Garden problems!

[PinkCalzini65]

Hello everyone.

My 13 week old Cocker Spaniel, Jake, is quite well behaved indoors.  He is not a big chewer of things out of bounds to him and if he does venture onto something he shouldn't, a firm "no" does the trick.  Everything is coming along nicely.  However .....

He is quite another dog when outside!  It's almost like he has a complete personality change.

He runs around the garden like a maniac, eats and pulls at all the plants, tramples through the borders and will not respond to "no" or other such reprimands. In fact, he goes from a well behaved young man indoors into a monster in the garden.

He continuously kept jumping into a raised border earlier and after 10 times of lifting him out and saying "no" he actually turned aggresive, growling at me.

I really am at a complete loss as to how to train him to behave outside as he completely ignores me.  Any advice at all would be gratefully received.

Maria 

[Maggies Muggles]

Try using a lead...

Maggie (12.5 weeks old) has been let out into the garden every hour since we brought her home at the beginning of January (we'll be taking her outside for the 1st time this weekend).

She has learnt where the "hidden treasures" are in the garden (ie rotten figs that have fallen off a tree) and constantly tries to eat them (sometimes with success). She is beginning to act up a bit whilst outside; whilst it is mostly playing and running around (including ripping up some plants and chewing twigs), she sometimes gets a bit over excited and it can take a bit of coaxing (with treats) to get her to calm down and get back inside.

My biggest concern about her in the garden is her finding and eating rotten fruit (as well as bits of her own poo that we might not have reached in time - this is something that is particularly disgusting - it's the subject of my previous post).

However, I've found a solution!!

We are now only taking her into the garden on an extending lead. This enables her to have a fair amount of freedom to run about and play but it enables us to gently pull her away from a fig she has spotted or from something rather less palatable (to us, at least)... She also seems to be slightly calmer while on the lead - although she doesn't like it being put on and is a bit perturbed at the restriction, she does seem to be calmer.

Since we'll be introducing her to the outside world properly this weekend, I also imagine that having her on the lead in the garden will get her a bit used to being on a lead and make things a bit easier on our first foray outside.

Otherwise, when she barks at 11pm or 6am whilst outside, there's not much we can really do - hopefully it doesn't bother the neighbours too much!!

[PinkCalzini65]

Thank you for you reply 

I was actually contemplating putting him on the lead.  Until now he has had freedom in the garden, whilst we supervise, but he really is out of control outside, so I think the lead may be the best course of action.

My husband has suggested blocking off the main garden and only allowing Jake on the patio, but I feel this will not solve the problem as once Jake is allowed back into the main garden, he will go mad again.

He is due outside again for his "potty" run when he wakes up, so I will try him on the lead.  Something tells me he won't like it, but I have to try and calm him down.

Wish me luck. 

Maria 

[Joules]

Yes, I would try him on the lead or even better a long line.  Or spend his off lead time playing with him with a favourite toy and treats so that he is more focussed on you.  He will calm down in time when he has got over the excitment of going outside.  At 13 weeks, everything is just sooooooo exciting 

[Annette]

The only other thing I would add is that he is very young still and will probably get a bit calmer out there as he matures.

Also, he probably has very little idea what "no" means. So you could save your breathe there really.

Apart from the danger of him eating poisonous plants (do check whether you have any and try to fence them off) it won't do much harm (other than cosmetic) to let him run wild out there a bit. It's much better he does it there than inside imo!

[Rhona]

No great expert here but I think they all go through that.  How lovely to be outside in the fresh air and be able to run and run.  When Sam was a puppy he used to dig the grass up.   The garden was in a bit of a state.  He eventually did get the message and no longer digs.  He just roams around and suns himself now.   I am sure he will calm down eventually under your guidance

[Poppy W]

Welcome to having a Cocker!!!

I've posted before about having a 'gardening' pup who digs up plants etc. He started when he was tiny and to be honest hasn't really grown out of his fondness for it.

Spending time playing with your pup in the garden will distract him from his 'naughty' behaviour, he is still very young and is excited at being in an open space. I'm sure he'll settle down but spaniels are well known for doing the 'wall of death' both outside and indoors! Who knows why they do it??!! 

I think many of us Cocker owners have given up having a beautiful garden and make do with out beautiful dogs instead!!! Good luck. 

[N.A.T.]

Chester is terrible in the garden, chases the cat and the rabbit, jumps all over the plants and refuses to come back when called    Although he has had to go out on extending lead for the last week as our fences were blown down in awful weather.  Hopefully he will be better when the fences are back up.

[sez0807]

Hey , we have no garden left!!!!!!!!!!!!

We turfed it last year and as I speak Molly is out there with a huge tuft of turf in her mouth 

This is our life to be!!!! 

Get used to it.   
xx

[Cob-Web]

Any advice at all would be gratefully received.

My advice: relax and let him enjoy himself 

He is a baby, and you cannot expect him to be "well behaved" all the time at this age - if he is so good in the house, where else is he going to let off steam? 

[PennyB]

Mine still dig the yard up every so often --- the game usually involves racing around the whole of downstairs, then through the catflap, dig a little then back on the circuit and then out to dig a bit and so on, and mine are almost 4 and 5 years old

They ate my veg garden last year

[bluegirl]

I always went out with my pups, we have ducks and rabbits free in the garden and I didn't want them to chase them so for me it would be the same with plants. They can't learn if you just allow them unsupervised time in the garden.
Every time they started to chase or pull up plants I told them no firmly and directed their attention to sometime else. It's only a short while before they get the message.

[Joules]

Every time they started to chase or pull up plants I told them no firmly and directed their attention to sometime else. It's only a short while before they get the message.

I think this is the way to go - take some exciting toys outside to play with.  If he does not respond to "no" in the garden, then you need to distract him with a game or treat that he will find more exciting than your flower beds.  IWLass is right, puppies have alot of energy and do need to charge around somewhere so if he is only like it in the garden, you are quite lucky!    Coco usually does the wall of death round the garden when we get home from a long walk   I think she just wants to show me she is still not tired 

[MaxG]

We've given up on our garden since getting Max - he's always been an angel in the house & never chewed a thing but the garden is fair game as far as he's concerned - he can't distinguish between that & the great outdoors really!!

When he was tiny, we made the garden one big play pen & it was full of toys etc & we always went out there with him but now he's older, we just leave him the run of it with the door open in the decent weather & he does what he likes!! Some of our plants & bushes will never be the same again & the lawn is knackered, but we're sort of not bothered for now.

He HAS calmed down A LOT since reaching almost 2yrs though - he's stopped digging the turf for one thing & is now only obsessed with chewing 1 or 2 bushes as opposed to the whole garden full!!

We even gave him a sandpit at one point in an effort to stop him digging the lawn, but he just used to do both!! It was great to see him so happy though to be honest - he used to be out there, digging away, then come bounding up to us on the patio, with such a happy look on his little face, covered in sand & grass - we didn't have the heart to tell him off!!

He goes on 'border patrol' these days - stalks through all the plants & bushes down one side of the lawn, sneaking between the fence & these big shrubs - god knows what he's up to - we often look out of the kitchen window & can only see a waggy bum or tail sticking out!!! He comes in covered in leaves but always looks very satisfied!!