Harch is now a little over 5 months old and his getting more & more vocal. We've been working on the outside barking, redirecting when there are distractions and he's gotten a lot better. One issue has been getting worse though He's always been well mannered on his walks when he's on the prong collar. No pulling, no barking at other dogs, no jumping on people... UNTIL we stop to talk to someone. He'll greet them nicely, but then he gets antsy. He'll start to whine, talk, moan, sometimes even yell. It's even worse if the person is with a dog. He can't just sit or lie down and stay calm. He needs the attention. Same thing when we're at a store. He's fine walking up & down the aisle but as soon as I stop for a second (doesn't have to be anyone around) he starts whining. He's really bad at checkout lines, since there's usually a wait. I don't like to treat him during this time so he doesn't associate being vocal with getting a treat. instead I try to get him to settle & treat if he stays quiet.
We take him to outdoor restaurants and he's good as long as he has a bone to chew on. Sometimes he'll get bored of it though and gets a little vocal, but we can usually get him interested in the bone again, or someone takes him for a quick walk around the block.
The worst is at puppy class. He completed the first set of 6 week classes, and towards the end he started getting more & more vocal. The trainer knows I work with him at home, so she'll try to give us a bit more advanced work to do, but when we're stopped & listening to instruction he's so loud it's hard for everyone to hear her. She suggested brining a kong to keep him busy. Great, not he expects a PB kong at class and goes right back to being vocal once he's finished eating it. We just started the next level class (5 months -1 yr) and he's the loudest one. We try to redirect his attention to me by walking around even when everyone else is standing still, or doing some commands, but all he wants to do is talk to everyone else. There have been a few times that he gets so amped up he gets crazy eyes. When this happens I take him outside let him sniff around and then we go back in.
The instructor wants to try putting a gentle leader on him next week. I'm thinking if this is actual leash anxiety, won't a gentle leader get him more amped up? There's not a lot of time to talk to the instructor between classes, but I did ask for some advice on how to work on this at home and she said to just keep taking him places. That the more he's exposed to being restrained in public the better he'll be. There's got to be more to it though right? I get it, he's over threshold, but isn't the point of taking him to puppy class is to socialize him & get him used to being out in public.
I try to do mat work with him at home; to get him to settle by sitting or lying down while still paying attention to me. Of course he's a rockstar, there's no distractions.
Are there any games we can play at home or in the stores? Gentle leader is not the answer here right?
We take him to outdoor restaurants and he's good as long as he has a bone to chew on. Sometimes he'll get bored of it though and gets a little vocal, but we can usually get him interested in the bone again, or someone takes him for a quick walk around the block.
The worst is at puppy class. He completed the first set of 6 week classes, and towards the end he started getting more & more vocal. The trainer knows I work with him at home, so she'll try to give us a bit more advanced work to do, but when we're stopped & listening to instruction he's so loud it's hard for everyone to hear her. She suggested brining a kong to keep him busy. Great, not he expects a PB kong at class and goes right back to being vocal once he's finished eating it. We just started the next level class (5 months -1 yr) and he's the loudest one. We try to redirect his attention to me by walking around even when everyone else is standing still, or doing some commands, but all he wants to do is talk to everyone else. There have been a few times that he gets so amped up he gets crazy eyes. When this happens I take him outside let him sniff around and then we go back in.
The instructor wants to try putting a gentle leader on him next week. I'm thinking if this is actual leash anxiety, won't a gentle leader get him more amped up? There's not a lot of time to talk to the instructor between classes, but I did ask for some advice on how to work on this at home and she said to just keep taking him places. That the more he's exposed to being restrained in public the better he'll be. There's got to be more to it though right? I get it, he's over threshold, but isn't the point of taking him to puppy class is to socialize him & get him used to being out in public.
I try to do mat work with him at home; to get him to settle by sitting or lying down while still paying attention to me. Of course he's a rockstar, there's no distractions.
Are there any games we can play at home or in the stores? Gentle leader is not the answer here right?