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Hi

 

I have a 6mth old male Irish who 90% of the time is just wonderful, listens responds and is loving and gentle  ......... But there are times he really can be a challenge, I will try and explain how .....

 

I/we ensure Murphy has good meals (now on 2 a day and a banana), mental and physical excersise and even rest times where he is encouraged to take a chill ....... But there are times that I think he is mouthy jumpy and just plain restless and gets deaf too ...... It can get pretty wearing .....

 

Tell me are these teenage tantrums ........ I cant quite get my head around the age comparison thing with dogs, I had it in my head roughly 7 times human but how does that make him a teenager?

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We feed a mix of wet and dry Hills large puppy food twice a day ...... he had his 6mth vet check other day behaved well and vet said teeth still had a bit of work needed on them to fully come down ....... he is bright and loves walking in fields has good recall and waits and stays, not so keen on down but will sit ......
Mmmmmmm may have made this too serious .... he jumps up on worksurfaces, humans and sometimes skiffs your hand with his mouth as you tell him off ..... No snapping and this evening I think he directed me to his cupboard using his mouth on my hand ..... He got nothing btw .... If you tell him no he moans he pretends to be deaf even looks away ...... can get a bit humpy too....
He's a puppy! Is this your first dog? Get to a training class and get him sorted out! Either that or else tell him to take you to a human training class because you are showing signs of being half trained already! LOL
Your dog sounds like my Cash. Who is 8 months old. Mine also likes to counter surf, grabs your hand to direct you about and gets a case of what we call the zoomies some evenings right before he settles down for bed. He has left over energy is my thought and will zip all over jumping on the couch and running to beds etc. Then just plops down to sleep. With a loud moan. He does a similar thing after a bath too. I think it is just the breed. They like to have tons of attention, are in your face all the time and hate to be ignored or told NO. Persistance is what I am working towards and patience till he gets with the program!
Gosh sue, I think u just described Reuben to a T. Also Reuben has so many teenager facial expressions too and will often challenge me with a stare out. And when he doesn't win, he actually vocally huffs and then skulks off. It's amazing when you can begin to understand your dog's body language!
My first Irish, Magic was an unruly, naughty and anorexic teenager but so lovely tempered. When she grew up at about 3 years old she was such a joy to live with all her life as that Irish Spirit stayed with her nearly all her life and she was always full of bounce, would hardly ever come back when called until she was about 7 years old but was a great showgirl. She didn't pass her personality on to any of her children which I was always rather upset about as I like them naughty but nice. Let them be puppies I say, I don't like robots.
I have a gentleman!
Absolute rubbish. I love to watch a good working bond. My GSD never had a verbal command, this lab is an elderly gentleman now and he was my "stooge dog" for years. His command to work was spreading my fingers in an "invitation" and my setters work to a whistle. Finn your dog should be looking to you for commands
Emm interesting... I am middle ground on this I think as though I dont want a robot dog and love Reuben's cheeky and yes willful character I do need him to be very responsive and very obedient especially when out. This I suspose is because I live in a small Town with a high population of people and dogs. Even when I take him to fields I meet dogs, people and children all the time and I would like to feel confident that I can control his behaviour when necessary nd he doesn't cause any upset and of cause for safety too.
Often people comment on how they admire my dedication to training and i am sure some think I am a bit anal about it but I do also worry that maybe I need to chill a little too as i don't want to destroy reuben's personality.
For me it is finding the balance i think.
Gosh Reuben has both Jethro's & Timber's attitude at times, must be the Irish devil in him, lol...
I have never walked Reuben in the dark before but will find out what this is like this coming winter when i do the early morning ones. May have to start thinking about an illuminated collar soon and me a caving hat!
Will do Finn and I have already accepted the counter surfing now and find myself admiring how tall he is! And I am sure he and Fergus would have a ball together. Did you get your kitten by the way? My hubby is not giving in at the mo, so will work on that one again at a later date.
whistles are great and to be fair to reuben he does come running to it 9 times out of 10 and it looks and feels amazing!

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