commands while he is distracted, so you don't feel you've failed at it? If i'd already paid the cash, i would be on the phone to the trainer for advice, and pester them until they come up with a plan..

 

[Yorkshire lass]

Thanks for the advice and support. He's my first dog so I need all the help I can get - this forum and advice from the other dog owners I've met locally have been really great. I'm going to take him earlier next week and let him have a good walk round the room and meet as many of the other dogs as possible before the class starts to see if that makes any difference. Also, I'll take him through the park on the way to the class to let off a bit of his surplus energy! It doesn't help that we have to get the train to get there and he gets a bit agitated on the journey. He's such a great puppy, so friendly and good natured, but I swear last week he started looking at me as though he was thinking "What's the point of all this? I know how to sit and lie down and come back!" The class didn't cost very much so if this doesn't work I'll stop going, but I want to feel I've done my best by him. The problem is that I'm losing confidence in myself and I'm sure he's picking up on this and playing up even more. Thanks again - no doubt I'll be back with some more questions!

 

[eingana]

I'd say that you could do with arriving by an earlier train and then taking the time to have a nice walk and a play with him which will both vent some of his energy and give him time to be less stressed because of the journey, and then arriving at the hall earlier so that he's feeling less stressed and excited with what's happening.

It's quite possible that he's either too young in temperament or too advanced in learning for the class that he's in. A class which is just puppies will be a lot more play orientated, which is one direction you could think of taking him, and a class which is teaching things which he doesn't already know is another option. You could also look for a class which is outdoors which has more space and less opportunity for all of the dogs to wind each other up.

Another alternative would be to give up on classes and teach him on a one to one basis. If you already have heel, sit and a few other things then you're doing plenty of things right, so please focus on how well you've been doing already with him without the classes, rather than the fact that you haven't been doing so well at the classes

 

[TTT]

Good luck with your progress. It is your first dog......so realistically you may not know what to expect or that dogs go through 'phases' as they develop and mature. What appears to be well trained behaviour in a pup may well become unruly as an adolescent, especially when the hormones kick in. Communicate with whoever is running the training class and accept that training and socialisation is an ongoing, lifelong endevour......stick at it and reap the rewards......a dog with manners to be proud of.

 

[Jampot]

You have my sympathy. The first time I took Sadie, my vizsla, to training I thought I'd left her behind and had a kangaroo on a lead!! She was a nightmare. The following week I took her for a walk to tire her out a little before our class and she was better. She is still quite excited when we arrive and for the first 5 mins or so, but does settle once we start training. Keep at it I'm sure the routine of going will help.

Sadie is now seven and a half months and at last weeks training she refused to sit, wait, down, stay. All the basics she's been able to do for months went out of the window. Meanwhile a dog which had just been moved up into our group did them all beautifully. I'm sure our dogs just love to show us up

 

[JenC]

Hello, new here but I had experience of similar problem and my trainer recommended a head collar (Halti/Gentle Leader, that kind of thing) for my border collie, Cassie. The way it fits means it sits in certain pressure areas which relax the dog. She doesnt like having it put on so we struggle with that but once its on, she is very chilled. We had it on Cassie for her first 12 sessions and then took off as she progressed and got more used to the class/environment/people/dogs. Recently a load of new puppies started the class and Cassie was really excited, wanted to meet them all, pulling and slipping all over the wooden floor so we popped head collar back on and she was relaxed again (to the point of dozing on the floor between activities). I think its worth a try - dont give up on classes because it does keep a focus on training going (its easy to give up when you think the dogs "just about there" and then slip back) and its somewhere to go to entertain dog when the weather is pants. Good luck!

 

[Yorkshire lass]

Quick update - we went last night, on the earlier train and had a walk through the park on the way there. The train journey was better, although I think he deafened the man in the ticket office! He was much calmer in the class and I'm going to keep going. I normally use a half check collar (sometimes a harness when we're out) but the trainer said I had it too low on his neck and it should be up under his chin when I'm controlling him. This helped, as did using "the voice" when he was playing up. I have to dredge up memories of being told off by my mum to get a good "voice" but it does work. The funny thing is that I'm focussing on all the things he's doing wrong but the other people in the class are probably thinking the same about their dogs so I'm trying to relax a bit more and realise that he's just a youngster and the class is as much for me as for him.

The whole puppy training thing can be quite fraught and I never realised this until I spoke to other dog owners. I made the mistake of thinking it would all go to my plan (like I read in the puppy training book). You see other dogs out and about behaving beautifully, trotting along at heel off the lead, but don't realise what they were like as puppies. It's useful to hear other owners' experiences of what their puppies got up to (stealing people's picnics on the park, raiding the fridge, knocking children into the canal, etc). He's not managed to do any of those (so far).

 

[eingana]

If anybody tells you that their dog was a complete angel through all of their puppy stages then they are either so in love with their dog that they're forgetting a lot of things (like when people tell you that their children are angels) or they're lying

Animals aren't automata, they're sentient beings and they have their own minds about things including whether or not they should read the puppy training book

Glad to hear that you had a better day at this week's training class. It's way too easy to focus on the bad things, but I'm sure that your lad is normally a happy, friendly and polite boy and the aim of these classes is to enhance this and as long as you're going towards that goal then it's all good (however small the steps you take and however many times you do 2 forward and then 1 and a half back).