Help...My iyear old pup is socially unacceptable

[Lucas Judd]

Hey guys i am having a problem with my 1 year old beagle pup Brady. He is turning into a very good dog but the only probelm we are having with him is that when we walk him he wimpers the whole time. It seems like he is just so excited that he cannot contain himself. Furthermore, when we come into contact with other dogs he spazzes out. Very intense barking which usually gets our other beagle Maggie going too. Last night we tried to go watch a highschool softball game and had to leave after a few minutes because he started making a spectacle of himself when he saw another dog. I would like to be able to take him for walks without being embarrassed. How do I stop this behavior. He is fine when other dogs come to our house to play. It only seems to be a probelm when he is on lead. We used to use a typical buckle collar with retractable leash but we recently went to harnesses thinking it would put less strain on their necks. I was think that maybe a pinch collar would help? any suggestions would help.

[Jody Hayes]

I also use the halter to walk my Beagle and love it...Ace doesn't appreciate it though. I have only had it on him for walks for about a week now and he too whines pretty much the whole time. My opinion? He needs to get used to it. It is such a relief to have him on it, much more control. I think after they get used to it the whining will subside. Just keep praising him throughout the walk. Ace too barks at other dogs like you mentioned Brady does. I try to kneel by Ace and make him sit and I pet and praise him for being quite. THe only way to get them accustomed to it is to keep going into the situation. Try a few minutes, and working up to longer periods of time. Sorry I couldn't be of more assistance. I too am in the same boat.

Jody

[Lucas Judd]

I don't think that Brady is whimpering because of the harness. I think it is just that he is just so darn excited that he can't control himself. He is awful in the car....gets right on my lap while I am driving and cries all the way to the groomer or the vet. I think I am gonna try and teach him the "speak" command and the "enough" command and see if i can control the barking.

[Marsha]

I'm having the same trouble taking my 10 month old to the kids' baseball games. He whines, whimpers and barks at all the other dogs that people have taken. The other dogs will sit there quietly, but mine is behaving like a maniac. Occasionally, he will get one of the other ones barking and growling at him. I try to take him for about 20 minutes and then take him home. I keep hoping that the exposure will get him more used to it, and eventually we will be able to take him and sit and watch a game without him disrupting everybody else's enjoyment. I take him home after 20 minutes so everyone doesn't have to listen to him, even though that means missing some of my son's game. He is a little better already, but I don't expect great improvement during this season anymore. I'm hoping with exposure and maturity that next year will be better.

[Jody Hayes]

That sounds exactly like Ace...I know he is not hurt from the Halter...he's just ticked that he cant have his way pulling me and keeping his nose to the ground at his pace. He does bark at home a lot when dogs walk by or people, anything can make him bark. I know a lot of people don't like it, but we have a bark collar and it has brought a lot of peace to our home. He hardly has to wear it now. He will bark softly or stop right away when I tell him "no, Bark collar". Beagles do whine...a lot. I agree that as they get older and w/ a lot of patience our dogs will get better.

[Melissa Brunoehler]

Hi~

One thing that will help your dogs relax when you're out & about (like at the softball game) is to teach “settle” as a default behavior.
Here’s how to teach this-

At home put your pup on leash
Holding on to your dog’s leash Sit down anywhere (outside, on the couch, at the kitchen table, etc.)
Ignore your dog completely-
I want to stress that IGNORE your dog
(You can be doing anything you want- reading, watching TV, whatever)
The second your dog lays down Click with a clicker or make a click with your tongue & give him a treat.
Your pup may get up after the first CT, no problem, just ignore & wait for him to lie down again
When he does continue to CT him
Because your dog is learning something new the C/Ts in the beginning are going to quite frequent & quite close together.


Practice this in different places around your house inside & outside with your dog on & off leash.
When you’re out for a walk stop & rest on a bench & wait for your pup to lay down so you can C/T him.
Your dog will soon learn that great things(treats) happen when he lays down & relaxes

Other things to keep in mind:
Because this is a default behavior you’re not going to put a cue on it.
Don’t get frustrated if your dog isn’t laying down right away all the time, just to continue to C/T when he does & he’ll catch on.




I'm having the same trouble taking my 10 month old to the kids' baseball games. He whines, whimpers and barks at all the other dogs that people have taken. The other dogs will sit there quietly, but mine is behaving like a maniac. Occasionally, he will get one of the other ones barking and growling at him. I try to take him for about 20 minutes and then take him home. I keep hoping that the exposure will get him more used to it, and eventually we will be able to take him and sit and watch a game without him disrupting everybody else's enjoyment. I take him home after 20 minutes so everyone doesn't have to listen to him, even though that means missing some of my son's game. He is a little better already, but I don't expect great improvement during this season anymore. I'm hoping with exposure and maturity that next year will be better.

[Melissa Brunoehler]

Hi Lucas~

You might want to look into getting a crate or doggie seat belt/harness for when your dog is in the car- less stress for you & your dog. And of course always reward quiet calm behavior.


I don't think that Brady is whimpering because of the harness. I think it is just that he is just so darn excited that he can't control himself. He is awful in the car....gets right on my lap while I am driving and cries all the way to the groomer or the vet. I think I am gonna try and teach him the "speak" command and the "enough" command and see if i can control the barking.

[Jody Hayes]

Great advice...thank you. I am going to start working on the settle command tonight. We live in a very touristy town and there are tons of people around all the time. I don't want my dog to suffer w/out his walks just because I failed not to try my best at training him. People love petting him because he is such a friendly dog.

[Lucas Judd]

I to will try the settle idea as a default behavior. I like that idea. He is actually starting to mellow out a bit at home. It will be interesting at first because both of our dogs spaz when we get the leashes out :D

[Carrie Ahl]

Hi, my name is Cari and my dog is socially unacceptable too! :p


Oh my, I was sooo happy to read this thread!! My 2 year old Shep/terrier/cattle dog mix does just the same thing in public. Everyday we go for long long walks in the early a.m. and there is nothing much around to stimulate her. But.... if we try to go out in the afternoon, or go to Petsmart, or the vets, and she becomes a maniac. It is not aggression, (she is completely unaggressive), just pure excitement, and, I believe, frustration.

She jumps up and down at the end of her leash- she has a lift-off clearance of a good three feet from a standstill- (we always use a harness for this reason), and shrieks like someone is cutting her head off with a butter knife! People come running to try and save the poor dog that is being murdered. :rolleyes: My better half works nights and occassionally tries to take her to the local park in the afternoon. One time he called me at work and left me a voice mail saying: " well,here we are at the ball field", and the rest of the message was the loud and clear sound of a yapping and shrieking Magic!

We actually had to drop out of obedience class because she would not settle down and I did not like the methods they were recommending/using for dealing with this.... We also are working on short,easy trips out to those places that cause the riot, rewarding her and leaving quickly.

Thanks so much for the training advice Melissa, that sounds like a great plan and I'm going to start working on it tonight. :yourock: I've been at a loss on where to go with this one. It's troublesome, because, while she LOVES to play with people and other dogs, this wildness can often scare the former and antagonize the latter. She is extremely well-behaved at home, so we'll start there!

BTW, Lucas, our dog behaves exactly the same way in the car. It definitely appears to be another case of overstimulation, she loves car rides but can't contain herself! So we bought one of those seatbelt attachment leashes and clip it to her harness and the change was amazing.

Cari

[Marsha]

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I have an overly-excited dog in public....whining, whimpering, barking, pulling. He has gotten better. The last time I took him to Petsmart, he behaved very nicely and calmly, but there were no other dogs in there. I'm hoping that means that he has taken a step towards containing his excitement when he sees people, though. He also has no aggression. He just loves everybody....human, canine, feline, young, old...makes no difference, and he will pull and whine and bark trying to excitedly get to them.
The car has been a different matter. He whines and whimpers in the car, and early on we got a harness that attaches to the car seat. He managed to squirm enough to get himself tangled in it ALL the time. I would have to pull over on most short trips to get him untangled because it would have his head pulled down tight or be cutting into his legs.
We recently bought a soft-sided crate, and he rides in it. Problem solved except we haven't figured out how to let him enjoy picking the kids up from school. It's not easy to reach to the back seat and let him out while we're in the car line. He loves to sit in the car line and hang his head out the window and watch and listen to the kids. (Of course, another place that can get him excited and whining). Maybe it's just as well if he can't do that right now until when/if he gets able to handle the excitement of all those kids.

[Lucas Judd]

I tried the crate in the car trick but the crying was unbearable!

[aussiesmum]

Well Aussie is STILL a nut because she LOVES people. No barking, but jumping like a freak. We are working on it, but still hard. Anyway, we had company over tonight and she was VERY excited (loves my partner's parents), but once I put a tether on her and put her bed next to me she almost immediately went to sleep because she knows this routine means "settle". I went to make tea and I had to wake her from her sleep to get up.

Anyway, just letting you know it DOES work.

Luckily we have taken her pretty much everywhere since 2 months old, so at the bus stop she just lays down. On the bus, she sits under my legs as happy as a clam. Sometimes she isn't as good, but if she knows we are going to stay somewhere for a few min, she just chills.

Oh yeah, we are also lucky that she is GREAT in the car, but that also took time. We don't have a crate but we have a small station wagon. She gets in the back with a halter on and we use her leash to attach the halter to the back of the back seat. She has the flexiablity to look around, but is safe from moving. perhaps a dog halter/ seatbelt might help. I think riding with a pooch in your lap seems potentially very dangerous for both of you.

[Krysta Smith]

Lola is the same way!! She absolutely LOVES people. She's not so fond of other dogs but she's getting better. When I take her on a walk or into Petsmart for her obedience classes she goes crazy and tries to jump on every person she sees. She whines the whole time and pulls on her leash. Once we get into the training area she's fine though. She still visits the people on either side of us (as long as their dog is busy with something else :rolleyes: ). I usually just put her in a cart if we're wandering around otherwise it takes me twice as long. Lola loves the car now but when I first got her she used to whine the whole time. I started out just taking her out for ten or fifteen minutes and when she got used to that I'd take her out for longer. Now she jumps into the car and climbs up on the seat.

[Melissa Brunoehler]

Hey Lucas~

The crate was a suggestion to keep you & your pup safe. It isn't a magic cure for whining. If you'd like some help with the whining in the car, let me know. I'd be happy to help :D

I tried the crate in the car trick but the crying was unbearable!