My dog is really starting to upset me!?

Question

I have a 2 1/2 year old lab/border collie mix. She used to be so obedient. But lately she has been so bad! She has stopped listening to me altogether. She totally ignores me when I give her a command. The thing that makes me really mad is that it's ten times worse when guests are over or we're out in public. She has a "you're not my boss attitude" and refuses to sit or lie down. Today I took her with me to a little league baseball game and tried to litterally force her with my hands to sit down. She braced herself and practically fought me when I tried to MAKE her sit. It's like the rules have gone out the window. I don't understand this since she gets attention, love, and plenty of excersize-including Doggy Daycare! She has a great little life and it makes me so mad that she deliberately disobeys me now. This started about a month and a half ago. What should I do???

Answer 1

UGH!!!!!! I feel your pain.  We are going through something similar although it's getting better. It's the "teen" phase according to our trainer. Just make sure you are the "pack leader". Don't give in. If need be return to an obedience course as a refresher.

Answer 2

She doesn't want anyone to be the boss of her.I mean it's like a teen.Sometimes the parents say you can't go to a party or something then the teen say"You aren't the boss of me!"Get it?If that's not it go to the vet.She might have like a toothache or something stuck in her paw.Something like that.It's one of these two.

Answer 3

Well if this all of a sudden happened you should probably see a vet or something.

Answer 4

OH This is frustrating! Stay stern and stay the boss. I have Lab/border collie mix too. I have to use a prong collar to be able to control him because of his size. The "choker" chains don't phase him as he still pulls against me.

When your dog is at daycare do they let him do whatever he wants?

Answer 5

It's called the terrible twos, your guy is starting to get some independence basically you have a teenager on your hands. Those are typical temper tantrums that you are describing. Make sure you never give commands without a way of enforcing the command. Normally dogs this age are the ones that end up in the shelter,  they no longer have the puppy cuteness but aren't quite well rounded perfectly behaved adults...

Just keep with your obedience classes and training

Add: I just noticed you have a BC/mix :-) keep up with your classes, you need to work on establishing a good leadership role. BCs even mixes are smart enough to drive owners nuts if the owner hasn't totally earned their respect. You should try a cattle dog/ border collie mix, they have the smarts and independence of a bc and the stubbornness of cattle dog!

Answer 6

Koehler dog training. You need to find a traditional trainer that understands cause=effect!! Good luck.

Answer 7

I have had dogs now for many years and have shown several of them as well as done some obediance, agility and therapy work. It could be that she has been testing you to see what she can get away with. Shes just now really becoming an adult dog and her personality may be changing. As my dogs became older I realized that even though they have been around every kind of dog imaginable at the shows that they each had a certain breed they don't care for. My female doesn't like dogs that aren't pure breds. I have raised a snob! My male doesn't like poodles or dalmations. Can't figure it out but a lot of people I have spoken with have the same experience. Also, if your female isn't spayed she could be coming into heat and just as with most humans when a dog comes into heat her attitude can change and she can get a little "moody" and probably not listen as well. My female was unstoppable in the show ring and then a few weeks before she would come into heat she would do horrible. If this is happening more in public than at home she probably also knows that with other people around she doesn't have to worry about any kind of discipline. I know my dogs are model dogs when its a new person and they do not get any treats from me for free but as soon as they have learned how to get stuff from that other person a lot of the times they won't listen to me as well because they know the other person will give them what they want. I hope this helps!

Answer 8

It may just be a "teen" phase that your dog is going through, and for that i would recommend taking her back to obedience school for just a refresher type thing, even an advanced course like agility so she doesn't get bored.

On the other hand, she may have had an incident at the doggie daycare.... I would take her out of it for just a week and see if her behavior improves.  I have absolutely nothing against doggie daycare, my dog LOVES going there, but sometimes dogs will get in a tussle with each other, or the dog will be uncomfortable with one supervisor, and their behavior at home will change as well.

Good luck!