# I'm getting more and more frustrated



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I know this is really hard sometimes, but can you possibly arrange some play dates for her? It sounds to me like this girl would benefit from RUNNING with another dog a couple times a week....preferably right before class.....
I know it's really frustrating, but consider it could be a lot worse, she could be AGGRESSIVELY lunging at other dogs!


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## marieb (Mar 24, 2008)

hotel4dogs said:


> I know this is really hard sometimes, but can you possibly arrange some play dates for her? It sounds to me like this girl would benefit from RUNNING with another dog a couple times a week....preferably right before class.....
> I know it's really frustrating, but consider it could be a lot worse, she could be AGGRESSIVELY lunging at other dogs!


Yeah lol that is true, I guess at least she's over friendly. I haven't really made friends with any people in the class and I'm pretty sure they all think that Maddie is crazy ... my aunt has 2 Golden Retrievers but they're older and they don't want to run around like Maddie does. I wonder if I should put her back in doggy day care on thursdays maybe? She does LOVE to run, she is soo fast. Thanks! I definitly needed to vent a bit.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

Because of Danny's energy level, I always had to take him for a minimum of a 2 mile walk before any of our classes, including agility! He did even better if I took him some place where he could run offleash for 45 minutes to an hour. 

He adores other dogs and that is usually his issue because he will lunge, jump and generally look like a bucking bronco when he sees other dogs in class. Interestingly enough, he isn't like that when I am out walking and we come upon another dog.


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## marieb (Mar 24, 2008)

fostermom said:


> Because of Danny's energy level, I always had to take him for a minimum of a 2 mile walk before any of our classes, including agility! He did even better if I took him some place where he could run offleash for 45 minutes to an hour.
> 
> He adores other dogs and that is usually his issue because he will lunge, jump and generally look like a bucking bronco when he sees other dogs in class. Interestingly enough, he isn't like that when I am out walking and we come upon another dog.


That description fits Maddie exactly!!! She LOVES other people and dogs and I just think that she gets soo excited and sooo happy to be surrounded by a ton of Golden Retrievers lol. 

If I'm out walking her she will get excited when she sees another dog/person but not nearly as bad as she does in class. I think I might put her back in doggy daycare for a half day on Thursdays and see if that helps to get some of her crazies out.


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## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

It does sound like she has excess energy and LOVES her class mates!! If the early exercise doesn't work , maybe ask for private time also with the instructor or some extra advice. Doesn't the instructor see you are having problems with Maddie?

I understand being embarrassed in class. In Gunner's class he began growling and trying to attack one dog in his class till I had to remove him. The instructor was absolutely no help. In hindsight I probably should have tried to get help from another instructor that I'd had with Selka and maybe we'd have nipped his fear aggression in the bud. Then again, maybe not. : )

I also had the opposite experience of having the STAR student in Selka who was always the demo dog for how to do everything perfectly . He was even more well behaved and trained than some of the instructor's dogs! Luckily I had that good experience BEFORE the one with Gunner. : )

Good Luck, let us know!


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## marieb (Mar 24, 2008)

Debles said:


> It does sound like she has excess energy and LOVES her class mates!! If the early exercise doesn't work , maybe ask for private time also with the instructor or some extra advice. Doesn't the instructor see you are having problems with Maddie?
> 
> I understand being embarrassed in class. In Gunner's class he began growling and trying to attack one dog in his class till I had to remove him. The instructor was absolutely no help. In hindsight I probably should have tried to get help from another instructor that I'd had with Selka and maybe we'd have nipped his fear aggression in the bud. Then again, maybe not. : )
> 
> ...


 Yeah I think the instructor does see that I get frustrated ... she's helped me a couple times at the beginning of class to get her to settle down (when she's often the most excited). In our last class the week before Thanksgiving we did off leash exercises and she told me last night that Maddie works MUCH better off leash with me than on leash - she said she finds it fascinating. I want to ask her instructor if she thinks I should repeat the course again, I think it might be a good idea. It definitely stinks being embarrassed in class lol - I know she's not stupid but she just chooses to go crazy. Thanks! It's nice to hear from other people with suggestions and their experiences too, it makes me feel better!


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

I was afraid Shadow wouldn't pass when he and Tucker were tested. He was a bit antsy just before testing so I took him out in the parking lot and pretty much jogged with him a few times around the huge lot. It worked!


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

There are so many great attention games to help Maddie focus on you. It's great to start a game in the parking lot, so she comes in the front door with a working attitude, paying attention to you. Even if you wont be using a clicker for the actual class, these clicker-bases attention games are invaluable pre class warm up. I bet you know lots from puppy PK? Maybe you could get your instructor to let you work with Maddie in the physical space of the class, but by yourself so she wont associate it with party time? Tally recognizes both Happy Tails and Treefrog Farm, places in which he's participated in many classes and clinics, and gets his game face on. It's pretty interesting how strongly dogs feel the power of association. I agree with the advice to let Maddie run off leash a good 45 minutes to an hour before class(if possible, seven days a a week). I know it's hard to find the time& space,but I have done it living in a city with an 80 hour a week job, getting up at 3:45 am to get work done nearly every day. It's fun too, to have a friend or two with a dog to go on the daily dog-walk. To me, it is non-negotiable to meet a young retriever's need to be a "sporting" dog if I expect splendid behavior from him/her. I realize other people do things differently, but this works with our retrievers to help them be sane&calm in CGC class and in normal life. My three close friends with a young boxer, a young black lab, and another young golden are like-minded, so we're out in various combinations every day,regardless of snow, sleet, or strep throat.
Especially for the greeting a friendly stranger and passing by a strange dog on the CGC test, having her play and running needs satisfied elsewhere will make a great difference.


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## GoldenOwner12 (Jun 18, 2008)

I was using the gentle leader head collar with Shelley she used to rub her face on the ground all i did was pull the lead upwards and tell her No and continue walking. Within 3 days she stopped rubbing her face on the ground cause she knew she wasn't allowed too. Shelley gets over excited when she sees other dogs or people i tell her No if she goes to run towards them i stamp my feet and say No shelley Ignore and continue walking. Have you thought about teaching Maddie the ignore command it may just work with her. What you could also do is iwhen you first walk in class if she gets too excited walk back out she will learn oh i get too excited i leave. Stay out for 5-10 minutes then walk back in telling her the command ignore or another command is settle. If she still gets excited walk back out for another 5-10 minutes. It will take time but she will reconize that if i get too excited i get taken out of the room.


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## Wilson's REAL Mom (Nov 10, 2006)

The only way Wilson got his CGC was the fact that I took him to doggy daycare for the day before our class! He was too tired to be crazy. Kind of funny, really. But it worked. To everyone's amazement, he passed the test with flying colors.


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## marieb (Mar 24, 2008)

Ljilly28 said:


> There are so many great attention games to help Maddie focus on you. It's great to start a game in the parking lot, so she comes in the front door with a working attitude, paying attention to you. Even if you wont be using a clicker for the actual class, these clicker-bases attention games are invaluable pre class warm up. I bet you know lots from puppy PK? Maybe you could get your instructor to let you work with Maddie in the physical space of the class, but by yourself so she wont associate it with party time? Tally recognizes both Happy Tails and Treefrog Farm, places in which he's participated in many classes and clinics, and gets his game face on. It's pretty interesting how strongly dogs feel the power of association. I agree with the advice to let Maddie run off leash a good 45 minutes to an hour before class(if possible, seven days a a week). I know it's hard to find the time& space,but I have done it living in a city with an 80 hour a week job, getting up at 3:45 am to get work done nearly every day. It's fun too, to have a friend or two with a dog to go on the daily dog-walk. To me, it is non-negotiable to meet a young retriever's need to be a "sporting" dog if I expect splendid behavior from him/her. I realize other people do things differently, but this works with our retrievers to help them be sane&calm in CGC class and in normal life. My three close friends with a young boxer, a young black lab, and another young golden are like-minded, so we're out in various combinations every day,regardless of snow, sleet, or strep throat.
> Especially for the greeting a friendly stranger and passing by a strange dog on the CGC test, having her play and running needs satisfied elsewhere will make a great difference.


Clicker training is a great idea, I hadn't even thought of that! I bet she would catch on really quickly and maybe she would focus on me more. Yeah I think she associates training with "fun" time but not really "training" time ... 

The problem with letting her run off leash is I don't think I could completely trust her recall - I feel like if another dog distracted her she may not come back to me. I haven't been taking her on lots of walks on pavement because I heard it could be bad for their joints but she's almost 10 months old now so maybe she would be ok. There also is a park nearby so sometimes I take her on walks there. Thanks for all the suggestions and advice!!


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## Thor's Mom (Feb 25, 2007)

Thor always got so excited about going to class! We used to get there about an hour early so he could get the crazies out and concentrate when it's class time. Worked for us. While the GL is a great tool and we use it, you can't use one for the CGC test unless they've changed the rules. For the 2 weeks before the test we spent at least an hour everyday somewhere where there would be lots of distractions with his regular collar. (Try a petstore or other local store that allows pets.)


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## hgatesy (Feb 14, 2007)

> The problem with letting her run off leash is I don't think I could completely trust her recall - I feel like if another dog distracted her she may not come back to me.


Is there any place fenced in that you can let her run? We have a fenced in yard, however our boys need a big field in order to really stretch out their legs and get the exercise they need. We often use the baseball field (during off season only) or tennis court. A nearby town's fire department has a fenced in field that we use the majority of the time. Maybe you can find something like that in your area?


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