The pets thread aka my house smells of cat/dog/other piss

Lovely forest you got near you!

Can’t beat being amongst the trees man. Shinrin yoku.

I never knew it was a thing, but it is exactly that. And it is great.

Ha, just came in to post that. Excellent stuff.

Having a bit of a tough time with Cooper on his walks these last few months (18 month old Bernese).

He's just so full of energy and singularly minded - if he sees another dog he either completely loses his head and strains to get to it or tries to walk past it as quickly as possible. If he sniffs something he really likes he'll plant in the ground and it'll take some effort to shift him. It's hard to bring him back down to earth after these moments! He's not paying attention to any verbal commands, his favourite treats have no effect either - nothing's as interesting as the walk, be it on the short lead round the estate or on the long lead in the park/woods.

We socialised him a ton when he was younger - puppy class, sat him in busy areas etc. He gets plenty of attention in the evenings after work (both mental and physical) and my other half works from home most of the week so he's not left for long times (though he's fine with that on weekends). He loves other dogs and hasn't so much as growled at another but he doesn't understand boundaries that well - other dogs are a bit wary when he's 8st and straining to get to them.

He's as good as gold in the house/garden and does everything we ask - he's learned more commands than I thought he would! It's just when he's on the lead he's like a kid in a sweet shop; constantly pulling to get to the next sniff/round the next corner.

I've tried each of the below for a month or so each with very little result;

- Turning round when he pulls in the opposite direction
- Planting when he pulls and waiting until he turns round and looks at me before we keep going
- Brought the clicker out and the nuclear treats (fresh turkey) to try and get his attention (completely ignores it)
- Picked up my pace - he'll end up trotting/running just to stay in front
- When he's extra wild early in his walk I'll take him home, take the collar off and wait for him to calm down before starting again. He's good when walking the bits he's just done but when he gets to the 'fresh' parts he's back to being overexcited

I've got a HALTI collar but I'd rather avoid using that if I can, running out of options though I feel (my shoulder is feeling it). No harm in getting some training for him but money's quite tight at the moment.

The only progress I see is when he's been that wild I've turned him round and walked the exact same way home; he'll be perfect then - walk at my hip, no pulling and constantly looking up and making eye contact. It shows me he can do it, I've just not trained him well enough/been consistent.

Sorry, needed to get that off my chest - love the idiot to bits, just wish he was a bit calmer on walks.

Why not get the help of a professional dog trainer?

Pretty much - if we had some extra cash I'd go for it but who has that at the moment?

Look at him! "stop taking photos and give me my food!"

Aye they can have quite the complex psyche sometimes.

Cockerpoo isn't it?

A mate has one too. They're as daft as a brush and always look happy as far as i can tell! 😀

That's a reference i've not heard in a while!

Have they taken over the world yet?

Bob is a cava, albeit a big one (not just girth). He's as daft as a brush but very trainable. Challenge we have is that he's not our dog. He's got a very clear idea of hierarchy but my mum didn't train some bad habits out of him - mostly knowing his place with younger members of the family. 99% of the time though, he's good as gold. Great recall, very loving (to a fault... I leave the room and he whines!) and is a great addition to the family, however temporary.

Mine? She’s actually called a daisy dog! Her mum is a shi-poo (shihtzu and poodle) and her dad is a bichon. So she’s three breeds in one. Happy little sausage.

Muttley Crue