At wits end - golden retriever

[caif90]

Hi All,

Hoping other golden retriever owners can reassure me. We have a 15 month english cream retriever who is driving me absolutely bonkers atm.

We went through 3 months of puppy training when he was 3-6 months old which he was good as good at. Outside of training he didn't always do what we asked but we tried to practice everything as much as possible. Walking to heel wasn't practiced loads as we got comfortable taking him off the lead. Recall was ok when there were no other distractions, but if there was another dog we'd pop him back on the lead.

My husband and I have just had our first child who's now 10 weeks. But our goldie is driving me insane. We've also just moved house to a new area so walks are new to him here. He pulls like crazy 90% of the walks and I won't take him off lead atm because of it being a new area and he's lost all recall. Doesn't come back when called. Chases after squirrels, birds, you name it! When I have baby strapped to me it's actually a little dangerous because parts of the route can be slippy. He's started barking at night in his crate and will not stop at all. He digs holes in the garden. Jumps on the counter. He runs outside when he hears other dogs barking and barks incessantly.

Is this just adolescence? Planning on getting him snipped around 18 months but tearing my hair out atm.

Is this normal?

I wouldn't assume that was adolescence. His routine has been completely upheaved with moving and new baby. You also mentioned he's not getting off lead time either.

I would go back to basics and focus on the recall first. Then once you've cracked that again sort out the loose lead walking.

Also some enrichment for when he's bored at home - kong with frozen filling, puzzle toys etc.

It's so hard when you're in the newborn phase though so best of luck.

I'm think it's a bit of young male dominance, and a change of routine/surroundings. I would get an over-the-nose collar to stop the pulling, and practice coming to heel and recall in your yard. Can you get your partner or a friend to come walking with you, especially if baby is in a carrier?

Congratulations on baby arrival! It's commendable that you are out walking with baby and dog, but don't do it if it's not safe.

There has been a lot of changes for him. New house, new garden, new walks, new baby, new place to sleep. Even if you’d nailed his training before the move it would be normal for everything to go out the window when you moved.

Try to concentrate on not letting him develop terrible habits (like digging up the lawn or fence guarding) by making sure he doesn’t get the chance to do them. Find him a nice chair and put it by a window where he can see the world go by while he is sat relaxed. Play some games with him to engage his brain. Hiding a toy or food for him to find.

Be patient and if possible allow him to follow you around the house while you attend to the baby and if that isn’t possible due to his behaviour make sure he is getting regular walks, maybe you husband or a dog walker could take that on.

He is very young still OP and labs/retreivers take a long time to mature. They also are very sensitive to change (our 3 year old reverted to weeing in the house despite being house trained from 13 weeks, and running off on the field when my gran died). It’s attention seeking. Be patient with him. He will get there. His world has been turned upside down and he doesn’t get why. Let’s be honest, until recently HE was your big baby.

Take him to a private dog walking field and let him run some energy out. Or book a dog walker a few days a week so that he is really tired out, he needs a lot more than just lead walks.

omg that poor poor dog

whole life turned upside down and now another baby has taken his spot.

be patient. he needs time and love

please don't give up on him

Get a canny collar - amazing for bigger dogs who pull on the leads. A godsend.

Agreed. A canny collar saved my shoulder!

Get rid of the crate- I detest them. I have a three year old lab- has run of the house and isn’t destructive. Pulls like mad but my husband just has to walk her and I walk our other dog.
also would recommend joining national trust- they have brilliant dog exercise areas which are great and you can then walk normally after. Labs/ retrievers are an outdoor lifestyle dog. Just have to go with it!

It’s best to wait til he stops growing to neuter too as the hormones close the growth plates at the end of his puberty protecting his joints. So about age 2 if you can leave it that long is better. Obviously if he starts escaping from the garden to chase girls do it sooner.

Lots of good advice here, but may I also mention it may be a good idea to reconsider wearing your baby whilst walking him, a poor lady ended up crushing her new baby to death on a walk in Australia not too long ago.

@caif90 he's still very very
young & you have completely turned everything he knew upside down & inside out & there's a new little imposter you're giving all your attention to.

Doggy fields are brilliant. Find a local one & practic recall, lots of treats. But you can start off practicing at home, until he's 100% with that.

your DH needs to make time to give your dog a good walk daily & to put some time into walking nicely on his lead to keep you & baby and the dog safer.

I walk a huge lab (over 40kg) he's an absolute fucking nightmare, because his owners did what you did & got to complacent because they just let him off lead. They don't care if he approaches other dogs, they just say hs'll learn. But I won't have it. Some dogs are nervous/reactive & I don't think it's fair to allow him to approach them. His recall isn't reliable enough for me either, he'll basically comes IF he wants to.

hes definitely smart & trainable and in every other way a very easy, gentle, lovable dog. Wonderful dog, but 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

you need to up the brain games & give him your full attention (like you used to) at times.

Does he need to be in a crate at night? Is there not an area you can let him have at night? Lab had the kitchen diner & he loves sleeping on the cool tiles most of the time. Their other chocolate lab loves her bed and barely moves a muscle all night!

Hour much exercise is he getting? He sounds bored

I couldn't walk my small terrier with DTs in slings or a double buggy. Gorgeous boy but PITA for pulling.

Hire a dog walker or a secure field, or someone to look patter the baby while you walk him.

His world's been turned upside down so he's rightly pissed off.

Ditch the crate too.

Thanks for all the help here!

Definitely more enrichment games are a great idea for when at home.

3/5 days my husband walks the dog when not at work at then we'll walk together at weekends so he can take the dog and I have baby in the carrier. While a dog walker may be useful, I'm also wary only because I want to practice heel walking / recall when out with him and also eventually then want to be able to let him off again to run around and release some energy.

I think the barking in the garden has developed because we used to have 3 chihuahuas next door who'd come to the fence multiple times a day and bark incessantly. Our dog then started barking back, heckles up and although we'd bring him inside straight away to "distract" him with something else, it turned into him running out and barking at them instead!

Definitely not giving up on him, just with a newborn it's increasingly frustrating. However it's good to know that it's likely the upheaval and he just wants more attention maybe. My husband gives him a lot of attention when he's at home and he doesn't seem phased by baby but it's still a lot of change for a dog (or anyone lol) to deal with.

My husband keeps saying when we get him done he'll calm down but I don't think that's really a reliable thing to count on! The vet recommended 18 months for him as a larger breed because of the impact it has on growth hormone so we're trying to wait it out as long as poss. IMO it's not acceptable for him to run over to other dogs or people to say hello and not come back when called. Although he's literally just saying hello, he's been bitten in the past by reactive dogs (this was a scenario where the owner didn't put their dogs on a lead and the dogs weren't receptive to recall etc) and I'm also aware other dogs can be anxious and not want a bigger dog to say hi.

National trust is a great idea. I didn't realise they have specific dog walks you can search. Also a dog walking field would be greet, thank you! I'll do a google.

I'd absolutely love to let him out the crate at night and ditch it at this stage but if he gets bored it's pandemonium. I'd worry we'd come downstairs to chaos in the morning. He'll eat anything and while we're hyper vigilant with making sure nothing is left on the counter or within reach, being in the kitchen he always seems to find something!! Any tips on phasing out the crate though would be amazing!! He's very happy to be in there though and will only go in if absolutely essential during the day and then at night.

If anyone has any recommendations of treats to use for practicing recall / heel too that would be amazing. We've tried higher value pigs in blankets type thing (chopped up into smaller pieces) and liver treats but no luck with either. I also tried taking chicken and cheese out with my when he was younger to practice and that didn't do much either!

Thanks so much, really appreciate the help!! :-)

We have a GR who was a nightmare until he reached about 2! And yours has had a lot of change.
What we did that helped:
Walk on a gentle leader (stops most pulling, still use it)
Taught him 'middle' so he recalls and you can grab his collar easily. Used chicken and a special squeaky toy he only gets to see when he recalls
Made ourselves less boring and more fun to be with on walks games with a ball, dog bubbles, lots of praise, treats and not going back on the lead etc)
Went back to regular training classes and had a one to one trainer for a while.
Got a bark collar which vibrates when he barks which we used at certain times. Don't need it now.
It was exhausting for a few months but it did work.

We used a tube of primula cheese to help with heel walking-you can hold it at nose height next to you and dispense a continuous flow of cheese as long as they are walking nicely-doesn’t need to be loads just enough for a taste.
A halti also worked for us-didn’t have to use it for long.
be wary of teaching middle-some of them like to do it spontaneously and having a 30+ kg dog appearing through your legs can be a bit dangerous!
the special toy trick is good for recall-keep one or two juts for walks and whip it out excitedly at points during the walk to keep them interested in you.
Not sure about the barking but mine definitely does it more when she’s bored.

Super appreciate the tips! THANK YOU!

I've seen a few others using primula cheese so we'll pick some of that up and also get a special squeezy toy and maybe a fun enrichment ball that we only bring out on walks. I know this will be something to do with my husband as baby + dog + poo bags, treats and phone is already a lot to carry haha

I think it'll still be important to get him coming back / walking to heel better and not rely on him being castrated to solve the problems. We try to stop walking when he pulls but at the moment it's constant and you'd just never get anywhere or give him the exercise he needs.

Generally he'll have a 2hr walk split between 1.5hrs in the morn and a shorter one later in the day. My husband lets him off the lead a little but he's definitely more responsive with my husband, and I worry when walking him about trying to get hold of him if he runs off and doesn't come back when called with baby attached to me.

I want him to have personality but there are some basic training pointers he needs to do. He's mastered middle at home and loves it. But has gotten very savvy to whether we have a treat for him or not. If he realises we don't he's not as excited to do it!! We've tried it on walks and it's not been super successful but will definitely give it another chance.

Also we got a halti harness and he still pulls! It's less strenuous on us than with his Julius K9 harness but he's 28kg now so is getting stronger and it doesn't make a huge difference unfortunately

Treats - Tesco Tasty Treats 20 Meaty Strips about 50p a pack. Each strip breaks into about 10 tiny pieces, doesn’t mess up your pockets. My lab will work for a tiny piece of this.

You might find the Primula gives him a dodgy tummy. Personally I find the tubes of Arden Grange liver paste better.

Personally I prefer a fluffy bungee toy like the Tuff-e-nuff for recall. You keep hold of one end and play tug, which prevents them just buggering off with the recall toy. With the bungee element I found I could do it with baby in the sling. You can obviously always let go if you feel your balance go. But the dog doesn't then tend to bugger off with the toy as the fun comes from you holding it.

Try a gentle leader. We found d that much better than a halti for some reason

This does sound normal considering you got pregnant when your puppy was a few months old. Your puppy never got the chance to become a settled adult dog - you brought a baby into the dynamic and moved house. It sounds like you can’t commit to your dog being your full priority and so he hasn’t been trained properly

A halti harness works well on pulls-like-a-
train pup.

it does doubt a lot of upheaval for the dog though, he’s probably really unsettled, and he’s still a baby himself.

We had DSs black lab castrated at 22 months and whilst it doesn’t stop him pulling on a lead he is MUCH calmer, his recall is better and he’s not reactive to other dogs at all. It was worth every penny.

At 30 months he is improving every day. Good luck.