Spoilt dog - have we blown it for ever?

[Blossomtoes]

We got our little JRT in September 2019 and she’ll be two in July. She was absolutely fine through the first lockdown, because the weather was so great she met lots of other dogs and people and was brilliantly socialised. I took her to visit a friend last August who was enchanted with her.

The winter lockdown meant that we were literally the only humans she spent any time with. As a result she’s become really attention seeking when there’s anyone else around and she’s not the focus of things. I took her to see the same friend yesterday, she was so badly behaved I was embarrassed and the enchantment has gone to the point whereby I don’t think she’s welcome again.

Has anyone got any advice for dealing with her and restoring her to the gorgeous dog everyone loved? Or has she gone for ever?

What was she doing that caused the problem?

Just don’t take her to other people’s houses , it’s not the end of the world .

Yes what was she doing?

She wouldn’t settle at all. She whined and yapped unless ir was all about her. I had to play with her constantly whereas the previous time she was happy to be played with for a bit and then settled down on my lap and went to sleep. She’s fine with just hanging out at home without constantly demanding attention.

Has she been taught a command for settle?

We use down, stay or bed (he just lies down on the floor). He won't move again until told to.

If she's not been taught this it's not too late or if she has you might need to go back to basics and reinforce it.

We’ve never needed to teach her to settle, she's always just done it. It’s very reassuring to hear it’s not too late. It looks as if some intensive training is on the cards in the next few weeks! Thank you @Girlintheframe.

It's never too late. Teaching a settle would be a good place to start.

Also, do bear in mind that dogs don't automatically know what is 'good' behaviour, and what is expected of them. We have to teach them these things- by rewarding what we want to see, and reducing opportunities to rehearse what we don't want to see.

Absolutely not to late. We’ve always had rescues, one was a street dog, and they’ve learned eventually.