Adolescent rebellion? Help!

[MomofMontana]

Please advise:
Montana is nearly 6 months old and seems to have gotten significantly worse with regard ot his behavior in the last couple of weeks. We have not done obedience training with him in a formal manner. A family friend did train dogs in the military and has helped us with certain things. The problem is that Montana is now 50 lbs. I am his mom, I weigh 100 lbs, and I can hardly control him. We got him a choke collar, and tha helps, but I can no longer walk him with his regular collar. I want to try the gentle leader. But that does not eliminate the fact that he is just so unruly. He will run aronud the house in figure 8's right before bed. He also bites a lot. We are consistent with how we deal with the biting. He is not destructive inside our home, but his teeth are hurting me big time. Is it time for formal training, or are we too late? Also, he will be neutered in less than a month; will this help? Hubby and I are at a loss as to how we can effectively teach him not to bite, jump up, etc. Thanks in advance.

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

No it is not too late for obedience training and I would suggest that you enroll yourself and your dog as soon as you can find a suitable class.

I think you'll have much better luck with a Gentle Leader than a choke chain in terms of training boxers.

Neutering is not likely to help. This is a boxer. They are very, very enthusiastic, social and active dogs which require a LOT of exercise and consistent life-long training.

In the interim, each of the problems you have mentioned have been discussed here at Boxerworld many, many times. If you use the search button at the top of each page, using search terms such as "jumping" or "biting" or "soft biting" you will find tons of information on how to deal with these specific problems.

Also, there are 3 books I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you and your family read together ASAP. They are:

The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson
The Dog Listener by Jan Fennell
How To Train Your Boxer by Joan Hustace Walker

These books will help you with your training at home, and each of the problems you have mentioned.

Good luck.

 

[Mrs. Dog]

I used a gentle leader on dexter at first while i was waiting to get a spot in obedience. The gentle leader worked great for him. Once i got into classes I didn't need the gentle leader anymore. Obedience classes teach you how to deal with problems at home also.