My wife came home in tears with dog tonight.

One thing to remember, at two years old she's still young and excitable and wants to play. My Riot Grrrrrls are just over 2 1/2 and 2 years old and have made quantum leaps in their poise in the past few months. Finding a way to give her opportunities to play with other dogs on a more regular basis may help you as long as you keep working with her to help her understand that walk-time requires a bit of self-control . . .

BINGO!

Walk time require self-control. Roxie tries hard, you can tell. Having her remain in a "down stay" while dogs are around shows she's trying. She really does try, I can see in in her actions.

The vet too said she would more than likely "mellow out" with age as well.

My good friends heeler whines when he's happy, whines when he's sad, whines when he's nervous, whines for the fun of it LOL...he just whines! ALL THE TIME.

Carrying on a conversation with Roxie is a good way to keep her interest on you during a walk. Talk to her, stop every now and then and point things out to her, just chatter to her even . . . not only will it keep her interested in you, but you'll be amazed to start discovering how much more she begins to understand.

This is one of the most important things to remember about your walk. Rather than walking the dog, walk and communicate with the dog. I always ask my owners to walk - stop, train, talk - walk - stop, train, talk....so that the outside competing motivators and enviornmental distractions don't overwhelm the pups senses. Keeping this routine during the walk helps to keep anxiety under control and does not allow the pup to get too stimulus saturated and heightened. At this time, treats are as important as leash, collar and poop bags You really need to be prepared to pay for good behavior..they're working and learning - no shame in rewarding desired behavior My general rule is walk 10 yards, then stop and ask for a few behaviors, lots of praise (and treats on a variable schedule) for compliance, walk another 10 (or so) yards and repeat. The walk may take a little longer during this training phase but will be much more enjoyable and the results will be immeasurable. Remember, walks are just as much about training and leadership as they are about exercise. Use distraction (training and treats) rather than correction or comforting when you anticipate a problem (trigger) may be heading your way. Stopping for a "sit" at all curbs, and choosing a few "sniff spots" rather than allowing the pup to stop and sniff constantly will also help to keep the focus on training rather than environment. Good Luck!

Wow great advice. I do notice she is much calmer when I praise than when I'm always commanding her to heal, stop, quiet etc... I'll try the "communication route" with her tonight while training and rewarding positive behaviour.

Thanks everyone.

Let us know how the walks progress, please!

I have no other input, as you have had some excellent replies so far. I just wanted to tell you how impressed I am with your efforts to train (or retrain) your pup. I look forward to your updates, and it sounds as if progress is being made.
Good job!

singing softly wouldnt hurt a thing either Victor and i like to look for those durn squirrrrels and those waskly wabbits We stop to admire when we find one.
My old boss always said to walk them at a quick pace, but now i have poor paws on me so i have to walk much slower. vic doesn't seem to mind tho, in fact it is such a pretty morning i think we will do just that.

Now that vic is two he also has made a quantum leap in self control..isnt it nice ?

Can I ask how often does she go out, and for how long each time?

First off.

She gets a 45min. walk in the morning and a 1 hour walk after dinner. I'll admit she is a little more wound up in the afternoon as I would be too if I were home all day sleeping!

Well lastnight we made some more progress. We practiced focus and got out the 50 foot leader for the first time. Roxie did VERY well. Her recalls were almost perfect. and we even found a yard with 3 fenced in dogs to practice around. A couple of pretty loud whailes and a bark or 2 later, she finally calmed down. She was even able to focus long enough to do some "off leash" healing. Now keep in mind I never actually took her off the lead, I had my wife follow behinf with the long leader right out. Roxie stayed right on heal and was receptive to the constant firing of trats for her efforts. We also worked on some "down stays" and recall with the dogs in sight.

Overall, we did reallt well. Once we got so close to the dogs that roxie couldn'r focus anymore (40 feet or so) we backed off and started over.

We were out for close to 2 hours before Roxie became tired and disinterested.

I'm going to work the same way tonight. Roxie is still very loud, don;t get me wrong, but once I got her calm and relaxed, she was golden.

Thanks everyone! I'll give you daily updates. We go in for our heartworm test tonight Roxie loves the Vet...go figure.

Sounds like you're doing a marvelous job! There will be days when you think you're going backwards and you'll really feel frustrated, but just stay consistent, even backtracking some if you have to, and one day things will just 'click' and you'll be amazed.

It's been pouring rain here for the last 2 days so we couldn't go on any length of walk for the past 2 days...but last night we bundled up and went out for some fun. I used the long lead and a tennisball. Tried recalls over and over again. She was a star! Absolute lady. Howerver, there were no other dogs adding distraction (no one else was a stupid as me to be out in this weather )

We'll try again today with other dogs in sight. Though she played well last night, she still was VERY sketchy and watching all around for other dogs. She is wone heck of a muti-tasker! I get frustrated with how "sketchy" she is all the time. Excited, shifty head jumpy "on edge" you know?

"Wonder why someone yelled at her for hitting the dog if she didnt?"

I was wondering that, as well. It's just a question, and you seem to have left that part out of your story. I wouldn't take offense.

I'm not leaving anything out of the story people. The woman yelled at my wife through her yard across a parkinglot through some bushes and a playground. I said it earlier, my wife wasn't hitting the dog nor would she ever. The woman who yelled at her made assumptions from the noise my dog was making.

If we beat our dog, would I be here on a DOG ENTHUSIAST site looking for help? The very fact that a few of you individuals would ask me a question like "are you sure your wife isn't really hitting your dog?" makes me sick. Especially in a forum where dog lover's help eachother. What is wrong with some people? If you had any idea how much stress this problem has caused my wife and I (not to mention our Roxie.... you'd understand.) The private messages accusing me of beating my dog make me sick. I won't even acknowledge them. Your ignorance is unreal.

However, I don't think I really need to explain myself any further.

Thanks to all of you that contributed constructive input, Myself, my Wife and Roxie are truely grateful.

And for the the other few that would actually believe I or my wife abuse our dog whom we care for as a child, you have successfully made me feel that there are better forums to frequent for help with my puppy.

Take care and thank you.

Anthony.

"are you sure your wife isn't really hitting your dog?"

Gosh, I never even thought that! And I didn't read that into any other post, either. I see no need to be defensive and I'm sorry you and your wife felt persecuted. Like I said, I was just wondering why. So she didn't even bother to look to see what your wife was doing. My little puppy screams like a banshee whenever she sees the nail clippers. I asked my neighbor if they heard that and assured them I wasn't torturing my puppy. That woman in your neighborhood must not have ever owned a dog.