Misbehaving Sheepie @ 3 Yrs Old
He's always been a bit of a clown (aren't they all), but lately his behavior is getting on my nerves and something needs to be done. We now have a 15 month old around the house so there are lot's of family members coming to visit and lots of activity. Admittedly, the dog doesn't get the same attention he used to. At the same time though, he's always had these issues (which I'll get to), but they are worse now. Either that or I notice them more. We do get him out during the day for a walk - usually about 30-40 mins. a) He runs in the house. When he's been outside for a while, we open our patio door to let him back in. He'll stand there for a second and then once his mind is made up he'll tear in the door as fast as he can. He also runs up and down the stairs all the time - I'm not sure he understands what it means to walk on the stairs. It's not a huge deal, but he's been known to run people over and he needs to settle down. b) Doesn't listen. If we go to the cottage or something and you tell him to "come", nine times out of ten, he'll just look back at you and keep going. c) Barks at the door/goes nuts. When someone rings our doorbell or knocks on the door he loses it - barking several times. If I'm standing right there I'll tell him to sit down and he does listen to that. But the whole time he's there he literally shakes until he gets to greet the person. If he gets the chance, he'll dart (see item a  )I know a lot of this is things that we, as owners, are doing wrong. I guess what I'm asking is, what can I do to curb the behavior above. What has worked for you with similar issues? He just seems hi-strung and won't listen basically. Perhaps just a few more runs at the park each day. Just looking for input |
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| Just to clarify - it was me who posted above. I wasn't logged in. Thnx. |
It sounds like a combination of sheepie enthusiasm and Milton not knowing what you want.  The not coming when you call is lack of training. You need to practise, practise, practise and then practise. I practise with the dog on a long lead so that they can't run away and I use treats, there has to be some point in them coming back to me especially at first. Always call them to you in a happy voice and no matter what don't scold them when/if they eventually do come. The running in the door could either be sheer enthusiasm or else Milton's doing a run by in case he gets scolded for taking too long to come. I would train him to sit at any door until he's invited through. Then you can call him to come to the door, ask him to sit at the door, then invite him to walk quietly through the door. Running on the stairs, like the door you probably need to ask him to sit at the top and the bottom and then invite him to walk on the stairs. You'll probably need to teach him to walk the stairs on a lead. In the mean time I would gate the stairs in case he knocks someone down.  For barking at the door you need to teach him to do something else. My two love to bark and go crazy when someone is at the door. They are supposed to go and sit in their beds. I've taught a command "go to your bed". Its still a work in progress though, depending on who is at the door. If its someone they like they tend to run around silly but we're getting there. Its taking time because I dont have a lot of visitors so its a big deal when someone comes by. Work on one thing for a few minutes a couple of times a day. Set Milton up to succeed, things like call him to come when he's close by and you have treats, dont ask him to wait long at the door at first, then when he gets it right treat him and lots of praise for being a good boy. If he's getting in trouble a lot he will not want to come to you and will get stressed and run and be silly even more than usual. EVERYONE in the house has to be consistent EVERY time or Milton will get too confused about what he is supposed to do. So even when you're in a hurry you still need to ask him to wait before he comes through the door and you and your partner and any regular visitors also need to do it everytime. It takes patience and practise but you'll be amazed at the difference once Milton figures out what you want from him. Good luck.  PS a four year old sheepie is still a youngster  |
| I do scold him for not coming, so that's the first thing I need to fix. And I've noticed that a happy voice gets him to come far more frequently than a harsh voice yelling "MILTON! GET. OVER. HERE!". Trouble is, when you're frustrated to the eyeballs it's hard to think of that at the time. I'm going to try and excercise him more too. When my wife got home from work tonight I took him up to the park and played ball with him - just the two of us. I think he needs more excercise, and a little more attention wouldn't hurt either. The walks he does get are usually paced very slow, and with the stroller we don't usually stop anywhere for him to enjoy a little "dog time". |
That's a good idea. He will love the one on one time.  Its so hard when you're busy and they wont come to not scold them but from their perspective why would they come for a scolding.  I've done it too My dalmo was really bad at the park and ran away and would not come back by the time he decided to come back I was so cross he was too scared of getting in trouble. |
One of all our biggest mistakes is to yell at the dog when they don't come to us. Of course they learn, no way am I coming to you just to get yelled at! But it is DIFFICULT to remain calm and nice when you've been calling your dog to come for hours and he stares at you and goes the other way  We are only human!I would practice the "come" command in shorter distances at first, on leash. Even if you're just walking him, as you walk on the leash, just suddenly step back and say "Doggy come" and sort of guide him to you with the leash and then reward with the smellest best treat you can think of. I would reward with a high value treat every time he comes to me to help him learn, come to me and you get the best treat!!! And intermetently call him to come to you and then let him go back and play. This way he won't associate coming to you with having to stop playing and going in the house. Training is sort of like an association game... The running up and down the stairs and the zooming around the house, well, I just posted about my dog doing that at night. I know puppies do it and there is a name for it - FRAPS or something. But my dog is 2 years and your's is 4 so not sure if its the same. I think its excess energy. You probably don't have the time but enrolling him in another training class might help and might also use up some of that excess energy of his. |
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