Boston Terrier puppy help?
I got the sweetest 8 months old female boston terrier. She is so energetic and when sees other people and dogs get too excited. She never barks at them. She is just too friendly. I am working to correct her but all the training goes away when we see someone or a dog approaches us. I need tips/ways to resolve it especially from boston terrier parents. Also for those with boston terrier, do you train your dog yourself or have taken it to obedience classes? Thanks.
Bostons can be frenetic!!…Never met one that wasn’t always in 4th gear!! In any case, she is only 8 months…still quite the puppy. And doggie adolescence is the next stage…though I find that male dogs (of all breeds) seem to show it the most, both genders can get a little challenging at this time. And Bostons are terriers after all…so though you do have your work cut out for you, they are smart dogs and will get it eventually.
That said, you need to keep doing what you have been…be consistent and persistent. I have done the basic training at home myself with great success..but as doggie adolescence got hold of my male dog, I did sign up for classes. Even if I thought I didn’t NEED classes, it would have been a good thing to work the dog around other dogs for the distraction value..so do consider it.
Your basic obedience work should be sit, stay, come, down, leave it, off , and watch me. For excitable dogs, the watch me is very important, for this is the command you will give when you want to distract her from the object of her excitement. There are several ways to do this, I don’t know if you are doing any of these, but they do all involve you first being hyper vigilant and scouting out problems before your dog can react. If you see a potential problem you put your dog in a sit/watch me while the person/dog approaches and make sure you keep her attention. If you have to pull out the most fabulous treat you can..that is what you do. If she cannot keep her attention on you or treat, try it again while body blocking her from moving forward and also block her visually. If that does not work, calmly tell her your no word….for me its just Hey….and turn her in the opposite direction and walk away. It is actually best to stop, do it again, and again as the person/dog approaches so you can desensitize her. When she finally accepts the approach while sitting, treat and big praise.
I did have the same problem when my dog was about a year…it took me a month…month and a half before he reliably would ignore when he was told to.
Just keep it up, don’t raise your voice…I can’t promise how quickly, but yes, your dog will get it! Good luck.
Miley the Boston Terrier Puppy does Agility!