kdebello
Well-Known Member
I have to say that reading the few posts in this tread so far made me feel a lot better about the status of our relationship with Bailey L.
We're in 3 out of 5 private lessons package with a trainer, I've seen improvement especially because she's pointed out what to do and how. tools and other stuff. AS said many times before it takes patience and consistency.
- 11-12 months old
- your-guess-is-as-good-as-mine pure breed
- sweet as pie (loves her daddy, the jury is still out on mommy)
- she's into chewing stuff when bored (mtb shoes, furniture, pillows and stairs steps so far)
- she's fairly obedient, waits for OK before grabbing her treats, going through the door in and out, going in and out of her cage
- responds fairly well to sits, stay and ok/let's go
- except for 2-3 minor accidents she'd been on point with being housetrained (and it wasn't her fault, the first time we waited too long to take her out and then we didn't use the proper cleaner so she went again on the same spot, since then we used enzyme cleaner and bought a pet specific carpet cleaner which seem to have done the trick)
- friendly with adults and kids, seems not to be particularly attracted to males (other than me)
- she launches at cars, apparently only when walking around the neighborhood and on the driveway if in proximity of the road. Parking lots seem fine
- she pulls hard on the leash when walking outside the property, not always. When she gets into she will not respond to food or praise, you can only make her stop and sit, but the behavior will resume as soon as you start walking again.
- she jumps at me and my wife but not in an aggressive manner (even though jaws snapping is involved) but she responds to No and pop of the leash and stops it
- first and only time we let her out voluntarily she was doing fine until a pickup truck zipped by and she took off, had to retrieve her in the neighbor backyard where she was peacefully chomping on a cranberry scone...
I start thinking that we have unrealistic expectations in terms of how fast this was going to work out, Bailey L. has been with us for less than 2 months, and atthe beginning some of the behavior that we now consider 'offending' seemed cute and we probably encouraged it as well...
My wife is the one taking it harder because she strongly lobbied me into getting a dog (don't get me wrong, I wanted a dog since I was 5 but was never in the position to get one) so now finds particularly frustrating that she did not turn out to be the doll she expected her to be. To be fair my better half has some health problems (which was what made me think that getting a dog would not be a good idea) but both her and her doctor thought it would be actually a good thing to get some distraction and it would motivation for some exercise...so I find myself having to work on both Bailey L...and my wife!
Unfortunately since we got Bailey L I have not been able to ride much, I took her with me while riding and the first 2 times it was great (always on the leash). but the 3rd time it was impossible to manage and had to head back home after a few hundred yards of pulling to the side, dropping on the ground etc...
@serviceguy , we seem to have a lot in common with our dog situation. Our Bailey, "Bailey D", is a little older as she's almost 2, but we had or have had some of the same behaviors, both good and bad.
She was into the nipping/light biting and also did some short lived chewing early on. With correcting it as it happened, we were able to get that to stop, as well as any chewing on things other than her own chew toys.
Bailey D is also fairly obedient with waiting for food or staying at the door until we say "ok".
For the pulling while walking, I mentioned in the other thread that if we do some quick training in the driveway before the walk, that seems to help remind her that we are the focus. A quick up and down the driveway, reinforcing the command to stop, wait, heel.
Bailey D is heavier than she looks and is close to 70 lbs. She doesn't really pull with me, but with the kids and my wife, we worried she might be too strong. Early on, we tried different harnesses and collars, but what my wife had the best luck with was a simple gentle leader. Bailey was receptive to putting it on (it goes over her snout) and from the first time using it, she did not pull once with my wife. It's not a muzzle, it's just a strap that goes around the snout and if she pulls, it turn her head back towards us. I'm sure it doesn't work for everyone, but we did have great results with it.
We adopted Bailey D right after the pandemic started. I had just sold both of my bikes and she was an addition to our family that we didn't realize how much we needed. I don't post much on any social media about personal stuff, but to summarize, life the last few years has been tough. My work is a stressful and complicated situation. My wife also has health issues that she has been dealing with for almost a decade with no relief, we have an insurmountable amount of debt from medical bills, and two teenage girls who will be going to college before we know it.
Some might say adding a dog to the mix was a very risky situation, but against anything that anyone told us, we did it anyway. Bailey D does have some issues, but through it all, it was the best decision we ever made. She has been a huge help with the immense stress we're under, and at the end of the day she helps make things a little better.