I amjust happy to help out where I can Mark. Welcome aboard.

There's only one answer to your problem and that is "Leadership."
I won't divulge cause alot of people gave you some good advise and some people gave you some crappy advise. Remember you have a dog and not a Democrat that you are raising. Dogs are way into wanting to know what is best more so than wanting to know how to help raise taxes to save the rest of their buddies.

Chris,

Perhaps you would care to expand on the 'Leadership' issue please?

I am still very open to any thoughts and/or suggestions. I do return to the forum daily as diferent people have diferent ways of training & i am learning from everyone, so please do add your input, it is all of value to me.

Mark.

The advice on putting your lead on the pup and going out and sitting on the porch and letting your dog make the decision to come out was good. You could also make this a training session by putting a long line on the pup and you go outside and call her and pull her into you. Or in MY OPINION the very best advice you got was to put your leash on the pup and walk purposefully out that door, if you have to drag pup along then so be it. This is what I meant by Leadership. Leaders lead and followers follow.

For some reason or another something did happen to this pup at that doorway. No telling what. By picking the pup up and carrying her out the door you are only re-inforcing this behavior. I use e-collars extensively to train retrievers to handle at long distances. When you use the collar on a dog you can create what is referred to as a hot spot. I teach the dogs to pick up blinds which are birds the dog did not see go down. In order to do this you have to teach a dog to run a perfectly straight line when you command it too and to run that line until you whistle it to stop. This is extensive drill work and the dog is corrected for every failure to stop exactly when that whistle is blown. I have seen dogs on numerous occasions that have been corrected at a certain spot, these dogs will run perfectly straight until they get to that spot and they will veer around just that spot and get right back online. So basically you have a hot spot at your front door. You need to work through it.

I would put the leash on and use your leadership to get that dog out the door. You keep saying you don't have time to train this but unfortunately you are asking for someone to give you an answer that just isn't available. You are going to have to work with this dog to get past this. You can try what I do with hot spots on my retievers. This is a little different than what I do but it is the same principle.

You pick the pup up and carry her out the door to the bottom step. Make her walk back in on her own, pick her up and carry her out but set her down a little closer to the door. Gradually you will work towards picking her up and setting her right outside the door, then in the doorway, then just inside the doorway etc. and then keep going until you are not picking her up anymore. There are lots of things you can try but I don't think you are going to find a 5 minute fix to this problem. Good luck.

Chris,

Thank you. I think this puts it in perspective quite nicely, i apreciate your honesty - i know i have probably prolonged the problem by carrying her, in a way i thought this was showing her leadership by just taking her out anyway.

Your suggestion really does show how simple the solution may be and i will follow the advice you gave & just work on the one step at a time, putting her nearer the door to get through this.

The only thing i can be certain of is that it really was unwarranted - i know as you say something happened to her at this partuicular doorway, but the thing is i have always been with her whenever she has been near this doorway, and i am certain nothing negative has happened while i was with her so i really cannot understand why she suddenly reacted this way - the only possible reason could be that i took her through this doorway when she went to the vet for her chip to be fitted, but it was a week afeter this she became fearful of going out this door, so it is rather remote.

Eitherway, you do offer a very commonsense approach for dealing with it so now i have something i can work with.

Thank you,

Mark

Mark,

The "something" that happened in the doorway may even be just some little thing that went unnoticed to you. For example, at this age, you are walking out the door and someone down the street honks their car horn... this noise startles the dog and reflexively you quickly turn your head in the general direction of the noise. Although you would just write this off as any old thing, the dog having taken notice of it and being startled by may have also noticed a reaction from you however slight it may have been. The dog noticing you react to something at this age gives that stimulus significance. As I said this example is hypothetical at best but I'm just saying do not overlook the probability that there may have been some kind of occurrence to initiate this reaction.

Bradley,

Thankyou, i had not thought of that - i was assuming the 'something' to be a traumatic event that i would have remembered, rather than as you described.

I have been working with my puppy since opening this thread and i put into practice the tips you have all offered. Today i can happily report that my pup followed me very enthusiastically through the offending doorway with the use of a small treat i used as a lure, so i have made good progress & am happy with that.

Thank you all again,

Mark.

Back to square one again today.

I really am trying so very hard but she seems determined not to work with me & continues to constantly drag backwards and fight against me from the secomd we walk out the door to the second we come home. I knew it was going to be hard but this really does go much further than i expected. It is a constant uphill struggle to even walk a few yards & i really am losing my patience with her.

I can't just walk out the door 'purposefully' withough throttling her because she wont budge, if i take treats with me she will just stay sat & wont move toward me to take them. I hate myself for saying this but i don't enjoy taking her out at all and am in danger of just not bothering if it is going to be so unbarable & impossible everytime i step out the door.

I have already decided i am never getting a puppy again because i just can't live like this. I feel like i am putting my own life on hold just to constantly battle with a dog that refuses to even try to comply. If this is what it is like now then what the hell do i have to look forwrd to for the next 12-13 years?

If i ever get a dog again it will be a rescue dog that is already trained & house broken because i just cannot go through this again emotionally. It destroys me to say all this because i have always had dogs & have just never experienced such a stubborn dog and uncompliant dog in my life. How the hell can i possibly be going wrong in so many areas? None of my dogs have ever been this difficult to deal with and i just can't do this again. I have a life as well and am slowly losing my sanity here.

Mark.

Hold onto your sanity, Mark. You lose it, she takes over. Put a flat collar on her and pull her out the door. No words, no treats now (since they're not working), no throttling. Now it's just a matter of you expecting her to follow you. The more emotions you show at the door, the worse it will get. I applaud you for continuing to try for her sake, for her exercise and socialization. I have a toughy like yours and I know it's not easy, none of my other dogs were that way either. Don't be tempted to look too far forward, like the next 12 years. Just do today (everyday)....today you're coming out the door cause I want you to. Period. She just has to learn you're the kind and fair boss, but the boss nonetheless.

You mentioned other areas - what areas? Maybe someone can help.

Sandy,

The other 'areas' i refer to were toilet training. I don't know, it just seems like a pretty constant battle with her - i have had enough nightmares getting her to stop messing & peeing indoors without having up to 5 'accidents' a day even if i take her out every 30 mins to the backyard to toilet.

I think i am just starting to feel EVERY aspect of training is turning into a battle with her. I don't show any emotion, i just walk but because she will not budge & just sits rather stubbornly, she ends up being dragged regardless. None of my dogs have ever been this uncompliant & i don't think it is me because i have never had these kind of issues before. Maybe i am comparing her to previous dogs & expect too much from her. She is only 3 months old afterall.

I just don't want simple little activities to become traumatic for her but i really am becoming frustrated with her refusal to follow for more that a few paces without constantly struggling & pulling backwards.

Can you tell me what a 'flat collar' is? We don't have that name in the UK, maybe it's called something else here.

Mark.