# 3yo male - help!



## charliesdad (Feb 4, 2021)

Hi everyone, just found this forum and I'm hoping someone can help us. 

We have a very loving 3yo male cockapoo who, when there is just the 4 of us at home (me, wife & 2 teenage kids) he is the softest teddybear - to the point of being a bit pathetic! 

However, he has a darker side..... Here are a few examples to give you an idea:

My wife took him for a nice long walk when we had an electrician working in the house. When she got home she took his lead off, and he saw the electrician working in the corner - he ran over an nipped his leg! 

When he's on the lead, he pulls constantly. For our last dog we used a "Canny Collar" (like a Halti) but Charlie hates it. He just whines, literally all the walk. 

When the postman or a delivery driver comes to the door he goes insane, barking all the time. 

It's as though he is either being very defensive, or nervously aggressive. 

We have had one hour sessions with 2 seperate dog trainers who both said we should use choke chains to correct his behaviour when walking - we tried, but it doesn't stop him pulling and his wavy fur gets stuck in the chain so it doesn't work anyway! They always managed to avoid the question of defensive barking though...

He isn't motivated by food at all, so we can't use that to train him either. 

PLEASE - can anyone suggest anything we can try? Any online resources, anything! We were even discussing tonight the possiblity of having him rehomed because for 3 years we have tried to train him and it seems to be 1 step forward and 2 back. 

The best way I can describe it is like he has NO memory. We would have him walking nicely on a lead, a quick "AH!" to distract his attention and he'd be back with us again. But it doesn't stick! He walks at least 3 miles a day, and every day is like groundhog day! 

So sorry for the long post, we are just at our wits end....

Thanks in advance to anyone who is still reading :-(


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Sounds like you were not served well by either of the trainers you had as choke chains and punishment are not the way to go for a dog like this. You need to help him see the world as less threatening not more. 

Speak to a trained from either apdt or Imdt who will use modern science based training to help you get him sorted and things resolved. Things like lead walking are best stated in the garden where he can be rewarded for walking nicely and then very slowly progressed to outside withou5 the opportunity to practice pulling. If he currently pulls for three miles a day as far as he is concerned it works and he will continue to do it


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## charliesdad (Feb 4, 2021)

Thanks for replying! 

The apdt and lmdt sound great, I'd not heard of them before and will definitely look at them. 

The worry at the back of my mind is that just as before, he'll be good for the trainer and go back to his old ways as soon as they've gone! 

I'm sure he has dementia!! 🤣


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Training is a matter of replacing old habits with new - so for example with the lead walking, if teaching a dog to walk nicely you would only do short training walks then put dog in a car to go to somewhere for a run for more exercise if needed. There is no point at all spending ten minutes working on nice walking then allowing pulling for the rest of the walk. As the dog gets better you can do more and more nice lead walking until they are fine for the whole walk.


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## Dig (Dec 27, 2018)

I hear your pain! The right trainer will make all the difference. I echo what 2nd handgal says and that this might take a lot of consistent reinforcement, but it’s definitely achievable. It’s hard work, but you’ll get there in the end


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## charliesdad (Feb 4, 2021)

Dig said:


> I hear your pain! The right trainer will make all the difference. I echo what 2nd handgal says and that this might take a lot of consistent reinforcement, but it’s definitely achievable. It’s hard work, but you’ll get there in the end


Thanks Dig, going to speak tona few local trainers and see who we feel is the right fit.
We relied on google reviews the last couple of times and that got us nowhere!


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