# Please help, new phase!?



## Claire (May 21, 2012)

Hey!
It's been quite a while since I posted about Liesel, we moved house in August and have been keeping quite busy. 
Liesel turned 1 year old on September 11th, and I've been meaning to post for a while to say thank you to everyone who gave me advice almost two years ago when I came on the forum wondering whether a Vizsla would be suitable for me! Can't imagine not having her in my life now, she's been a wonderful challenge, amazing company and she's improved my life in countless ways. It's amazing how therapeutic raising a puppy can be!

Now moving on from the nice bit... for a few weeks, maybe even months before she turned 1, it seemed like her puppy behaviour was behind her, all my work was paying off and she was acting very mature and well behaved - it was wonderful! She listened to me, behaved herself around the house and her recall was as good as it was when she was a little puppy who hardly wanted to leave my side!

...then she turned 1, and around that time she changed again. The recall has gone out of the window again, she's started running up to strangers and jumping up at them again (thought we'd trained that out of her) and when it's just me and her in the house (I only work part time, my partner is full time) she's looking for constant mischief. It's almost exactly like when she was little, running around looking for things she's not meant to have, bringing them to me, and kind of... answering back, I call it, when I say 'no!' or 'leave it'! and offer her a toy instead. She'll quite often bark, go into a kind of play bow.. etc. It seems to me she just wants attention - but CONSTANT attention, and I don't get why it's just started again, after she'd been so good.

I'm guessing she's bored or not getting enough exercise, but as we've just moved here we haven't found her any playmates left (I've put an ad on gumtree looking for some doggy pals for her) and there are no training classes or anything within a suitable distance for us, very annoying.

As for her recall and the jumping at strangers thing, I've had to start using the long lead again, as I remember reading about this on the forum - but is this all I can do? We need a better long lead I think, it's not particularly lengthy and we're having to reel it in all the time and it gets caught between her legs etc.

I've been feeling myself start to lose my patience with her - it's just so frustrating, for both of us, since we're spending all our time one-on-one while she's behaving like this, and it just seems like such a shame that she's reverted back after she was doing so well, it feels like all my work has been for nothing. With the recall, although I know it's a bad thing to scold when she comes back after jumping up at someone and refusing to return to me, I find it very hard to just give her a treat and carry on as normal. 

Any advice would be so appreciated, feel free to tell me off for losing my patience with her with recall etc, I know it's not helping.. it's becoming hard to type as she has started leaning her full weight on me for a cuddle so I will wrap it up!
I don't want to lose the special bond we have but I've been at the end of my tether with her lately. 
Thanks in advance, and here are some recent pictures of the gorgeous girl!
(sorry for the very long post)


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## Claire (May 21, 2012)

Oh she's also in the habit of gnawing on my feet (gently) and trouser leg whenever I'm sitting on the couch with a very waggy tail and mischievous expression... you'd think I never pay her any attention!


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Awww... little Liesel is very beautiful!! ;D

I don't think you need to worry about losing your special bond with her. What you do need to do is remind yourself that she is still a puppy, and will be a puppy until she turns two. It's not unusual in young dogs for training to be "two steps forward and one step back." Patience, love, consistency... She will be just fine once she is actually all grown up. 

_p.s. Thanks for sharing the photos!_


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## Carolina Blue (Sep 20, 2012)

I'm in the same boat! Kiya turned 1 in Sept also and she has also reverted back to puppy! I am having to keep and hold her on a long lead to keep her from running laps around my neighbors house! I have a new trainer now that comes to my home, but basically she said Kiya has a new brain now that she is a teenager and I need to train that one.

Good times!


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## Claire (May 21, 2012)

Ahh it is such a relief to know Kiya 's going through the exact same thing at the same age! I need to spend a bit more time training her as opposed to just correcting the bad behaviour I think, more positive reinforcement perhaps... 
...as I finished writing that I had to run through and tell her 'no' yet again for rummaging through the bin... it's exhausting! I'm reluctant to just move items like that out of her reach, I feel like she's not learning if I do that.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Sometimes we forget that training goes on for years.
Its the perfect time to start teaching her some new commands. It doesn't really matter what they are, as long as they are new. It gets the brain working and attention for doing things right.


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## Laika (Mar 3, 2013)

Sounds from your post that Liesel's exercise amount per day has gone down since your move. I would try getting her out for longer sessions in the morning (some good off-lead running around), to try and get her a little more tired before the day gets going. It might improve her behavior in the house when it is just you two.

Have you tried any scent games in the house? I will make Laika sit out of sight, place treats in various corners of the living space (some obvious, and some not), then release her for some fun. She loves sniffing around looking for her treats! Gives her a task to stay busy, and honestly entertains me as well ;D

As far as the training regression, like the others have said that is fairly normal. Laika (who is about Liesels age) at times acts like she has never heard of some of her routine commands  We are back to a more stringent training regiment as a result. I believe TexasRed has it right, the training goes on for years.


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## Mileysmom (Mar 11, 2012)

Dear Claire,

Many more phases will come..life with a vizsla not boring never ever 

Miley was 2 years old in August and she still gets those crazy puppy attacks sometimes, however she behaves herself in the park off leash and her recall is good.

I don't want to speak too soon.

P.S. At two years she still steals my hubby's slippers every time she gets a chance.

Hugs to Liesel


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## Claire (May 21, 2012)

Thanks so much for the advice.
Laika you're right, the exercise has gone down, and it's tricky to keep her running on our walks lately (like I said she doesn't have any doggy playmates and she gets bored of the ball/frisbee quickly). Instead after a while of chasing birds and sniffing around she'll start entertain herself by sniffing out bird poop and rolling in it... sometimes eating it. It's lovely.
The scent games sound like a good idea too, I coincidentally did that once the other day and she enjoyed it - need to practise getting her to wait while I hide them though!

Does anyone have advice for her jumping up at strangers? Just keep her on the long lead?


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## Ksana (Mar 30, 2013)

TexasRed said:


> Sometimes we forget that training goes on for years.
> Its the perfect time to start teaching her some new commands. It doesn't really matter what they are, as long as they are new. It gets the brain working and attention for doing things right.


I agree. Our puppy is not a year old yet, so we may still face the same problem. However, it seems the puppy always wants to learn more. As long as we challenge him with different and new activities (obedience or conformation show practice, hunting, mixed with running off leash with his buddies), he is fine. Otherwise, he gets bored and becomes disobedient.


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## Sharrich (Jan 9, 2013)

Hi I also have a Vizsla Indie he is 1 today, I also am having the same problems, i let him off his lead today and for the first time it took me over 45 mins to get him to come to me, he kept barking and wanting to play and did not want to listen to anything i said, all the training went out of the window, when I got him home I told him he was a bad boy for not coming to me, and the next walk at lunch we stayed on the lead and I walked him round the field which i dont think he liked much as he loves to run, but hopefuly tomorrow i will try off the lead again and he might learn if he runs off and doesnt come to my call he stays on the lead.
good luck, i have been advised by lots of people that they can do this at the age of 1.


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## Claire (May 21, 2012)

Ok, I'm really glad it's a common thing to do at this age.
The other day I took the plunge and purchased a relatively cheap e-collar - I should say, in case a debate starts, I'm not using the shock setting, just the vibrate and tone setting. The vibrate is just like how my phone vibrates when I get a text, and the tone is a small beep. 
We're still in the process of teaching her what these things mean... We've used the tone as a small 'correction' when she starts eating poop or anything outside, by beeping and tugging on the long line/whistling, and she seems to be starting to get it (it was a bit funny, at first she seemed confused and seemed to think the tone was coming from the poop...). The plan is to make the vibration a reminder for her to come back to us, if whistling doesn't work, so we've just started having her on a long line and tugging with a small vibration so she makes the association.
I'll let you know how we get on but it seems hopeful so far - and even just her learning something new should be keeping her mind a bit more occupied than it has been lately. I'm also teaching her to 'wave' (it's hilarious, she does it so quickly and desperately it's more of a quick stamp on the floor), and making ridiculous fuss of her when she behaves, and I'm sure I'm seeing small improvements already.

It's just a phase, like you've all said, so we're just trying to do everything we can to remind her how to behave while it lasts!


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## Claire (May 21, 2012)




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## Carolina Blue (Sep 20, 2012)

We have our first training session at my house tomorrow. If I get any valuable tips..I will post. I have a feeling it is going to be to make me more desirable than whatever else she wants..yea I already know that..but the trick is what?? She runs so darn fast, she has covered about an acre when it registers in my brain she is taking a run!


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