Hi
My westtie puppy is now 6 months old. and has suddenely turned into a little devil!
she is hiding when being called in and just keeps ignoring most comands. mainly for my boyfriend!
she will just not come when called. she used to want to be with us all the time now she runns away!
she is so over excited when she sees or hears childen (even on the TV) that she runs up to them and jumps, which is a BIG problem as my friends daughter is scared of dogs! ive tried solding, holding down, ignoing and distractions non work.

up till now she has been a good dog (other than the children problem)

could it just be her "teenage" time?? if so how long does it last??
chelle and lottie xx



chelle

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Lottie west highland terrier, terrier by name terrier by nature!!!

just to add she has also stared barking at things in the garden? why ? what?? she just runs round and barks, not aggressive.
recently while out with her she suddenly turned nasty to another dog, something she have never done, she was barking and snarling and trying to see the dog off.
we were with a crowd of friends in a busy area at the time, do you think she was just trying to protect her "pack" from the potential inruders.
how do we contrl this agression. normally she wants to play with every dog that passes.
chelle x

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Lottie west highland terrier, terrier by name terrier by nature!!!

Has she been socialised with other people/dogs/children etc? Or aquainted with lots of different situations like busy streets/crowds/buses etc?

I struggled with some of the above as we don't know many dog owners or have loads of visitors etc, and i think it's apparent with our dogs behaviour towards some of these things that she wasn't socialised adequately. She is never aggressive - just boisterous.

Your dog is probably finding it's feet and becoming more confident. Borrow some brave friends and neighbours dogs and practice some socialising with her.

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Indy - Old Tyme Bulldog x Bull Terrier, born 26th August 08

I have a similar problem with a 6 month old Border Collie. He knows all of the commands, sit, stay, down, leave, come etc but he's suddently decided to only do them when it suits him. We've only had him 6 weeks and he's on his 4th week of puppy training class and I'm beginning to wonder if it's worth it. He's more obedient at home than in class although it's good for him to socialise with other dogs. I sometimes feel as though he's misbehaving on purpose. I do struggle to not shout at him when he's naughty, but sometimes it seems to be the only way to get his attention. I tried a whistle, but he even ignores that now.

she mets lots of dogs when on our walks but she normally wants to play but the day she was being nasty there was a loarge crownd of people around, more than she would be used to normally, and it was just the dogs he was nasty to. (growling and barking) i belive she was trying to protect the group, i maybe wrong.confused:
she knows shes doing wrong and i think thats why she is hideing.
she normally shuch a good dog, so i dont know why the sudden change.

how do i react?
do i should and punish if so how?? do i ignore??? or redirct??
she i fairly good with me its maliny with my partner. but she lives with him most of the time so he feels hes telling her off all the time.
i am confused and its making my partner very frustrated.
chelle

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Lottie west highland terrier, terrier by name terrier by nature!!!

She sounds like my pup. Dave has suddenly turned a deaf ear to me. If I want him to come in from the garden I have to go get him sometimes.

I am having to take his training back to basics as he just won;t do anything sometimes. I think he is starting to hit puberty and it is just a stage. I hope!

I think you should take the training back to basics, treat her like you did when she was little.

x

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I think she is just going through her teenage phase, running off is just because she is getting more confident and the defiance is because she thinks she should call the shots!! Little madam, i would try her on a very thin long line when you are out so you are never in the position to 'fail a recall', just let her have the run of the longline then call her back and reward, hold her collar and send her off again, that way she never knows which call back means the lead goes back on!
Up the treats too, when my dogs go through this phase, usually 8/9 months(but then they are boys so they don't mature as quick as the girls) i up the treats to hotdog sausage! they can't resist!

Then you will eventually be able to just leave the longline on but not hold it when you can trust her again, then eventually get rid of it altogether!!

I think the new barking should be ignored and it should die down if it gets no reaction!

Hope this helps.

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thanks everyone, i thought it may be the start of the teenage phase!!
how long does it go on for ususally???
chelle

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Lottie west highland terrier, terrier by name terrier by nature!!!

She does NOT know she has done wrong. Dogs do not "do" right and wrong. They have no idea of the concept. Stop scolding her or telling her off or else she WILL hide from you - not because she knows she has done wrong but because she is afraid of you.

You sound quite inexperienced (that's not a criticism by the way) so I'd encourage you to find a training class near you and have a chat with the trainer about what you want to achieve with her

Shes a terrier through and through