I have an aussie that is almost 2 years old.
He will "listen" but has the attention span of a flea. He kinda acts like one too! Very, VERY hyper:
Jumps around, Barks and gently grabs arm while your walking
Dives out of truck when stopped and runs to previous location only to return and do it again.... (barn to barn, barn to house, pasture to barn to house to barn to pasture, etc.)
While "lounging" in a lawn chair, he will sit and bark.....
He shows no interest in livestock.
When you raise your voice to him, he barks and raises his level of aggression/play
When you "reprimand" him, he again, raises his level of aggression/play
He has NEVER acted mean. He has also never acted "sorry".
I have tried darn near everything I can think of: ignoring bad behavior, praising good behavior, changing the action I am doing (if walking one direction and he grabs me, I will stop moving - doesn't help)
I will say he sits when I ask no matter what he is doing... but he will not stay. He LOVES playing fetch. And young kids can do ANYTHING to him and he doesn't get mean.
I also can not get weight on him regardless of type of food, worming. If he is eating and I head toward the door, he totally forgets to eat! I have tried high dollar puppy food, high dollar sporting dog food, etc.
But what in the world am I doing wrong???? Why can I not get him to "behave" like my other aussie I lost 2 years ago? That dog was a dream to train and was on his way of being an AWESOME stock dog.
Is he just hyper and young? Is he just smarter than I am?
I will be the first to admit, I will love my aussie regardless of how "dumb" he appears to be. But, any help would be greatly appreciated by both me and my dog!!
He will "listen" but has the attention span of a flea. He kinda acts like one too! Very, VERY hyper:
Jumps around, Barks and gently grabs arm while your walking
Dives out of truck when stopped and runs to previous location only to return and do it again.... (barn to barn, barn to house, pasture to barn to house to barn to pasture, etc.)
While "lounging" in a lawn chair, he will sit and bark.....
He shows no interest in livestock.
When you raise your voice to him, he barks and raises his level of aggression/play
When you "reprimand" him, he again, raises his level of aggression/play
He has NEVER acted mean. He has also never acted "sorry".
I have tried darn near everything I can think of: ignoring bad behavior, praising good behavior, changing the action I am doing (if walking one direction and he grabs me, I will stop moving - doesn't help)
I will say he sits when I ask no matter what he is doing... but he will not stay. He LOVES playing fetch. And young kids can do ANYTHING to him and he doesn't get mean.
I also can not get weight on him regardless of type of food, worming. If he is eating and I head toward the door, he totally forgets to eat! I have tried high dollar puppy food, high dollar sporting dog food, etc.
But what in the world am I doing wrong???? Why can I not get him to "behave" like my other aussie I lost 2 years ago? That dog was a dream to train and was on his way of being an AWESOME stock dog.
Is he just hyper and young? Is he just smarter than I am?
I will be the first to admit, I will love my aussie regardless of how "dumb" he appears to be. But, any help would be greatly appreciated by both me and my dog!!