Ready To Kill The Dog (am joking I think)

[Potstubsdustbins]

I am so glad it is starting to come together for you. He's not young dog so he will have relapse's just be ready for them. Don't punish him though I doubt you, would just reward good behaviour. If I might suggest if he takes to his squeaky toy, before you go and sit with him near the birds let him see you put it in your pocket. When you are happy and ready to finnish let him have the toy for good behaviour. If he has been naughty let him see you put it on a shelf there for it to stay until the next time. He will soon realise that good with birds means play with favourite toy and vice versa.

Another good tip is little and often in other words don't keep him with the birds for extended periods to start with, just a few minutes. This will give him less chance to be naughty and allow you to finnish the exercise on a high note with a happy dog.

Colin.

[Nicos]

OWG/ VVG- I'm talking about a netting electric fence- not the usual lines of electrical tape
like this.....


...glad to hear he's starting to relax!

[Two_Sheds]

it should be possible for you to get your dog to sit beside you but if you can't stop the excitable behaviour then ignore it completely

We're trying this on Star (staffie) who goes completely loopy over our guinea pigs - barking, whining, howling, charging round, jumping up and even trying to tunnel under the hutch

When she calms down and sits nicely, she gets a treat and an ear rub

She's ... getting there

[Dazy]

Partial to an ear rub myself
Glad it's helping but I don't think I'll be challenging the dog whisperer just yet.
No helpful ideas with small children and squeaky toys, mine are all grown up and I am now known as 'pushover Nan', most of my weekends off are spent playing with lego bricks, play doh and glitter glue(sometimes I let the grandkids join in), best job I ever had

[Hilary B]

One thing that sometimes helps if a dog has 'selective deafness' on recall when something interesting happens. Concentrate for a while on 'down-at-a-distance'. For no reason I can understand, some dogs will respond to this when they would not respond to a recall.
The methods used for 'working dogs' are not necessarily the best for a household pet. Many working dogs have little contact with anything outside of working (and training) time, and for most of them their work is a reward. House pets have a different lifestyle.
It is important that if you use an edible reward you consider it as being part of his next meal, and as soon as you are getting results, don't always offer food, gradually reducing frequency.
For an over-excited dog, it may be nervousness/fear, or simply "Ooooh that is fascinating!" In either case pack leader must set the example, by saying clearly (in body language and tone of voice) "no it's not dangerous, you are being silly" or "it really isn't that interesting". If you get excited (or angry) your voice will confirm that it IS exciting, if you are too comforting, you will be telling him he is right to be scared, just keep your voice calm and (if possible) a bit bored by all this nonsense!

[Two_Sheds]

One thing that sometimes helps if a dog has 'selective deafness' ...

A packet rustle gets her attention, as does preceding nephew's name with "sweets?" - he has the worst selective hearing I've come across

Star met her first dog sans muzzle today - a lovely calm English Sheepdog. I checked he was friendly, clocked Star's body language (ears & tail up) and let them meet. It was lovely No growling, no howling and plunging. I think a milestone has been passed

[Glutton4...]

That's great news TS! Your persistence is obviously paying dividends. You'll get good and bad days, as you know. I'm finding I get better results with Oscar when he's had a bit of exercise first, to get it out of his system, then he's more responsive to my commands. At the moment we walk past the Chook run about three times a day, and he's keen to investigate, but not too excitable. The one time I let him touch the electric fence, he didn't get a zap, then I realised it wasn't on. D'oh!

[Two_Sheds]

we walk past the Chook run about three times a day

She can touch noses with the guinea pig (through the bars) but other times she'll jump around and try to knock the hutch over, daft mutt

She's walked past the duck pond most evenings, and is interested but doesn't go for them. Other dogs though... she esp. hates little yappy ones

[Glutton4...]

...Other dogs though... she esp. hates little yappy ones

Yup, that's fair, so do I!