worried about dogs and new baby (long post!)

[trishpops]

i'm looking for a bit of support,i feel at the end of my tether and very guilty that i'm not doing right by the dogs. just wondered if anyone had been in a similar situation. background info first: we have two mongrel pups (1yr) bro and sis, daschund and chihuahua cross. when at home with me and my partener they are very well behaved, house trained, do what they are told etc.

however we have begun obedience training with them as if anyone comes into the house they either go crazy jumping everywhere (with people they are familiar with) or the male dog can be quite aggressive with strangers. (not good when loads of visitors will be coming when baby born) when we go for walks they strain terribly at the lead, bark very agressively at other dogs and cannot be let off the lead as they would fight with other dogs. we only had the first training session (with a dog trainer) four days ago and it really seemed to make a difference but today i just couldn't get my male dog to obey me at all on his walk today. i am nearly 36wks pregnant, and i'm finding it such a struggle to walk them that they are only getting a ten minute walk a day each. i am playing ball with them in the garden but it's not the same. if i can't get them to walk nicely before the baby comes how the hell am i gonig to walk them at all with a new born. my partener walks them as often as he can but he works very long hours. i cried my eyes out today as i really feel i can't cope with the dogs anymore and i feel ike i'm being really unfair on them. should i try and persevere with the training or what?

heel work doesn't come overnight. May I ask what tools you have for heel work? What sort of collar/lead?

My mum is a dog trainer and they (her and her boss) can get a totally untrained dog to heel within a few minutes with some certain equipment; namely a check chain and a lead (Not extendable)... cc's do NOT strangle dogs when worn correctly; they give a slight tightening when you check and this gives the feel of discomfort; not pain.

The check should be over and done with within 2 seconds too so it's not even prolonged... if they DO continue to pull, they will choke - so they soon learn where its comfy to walk

Do you tell them off when they pull? We advocate a harsh "NO!" then a friendly "heel" to let dog know that "you are being naughty - walk here and I'll be nice".

Stick with it; it isn't an impossible task, just a hard one

You need to get professional help on a one to one basis if you intend to keep them. SOunds like they need lots of socialising with people and other dogs.

They are getting help hercules - they just need to stick with it

if they sleep on the bed or upstairs move them downstairs. they obviously see themselves as the bosses in your house so you must start to let them know that you are the alpha in the house. if they jump or bark at anyone who comes int othe house shout firmly no or leave, if this does not work move them into another room like the kitchen. they will learn that being jumpy or barking is wrong and will mena isolation. separate them when you do this as they will just play with each other.
a quick fix for pulling though you will have to teach them to heel is to put them both in haltis or gentle leaders which will make it easier to control. when my ds was born i had two boxers, i have one now due to the other passing away last month. the one that died was always looking for a scrap and without the gentle leader i could not even take him out the house.
i do suggest you watch Dog Borstal on BBC 3 at 7, on most nights, it will give you some ideas.
any more help just ask.

also when yo walk them when you call their name and they turn to you give them a little treat, do this often and they will associate interacting with you as a good thing that means rewards.

thanks lewisfan, what you describe is exactly what the trainer advised and demonstrated to us, we have chucked our extendables and got the leads and cc's you mentioned, and we are walking them seperately to really ensure the focus is on them. everyday since the original training session they seem to have got a bit better, but today boy dog just didn't seem to take a blind bit of notice and was desperate to get to a dog that was on the other side of the road about 200yds in the distance, i lost control of the situation and was just dragging him back, shouting at him. this was about 30yds from our home so i just took him straight home in tears. i walked girl dog after and although it is hard it wasn't such an ordeal. now i've calmed down i know that with time and patience they will improve. i just wish that we had done this months ago as it is so difficult while i am heavily pregnant.

i'm not unduly concerned about jealousy regarding the baby, although obviously i will be watching for signs of this, we've never let them upstairs and we don't let them on the furniture either. if we never had visitors or left the house the dogs wouldn't be a problem at all! but when other people come to the house or we go out it's like they are different dogs.

Have you had them since they were pups?
If so, there is absolutely no excuse for bad behaviour and/or aggression as they should have started being socialised properly when they were brought home.

However, you need to try and rectify this asap, they are still young so all is not lost!

Firstly, they definitely need more than 10 mins exercise a day. They are probably hyper for starters for not having enough exercise. at least half an hour a day and try and get it up to an hour a day after you DC is born.

Also, are they neutered?