Golden Retriever puppy and walks

[Hemskis]

We got our lovely Golden retriever Freya a month ago and she is now 12 weeks and fully vaccinated. She has a lovely temperament and at home and in the garden she can do sit, down, touch and watch me reliably and her recall is coming on well. I do lots of work with her every day.
I've signed her up for puppy classes but they don't start until June.

Freya loves dogs and people (not surprising given her breed I know) but I didn't realise just how excited she is. We've been going out for little walks and as soon as she sees a dog or a person she looses all interest in me, forgets all commands and just wants to greet everyone.
I don't let her of course. I've been sitting her down with me crouching down with her, holding her harness. I can keep her fairly calm that way and then if people want to say hello I let her.
I can't distract her with treats, not even chicken as egen we go on a walk everything else is just too interesting.

My plan for now is to keep taking her out on lots of little walks and try to get her used to seeing dogs and people but id appreciate any advice on if there's anything else I could do.

No real advice but I would do training before June as its good for socialisation as well as teaching you and you dog.

P.s. she's very cute

Oh she's gorgeous! My Goldie is 10.5 and STILL gets over excited about food being carried by others. She's not really bothered by other dogs any more but if I don't catch her before she sees someone she still can tank off so see if there is food. I did HOURS of training, went to gundog trainers, worked really hard (and still do) on recall but she's not 100% even now so i am very careful about where she is allowed off the lead.

I would say just be consistent, calm and keep at it. One trainer said you have to make yourself THE most interesting thing in the park/walk/place that you are - she used to cover her hands in fish paste 🤮 so her dog would stay close. She suggested having a favourite toy that only comes out on walks. Mine does well with a whistle (but not 100%!).

I'm sure more experienced owners will give you much better advice, but enjoy these early months - even the exasperating bits 😊

I would be wary of sitting and holding her harness like that as you’re potentially making her quite vulnerable.

I clicked on your post in the hope of seeing a photo. What a gorgeous darling.

My dog had had a lot of training before he was given to me (assistance dog) bit, even so, I had to help him in some areas so I do know a thing or two but I'm not expert.

I'd advise carefully thinking about when and where you go. Ideally you want to build her up slowly. So go somewhere where the people and dogs are at a distance, when she's calm and focused on you, she gets to go a little closer, and over and over. Do you have a friend with a calm dog so you have more control?

Thank you both for the advice. I'll see if I can find anything before June to help with socialisation. I have got a rug e nuff pocket toy that she adores. I'll put it aside to just come out on walks. It has a great squeak as well. She currently looses all interest in food when we get out.
She has shown very little fear and gets over it quickly with some encouragement, although the electric whisk is still a little scary!

I've been a little disappointed in my friends, many whom have dogs, as they've been very been there done that not interested. I do have a friend with older calm dogs who has promised to bring one of them around.

Im a sample size of one so who knows if it was my training or the dogs personality …
But with my most recent puppy I didn’t allow him to meet people on walks. If another dog walker was coming past us I would get pup to sit and watch me (obviously with varying success) then give release command and a treat when they had gone past.
I’ve previously fallen into the trap of encouraging a puppy to meet and greet everyone in the name of socialisation. In my experience this just taught the dog that running over to other people and dogs was rewarding.
Whereas my current dog has learnt that I am the rewarding person. Obviously I don’t give him a treat every time he sees a person now but I’ll often throw his ball for him - which requires him to actually bring it back first, so again, I am the rewarding thing about seeing people and dogs.

We had enough visitors to the house (of varying age etc) that he has socialised with other people and dogs but not the free for all that I encouraged in the past.

Other note is that, like a golden, he’s an affable, friendly breed so he doesn’t need to be encouraged to like people!

She’s gorgeous 😍! Have you thought about introducing whistle training? Lots of videos online.

Don't let her say hello - to anyone.

People make the mistake of thinking socialising your dog means it saying hello to everyone, or anyone, and that's not the case. With a dog like a Goldie, they get very over-excited very quickly and unless you know what you're doing you'll end up accidentally ingraining behaviour such as jumping up when she's patted etc. And that's fine, in theory, whilst they're young - but when they're 30/40KG? Not fine.

As it is, your currently teaching her that ignoring you and harassing others gets her the attention she wants. You're also not teaching her to sit or be calm or ignore by herself if you're holding her harness - and one day she may well be too strong for you to hold her harness. You need to start as you mean to go on - that means not holding her back, not ingraining bad behaviours and not teaching her that people automatically mean affection or attention.

So, you need to walk her when it's quieter, and not let her greet people for a good while. Build up her obedience that way and then start walking again when it's busier. My rule of thumb for my pups is they get one greeting per walk and only at the very end - when they are tired and more likely to behave better. If people approach you and ask to pat her, say no. Tell them she's young and you're training her.

Also, I'd just add that older dogs tend not to like puppies - puppies have no manners, no boundaries and no understanding of societal normals, so there may well be very good reasons that your friends with older dogs aren't interested.

Thank you, I really appreciate the advice. I'll do more practice lead walking in the garden and work out some good places to go for walks. We get quite a lot of people up and down our road unfortunately. My very experienced dog owner friend suggested just turning round or crossing the road whenever we see a dog or people so I'll do that as I just can't get her attention on me out and about yet.
I'm very committed to training her well but the amount of conflicting guidance out there can be rather confusing!

@Hemskis your friend has given good advice.

The problem with Goldies is everyone wants to pat them, particularly when they are puppies. But they don't want to once they're 30-40KG. Socialisation is really important (you don't want a dog that's scared of Wheelie Bins, for example) but socialisation is also about your dog learning to ignore people and other dogs.

Start off by walking her at quieter times, or taking her on a drive to somewhere that's a bit quieter (that's also a key part of socialisation - getting them used to new places, new walks, going in the car etc). Walk her with treats or a toy in your hand - get her used to watching you. If you see other people, make her follow you to the side of the road, or cross the road etc - if the follows you willingly, give her a bit of food.

Goldies are super smart, so she'll learn quickly. There's also a downside to that as because they learn quickly, they are also able to learn undesirable behaviour quickly.

If she's not showing an interest in food on the walk, hold back some of her meals to try and use as enticement on a walk. My rule of thumb, up until my puppies are about 6 months or so, is 25% of all their meals are used a training or out on walks. That way, you can be sure they are hungry when you walk them and they're more likely to listen to you. It also avoids the risk of overfeeding them. Try cheese and roast beef (you can buy a big joint, cook it, cut it up into small cubes and then freeze in batches).

Goldies are hard work as puppys - in part because everyone wants to say hi and pat them and cuddle them and in part because they are too intelligent for their own good. But by about 6 months or so, even if they're still mouthy, they're usually 100% at most training as long as you're consistent!

Super advice, thank you. I really appreciate it. She is definitely clever, at home she is picking up commands very well. Great idea to time walks for when she is getting hungry, that makes perfect sense.

Yes, definitely you need to be more exciting than other people. Avoid if possible! Not sure if anyone has suggested dog training advice and support on Facebook. They are my go to.

Plus I follow someone in Instagram called Finn the acd. He's excellently trained and socialised. Finn is what I wish mine was like, but that level of obedience is not going to happen with a border terrier!

LandShark breeds GRs and I agree with everything she said. They are too adorable for their own good!

My 8-year-old would not want to meet your puppy. He'd bark and try to get away from her.

I think the change in environment alone (while out walking) is enough to be getting on with (in terms of managing stimulation and excitement), with people added next, and dogs at the end - taking it all step by step. In a perfect world where you could control all this!

Hi! Freya is beautiful! My Ruby is 8 and, once she got out of the puppy stage (land shark, jumping up,etc) she became very docile … except when my son and his family turn up! Then she pesters him until he takes her around the block! I took her to puppy socialisation classes run by the vet. They were very helpful. She also went to basic training and, apart from barking at people who come into the house, she is very good. She does sit down on walks if she sees someone! She then will not move until said person comes to stroke her! If you look on YouTube, you will find many videos of Goldens just lying down on the path on walks! They are VERY stubborn dogs 🙄. However they make up for it in being loyal, loving and goofy! Enjoy the puppy era … they soon grow out of it!

Yes! There are two GRs that I see out and about who lie down when we walk past. I love them so much. My dog is slightly freaked by the lying down thing; he doesn't understand it at all.

Ruby is just adorable!

I've had some good success today. It turns out Primula cheese is extremely popular and Freya is more interested in the tube of cheese than dogs so we will keep on practicing with that.

Goldies generally love everyone and everything and getting them to understand its not mutual can be hard, especially as they are such gorgeous puppies that everyone wants to stroke them.
I know what you mean about distraction as well, I could have been holding a piece of prime steak and my boy would still have gone running up to a complete stranger for a fuss. Primula was also the one thing that mostly worked
Its just time and patience and constant re enforcement. Get her to sit nicely and only then is she allowed to say hello to anyone/other dogs

Freya is beautiful! Our Goldie has just turned eight months and we're in a regression period where she's going bananas out on walks and no amount of cheese will distract her. But we know time and patience will get us through this current phase, and positive reinforcement.

It sounds like you are doing really well! I had a similar problem with my dog, he was absolutely obsessed with other dogs for a long time. I managed this mostly by avoidance, I think getting the timing and distance is important as when you get too close like you say nothing distracts them.

He still loves people, and still loves to jump up for a hug, so we are still working on it. Honestly the advice about making yourself the most interesting is the best way to go. Very high value treats and a lot of repetition has been the way to go for us.

Edited to add, primula, ham, hotdogs and cocktail sausages are the only way to go for us. My friend has managed to train their retriever on kibble, but sadly mine spits it out if it’s not good enough!

Sorry no advice but she’s gorgeous 😍

Primula cheese and liver treats were very successful with ours!

Make sure the puppy classes you’ve signed up for are of the ‘structured, ignore the other dogs and focus on having fun with your owner type’ and do not include a social free for all, otherwise you will undo all your hard work!

I would look for a puppy class that starts sooner, I went to one further away as it ran a couple of months earlier.

I had labradors all my life even trained gun dogs when I was younger, then I got a golden retriever. The lady I bought her from very experience said never feed a goldie human food,
10 years later I wish I’d listened to that
golden gem of advice ,
lovely dogs , but totally bonkers ime
set your rules now and stick to them
every one wants to cuddle fuss your beautiful puppy, but you have it every day for life