Training question

[LadyLuna16]

OK - I have a wonderful mini schnauzer puppy. 9 months old and has been a dream in all ways. Easy to train, loves to train. Has a great automatic sit when called back to me - you get the picture.

For good manners I have been training her to sit before I take her lead off and tell her she can go.

Worked fine, although she has probably never been keen and it is getting trickier. However I just took her for her walk and she point blank refused to sit. We had a total stand off. Tried walking her on lead a bit and trying again, walking her away and back again and trying again. No luck. Absolute refusal. I felt hugely frustrated and came home again!

What should I do in that situation. It felt like being with a toddler again.

I feel a little foolish. It doesn't really matter whether she sits before a walk, but it's also something I think is good for her to learn, but also really don't want to get in to a battle of wills with a small dog.

At 9 months of age my cocker was an absolute git for testing boundaries as he was thick in the middle of teenage stroppiness.

If mine isn't keen to sit I lightly tap his bottom to indicate that yes I do mean SIT. He then usually obeys.

I would have probably done the same as you did in coming back home then in the garden practiced again on the sit/take lead off.

I think you just have to be prepared to go back to the beginning with some things when they hit the teenage period. So even if your dog has been sitting on command for months now I would just go back to treat training him to sit for the moment.

We're not quite there yet - Glorydog is only just 6 months old so, as yet, hasn't stuck too many 'swear fingers' (as the DC call it!) up at us! We're expecting some things to unravel very soon though and have to go back to basics for a while.

The teenage phase is really frustrating!

I always, always carry food with me. I need him to listen to me when we're out in public because it's dangerous for him not to - if that means I resort to biscuits or bits of sausage then that's fine with me. Mine is just starting to come out the other end of this but it is so hard - especially when you're judged for having a poorly behaved dog.

I think you just need to be prepared to bribe her for a while. She will remember her training eventually but you do need to them to listen even when they're being teenage hooligans. I know in your scenario it was just something you wanted rather than needed, but think ahead - at some point you're going to need her to sit/wait/stop because of a car or another dog or a small child - you can't have her ignoring you, so go back to treats (or a toy, or whatever works for her) and just keep going.

They will get there. Mine did a wonderful sit today in a restaurant without any food involved - and then flopped under the table while we ate - I was amazed!

Are you treating her when she sits? Go back to rewarding her.

Yes, as pps have said you're hitting the stroppy teens.

I put mine on a long training lead during this time, because although she's come back when called she'd dash off again when I tried to put her on the lead and she was on the training lead for months.

A long training lead - not an extending lead - will give you more control. You can leave it trailing and stamp on it if she gets too far away - putting knots along it makes it easier to stop it - obviously that's no good if she's a bolter, but mine always stayed fairly near.

Otherwise the long training lead until you're confident of her recall, which you continue working at together with lots of treats when she does come back.

Sorry, that should be, Otherwise keep hold of the long training lead until you're confident etc