Ok today was a trip. I came home from work and started the usual routine. Prep the track and bait bag.

took Kaiser out to track and he pulled like a little freak! ok - we got passed the track and then went onto obedience.

This dog has lost his mind! All of a sudden he forgets EVERYTHING and will not follow a command to save his life or mine.

He's 22 weeks old and yes that's the age for this "teenage" behavior. How do you guys cope and what do you do with your dog when this happens?

I found myself at my wits end and that is a rarity for me as I am usually very calm, cool, and collected.

Bad days happen, even with well trained, adult dogs.
Take a deep breath, and to something else that day.

It happens- don't let it be a big deal.

Cindy Rhodes posted something awhile ago that I took to heart:

"In the last 4 or 5 years, Ed and I have been studying natural horsemanship and dabbling in some horse training with our Rocky Mountain Horses. My instructor has a saying " work with the horse that shows up!"

In other words, it doesn't matter what your horse acted like yesterday or the week before or even 10 minutes earlier. You work with what the animal presents to you at that particular moment, even if it's very far removed from your expectations and experience with that animal before. I had never thought about it before she said this, maybe I am slow.

Anyway, how many of us have dogs that we work with regularly that show some weird or even flaky behavior at times and we get upset because they don't typically act that way? I have now implemented "train the dog that shows up" into my philosophy and it's not only helped my dogs, but helped me with other aspects of my life as well. I know I have bad days where I am jumpy or grouchy or just plain unmotivated. I hope the people in my life will "deal with the Cindy that shows up" (are you reading this Ed?)"

It really helps to get over the bad days when you look at it this way.

--Kelly

Makes a lot of sense !

Maybe he just needed to play and not work for a session. Who knows for sure.

That definitely helps put things in perspective - as long as he doesn't make a habit out of this. If he does, then something else will need to be done other than to ignore it that day or work on a limited basis based on what the dog wants to do that day.

I would think, and could be completely wrong, that at some point the dog either needs to "show up" or what?? It's the "what" that I am concerned about - what if he just begins to be stubborn like this all the time?

My thinking is that if he continues to be obstinate that I withhold a meal and then train again the next day. Thoughts on this approach if this becomes a habit ?

I have found that six months to two years is by far the most difficult time with a dog, it seems like you have to go back to the beginning with training and re-teach all sorts of things sometimes.

You might end up withholding a lot of meals during this time!

 Quote: peter marek

My thinking is that if he continues to be obstinate that I withhold a meal and then train again the next day. Thoughts on this approach if this becomes a habit ?

I honestly don't know - would the dog relate his obstinate behavior to not getting his dinner? I've read in different articles on this site that sometimes when the dog is not listening or in the mood to "work", put him back in his crate for a while to let him mull things over. Perhaps when he gets back out he will be more "open" to tracking, etc...

 Quote: Barbara Schuler

I honestly don't know - would the dog relate his obstinate behavior to not getting his dinner?

Not as punishment. He will be hungrier and therefore want the food on the track,right?

Duke's a headstrong lad, about a month older than Kaiser, and I just stick him in his crate until he chills. If he wants to be an idiot, that's fine. He can do it in his crate. (Can you tell that I've been watching the videos? hahaha) After a while, usually after he takes a nap, we try again and he's back to himself. We actually had one of these moments yesterday morning where he turned into what I call "emo Shepherd" and went into refusal to follow any command. Rather than try to get him to just do what I wanted, I stuck him into his crate without another word, touch, or look. Later in the day, we went for a nice walk and played in the front yard (recall games and tug). He was no worse for the wear.

Kelly's repost provides much food for thought. Personally, I expect so much out of myself and have such a drive to work though problems (from music, where you work through your mistakes) that I have trouble remembering to not be that guy when I'm training...and sometimes just when I'm talking to people.

Sorry for the rambling.

 Quote: Michael_Wise

He will be hungrier and therefore want the food on the track.

Oh that makes much more sense!

I would just worry about skipping too many meals with a dog that is still developing.

Yote is obstinant on an almost daily basis, but I find that if I keep my demeanor upbeat and happy and go back to doing something really simple I can usually snap him out of it and we can move on to something new or more difficult.

Sometimes just giving him a few minutes to run and play before working on anything can help a lot.

 Quote: Jennifer Lee

 Quote: Michael_Wise

He will be hungrier and therefore want the food on the track.

Oh that makes much more sense!

I would just worry about skipping too many meals with a dog that is still developing.

Yote is obstinant on an almost daily basis, but I find that if I keep my demeanor upbeat and happy and go back to doing something really simple I can usually snap him out of it and we can move on to something new or more difficult.

Sometimes just giving him a few minutes to run and play before working on anything can help a lot.

I edited my previous post to pose it as a question instead.

Although, I'm pretty sure that is what he meant, I don't want to put words in Peter's mouth.