7mth springer plz help :(

[Mummyk231]

hi all, having some issues with our male springer pup hes 7 mth and for a intelligent dog we are having real problems with him love him to bits as does dh and our 2 dds but hes behaviour is driving me crazy.

he wont stay in the garden to go to toilet on his own we have to stand out with him or he wont go just stands at door barking

he wees all over the place soon as anyone talks to him

snatches food, he got up on table and ate a whole fancy loaf on xmas day.

chews everything

jumps up at everyone often knocks dd2 (20m) over

hes also developed a fear of other dogs and cowers whenever he sees one despite being socialised from a young age

hes in a crate night time and when hes being naughty but i hates putting him in their and just lately hes spending more time in there just to stop the above behaviour and him charging round like a lunatic. he is exercised and well fed just dont now what we are doing wrong?

can anyone help?

Ok....

I'll take the issues in turn and offer the best advice I can. We have a 14 month old Springer btw. Love him to bits, but you have to invest time and energy into him to keep him calm and placid.

Toilet - Our dog won't go out on his own, we have to go with him. The breed trait is that they love to be with their humans. We just go out with him, but he goes to the toilet on command, so when convenient to me in the main (apart from first thing etc). I don't see going out with him as an issue to be honest, he loves to be with us, we go with him

Weeing/fear of dogs - I really think you need to get the advice of a professional, this to me seems a sign of stress and anxiety. Make sure the professional only uses positive methods. Perhaps if you say the general area, folk may have a recommendation. You can counter condition, but it will take time and energy.

Food - don't leave it out! Teach the 'leave it' command. 'wait' is good for self control too. 'Wait' before he crosses roads, is let off lead, before eating, before chasing his ball etc, even going through doors, not for any old fashioned 'dominance' thing, just to teach self control and reinforce.

Chews - don't leave stuff out for him to chew! Teach the 'leave it' command. Provide him with lots of chew toys, antlers, etc that it's ok for him to chew. Reward him for chewing those with treats and praise. Dogs are by nature scavengers, so he's only doing what is natural to him.

Search Kikopup for teaching not to jump. I'll also find a link for you to a Facebook page with some excellent advice. We had this issue with our dog recently, took one clicker training session based on this advice, sorted Great website.

Dogs have no concept of what is naughty or not, they are amoral, they will display a behaviour that gets them praise or reward. The trick is to capture the behaviour that you want and reward it.

What are you feeding him?

How much exercise? Our easily has 2 plus hours a day, it's hard, they are an energetic breed.

Training will wear him out. Do you clicker train? Use Kongs? Puzzle toys etc? Springer's need to use their brain as well as their body! We train lots during the day, on walks, just a few minutes here and there, while the kettle is boiling etc. Make him think!

Mine loves 'find it', I leave bits of food round the house or garden, or chuck a toy into undergrowth while walking, they love sniffing!

Cardboard boxes with treats in work well too.

Not sure the crate should really be used to contain him either tbh

That's a lot of different types of behaviour, so probably not a single cause/solution. It's not possible to get the whole situation from a summary like this either so forgive me reading between the lines, and I really recommend you get see a good, kind behaviourist for a proper assessment and remedial programme.

Going out for a wee - he's still a pup, and becoming a teenager... They can regress a bit here. You need to really reinforce the behaviour you want, not the behaviour you don't. You will have to stand outside with him for as long as it takes... Sorry. Take him outside, use your toilet command, then appear to completely ignore him until he does it, whereupon you praise with enthusiastic voice, and reward (may be small food treat, may be a game of tug-of-war... Whatever really motivates him. It has to be good enough that once he's got the association between command, behaviour and reward, he'll do the behaviour bit ASAP to get the reward. Clicker training can be useful to build the association.)

Excited/nervous piddling. Depending on what you mean by when anyone talks to him, this might be a worry. One of my dogs is really well toilet trained, but occasionally gets so excited to see an old friend, she'll skitter a bit... that's fine. If it's all the time, start with a trip to the vet to see if there's a physiological problem causing failure of bladder control, and follow with an assessment from behaviourist, because that sounds like a seriously anxious dog. If its occasional lapses, work hard to make meetings very calm. Ideally, get dog settled and distracted with kong. People, especially kids, including your own, must not make a fuss, whip him up into a frenzy, or try to pick him up. Really, it's best if they sit down and don't even look at him until he's quiet and calm. Don't let him crowd the front door when someone arrives.

To be continued...

The crate should NEVER be used as punishment, it should always have positive associations.

thankyou both some good advise there,
toileting/ weeing - i do go out with him but with the weeing or spraying whatever it is i often have to put him outside so i can mop up as have 2 dds and he will constantly bark for the 10 mins hes out there while i clean up and wait for it to dry. laminate through out downstairs thankfully. he will wee just by walking in the the room where he is or if hes going for a walk he will leave a trail up the hall or if hes doing something he shouldnt be and we tell him off.
food- i dont purposely leave food out its mostly dds he will jump up at them when they are eating even at the table. hes fed on science plan puppy food as recommended by the vet and has more than the recommended amount.
chewing- not little things well apart from childrens toys and i do keep telling them if they leave things where he can get them he will. hes taken a liking for my not very old table and chairs. he has a kong. balls, chew bones, raw hides ect.
i use a whistle when we are out he goes out for around a hour a day, hes fab off the lead and comes back no problem. with other dogs it mostly those bigger than him that he was fine with as a little pup. i keep him in the kitchen when i go to the door to stop him jumping. as for the crate i really dont like using it now tbh but i just cant trust him yet not to misbehave when we are in bed or out. thanks again for the tips x

the crate was recommended to us by the breeder as a way of giving him hes own space when i say i use it when hes being naughty i mean getting over excited i think of it as his time out to calm down it doesnt take him long to calm and hes never forced to go in there. moastly the crate is used at night and if we go out but it is something like i say i dont want to be using but it was what was recommended to help train him x

Cross posted with the above. I knew I was taking a long time! Really good advice from needa.

Food snatching is what dogs have evolved to do. I'm afraid it's your behaviour that needs fixing there... Just put stuff away.

Completely agree about using his brain. Investigate "Nothing In Life is Free"... A concept of dog behavioural modification where they have to work (mentally) for everything they value: food, toys, walks, your attention. I think this is especially important for dogs from working lines. Many an unwary owner picks up a springer (or border collie, or lakeland, or patterdale...) pup which has been bred for a specific working purpose. You can't fight that inbred instinct/energy... You have to channel it into appropriate behaviours. Consider whether your pup Might benefit from agility, or gundog training, both of which are great outlets for spare mental and physical energy.

Also agree with doubts over use of crate. They can be a useful tool for some dogs, but if you use it to isolate him when he's "being naughty", I'm afraid you might have poisoned it, and turned it into a punishment cell rather than a refuge. In that case, hours in there at night, and increasingly during the day will be torture, and is only going to increase anxious behaviour (piddling and chewing). I always used a playpen with mine when they were babies... To keep them safe at night, and as a calm-me-down space when they got overexcited/overtired, but never in anger. Beds/crates should be the place they choose to go to, not a place they're forced to stay.

Firstly - don't tell him off, ignore behaviour that you don't want, redirect, and praise behaviour that you do want.

Have you taken him to the vet? I would. I would really want to rule out any medical reason behind the wee situation. Please go asap.

Chewing table etc really is another sign of an unhappy dog. I really do think that you need to get a positive behaviourist involved. You are describing a lot of signs of stress.

Walking. So, he has great recall. Build on this. Today, my dog was being trained while we walked and he had no idea, plus it didn't take any extra time out of my day. I took a toy and treats. When he checks back at you, which he will frequently, if he has good recall, call him to you, give him a treat. Next time he checks back, throw the ball for him. Next time he checks back, do nothing. Keep him thinking at no extra cost to you. Sometimes let him have the ball, sometimes make him drop it. Change the toy. My dog is always thinking 'what's she going to do next'?!

The crate has to be used in a positive way.

I have a Springer, he is amazing and wonderful and the best dog ever. he also takes up a lot of my time. My kids are 14 and 12 and I work 10 hours a week. The breed is energetic and intelligent, I couldn't have met his needs when my DC were small.

Again, he's not misbehaving, he has no concept of naughty or good.

Here's the link to the FB page, it's a fab site. Please read the file section too.

www.facebook.com/groups/374160792599484/ Positive training.

Thank you I will have a look at that page. Going to book his 6mth check up with the vet today and discuss my concerns with them over Xmas he's training slipped a bit so maybe that's why too as he's still learning. Noticed yesterday too he's weeing seems to be more when a male talks to him dh asked him to sit last night and he laid down on the floor rolled over and started to wee all over the floor

Did you socialise him with lots of men when he was a puppy? Or has he had a difficult experience with a man when young?

Firstly, perhaps talk to your vet. Get him thoroughly checked out for medical issues first. The, discuss fully all the things you've mentioned.

I think you need to get the advice of a qualified behaviourist who only practices positive methods.

If it's not medical, perhaps you need to be ok with spending a lot of time with him, working on all the issues you mention. Probably won't be easy or quick but certainly doable, with commitment and patience.

Good luck

hi there, just want to say i agree with all other posters here. i have a springer and he is amazing but like everyone says they are working dogs not pets. if you can i would rehome him while he's still young i know its tough but it might be better all round.

Most of the behaviours you mention are just being a puppy

The behaviour which needs work and tbh is probably caused by his environment and how he has been treated so far is the weeing when people talk to him and the fear of dogs.

A sensitive dog will react to punishment by weeing out of fear.
Dogs that are not socialised correctly or just thrown into situations and forced to meet new dogs will show a fear response.

It does sound like you need help in dealing with these issues and dog training as a whole contact APDT trainer who can help with all these issues very easily. apdt

Thanks all again booked appointment with vets so will see what they say. Re homing him is simply not a option I would even consider he's part of our family like another child. He's such a great dog other than the few issues we are having and given more time I'm sure we will get through them. He so fantastic with my dds too aside from the jumping. We had a breakthrough today decided to leave him out of he's cage whilst collecting dd from school and what should have been a 15min trip turned into almost 2hrs after I fell carrying dd 2 and she bumped her head and badly injured my knee so had to have trip to drs. Came in and he had not chewed or soiled so was really pleased with him :)

Thanks all again booked appointment with vets so will see what they say. Re homing him is simply not a option I would even consider he's part of our family like another child. He's such a great dog other than the few issues we are having and given more time I'm sure we will get through them. He so fantastic with my dds too aside from the jumping. We had a breakthrough today decided to leave him out of he's cage whilst collecting dd from school and what should have been a 15min trip turned into almost 2hrs after I fell carrying dd 2 and she bumped her head and badly injured my knee so had to have trip to drs. Came in and he had not chewed or soiled so was really pleased with him :)