# So many behavioral issues...please HELP!



## Eowyn (Aug 29, 2013)

Sounds like he needs a lot more exercise. You may want to look into doggie daycare, a good way to blow off a lot of excess energy and have a lot of fun.


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## puppy77 (Oct 14, 2012)

We do doggie day care usually one day a week. We take him to the dog park 2-3 days a week. Day care wipes him out. Those are nice relaxing nights . The dog park with slow him down slightly (even after staying sometimes for 2-3 hours of wrestling) he's still very into everything. During the week, in the winter, he has fenced in yard to play in, but like most goldens doesn't like to be out by himself. I throw toys and balls, but after 10-15 retrievals, he prefers to chew a stick.  
I"ll try to incorporate more exercise during the week...thanks.


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## Bentleysmom (Aug 11, 2012)

It sounds like Gus has too much freedom. Bentley is about the same age and he occasionally gets a bee in his bonnet so we go back to "nothing in life is free". We do basic training several times a day, even though he knows this stuff inside & out it's like he needs boot camp sometimes.
As for the kitchen, I wouldn't allow him in there at all. This will keep him from reinforcing bad habits while he earns the privilege of being in there.
Good luck, I have a lot of new gray hairs so I understand 

*PS- I've also learned during these periods that I have to increase the number of walks to 3 a day for good results.


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## Heather C. (Sep 25, 2013)

If you get any advice on the kid knocking down and hat and mitten stealing, let me know! My 9 month old puppy Molly is in general a fantastic dog, she also has passed basic training and is in CGC class. She has a good recall. And she gets LOTS of off leash exercise, running, playing with other dogs, etc. But she continues to be really bad about stealing snow hats and mittens off of kids, ours and others. Snow play now has an added level of drama, because at any minute our pup could get crazy all of a sudden and pounce on an unsuspecting kid or steal their hat and run away. Sledding drives her into a frenzy; she is sure to chase a sled and pounce on it, displacing the person inside and then stealing an article of clothing. Once she stole my daughter's boot off of her foot.

She also still steals toys, but will usually just bring them to someone. The hats she runs away with and plays keep away. All you can do is ignore her until she gets bored with the game. And she otherwise has a good "drop it" and "leave it" but not with a stolen mitten (or my husband's flip flop which she stole when he was in the hot tub, lol). 

Suggestions appreciated!

Heather


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## puppy77 (Oct 14, 2012)

Nice to know we are not alone Heather! Molly sounds very much like Gus when we are out in the snow. He has literally knocked the kids off the sled and ran off with it!  They love that. lol Summer cannot come soon enough!


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## robinrd (Oct 30, 2012)

Tucker will be 2 in June and he is still a handful, we have baby gates up in the house and when we leave he has to go in his crate because we do not trust that he will behave himself while we are gone, I hope we can get past that too.


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Dogs chase fast objects and snatch items from frolicking children because the motion and activity turn on their drive. And the higher pitched squealing of children having fun just riles dogs up until they are spinning around in an overstimulated haze. 

If you don't want your dogs to do something. Don't let them do it. 

If they cannot be controlled around children off leash. Don't let them. Keep them leashed up. Exercise them with adults off leash who can correct the dog when they try to nip or steal clothing articles. 

It's all about boundaries. By letting your dogs gets away with all these bad behaviors, your communicating that you have no boundaries and all is fair game. 

Step it up and lead the dog. Reinforce proper behavior. Encourage proper play. Reward good things. Discourage or correct bad behaviors. 

It's not even about setting time aside for training. Training happens all day long whether it's formally or (as most of the time) it falls in with everyday stuff. 

Eta - consistent is key. Clear communication, too. 

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Heather C. (Sep 25, 2013)

You are totally right Brave, I just don't have the time in the day very often to separate the dog exercise from the kid outings. I work part time and on 2 of the 3 days I have child care I do build in an hour of off leash exercise just me and the dog; since its winter I usually cross country ski and she runs off leash. On the other day I spend 2 hours at training class with Molly. But otherwise kid and dogs stuff has to be done together. My husband leaves at 7:30 and often comes home after dinner. The younger kids can sit in the stroller for a leash walk, but they don't love it because they can't run around, and its winter so we can't go many places because the paths are too deep for my little ones to trudge through. At least if we all go sled or play outside the dog gets to run around and so do the kids. Its better than the option of staying inside, then everyone is crazy, dog included. Its not ideal, but hey, I do what I can, and we just deal with the hat stealing. I just can't wait until she mellows a little, because we really like her and want her to be able to be with us, even when we have mitten on! Its funny, the kids running around playing in general doesn't seem to rile her up as much, she's fine when we've been on hikes, etc. Its just something about those snow clothes....

I don't think its unique to my dog or to goldens. When my first baby was about 14 months old, my husband and I were walking our two dogs in a park in urban Boston on leashes with our daughter in the stroller. A young couple had a lab off leash playing fetch who came over to say hi and grabbed my daughter's mitten and pulled it, only it was attached through her coat with a string to the other mitten, and she was strapped in the stroller! The whole thing went over sideways. Ellie (our daughter) was fine, and the dog wasn't being mean, but the couple was obviously mortified. For some reason those darn mittens seem to bring out the worst rascally behavior in dogs...

Heather


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

There is more going on with the OP than just clothes snatching. 



puppy77 said:


> Our golden Gus is a sweet boy. He's beautiful. He's 16 months old and crate trained. He's also a terror. *He jumps on the counter*, whether there is food up there or not. *Knocks my kids down and jumps on them *as they sled, rips off thier hats and mittens and takes off running. Even at the dog park, he's trying to steal peoples scarves. He *steals socks*, he *eats toys*. *Barks like crazy at the cat* (even though they love each other) *scratches at the door* if he wants to come in/out.


So while, you (Heather) find the most efficient way of day-to-day life is to just DEAL with the clothes stealing because you are unable to exercise your girl without your kids. The OP may be able to find the time. And I didn't post to try to shame either of you about your dogs or your situations. You've both asked for ways to stop certain behaviors. Here are ways to stop those behaviors. 

In regards to ALL the other stuff. It's a matter of training. Shoot, even the clothes stealing is a matter of training. He steals the items. You correct him. He tries to get up on the counter. You correct him. Better yet PREVENT him from getting up there. Make him drag a leash around the house so when he TRIES to counter surf, you can correct him. 

Don't give him access to socks. Put everything away/in hampers. Supervise him with toys he is prone to eating. Or don't provide toys that he is prone to eating. My dogs eat stuffed toys. So no stuffed toys are allowed down without supervision. 

When he barks at the cat, correct him. encourage GOOD behavior like all those OTHER times he is well behaved around the cat. 

When he scratches at the door, don't let him out. Find a different way for him to signal that he needs to potty. Bear's potty alert is to stare at me. His alert to come inside is to either sit at the door quietly or to bark ONCE to let me know he's ready to come inside. My foster Ramona likes to pound on the door trying to open it. As long as she does that, the door doesn't open. Ramona is crated at night, and she will jiggle the door to get out. So the door is clipped shut and if she wants out she has to sit and be calm for me to let her out. 

So on and so forth. You just need to take the time to train them. Training happens 24/7 in this house. Even without us realizing it. Everyone knows "out" now, meaning "get out of the kitchen." Everyone knows where to sit to get breakfast. Everyone knows to sit when I go to open the door because unless all three dogs are sitting, no one is allowed out. Everyone knows to bring the ball back to me or fetch is over and we all go inside. Everyone knows what "time out" means. I didn't go out of my way to train ANY of that formally. It was just practiced over and over and over and over and over. And the dogs (two of which I've only had for less than a month and came with NO house manners) have been encouraged / praised / rewarded for when they do as I ask/expect.


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## puppy77 (Oct 14, 2012)

Like Heather said above, I also have to combine my activities with the dog and my kids. Many times its a joy, but it can be challenging on those sledding hills! I may not have given enough information in my first post. Gus is crazy. I'm at my wits end, but I am constantly correcting behavior. I do keep socks in hampers, in the laundry room for the most part, but I have a three year old that likes to take them off and leave them around-Gus finds them first.  I say Gus, No sock. I hold out my hand and say give. 9/10 times he gives it. I praise when he gives it up. Same with stuffed animals. If he attacks kids while sledding, I make him sit with me at the top of the hill and wait until kids are done. Then I let him greet them. If it continues, he gets to get locked up on the deck to watch. But yes, he still attacks them every time thereafter. When he eats off the counter, I do catch him in the act- say No, off and he will take off with his grub. I tell him no and he gets a few minutes time out. I would love to block the kitchen off, but my house is open, and it doesn't allow for that. If I leave a leash on him to drag, he just chews on it the entire time.When he barks at the door, or scratches. I say No and make him sit for a bit before I let him out or in. I do understand what you are saying, and I do feel like I'm doing some of the things you mentioned. I guess my problem is that I'm frustrated. Last night, he was chewing on the throw rug. I literally said NO and gave him a toy instead 7 times in less than an hour. Its almost like he doesn't know what NO means. From your advice, its possible I'm not praising him enough when he is behaving- perhaps that will help. 
Took him for a walk with a Gentle leader today--wow. what a difference  
Thanks so much for your reply! I do appreciate you taking the time to help.


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

All dogs are different. Some are easier to get through puppyhood and adolescence. Some aren't. I brought home a completely unmannered collie, six months old. On the first day, he walked on the coffee table, climbed in the dishwasher and counter surfed to the cat food. But a month later, you'd have thought he had three years of manners training. Then we have Casper, who had to be taught not to counter surf, how to give back socks, how not to chase bunnies while on leash. Casper has his own ideas, the collie really didn't. 

I think you are on the right track with exercise, basic obedience, and prevention. The toughest time with Casper was 12-18 months, roughly. I'm big! I'm young! I'm strong! I'm fast! We did Karen overall's (I think) Relaxation Protocol. That helped a lot with general listening to me. 

I would pick one behavior at a time to work on and then pick a plan. There are lots of books and videos. I keep reminding myself - prevent the behavior and train an incompatible behavior. Works so well when it can be done.


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