Poppy is six months old, she is a Spaniel crossed with a Husky and has had two previous owners, the first kept her in the kitchen all the time, barely walked her and as far as I can tell gave her away when she wasn't 'puppy like' enough for them.
The second owners already had a dog and 5 children in a 2 bedroom house and when I arrived it was clear she had not been walked and was in a dirty, tiny kitchen. I found out about her through face book and immediately went to get her.
We pretty much fell in love straight away, I walked her as soon as I got home and we've been out once more today, I am just about to take her for another hours walk before settling down for the night.
She hasn't eaten much today, I put some bisto gravy in her biscuits but that didnt seem to entice her and she also hasn't passed urine or had a bowel movement since I collected her.
She is quite pulley on the lead and doesn't seem to have been trained at all, still she is very clever and has come a long way even since this morning, she is jumping up at us less and less and she is wonderful with the children.
I suppose I would love any advice on how to get her off the lead, because we live near lots of fields and I want her to be able to run and jump and do all those things that dogs do, I also want to throw balls for her and so on.
I got the best dog food that I could and a chew toy and a ball and rope thing but she hasn't really been played with so shes not really interested in any of it.
We are used to dogs, I grew up with dogs and helped my dad train our boxer and she was amazing, really calm and happy and friendly. I am sure that my husband and I can train Poppy very well. Any support or advice is greatly received.
thank you
If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.
The doghouse
Meet Poppy
Fifyfomum · 21/03/2014 18:50
Youch.
I tried hinting this wasnt going to go well in my opening post.
So come on, who is going to bite first? Which dick head? 
I hope it works out for you too, I think that you have done a lovely thing, and I hope that Poppy makes a wonderful addition to your family.
My spaniels are my first dogs. I love them both beyond reason, they have enhanced my lfie beyond any restrictions that they place on it. Because they were my first dogs, I read a lot and, most importantly, kept an open mind. I was lucky in that I have had them from 8 weeks and they have had the best possible start in life. Like you, I am prepared to put the work in.
I have loads to learn. I hope to get involved in rescue. I have started a diploma in canine behaviour and training. I therefore have a pile of reading material to work through.
If you honestly think that it is laughable that others use positive training methods only to train their dogs, then take your post down on the Facebook forum and read their ethos and rules. It's disrespectful to ask for advice on there if you believe what you say.
If you would like me to post a list of reading material to support positive training emthods, then I will. It's very long, so you would have to bare with me 
. Have a read of anything by Sarah Whitehead, Karen Pryor, Jean Donaldson etc.
Here's a link to an interesting document, have a read and keep an open mind. You have dismissed in one sentence all current thinking on canine behavior and training.
//www.urbandogtraining.com.au/training-info/canine-communication/why-you-shouldnt-say-no-to-your-dog.pdf
Copy and paste. Hope it helps, it's interesting if nothing else, and the author knows more than you
What does she need to be told off for? Telling a dog off is simply punishing the dog for our poor training.
You must stop telling her off with immediate effect and make sure everyone else in the family is on board as well.
These four bullet points are all you need when raising a puppy.
- PREVENT & MANAGE
- REINFORCE
- TEACH
- INTERRUPT
- Prevent what you can wherever possible and manage the pup’s environment so that she has little or no opportunity to go wrong. This means puppy proof the house, move books from the lower shelves on the bookshelves – (I had to relocate the bottles in the wine rack in the kitchen when my pup was younger!!), put bins behind cupboard doors, use stair gates and close doors to prevent access to areas where the pup may chew precious furnishings, pick up all Persian rugs temporarily and more importantly put things away such as shoes, children’s toys etc.
Any time you dog engages in an unwanted behaviour, take a step back and ask yourself how you could have prevented it.
- Reinforce your pup for offering behaviours that are agreeable. This can be anything or can even be the absence of an unwanted behaviour. The best way to do this is to have a pot of small yummy treats, such as hot dog sausage, liver, cheese etc, say 30 in number and set yourself a challenge to catch your dog, 30 times during the day, doing something that you would like her to repeat. It could be lying in her bed, choosing to keep front feet on the floor when a visitor comes in, coming in from the garden, chewing her chew toy, the possibilities are endless (think I nicked that from an advert). To start with you may struggle to find 30 opportunities but because dogs do what works for them you will soon need more treats in that pot because your dog is going to be throwing these behaviours at you left, right and centre. These are behaviours that you haven’t asked for by the way and this is by far the easiest way for a dog to learn.
- Teach your dog what you would like her to do. The obvious ones are to walk nicely on a lead, come when called, sit, lie down, stay…. There are lots of ways to teach your dog but it is important that whatever method you choose it is easy to understand and fair to the dog. Think back to how you learned in school. I bet your favourite subject was the one where the teacher made it fun and enjoyable to learn and motivated you with praise and rewards for good work. I tend to do pretty much all of my dogs’ training during play so lots of fetch and tug games used as rewards and the dog is having a ton of fun whilst learning.
- Interrupt unwanted behaviour. Chewing the skirting boards and floor for example. I know from experience that it is not always possible to prevent these things when you have a puppy.
It is very difficult not to get cross when your pup does damage, it is human nature. However in terms of your relationship with your dog and insuring that it doesn’t continue into adulthood you really do have to take a deep breath and try not to scowl, the damage is done, nothing will undo it now.
So you teach your dog a positive interrupter. This can be a word or a noise, anything you like, as long as it doesn’t frighten or startle your pup. My pup’s positive interrupter is “Moss” said in a happy voice. I can use his name because I have never said it crossly or to tell him off. You could use a “Yay!!” or a kissy noise for example. All you do is use food treats, you can move to a toy later, and say the word as you give her a treat. Repeat a few hundred times. Yes really. Now watch her response to that word next time you say it when she is doing something you would like to interrupt. Once interrupted redirect her onto something more productive.
If you interrupt unwanted behaviours in a way that frightens your dog she will simply learn that these behaviours are dangerous to do when you are present and will seek opportunities to engage in them when your back is turned. And yes the dog could learn to engage in the behaviours in order to be positively interrupted BUT she will only do it when you are watching, no point when you are not, so now you can interrupt before the damage is done and meanwhile teach the dog a more rewarding behaviour instead.
Think of your relationship with you puppy as a bank account, every positive interaction is a deposit, every time you punish you make a withdrawal. As soon as your account goes overdrawn then things will just go from bad to worse but keep a nice healthy bank balance and you and you pup will soon end up as millionaires in the relationship stakes.
She is still very young but in order to regain her trust and turn this around you are going to need some professional help with your puppy, someone who can guide you and support you to change this behaviour. If you tell us where you are we can probably recommend someone. Don’t just google dog trainer/behaviourist in your area as unfortunately our industry is unregulated. We can point you towards an ethical, force-free professional.
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Ok that's fine. Your choice. But, do please read the link and the post and keep an open mind I am by no means experienced, so that's what I do.
Good luck, I am off now.
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