Our pup is now 5 mos old. We have had him since he was almost 3 mos.
We went through some of the same that you are going through but our problem was a little more intense. He actually went after one of our sons…
After that, I hired a trainer. He went with the trainer for 3 weeks. Absolutely fabulous when he is under the trainers supervision, but with us- not so much. Until he went to the trainer, he never re directed his anger on us- Just growled, yelped and whined. After being with the trainer, He now re directs when he is frustrated.
To be completely honest with you, I got fed up. I had our sons run around the house like idiots making as much noise as they could. (knowing this would excite him) Initially, I tried making the corrections recommended by the trainer… He was muzzled and guess what? I surely would have been bitten. He was MAD and top it off, he was muzzled. So that made him super mad.
I had the kids stop… I grabbed a magazine, rolled it up, duct taped it. I had the kids start running again and when he started to act out of line, I shh’ed him, he ignored so I cracked him on the butt. (I have also been one against spanking the dog and although I love our pup, I love my children more.) Not over forcefully but enough to get his attention and it worked. The kids kept running around and every time they came running our way, he laid down and looked directly at me until they were away then he would look around. His ears were back, his body was relaxed and his attention was on me.
Please do not take this as I am into beating my dog. To be honest with you, This is the first time I have had to crack the dog- well not the first we needed to but the first time we did. We have spent over 2K on training between the 3 weeks in house training, after training sessions, Petsmart training (biggest waste of money in my opinion) and in house training sessions. If I would have known it was only going to take a 3 dollar magazine and a small amount of duct tape, I could have curved this unwanted behavior earlier.
After that, We went for a walk. That was the best walk I have ever had with him. He is trained to walk properly but if someone is outside, he does tend to get off track and pay more attention to neighbors… Last night- his attention was 100% on me. After making the progress we made, we went into the back yard and played tug of war and after that (outting the rope perfectly, sitting and laying down perfectly also) I have him a Angus Hotdog. (his fav treat)
One thing that I have learned is that not every suggestion on training works for every dog.
Best of luck. For over 2 mos, I have shared your pain.
