# Teenage Behaviour?



## Walter (May 31, 2015)

Walter seems to be developing some bad habits.

His recall is fairly good and he tends to do what he's told, such as get off the couch when he has muddy paws etc. He's very clever, however and has always known how to play the system. When he was a puppy and he had learned that weeing outside meant a treat, he would seemingly see how many times he could wee so he could get more treats.

Now he seems to be misbehaving sometimes just so he can get a treat when I tell him to stop and he listens. His main one is playing tug of war with his lead. He'll do it, I'll tell him to drop it and he'll drop it immediately and get a treat. A few minutes later he'll do it again.

He is also barking at people walking past the house. We live with a public path running the whole length of the garden. School children tend to walk past at 3.30 and he'll go outside just to bark at them. He has a habit of barking, then coming to find me and whining as if he wants me to go and join in the barking with him.

He is also digging a lot of holes in the garden, which I wouldn't mind but his main aim seems to be to dig up some kind of felt lining which the previous owner seems to have installed underneath a seating area with woodchip floor. He is getting worse and worse. Today I found three new holes.

Finally, the most annoying thing is stealing items he knows he shouldn't have and trying to get me to chase him. I do a lot of woodworking and use lint free cloths to clean sanding dust off items. They're his favourite things to steal and he'll go in to the garden, wait for me to try to get it off him then run round in circles. Today I gave up and let him have it because I'm sure he's more interested in being chased than chewing the cloth. He'll flatten himself to the ground when he sees me coming.

It's a few things at a time and it's incessant. I have a feeling he knows all these things are bad and he's seeing what he can get away with. Any ideas how to deal with teenage behaviour?


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Laugh 
Well, I did 
Walter is about 7 months now isn't he?
He is full of himself - he is growing up, hormones are raging and exactly like a teenager if he doesn't have anything better to do he will amuse himself - and he obviously has a very well developed sense of humour.
For your sanity:
Increase his exercise time - plenty of off lead time preferably with some doggy pals or a ball to chase with squirrel and bunny smells to investigate, mud or worse to roll in and lots of new places to explore - find new places to walk - you'll both enjoy a change and it will help to tire him out.
Timetable in some fun extra play times - where you do nothing but enjoy him - a bit of training, doggy puzzles, tugga toys what ever works for him - but have a clear start and end to these sessions.
Get him some good quality raw play bones - mine love the nature's menu beef ribs or big marrow bones. Not every day - but if I am hectically busy and I know they are in for a dull day then I'll fish some bones out of the freezer and they will happily gnaw away for an hour plus.
3:30 is not time for him to be out in the garden. kiki is a barker if she asks to go out and then decides to spend her time shouting at the pigeons she gets called in and the door is shut.
Digging - you obviously have DIY skills - make him a doggy sand pit - bury some toys/treats in there and let him enjoy digging there. If he has a rewarding place to dig he will be less likely to dig where you don't want him to. I'm writing this knowing that my back garden has more holes and bunkers than a good golf course.... but then again I have no ability as a carpenter....
Stealing things. He has taught you to chase him.
Ignoring him is the best ploy and put your cloths where he can't get them. 
My rule when mine are pups is never, ever chase them or grab them to get something off them. That way they never learn to run away. Mine do steal - I just say 'what have you got you naughty puppy' in a happy jolly voice and they come wagging over to show me. I give them a treat and away they go happy leaving me with the stolen item.
So yes, mine have me trained too 
Make sure that you take his treat allowance out of his normal food allowance - otherwise he will end up a fat dog 
Have you considered seeing if there is rally-o or tri-ball classes near you - more formal obedience classes might not be your thing and he is a little young for agility, but working his brain will tire him out more than just walking him.


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## Walter (May 31, 2015)

Without counting, he is about seven months old. We did take him to formal obedience as a pup and he passed the first set of classes, but the timings of the second set didn't suit us and we stopped.

He is a great dog, and I think we got lucky with him listening to some other people's stories, but he does need some refining (I forgot to mention, we got a talking to from his dogsitters as puberty kicked in early for him about a month ago and he spent eight hours harassing a poor female basset hound).

I guess the plan is to do what we did with him as a puppy then. Back then it was frozen carrots that kept him busy; I tried that today but he destroyed the whole thing in what seemed like a minute and was back at the freezer for more. My girlfriend actually suggested building a sandpit yesterday, so I think that's probably my next project.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

What Marzi said.

This describes Rufus at that age *exactly*. It was quite daunting to know that this cute furry little thing could outsmart me every time. The only thing that stopped it was conveying to him that we were on the same team. The more I included him in decision making, conversations, outings and even in my work the better he got. Let him ride shot gun, be your side kick and best buddy and he'll be the best co pilot you ever could have hoped for.


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## Walter (May 31, 2015)

We're trying but now he's pretending that he needs to toilet then misbehaving when he gets let out. 

Minutes ago he decided that he wanted to bark at some old ladies who were loitering down the side of the house (which annoys me too but I don't want them complaining about that bad dog at the end of the road on top of everything else that apparently inconveniences them). 

I brought him back in, did some tricks to distract him and went to close the gate and he darted past me because he knew what my plan was and collided full speed with the gate as I was shutting it. I'm not sure which part he hit, but he seems to have shocked himself. Now they're probably complaining about that awful man with the foul language.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

It *is* a bit like rocket science. The ladies were annoying him and you, he barked got rewarded with some tricks, treats and time with you and then was baffled when you kept him from charging out to dispatch them properly. In the meantime you are trying to work out a strategy while dealing with the stress of the noisy dog which only increases your stress and his agitation. They really are too smart for their own good sometimes.


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## Walter (May 31, 2015)

Ok, bit of an update. The digging has stopped since I took him inside every time he dug and filled his holes in. Maybe he thinks it's a pointless exercise now.

The barking is an issue. We have recently had some issues with our neighbours making too much noise late at night. We pushed a note through and I think they have reluctantly dialed it back.

The reason that we pushed a note through instead of talking face to face is that we had a feeling that they wouldn't take lightly to being asked to be quiet. They have a few badly trained dogs who bark at certain noises throughout the day and Walter has learned from them to bark at the same things. It's probably the only thing that he just wont budge on, every other problem we're managing to train out of him.

Anyway today Walter realised that he has two male dogs next door that he can practice his alpha dog behaviour on, even though they're twice his size. He went right in to the bushes up to their fence and started barking aggressively at them, which evolved in to a vicious snarling and barking match. I eventually got him out. I was hoping it would be a one off, but he has done it a couple more times when they weren't outside to bark back. He did it a few minutes ago, however and they all started to bark the neighbourhood down. 

The problem is that he knows when he's doing wrong and will run off while still doing it. I can't get him back in to the house without treating him, and sometimes that doesn't even work. The only thing that gets him back in the house every time is his whistle and I'm reluctant to use that when he's misbehaving because I'm trying to be consistent with treating him every time he comes back to the whistle and I don't want to reinforce his barking. I can't physically catch him because he has his little network of paths in and around the trees and bushes to get away from me.

I don't want to be one of those people, because I know that training takes as long as it takes, but this really needs to stop immediately before we have problems with next door. Any ideas? We're planning on having him neutered at some point because his doggy day care doesn't allow intact dogs, but there are mixed reviews on whether that actually helps.

Edit: I'd rather avoid keeping him on his lead too when he's outside because he's getting a lot of good exercise in the garden when he's behaving himself. We're lucky to be renting a place with a secure, decent sized garden for him to play in.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

A couple of things I would do - block off access to the part of the fence he is barking at dogs next door and also block off some of his access to the rat runs he is using to evade you. I would also bring him in every time he barks as you did with digging so he gets the message it will not achieve anything.

It is nothing to do with alpha dog status and I doubt neutering will make any difference whatsoever. I also very much doubt he knows he has done wrong, he does know you are trying to catch him and that you are annoyed so you need to change what you are doing in this circumstance. If he is getting worked up and won't come in when called how about him trailing a line behind him so he is easy to capture and lead in - I would not chase him as that becomes a whole new game itself.


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