Any help would be welcomed as my dog is driving me nuts. He's never been well behaved and we've had lots of issues with jumping up/on people, walking badly on the lead, no recall, excessive barking, stealing/destroying, attention seeking...almost anything you can think of. He still does all of these although we've had some improvement on some after lots (and lots, and lots) of work.
He's a cavalier aged 3 and I've had him since a puppy. He's been to puppy classes, adult training classes, and had a private session with a behaviouralist and nothing has made much impact.
I had a baby 8 months ago and things have gone from bad to worse. He has always been obsessed with stealing things like tissues, cardboard, post, wrappers and food. For the first few months of the baby's life he didn't go anywhere near his toys which seemed miraculous, but in the last month or so he's been steadily stealing more and more until now, when barely 20 minutes goes by without him nicking a dummy/spoon/toy/comforter etc. The other day he took a breadstick out of the baby's hand!
He knows 'leave it', we have done it 500000 times but he will run off with stuff into another room, and I have to leave the baby and get a treat for him to drop it. I'm currently having to do this about 20 times a day and it's driving me spare. Trying not to chase him/take things out of his mouth as he can get growly but a couple of times I've had to because they were dangerous.
I think he's doing it for attention and while he's always been a tricky dog (both the trainer and behaviouralist said he was not a usual cavalier due to the fact that he doesn't respond well/quickly to training) I think it's probably mine and my DHs fault too, we're definitely doing something wrong. I have felt very frustrated with him since having the baby due to the extra stress he's causing, although try very hard not to show it. He gets walks, toys, games and cuddles (although my partner does much more than me these days) every day but I think I spoiled him pre-baby and he had lots of bad habits that have now become bigger issues.
Rehoming is not and won't ever be an option so please no one suggest that, he's our dog and I love him deep down (just not IN LOVE with him at the moment ).
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The doghouse
Dog's behaviour is getting out of control
41 replies
BiancaDelRiooo · 18/08/2019 17:55
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