Hi Leo!
Sorry for long post but I had some ideas-all of which you can ignore at your discretion but I know how it is to be pulling your hair out in cocker land and just wanting some ideas to maybe try!
I loved your picture haha Leo is a very cheeky,very gorgeous boy. And there begins our troubles I fear!!!
. These dogs are so pushy yet so cute that I fear they get away with more than they should. If Leo was a great Dane, would he get away with jumping on your head? Probably not!
As you know, I am having some issues with my little Inca who is now 7 months, so know how you feel, and wanted to share some things I have observed through trial and lots of error with her:
One of my new mantras is 'don't sweat the small stuff' There are a lot of things that need attention and prioritising what is really important has to be top, otherwise you are in conflict all day long about everything and that makes stress.
1 and 2: Zoomies: Yes, annoying but I would just ignore that for now, in favour of sorting the bigger issues.
3: Body guarding: I read somewhere that if your dog does this you should get up and walk off in the style of "I can guard my own body thank you very much- I don't need you to decide who comes near me or not".
4: Snapping at you when you tell him off. A certain young lady I know did this to me yesterday in the garden! It's not nice is it?! What I did was act completely shocked and disgusted, and marched her off and put her behind a gate so she couldn't get back to where I was, and she had to stay there watching me carry on without her for a couple of minutes. Then I diffused the situation by moving into the area I had put her and doing something else. I do find that blanking them is really the only weapon as they will just carry on even worse If you do anything else.
As regards the bedrooms, why not make life easy for yourself and just don't let him up there? Got to be the quickest, easiest fix. I'm not sure if I buy into all that leader of the pack theory, but all dogs are different and maybe some do need more boundaries and if there are areas that he's not allowed in, maybe it would remind him that's because you are in charge of it.??
Inca is no longer allowed to jump on my head-I have let her know that I think it's a bit rude
I would also like to share my latest revelation with you...much as I have played with my pup from day one, I have found that there is a subtle difference in how I play. I have recently hit upon the words 'find it!' which send my pooch ecstatic with joy.The tail nearly wags her bum off! The other day, she got on a scent and totally ignored my recall, carting off at 300 miles an hour across a field. I avoided that field and took her to unfamiliar places for a few days so she stayed closer, but was worried she might do it again, so in an attempt to have a back up distraction, I took a tennis ball out with us ( haven't done ball throwing thus far due to growth plates thing) anyway, I find some long grass or some sort of ground cover, throw it in and say 'find it!!!' 1)You have never seen a happier dog 2)all the time the ball is there she has NO INTEREST in anything else 3) It keeps her close and with attention on me 4) When the ball is there, she doesn't go piling up to possibly unfriendly dogs or small children in clean yellow coats
All in all, it is a miracle for 50p. When the ball is there she has no interest in treats either. As a working dog it is no surprise that her favourite occupation would be finding things but this is something else and long may it continue.
When it goes away, it goes in my coat pocket. The ball is mine.
Like I say, ignore at your leisure - I am no expert but I am learning that different things push different buttons in different dogs, so the bigger variety of things you can try, the more likely you are to hit on something that works.
I think we both got pretty feisty ones !!!!
