Hi poodle experts -- have you all had any luck "un" training your poodles? Let's say you know you've screwed up and taught your dog something you shouldn't have taught him....is there a prayer we may be able to fix it?
We started taking Gatsby off leash in the park from when he was about six months. For six months, he was a relative angel. We'd walk along and he'd follow no less than 10 feet away. When it was time to go home, we'd tell him to sit, put his leash on, then go home.
When he turned about a year, he started stealing balls and bolting with them. Once he had a ball, there was no catching him. If somehow we did catch him, we couldn't get the ball out of his mouth. He learned "drop" in puppy kindergarten but it didn't apply to the stolen balls. One day we let him keep a ball (mistake) because we couldn't get it out of his mouth -- then we had to stop letting him off leash in the park, both because everyone hated the ball-snatching poodle and because it took us 45 minutes one day for him to tire out enough that we could catch him.
We switched to the dog park. For a while it went fine -- we'd say it was time to go, then he'd follow us to the gate. The exception to this was stolen balls. We got in the habit of checking to see if someone had brought a ball, and we wouldn't go in.
After about two months of relative dog park peace, he discovered that he is a 65 pound athletic poodle and we are slow, clumsy, awkward people -- if he didn't want to leave, he knew we weren't going to catch him. So now it's a game to him -- we try to put his leash on, he lets us get about 3 feet away, then he bolts. If anyone ELSE calls his name, he trots right over and graciously accepts pets, but not us. The past few times, we've had to have strangers call him and hold onto his collar.
On Saturday, he figured out that everyone was in on the game, and point blank would not be caught. Ronnie and I had to do a little charade. Gatsby's a mama's boy, so I left Ronnie and Gatsby behind in the dog run and went and waited on a bench out of sight. Gatsby watched me go, and when it was apparent I wasn't coming back, he went over to the gate and tried to follow me. Needless to say, this cannot continue!
This morning I reached my limit. We were walking, on-leash, in the park when he came upon one of his dog friends and we let them wrestle around. I lost hold of his leash. That frickin poodle is so smart, he INSTANTLY realized that the game had begun, and ran 20 feet away into a lawn. Please believe me when I say -- that damn poodle HOPPED UP AND DOWN for ten minutes, frolicking in the lawn, getting his paws all grass-stained and muddy. A crowd formed to watch the performing poodle clown. I said, "GATSBY, COME HERE!" What did he do? He play bowed. He thinks it's a game.
This is a poodle who, despite his teenage behavior, still delights in performing tricks. At home, he comes when he's called, he drops, he high-fives, he lays down. Somehow, we have taught him that this is a fun game that he gets to play. How on earth can we fix this?
If we can't take him to the park or the dog run, he will NEVER get enough exercise and he will jump out the window. We've tried jogging with him -- he got tired after a mile and a half. He likes to wrestle with other dogs. That's the cheese on his macaroni.
We bought a 30 foot training leash to take to the park and try to practice "Come!" ... but I think he'll just find a dog to play with and get all tangled up. We'd be willing to hire a trainer. But I'm 99% sure that this is OUR fault because we've unintentionally taught him this behavior. Is there a prayer that this is fixable?
I'm sorry for the novel-esque post...I am just haunted by the image of him hopping up and down in the park as everyone looked on. He was like, "Screw you Mom! Wheeee!" HAUNTED.
Thanks,
WORST POODLE PARENTS EVER
We started taking Gatsby off leash in the park from when he was about six months. For six months, he was a relative angel. We'd walk along and he'd follow no less than 10 feet away. When it was time to go home, we'd tell him to sit, put his leash on, then go home.
When he turned about a year, he started stealing balls and bolting with them. Once he had a ball, there was no catching him. If somehow we did catch him, we couldn't get the ball out of his mouth. He learned "drop" in puppy kindergarten but it didn't apply to the stolen balls. One day we let him keep a ball (mistake) because we couldn't get it out of his mouth -- then we had to stop letting him off leash in the park, both because everyone hated the ball-snatching poodle and because it took us 45 minutes one day for him to tire out enough that we could catch him.
We switched to the dog park. For a while it went fine -- we'd say it was time to go, then he'd follow us to the gate. The exception to this was stolen balls. We got in the habit of checking to see if someone had brought a ball, and we wouldn't go in.
After about two months of relative dog park peace, he discovered that he is a 65 pound athletic poodle and we are slow, clumsy, awkward people -- if he didn't want to leave, he knew we weren't going to catch him. So now it's a game to him -- we try to put his leash on, he lets us get about 3 feet away, then he bolts. If anyone ELSE calls his name, he trots right over and graciously accepts pets, but not us. The past few times, we've had to have strangers call him and hold onto his collar.
On Saturday, he figured out that everyone was in on the game, and point blank would not be caught. Ronnie and I had to do a little charade. Gatsby's a mama's boy, so I left Ronnie and Gatsby behind in the dog run and went and waited on a bench out of sight. Gatsby watched me go, and when it was apparent I wasn't coming back, he went over to the gate and tried to follow me. Needless to say, this cannot continue!
This morning I reached my limit. We were walking, on-leash, in the park when he came upon one of his dog friends and we let them wrestle around. I lost hold of his leash. That frickin poodle is so smart, he INSTANTLY realized that the game had begun, and ran 20 feet away into a lawn. Please believe me when I say -- that damn poodle HOPPED UP AND DOWN for ten minutes, frolicking in the lawn, getting his paws all grass-stained and muddy. A crowd formed to watch the performing poodle clown. I said, "GATSBY, COME HERE!" What did he do? He play bowed. He thinks it's a game.
This is a poodle who, despite his teenage behavior, still delights in performing tricks. At home, he comes when he's called, he drops, he high-fives, he lays down. Somehow, we have taught him that this is a fun game that he gets to play. How on earth can we fix this?
If we can't take him to the park or the dog run, he will NEVER get enough exercise and he will jump out the window. We've tried jogging with him -- he got tired after a mile and a half. He likes to wrestle with other dogs. That's the cheese on his macaroni.
We bought a 30 foot training leash to take to the park and try to practice "Come!" ... but I think he'll just find a dog to play with and get all tangled up. We'd be willing to hire a trainer. But I'm 99% sure that this is OUR fault because we've unintentionally taught him this behavior. Is there a prayer that this is fixable?
I'm sorry for the novel-esque post...I am just haunted by the image of him hopping up and down in the park as everyone looked on. He was like, "Screw you Mom! Wheeee!" HAUNTED.
Thanks,
WORST POODLE PARENTS EVER
