Help!!!!

[vicky76]

Hi everyone

I have a 6 month old Blenheim cavalier called Charlie, i am currently taking him to puppy training but it is not going well. Charlie still pulls on the lead and i have tried every collar and harness going i think lol and he is more interested in sniffing the floor and other dogs than doing what i ask him...the trainer suggested that i have Charlie castrated as he seems to be a pushy puppy....is this normal for a cavalier i dont know as i have never had one before.....I do not want to breed from him so not sure what to do...

x x

[*Pauline*]

Castration to stop a dog pulling, what a load of rubbish!!! Your trainer is making a poor excuse for not helping you, that's what you pay her for. I suggest going to another trainer.

[Tania]

Hi, If you are not going to breed from Charlie my suggestion would to have him spayed anyway.

Pauline is right, it does sound as though you need another trainer. You need to try and get Charlie to focus on you and the best way to do that is with some extra
smelly tasty treats. He won't take his eyes of you if he knows you have something nice.

As far as walking is concerned, I would fill a kong on a rope and put something smelly in it. Walk with this dangling in front of him for a few steps, stop and treat him. Keep doing this making the exercise longer. I clicker train my dogs, it is based on reward, patience and is very gentle.

Dogs also use their sense of smell as a communication tool – when they’re running around the park with their nose to the ground, sniffing everything in sight, they’re actually reading the calling cards of everyone – dogs, humans, cats, squirrels, and anyone or anything else, that has been there before him. Which is why he may not pay attention to you when you.

I would imagine the floor smells very interesting to Charlie, you have to find something that smells more interesting . He will get the idea soon enough

[Karlin]

I will differ a bit here as neutering a male (though you wouldn't spay one! That's just for the girls ) can definitely help with getting a dog to calm down and focus. Many trainers I know would recommend neutering as a way to help in training and it can make a big difference with a difficult to manage male. There are also health reasons to neuter as well as safety reasons (they are then not attractive to steal for breeding, plus a neutered male is far less likely to try to get out and roam, one of the main reasons males make a run when they get a chance and can get lost/stolen/killed). Charlie also is just getting to the age where his hormones are kicking in which can make him quite distracted by other intact males or any female in heat in particular. The testosterone levels in a male pup at this age soar way, way way above where they would be in an intact adult male so they go into hormone overdrive. Personally though I'd wait til about 9 months or so to neuter, and some prefer to wait til around a year when they are at adult size.

That said -- I agree that pulling is not caused simply by being intact. A particular harness also doesn't tend to resolve this (except for front clip harnesses like the Sense-ible or Easywalk -- which I am willing to bet will 90% stop your problem right away). This is really a training issue and it does sound like your trainer isn;t giving particularly good guidance.

But you need some answers now: I'd download this free book by the wonderful trainer Ian Dunbar. It has great training and behaviour advice for all dog owners not just new puppy owners -- and will give you step by step advice for training in a gentle and positive way to stop a dog pulling.

A short handout from Dunbar:

http://www.dogstardaily.com/files/WalkingOnLeash.pdf

Of course for off lead work ONLY do so in safe protected areas -- this isn't for street walking when a dog should always be on a lead.

[Tania]

I will differ a bit here as neutering a male (though you wouldn't spay one! That's just for the girls )

Could it explain the strange look on Dougalls face

[Karlin]

I have had a few men tell me they didn't know how to tell if their male cavalier was neutered, when I asked about a dog they wished to rehome via rescue... so a vet could get away with any procedure...