This is a crosspost with r/dogtraining because it looks like it could be days until it is approved there
I have a 1-year-old husky puppy that is just too excitable and headstrong (go figure!). We've had her since she was 2 months old. You can tell that she is trying to behave and learn, and she's (usually) very sweet. The problem is that we can't bust out the treats without her going nuts.
When we take a treat out she loses control. She jumps on the person holding the treats and will barely sit still when given the sit command. She knows and will complete a handful of commands (sit, sit pretty, speak, turn around, go to bed, and a couple of others) for treats, but after the fourth command or so she starts to go rogue and tries to guess what we want her to do, even though we are giving her different commands (such as repeatedly sitting pretty even though we tell her to turn around).
Her recall also leaves a lot to be desired. She will come on command when she wants to. Taking her out on a leash is rough, and people like to make a lot of sled dog jokes about how she tugs at the leash for the first mile or so of any walk we take.
She has plenty of chew toys (we subscribe to BarkBox's super chewer box and buy plenty of toys in the interim) and she loves tennis balls. She loves playing fetch and tug. There is no playing these games until she's worn out. Even if we play for fifteen minutes she still gets overly excited for treats.
We have had her for 10 months and have tried training her almost daily in a routine in hopes that her excitability would wane over time but it hasn't. I am at a loss on how to get her to calm down short of asking the vet for a sedative (which we don't want to do).
The one major positive is that we did successfully train her to use bells to go out for a potty break early on. Like I said, you can tell she is trying to learn.
So, dog trainers of Reddit: Is there something my family can do to help her calm down short of sedating her? Or will I absolutely need to hire a dog trainer?
Also, picture tax for those who love that sort of thing
I have a 1-year-old husky puppy that is just too excitable and headstrong (go figure!). We've had her since she was 2 months old. You can tell that she is trying to behave and learn, and she's (usually) very sweet. The problem is that we can't bust out the treats without her going nuts.
When we take a treat out she loses control. She jumps on the person holding the treats and will barely sit still when given the sit command. She knows and will complete a handful of commands (sit, sit pretty, speak, turn around, go to bed, and a couple of others) for treats, but after the fourth command or so she starts to go rogue and tries to guess what we want her to do, even though we are giving her different commands (such as repeatedly sitting pretty even though we tell her to turn around).
Her recall also leaves a lot to be desired. She will come on command when she wants to. Taking her out on a leash is rough, and people like to make a lot of sled dog jokes about how she tugs at the leash for the first mile or so of any walk we take.
She has plenty of chew toys (we subscribe to BarkBox's super chewer box and buy plenty of toys in the interim) and she loves tennis balls. She loves playing fetch and tug. There is no playing these games until she's worn out. Even if we play for fifteen minutes she still gets overly excited for treats.
We have had her for 10 months and have tried training her almost daily in a routine in hopes that her excitability would wane over time but it hasn't. I am at a loss on how to get her to calm down short of asking the vet for a sedative (which we don't want to do).
The one major positive is that we did successfully train her to use bells to go out for a potty break early on. Like I said, you can tell she is trying to learn.
So, dog trainers of Reddit: Is there something my family can do to help her calm down short of sedating her? Or will I absolutely need to hire a dog trainer?
Also, picture tax for those who love that sort of thing