Bad Girl

[stuartl]

Hi all,

Just digging around for some information, Willow is about 6 months old and has really started to play up.

She has started to Ignore her commands, especially recall and has also started to to urinate in the house right in front of us. She has become a little more destructive, the other night she also tried humping my leg when we were playing.

I know at that this age they go through a bit of a rebelion, but she is just so frustrating and I am not sure the best way to scold her for missbehaving, I know that rewarding good behaviour is more effective, but what do you do when she ignores commands that she knows.

Please help.

Stuart

 

[boxer]

Sounds like typical adolescence to me

But there are some things you can do. With the recall thing, it is actually best if she simply loses her off-leash priviledges for a few months. Safer too Take her out on leash, or on a long line, so that you can enforce your commands if she doesn't comply (but don't forget the wild praise when she does, even if she had a little 'encouragement' via you reeling her in LOL). Only once she's reliable once again should you let her loose again (and it can take a while, but keep working on it).

As for the destructiveness, well, back to crate training 101 and keep her under constant supervision. A bit of puppy-proofing won't go astray either

As for scolding her - well what works best for any age of dog or puppy is to extravagently reward the behaviours you do like, and to just say 'NO' and either redirect to another activity or ignore the dog when it behaves in ways you don't like.

I'm sure you'd find lots more information and advice by searching for adolescence threads here

 

[hogan's mom]

The humping your leg is just her way of trying to dominate you in the "pack".

Hogan is 16 mos. old and he still occasionally tries it too. I just gently push him away and stop playing for a bit.

 

[sashamom]

Yep!! She is going through a rebellion stage...Sasha also had one around a year old as well....it was as if she just 'forgot' all the rules....LOL.....Needless to say ...it will pass....we used 'time out' alot more then!! Good luck!