# 10 month old over enthusiastic, clumsy rough apple of my eye



## Lyndam (Aug 22, 2013)

Ruby is coming up to her first birthday. I have many Vizsla friends and on the enthusiastic / clumsy scale Ruby scores highly. She has little fear, swam from 5 months, loves all dogs and people (too much), has found her inner bird dog and quarters the fields as we walk, pointing and flushing game and meadow larks alike. She has free access to one settee in the house but is always wanting to play if she isnt actually asleep. She walks/rough chases another Vizsla for an hour and a half a day generally with a swim included. On these walks she can often run into my legs and I'm carrying a big bruise in the back of my knee ATM. She can jump up at people if I don't step in quick and her new thing is to bark excitedly and prance when she sees a dog at a distance 
Recall is good . Lead walk is ok to good. She obeys boundaries such as no upstairs and no counter surfing but she can be a loveable nuisance just because she us so full on and clumsy in her need to be with you.

My question is although I think this us partly her personality will this settle down as she ages and after a heat or do I need to set some more boundaries to contain her freedom to say jump on couch / ppl if she cannot do it with more finesse lol 


Ruby doesn't bark much at home as it us easy access to her to ask her to stop and follow up but outside other than recall her in when we spot people/dogs and leash her ( not always diable if she us too far ahead) is there a way to nip this excited barking in the bud? 

I have considered an electronic collar mainly for her safety when she is ranging bird hunting though atm starting to use a whistle is catching her attention but would this also be effective reminding her not to bark in anticipation every time possible playmates appear in the distance or am I better reining her in with a long lead ? 

Advice please and anyone else got a bundle of joy low on the finesse side ?


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## Lyndam (Aug 22, 2013)

Still looking for advice here. Ruby 11mobths now she has found her ability to bird and ranges further from me . She dies come back but not on my whistle and last two days she s chased cars cutting grass on our normally car free range. 
No damage done but heart in mouth until I finally got her back . Obviously we are in a teenage patch and I need to go back to basics, reinforce recall and perhaps work on a stop/stand command . Still considering a electronic collar to nudge her when she loses focus away from me . 
Any suggestions on a collar. ( UK based) ? 
Any advice on commands I need and how to build it and reinforce ?


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## Watson (Sep 17, 2012)

Yep, back to basics. I would start with a check cord, and basic training, in areas with and without distraction.
If you work on some drills that work with her natural instincts, she should become more biddable over time.

I would work _with_ her on birds/game and not let her chase, stalk, point on her own (I'm not sure if you already do this). As soon as I started working with Watson this way, he had a new found respect for me, like I was building on what he was born to do, which meant he was eager to listen and learn. I don't hunt at all, but since I have a 'hunting dog', I had to learn how to teach him  It also became easier to train him in other areas, ie not jumping on people, boundaries inside and outside etc.


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## redd (May 25, 2014)

Watson said:


> Yep, back to basics. I would start with a check cord, and basic training, in areas with and without distraction.
> If you work on some drills that work with her natural instincts, she should become more biddable over time.
> 
> I would work _with_ her on birds/game and not let her chase, stalk, point on her own (I'm not sure if you already do this). As soon as I started working with Watson this way, he had a new found respect for me, like I was building on what he was born to do, which meant he was eager to listen and learn. I don't hunt at all, but since I have a 'hunting dog', I had to learn how to teach him  It also became easier to train him in other areas, ie not jumping on people, boundaries inside and outside etc.


Watson, what exactly do you do to work on hunting skills? We aren't hunters either but see a common thread here- that we need to channel our dog' s inner drive to hunt. Again not being a hunter I would have no idea what to do.
Our dog is still a pup but want to be prepared. 
Thanks!!


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

She may calm a little with time but bad habits are hard to break. So she'll probably continue to jump on ppl unless you train her otherwise. Personally, I do use an ecollar. Its my insurance policy. BUUUUUT, the dog must already understand commands for it to work, in my opinion. I don't use it to teach, I use it to reinforce. However I do like the whistle idea and have been thinking of getting one myself as our girl ranges out quite far, unlike our boy who basically doesn't range out more than 30 yes but is usually only a few feet away. Anyhow, she can't hear me calling her when she's that far out as I've already learned. And I think you could train multiple commands on the whistle, no problem, just give them each their own whistle like one short, two short, one long, whatever.


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