Training day 2. How much easier will it be?

[D0oinMeCleanin]

I'm thinking worse?

Since we got puppy back the whole dynamic of the group has changed for the worse. Particularly on walks. I am lazy. I let things slip when I only had two dogs. Their training slowly went out the window and I just let it happen. Don't get me wrong, they still did the important bits (not running over to people uninvited, not harassing leashed dogs, not jumping on children wanting to pet them etc) but they pulled like steam trains and payed attention to anything and everything but me.

With puppy adding a whole new element of undiluted, untrained, over excitement, things started getting worse. It is now dangerous to walk them together. They fight each other in the middle of the park, surrounded by witnesses

Thus they are all being walked and trained separately until mine remember the rules (no pulling, ignore other dogs, ignore passers by, stay on your own 'side', try not to eat your fellow doggy house mates etc.) and puppy learns them.

Yesterday was good with my two, they quickly realised what was expected of them. They've done this before. We had a mishap with a collie who came to introduce herself to Whippy uninvited (well, I accidentally called her to come. I called whippy's name, collie came bounding over. She shares whippy's name ) and a barky boxer dog was too much for Devil Dog to ignore and he started pulling relentlessly to try and introduce himself (the boxer wanted to eat him whole ) but other than that my two coped fine.

Puppy was a nightmare (he pulled, he almost knocked a teenage girl off of her feet when she ran over to him to say hi, he tried to eat his lead, he bounced about like a rodeo bull on speed when I ignored him trying to eat his lead, he jumped up at me, he tried to dry hump a pattedale terrier) he's going to get worse before he gets better isn't he?

[D0oinMeCleanin]

Well he actually excelled himself. I was very pleasantly surprised. A few hitches when the kids ran ahead or fell behind and when he met a staffy cross, but aside from that he was the picture of perfect behaviour

Training in recall and retrieve was abandoned in favour of playing catch me if you can with the staffy cross, but he had fun and recalled when he wandered too far.

[EasyToEatTiger]

We forget so easily how much effort we put in to puppies! When our 3rd dog came to us at 6 months, it was so far away from the time we were training our dodderers, and completely different set of problems, and a whole new learning curve. I hope one day that I will be considered as a responsible and respected dog owner. One day....maybe...