Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Regression!!!

As a puppy raiser I get to go through each stage of a puppies life from 8 weeks to adulthood. During that time dogs have their ups and downs.

Hobart is going through a little bit of a rebellious stage. He knows a lot of commands, but he has decided that he doesn't want to listen or wants to listen very slowly. He was also doing great with his housebreaking, but now he has started to have accidents  more frequently. I'm frustrated to say the least. I know that he's not supposed to be housebroken or fully trained by four months, but I thought I had conquered some things that are now  re-appearing in my work with him.

The thing is, I KNOW HOBART IS SMART!!! He just doesn't act it sometimes. I don't know what I'm doing, but I have a basic idea. I have a month to prepare Hobart for going out in public. I'm not sure what will happen.

I have started to take a walk at the park across the street from us instead of just taking Hobart out to play in the yard every day. It helps him to learn to walk on a loose leash and it gives me time to work on training.




~Elijah & Hobart II

8 comments:

  1. THey all do that. IT is easy to get frustrated though, but he'll get there - he has an excellent puppy raiser to show him the right way! Love the photos - especially the last one!

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  2. yeah I worry about bamboo's potty training too. I know she knows that I want her to go outside, but I don't think she knows that I don't want her to go inside. We take her out on such a regular schedule I don't think we give her the chance to have an accident - which is when we can get across the point of 'no business in the house' make sense?

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  3. Because my husband and I are both blind, we kept our dogs on leash in the house if they did not relieve outside when it was time to do their business during potty training stages. It just kept them from having the opportunity to go inside.
    From a lot of the dog psychology books I have read, four to six months is when dogs tend to regress and see what they can get away with.
    You'll get there. :) *hug*

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  4. Elijah - if it makes you feel better as a PR, I was the one in CCI class last night talking about Hobart's sister going through a "lil' freak out" stage. She can hit the run button out of nowhere. The siblings have hit the 4mo stage - I doubt it is has much to do with the PR - just how we handle it from here. Hang in there. =)

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  5. Thanks, guys! That's very encouraging!!!

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  6. Remember his age, keep your expectations of him low at this point, and as always practice makes perfect!!

    Another thing to remember is dog's don't genearlize well. Just because he knows "sit" (for instance) in your living room, doesn't mean that that word means the same thing in the kitchen, or in the bathroom.

    As I said before, practice makes perfect, so as part of your training session, walk through the house and reward him for sitting in different room. Also change up your body position, ask for a sit while YOU are sitting, ask for it while you are one step away, ask for it, when you have one hand on your head... I think you see where I'm going :))

    Have fun with him, and don't rush! He'll get it eventually! :))

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Elijah and Hobart