8 month old pup problems (pulling on Lead + bonking for england!)

Hi Max arrived safe and sound - rehomed Welsh Springer 8 mths old - original owners wanted a designer dog but he is past the cute stage - and well a great many of you know what an adolescent spinger is like.
He has been here 24 hours and coping whith name change from Rollo to Max - very well thus far with a great deal of enthusiastic arm waving shouting etc - the neighbours will thing we have gone mad. Recall quite good in the garden - obeys sit / down / drop / wait / - problem - he pulls uncontrollably on the lead and goes demented when I put Halti on him - though he wasn't too bad when I marched him up and down the hall waving a lump of cheese under his nose. Issue two - his breeder had three bitches who beahaved like tarts with him in the last few days - so he is bonking for England - any ideas please

Hi TN sounds as if you are doing a great job

Firstly the pulling ,your puppy needs to be taught pulling means he is going nowhere, this behaviour will not be rewarded . This training takes time and patience and you should not give up after a couple of sessions saying it doesn't work, in dog training many people expect instant results and although this may be the case, it is not always so As always firmness, confidence, consistancy and kindness are the keys to sucess.

Before a walk start by having a play with the puppy to get rid of a little energy, put the lead on and set off making it clear in your voice that this is serious not play. As soon as the puppy pulls stop/ stand still/ ignore him, when the lead is slack set of again praising the puppy if he walks without pulling and just keep repeating the process. Initially you will not get very far, it may take half an hour to walk a few yards, but it WILL work eventually.



Now the mounting, this is natural juvenile behaviour and as with all unwanted behaviour is best treated by distraction/ignoring depending on what is being mounted. So don't shout at the puppy (rewarding the action with attention) if you are ignoring him do not speak or look at him, if distraction is being used / make a noise/ squeak a toy ..and he should grow out of mounting quite quickly.

Thanks - we had a prctise in the hall this morning with halti on and manages 1/4 hour out on the halti without him pulling too badly - though he is obviously frustrated a she wants to run - it will be ages beforeI can trust him to mbe let loose - I will test you advice re bonking this evening - thanks very much

Hi!!!
Just an idea, do you have a car? Do you have time to drive him to the park for a free run in the morning then concentrate on some lead work later in the day when he has run off some excess energy? We do this with our pups at about this age,purely because they're becoming teenage and more excitable so it's easier to do proper 'work' with them as Minihahha said once they've let off some steam!

Sorry!!!! Tired!!! Just reread your 2nd post and had misunderstood. If I were you I'd practise a good recall as soon as possible, so you can let him off lead!!!! It sounds like you're doing lots of stuff with him to wear him out in the garden with the obedience you're doing maybe just do more of that initially!!! Think I've been no help at all, it's late and I'm not taking in what I read!!! Sorry!!!!

Why don't you get a long-line, so you can let him run around without worrying about him running away? Letting him run will get rid of some of his energy, so hopefully he'll be better behaved

Both behaviours are normal for a 8 month dog, let him know that you don't like bonking, and never allow it with people, it will pass if discouraged but it takes a fair while. As to pulling there are almost as many ideas and methods as there are dogs pulling, think I would suggest a class with a good instructor who will help you sort the best method for you and the dog, I use a spray water bottle others use the stop method and still others a clicker but over the years I have found that no one method works on all dogs. Good luck I am sure you are doing a grand job, persevere and remember with a pup of that age you are having to undo the training he has had to pull and replace it with teaching not to pull, it also will take time. He needs to understand that you want him to walk on a loose lead and that is a 100 times easier to say than do

Hi all - thanks for the encouragement - what he needs is a good run as you say - but dare not at the moment - Been in the garden 1/3 of an acre this morning and used my old girl guide whistle - hid and two beeps he came to find me - great big fuss which we repeated two or three times - I would like him to come to a whistle rather than me shouting my head off.
Mounting last night until I caught him full in the face with a squirt of water. Problem
1 He has an upset tummy - I haven't changed his food but bless him he asked to be let out at 6am by scratching the bedroom door and waking me up - Thankfully I have french window so out he went and came back no problem. previous owner had him at the vet every week and he was flea treated and wormed every month
2 He needs two meals a day as he is very skinny but will not eat untill 11-12 am and again 5 - 6 pm.
April was trained when I got her so I am really a novice at all this - would a proper dog whistle be better and I know it is a daft question but would I be able to hear it!!

What sort of line in particular - or just ordinary roap - I dont think you mean an extension lead do you - I think this would be good - can I get in per shops - sorry to be so daft!!

He could have an upset tum because he's still settling in. Why did the last owner have him at the vet every week? Does he have a history of tummy upsets?
Just an idea, our pups are trained to eat to a whistle, just a normal whistle. They are made to sit and wait as their food is put down and then they know they can't eat until the whistle is blown...as a result they salivate as soon as their food is prepared and it's digesting before they get it with the drool falling into the bowl. The other, more helpful result is that if their recall to a voice isn't too great they always come back to 3 whistle blasts as they know that something good follows. It takes a while to build up that behaviour and the whistle can't be used for anything other than feeding initially but it's fantastic, always a clean bowl and a dog pretty keen to eat and return to you. Perhaps doing something like that would help with the fussy feeding and the recall??? Hopefully this was more helpful than my last dosey post!!!!! sounds like you're doing a fantastic job anyway and it's still early days!