# puppy tantrums during walk



## abatt (Jul 10, 2012)

I am sure this topic was discussed numerous times before. And I read everything and tried to apply everything, but nothing seems to work.

Our puppy is the sweetest puppy in the whole world. At home he is very obedient and affectionate. Walks is another matter. He is still pulling, but at 6 months we have time to work on it. Most of the walk is totally fine, but at some point on the way home he gets into his crazy moods where he suddenly decides to start jumping and lunging at us, humping, growling, biting on a leash, our clothes, our hands, legs. We have not been able to figure out what starts it. We feel like all our neighbours think he is a crazy dog, because they see him like this so often . Few weeks ago we heard a little kid pointing to our puppy and saying: "Mommy, look that's a bad doggy". My colleagues think he is a devil puppy, because I have been coming to work covered in scratches and bruises for the last 4 months. I feel bad, because I really think he is the sweetest dog and want other people to see that.

Here is what we tried so far.
- Tire him out. But he still gets crazy if he gets 20 minute walk or 1.5 hour walk. And we walk him a lot, every day about 30 minutes in the morning, several short walks during the day (my husband works form home), about 1 hour walk in the evening. He goes to dog park almost every day. During the weekend he gets at least two 1 hour walks.
- When he starts jumping and biting we tried to stop walking until he stops biting. I once waited for a good 20 minutes. Finally give up with tears in my eyes, ripped jacket, bruises all over my hands, arms and legs. 
- Try to disctact him with treats and walk the rest of the way home feeding him treats. That seems to work, except we worry that we are encouraging that behaviour. Also, if we run out of treats or forget them at home, then we are in trouble.
- Try to hold him down. This makes him even worse.
- Try stepping on the leash, so that he cannot jump, he goes after our legs.
- Tried firm "no". Same "no" that works at home does not work outside.
- Tried tapping on his nose, no effect, he comes for more.
- Folded his side gums on his teeth, so that he will be biting himself. Hi stops and resumes after I let go.
- Holding his tong down with my finger stops him for a little, but he start again after I release.

The moment we come home he is turning back into a calm obedient puppy that we love. We don't think he is agressive at all, we feel like he is just playing very rough with us. How do we let him know that it is not acceptable and he should stop?


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

I think he's testing you, he's 6 months now. We went through this phase too with Miles and are going through round 2 at 11 months now. We stay firm, and make him sit and wait until he calms down. If he is very rambunctious we place him on his back and hold him there until he relaxes. I know it's frustrating. After 2.5hrs of morning and afternoon exercise, ours was still a maniac at night.


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## flynnandlunasmom (May 28, 2012)

6 months may still be too young depending on his size, but have you considered a prong collar? You just give him a corrective check when he's out of line. Nothing that would hurt him. It may be controversial on this forum (I don't know for sure but I know a lot of people are opposed to certain types of discipline on here) and some may not approve of it, but it's totally harmless. Our trainer recommends this type of collar and I tried it on myself to see how the correction felt and it doesn't hurt. It mimics how their mother would discipline them.


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## veifera (Apr 25, 2012)

> Most of the walk is totally fine, but at some point on the way home he gets into his crazy moods


Quick question - when you say "walk", do you really mean the actual walk (stroll), with him by your side on lead? I'm asking because I'm wondering if he gets enough time running off lead. Perhaps you could experiment with changing the routine so you can find out if this is a behavior or energy issue. 

For example, try replacing that 1 hour walking with 1 hour running off leash in the dog park (without reducing the regular dog park time) and see if anything changes in his behavior. Better yet, try spending that 1 hour on a weekend walking hiking trails in a forest (with him running off lead ahead of you) or walking along the edges between open fields. 

Another idea is to find a playmate you could host at your house during the day, another high energy dog.


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

Savannah did that, too. It seems like it lasted a few weeks or a couple of months with periods of regression every now and again since then.

Discipline and firmness did not work for us. Ignoring it did not work for us. Extra exercise did not work for us. 

Try to anticipate the behavior. As soon as the eyes dilate, sit down on the curb - you - not necessarily your puppy. Stay calm. Let him walk to the end of the leash and explore. When he comes back to you, pet him for a while. Talk to him for a while. Then get up and walk a bit further. Sit down again before the behavior starts - if he is similar to Savannah, it will be less than a block.

A few weeks after I stumbled onto this idea, I was walking with my neighbor and her golden retriever. Feeling like an idiot, but knowing what was coming, I suddenly said, 'excuse me' and sat down. I calmly explained what I was doing. Her response - 'Oh - it's just a teenager thing. Sometimes you just have to reconnect with your dog'.

Hope this helps!


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## veifera (Apr 25, 2012)

abatt - I read some of your other messages to get a better sense of the dog you have. 

You mentioned the breeder you got him from and from what I heard among the Vizsla people that family is very active and well known in the field. The pedigrees that they list on their website show exceptionally strong field trial blood (lineage coming down from Ruger, Raany, etc). Since they also say their dogs are suitable for outdoor sportsmen, I'm pretty sure they are breeding for success in the field (nose, range, drive).

Anyway - I might be totally off, but to continue with the thought in my earlier reply I think you puppy will have very high drive and will need a lot of off-lead running time. He comes from the line that was purposefully cultivated for its ability to run fast and far so he could be the first one to find the birds. 

Since your husband works from home, I think the idea of hiking trails on weekends and hosting a play mate for your dog on weekdays (any high energy dog close in age) is something that could take the edge and the stress off very quickly. If you have a back yard, then your daily walks can be reduced and used for socializing instead of exercise.


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

I agree with veifera. Your pup needs run time off-leash in new and exciting places (not the dog park). I highly recommend also pursuing hunting training. Even if you aren't going to hunt with your pup, it's a great energy outlet. I can take Riley into the mountains and she will hunt quail for 2 hours and will pass out at home for the rest of the day. I don't even own a shotgun, she just loves to try and find the birds!


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## ZDOGSMOM (Sep 15, 2012)

Just adding my 2 cents worth here.... when living in Florida, my girl Ziva was walked about an hour twice a day .... she also had at least an hour at a local dog park nearly daily.... however it wasn't until I moved back to my home town in central Ohio (due family illness) that Ziva finally started getting what she truly needed to keep her happy, very healthy, and much less likely to act up on a lead.

We now have a large fenced in yard, with her new boyfriend/neghbor dog, Buck the Boxer right next door who comes over daily and the 2 of them play hard .... also I have a life long friend who owns over 50 hilly wooded acres less than 5 minutes from my home and I take her out there nearly daily to run off leash, flushing wild turkeys, chasing deer, running up and down the very steep hill tracking scents, and just enjoying doing what V's love to do. It has made an amazing difference in her..... I just looked at a litter today and will be bringing another female V into our home mid January when the pups turn 8 weeks... so that too should provide her with additional mental as well as physical exercise to keep her centered in that HAPPY VIZSLA PLACE!

Good luck with your pup.... perserverence is the name of the game... things will come together as long as you hang tough!


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## Kay92 (Oct 19, 2012)

We have the Gentle Leader for Chuck and Riley, Chuck fights it and bucks like a bull. Riley is used to it by now and is "happy" with it. He is definitely testing you, stay calm and assertive and make sure he knows that you are the boss, not him.


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## adrino (Mar 31, 2012)

http://www.vizslaforums.com/index.php/topic,5590.msg43129.html#msg43129

This link is to an earlier thread of yours. I posted on it for you and I could only repeat myself so I thought I just get the link out. 
It's not easy but you will get through it.


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## abatt (Jul 10, 2012)

Thank you for all the comments.

We do have periods of improvements and then regression. Hope will have much more improvements. This morning he hasn't jumped once and was a very good boy. Such a great start of the day!

I was able to anticipate his behaviour a few times and it really helped, but it is not as easy. Usually by the time I notice his eyes, he is already jumping on me. I guess will just have to work on that a bit more.

Regarding the breeder, we had numerous talks with them about our lifestyle and how vizsla can fit into it. We told them that we are not hunters and are not planning to start hunting. But we are active, so he should get plenty of walks and running with me once he is older, company during the day since my husband is working from home. One thing though, we asked for a lower enery puppy because he will not be getting any hunting experience. They only had one low energy male puppy and really wanted to give him to a family with two small kids. They offered a higher energy puppy, but said that given our lifestyle he should be happy with us and get sufficient excercise. And we do feel like he is getting enough excercise, because he very rarely has zoomies at home. He is usually very mellow and likes to lay around on a sofa with us. It is only on the walks that he has mad moments.

Regarding hunting. I will look into that. I don't know much about it. So how much hunting is enough? And how often?


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## veifera (Apr 25, 2012)

If you have no interest in hunting, I would go check out a hunting test in your area but you shouldn't have to force yourself to do something you don't want to do. It's not going to end well for either you or your dog, unless you discover it's a passion. 

As an alternative, there is also agility - fun, fast paced and very inexpensive alternative for high energy dog. A typical training center would offer agility classes throughout the weekend and on weekends. Dogs love them and Vizslas are really really good at them. Agility also improves the relationship. 

I think your dog is quiet at home because that's what's normal for him. For example, when I go to the home office to work, my dog would always lie down at my feet and sleep - that's she has learned to do. So it could look confusing - the dog is not going nuts, therefore the dog is not craving physical activity. 

And finally - I think you have every reason to be proud of your dog. He's going to grow up to be very athletic, agile and "driven" Vizsla. If you do something like agility, you should expected him to do exceptionally well and really stand out among the rest...


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

We don't hunt, but Miles "hunts" and we think that he is satisfied. We take him off leash hiking out in the trails and he hunts birds and rabbits. He has never had formal training but can hold a point and flush birds. He also hunts seagulls and sand fleas at the beach. It's natural for them so I am of the belief that if we provide the environment for Miles to hunt he will be happy, and my husband and I don't have to.


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## abatt (Jul 10, 2012)

When you go on trails and let him run and hunt by himself, does he leave your sight and come back when called? Isaac's recall is not very good when outside. We are still working on that. Until then we are a little worried to let him run off. We worry that he will get lost, get hurt, attacked by some animal, etc. I know that we probably baby him to much. We do plan to have him run offleash more, but only when he is more trained.


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

We don't feel comfortable letting him leave our sight yet. We keep him in eyesight at all times right now. You could take your pup out on a long lead and let him hunt and explore. We have a 50 foot lead for Miles that we used to use on trail runs until he was trust worthy. Then he can explore and you can work on his recall. We still use the lead sometimes for training practice.

If Miles doesn't come back when called right away we put him on lead for a few minutes and we always bring a high value treat.


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

abatt said:


> When you go on trails and let him run and hunt by himself, does he leave your sight and come back when called? Isaac's recall is not very good when outside. We are still working on that. Until then we are a little worried to let him run off. We worry that he will get lost, get hurt, attacked by some animal, etc. I know that we probably baby him to much. We do plan to have him run offleash more, but only when he is more trained.


Clip a 30 foot lead on him just in case and let him run. Bring hot dog with you cut up into little bits and every time you call him, jackpot him with a bunch of little pieces (one at a time) when he comes. If he doesn't come, grab the lead, reel him in, and then treat and praise him. 

A good recall is extremely important - it could save your pup's life!


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## abatt (Jul 10, 2012)

Thank you all!

Adding long lead to my shopping list.


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## abatt (Jul 10, 2012)

Btw, we tried the gentle leader at the pet store once. He hated it and would fight non stop. Store staff thought he was a very dominant puppy and that we should not use gentle leader until we get the dominance out of him. They said that he might actually hurt himself trying to take it off.

Harness with a front buckle was a saviour for us. And now that he is getting better with "leave it" command, we completely forgot about gentle leader option. Maybe will look into trying it again.


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

We use a harness with a front buckle, the Easy Walk Harness and we like it very much. Gentle leader wasn't the right option for us either. I guess they are all different!


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## abatt (Jul 10, 2012)

We used to have Easy Walk harness, but it was really rubbing Isaac behind the legs. After the walk the area will be very red and irritated. That is why we decided to try the gentle leader. But while shopping for it we found this amazing freedom no-pull harness from Wiggles Wags and Whiskers. It is great. Not only it is better quality and design, it is much easier to put on and has a very soft velvet lining on the strap that goes under his legs.


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## Watson (Sep 17, 2012)

Our 18 week old Watson has been doing this since we brought him home two months ago. It was a nightmare at first - tearing into our arms, hands, legs, clothes. Although it can be very frustrating (and painful) we remain calm when he starts acting up. 

He has improved significantly, but still manages to go crazy once in a while. What's worked best for us when teaching/disciplining him is the concept of ignoring any behaviour we don't want, and praising the behaviour we do want! When it comes to these attacks - if it's in a safe area, give him a time out by tying his leash to something, a tree, pole etc. Say NO BITING and walk away with your back turned to him. Watson howls to high **** for a few seconds when we do this, but quickly composes himself and sits nicely until we come back to him (60-90 seconds). We then ask him if he's ready to play nice and we reconnect with him and get on with our walk. People who witness this will think you're insane, but it's been the best way for us to show him who's in charge.

Good luck, and know that you're not the only one dealing with this!  Just look at this face - looks like he wouldn't dream of doing such thing right


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