Hi everyone,
I'm new to this group.
We adopted two chi mixes a few months ago when they were around 9 weeks old.
They are from the same litter. Nugget was the runt of the 6 puppy litter, and
Jewel was one of the bigger ones.
I live part time on a farm at an intentional community. I frequently walk
through the community with Jewel and Nugget, and for the first few weeks it
worked beautifully. The two would follow me everywhere and were friendly with
everyone they came upon. However, for the last few weeks (they are now ~4
months old), Jewel, the larger sister, has started chasing people & bicycles,
usually barking and growling, so I had to start keeping her on a leash.
I'd very much like to go back to the beautiful times of walking with the two of
them off-leash. Has anyone gone through this and figured out how to stop the
chasing/barking/growling behavior, or can anyone recommend a particular
training method?
I've trained them both to sit, stay and come, but all that is out the window
for Jewel when she is in "attack mode". Jewel still follows me, and eventually
will return after a chase scene (but I don't allow this to happen anymore
because I always put her on a leash when we're out on the farm.
Jewel remains an extremely sweet and obedient puppy when she is not after
someone, and never acts agressively towards me or my husband.
I read "The Dog Listener" and have tried to incorporate the behaviors that
signify myself as the alpha.
We have mostly kept them together, though they sleep in separate crates and eat
from separate bowls. We've heard it's important to keep them separate a lot as
puppies to avoid them becoming a bonded pair, but we haven't followed through
with that intention very well. We are just beginning, however to have them
separated during the day for 2-3 days a week.
We may try taking one or both of them to an obedience class at some point.
Any advice anyone has would be most appreciated.
I've posted a couple of photos under a new folder "Nugget & Jewel"
Thanks!
Brenda
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