Some dogs may experience some, all, or none of these issues. Some dogs may be totally ok with freedom in the house, leash pulling, strangers or anything else… but here’s our story.
We crate trained for most of the puppy time, but eventually we phased it out and she was allowed to have free-roam of the house. We were lucky and our puppy did not chew shoes or furniture so we believed this meant everything was good! Now she often follows us from room to room. This can be a sign of anxiety, being unable to settle on her own or be in a different room for too long. Teach place, or keep the crate to create a safe place to chill out.
We taught our puppy lots of obedience and tricks! She’s a high-energy working breed dog so we kept her busy with fetch, frisbee, running and hiking. A tired dog is a good dog, right? Even in the evening she would always bring us a toy and put it on the couch beside us. We would throw the toys down the stairs and she would bound and run after them! A dog doesn’t need to be constantly busy. Adult dogs still need to rest and sleep during the day. If your dog looks bored, that’s OK!
We did not correct or stop unwanted behavior. She began barking at strangers and got so excited when our friends stopped by. We thought it was just a phase and she would grow out of it. News flash – she didn’t. Five years later we are still working on it. We practice counter-conditioning and spend hours sitting in busy areas to help her learn that strangers and other dogs are not a threat. We use a leash when she meets people to try and limit the over-excitement. And we have to train our friends to ignore the dog until she is calm. Work smarter, not harder and do this in the puppy stage!
We did not teach her leash manners, instead we bought a harness and allowed her to continue to pull. Plus she was really good off-leash and her recall was reliable, sound familiar? The leash pulling increased and grew into more reactivity. She would bark at people approaching or dogs in the distance. Off-leash her recall is still great – but sometimes she also runs barking and screaming at people or dogs. This is rude, embarrassing, and potentially dangerous. Running up to the wrong dog could be met with a terrible outcome. We now use the leash more often than not, and work to create a loose leash heel with lots of engagement with us.
Having a puppy can be certainly be challenging at times. Follow our Top 10 Puppy Training Tips to build a solid foundation and you will have a stable, happy, calm dog companion for years to come!
~Shannen