Dog Behaviourist London/Essex
Discussion
Hi All,
Just wondering if anyone has any good recommendations for a local behaviourist. I’ll provide a rundown below in case that helps with recommendations and maybe some advice from those more experienced. I wfh and the most I leave him is 1-2 hours if I go to the gym. I can watch him on camera and he sleeps whilst I’m out, as it’s normally after our walk where I take him for a stroll in the woods off leash around lunchtime. Maybe before or slight after 12pm if work commitments move my day. He’s in the living room with me during the day and will sleep whilst I’m working sometimes coming to say hello or use the garden for the loo and my partner walks him around the local streets after work around 6pm for 30 mins.
He’s a nearly 7 month old Golden Retriever male who is a rescue. We’ve had him two months. We’ve had the usual nipping and chewing and done the usual redirect or leave the room / withdraw our presence routine to show him over excitement gets him nowhere and we leave. All the positive training aspects. This seems to calm things down for a bit and then he starts pushing the boundaries again so to speak. After his evening walk today he jumps on the sofa where we don’t encourage him and starts ripping it apart and when my partner goes to redirect him down he snarls showing teeth and goes to bite her. He’s bitten me before causing a bruise and followed the guides from the shelter and that’s been two week since the last time he’s done it. It’s like he eventually has enough of the redirect ‘nonsense’ (I’m trying to think that’s how he thinks of it) and then goes to biting. This morning he’d pulled up the carpet and started chewing the underlay. He then comes for cuddles and I noticed his excitement and smegma. Also his recall he has started ignoring a bit more. We’d upgrading from a come command to a touch and even though the reward is still on offer he’s not as interested. I understand this might be adolescence but where he had only gone for me before I was prepared to keep persevering but my partner is now terrified of him. I don’t want to fail the guy and I understand it’s something we’re not giving him or we’re missing perhaps.
I’m thinking of contacting this lady
https://athenae.co.uk/about
I found her on the APBC site and seems to run classes and WhatsApp groups etc.
https://www.apbc.org.uk/
Just wondering if anyone has any good recommendations for a local behaviourist. I’ll provide a rundown below in case that helps with recommendations and maybe some advice from those more experienced. I wfh and the most I leave him is 1-2 hours if I go to the gym. I can watch him on camera and he sleeps whilst I’m out, as it’s normally after our walk where I take him for a stroll in the woods off leash around lunchtime. Maybe before or slight after 12pm if work commitments move my day. He’s in the living room with me during the day and will sleep whilst I’m working sometimes coming to say hello or use the garden for the loo and my partner walks him around the local streets after work around 6pm for 30 mins.
He’s a nearly 7 month old Golden Retriever male who is a rescue. We’ve had him two months. We’ve had the usual nipping and chewing and done the usual redirect or leave the room / withdraw our presence routine to show him over excitement gets him nowhere and we leave. All the positive training aspects. This seems to calm things down for a bit and then he starts pushing the boundaries again so to speak. After his evening walk today he jumps on the sofa where we don’t encourage him and starts ripping it apart and when my partner goes to redirect him down he snarls showing teeth and goes to bite her. He’s bitten me before causing a bruise and followed the guides from the shelter and that’s been two week since the last time he’s done it. It’s like he eventually has enough of the redirect ‘nonsense’ (I’m trying to think that’s how he thinks of it) and then goes to biting. This morning he’d pulled up the carpet and started chewing the underlay. He then comes for cuddles and I noticed his excitement and smegma. Also his recall he has started ignoring a bit more. We’d upgrading from a come command to a touch and even though the reward is still on offer he’s not as interested. I understand this might be adolescence but where he had only gone for me before I was prepared to keep persevering but my partner is now terrified of him. I don’t want to fail the guy and I understand it’s something we’re not giving him or we’re missing perhaps.
I’m thinking of contacting this lady
https://athenae.co.uk/about
I found her on the APBC site and seems to run classes and WhatsApp groups etc.
https://www.apbc.org.uk/
Edited by Birdster on Wednesday 4th January 23:26
Very sensible and understandable post . We had a rescue GS a few year back , not much and contradicting info on his background , terrified my wife too which was the final straw for me , he got sent to a relatives ranch in Alberta .
Has your dog been snipped yet ? We currently have another rescue GS/Elkhound/Malamute that came to us from an Indian Reservation at 3 months , a decent age , but he could be a stroppy little guy around 6/7 months age until we got him into the vets .18 months now and all is good .
Best of luck
Has your dog been snipped yet ? We currently have another rescue GS/Elkhound/Malamute that came to us from an Indian Reservation at 3 months , a decent age , but he could be a stroppy little guy around 6/7 months age until we got him into the vets .18 months now and all is good .
Best of luck
I follow Southend Dog Training on Instagram as I have a reactive dog.
Adam gives some very good advice putting videos and Q&A sessions out via Stories for anyone to see.
He often gets questions about how to deal with this kind of puppy behaviour.
https://www.instagram.com/southenddogtraining
You can join their website forums via a free 7 day trial and get direct advice from them.
https://southenddogtraining.co.uk/
My intial thought is to put a thin indoor lead on your dog so that when you have to redirect him from something you aren't grabbing him by the collar. Also does he have a quiet place of his own like a crate to go to?
Adam gives some very good advice putting videos and Q&A sessions out via Stories for anyone to see.
He often gets questions about how to deal with this kind of puppy behaviour.
https://www.instagram.com/southenddogtraining
You can join their website forums via a free 7 day trial and get direct advice from them.
https://southenddogtraining.co.uk/
My intial thought is to put a thin indoor lead on your dog so that when you have to redirect him from something you aren't grabbing him by the collar. Also does he have a quiet place of his own like a crate to go to?
Edited by Chocmonster on Thursday 5th January 10:26
Get a crate and use it but not for punishment. At night for example. Its a safe place for him and your house will not get trashed while you sleep or are out. I`m surprised that no one has mentioned a crate thus far.
Used one to great effect on both my retrievers and also gives peace of mind. The dog will learn its a safe place to retire too as well. I then phased it out after about 18 months
Used one to great effect on both my retrievers and also gives peace of mind. The dog will learn its a safe place to retire too as well. I then phased it out after about 18 months
Definitely sounds like you need to seek some professional help. Rather than follow someone on instagram I would see someone in person. They can view the dogs behaviour and understand what’s causing it.
Ask on your local FB group on recommendations.
In terms of chewing does he have toys or bones he can chew? It would seem he is potentially bored, or wants attention.
Ask on your local FB group on recommendations.
In terms of chewing does he have toys or bones he can chew? It would seem he is potentially bored, or wants attention.
Edited by Challo on Saturday 7th January 20:53
Hi All,
Just to update.
He has a crate and he is given his food in there and his water bowl is in there with an open door policy all day. We've tried the crate training and closing the door and not locking it, with us sitting near by. He will not stay in there. The door is always open on it and he might sometimes go inside of his own accord.
He has ropes, chews, soft cuddly toysand snuffle mats. Walked twice a day. First one is off lead in a park, forest, or country park, around one hour. Not always the same place, nor the same route. Second is around the block for 30 mins on lead.
We had the puppy play biting so I had stopped playing little games of tug with him as he was getting over excited and we'd need to let him calm down by leaving the room. Admittedly that was me slacking and not playing with him enough because after that last bruise I wasn't too keen. Tried again the last few days and he has just resource guarded his bone. Similar behaviour to the sofa.
He's not left on his own all day, not ignored etc. He has been trained to sit, down, recall etc. No fancy tricks, just the standard stuff.
Thanks for the Southend Dog Training link I will check it out and join as more reading is good. I've reach out to a behaviourist today as we've had a few dogs over the years, but I admit I'm out of my depth here.
Just to update.
He has a crate and he is given his food in there and his water bowl is in there with an open door policy all day. We've tried the crate training and closing the door and not locking it, with us sitting near by. He will not stay in there. The door is always open on it and he might sometimes go inside of his own accord.
He has ropes, chews, soft cuddly toysand snuffle mats. Walked twice a day. First one is off lead in a park, forest, or country park, around one hour. Not always the same place, nor the same route. Second is around the block for 30 mins on lead.
We had the puppy play biting so I had stopped playing little games of tug with him as he was getting over excited and we'd need to let him calm down by leaving the room. Admittedly that was me slacking and not playing with him enough because after that last bruise I wasn't too keen. Tried again the last few days and he has just resource guarded his bone. Similar behaviour to the sofa.
He's not left on his own all day, not ignored etc. He has been trained to sit, down, recall etc. No fancy tricks, just the standard stuff.
Thanks for the Southend Dog Training link I will check it out and join as more reading is good. I've reach out to a behaviourist today as we've had a few dogs over the years, but I admit I'm out of my depth here.
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