Re-training on the leash

Hello friends,

My name is Mike and own two corgis, Dexter (2) and Carter (1). Dexter is a very emotional corgi and has struggled with that since he was a puppy(he was puppy milled). Dexter has submissive unination sometimes if he feels like he has done something bad, without me even saying anything. I am trying to work on getting his confidence up so that may stop, and I have found some very helpful links for that. Ever since Dexter was a puppy, he has always been leashed trained as we dont have a fenced backyard. Over the last two weeks, Dexter has been "challenging" his obedience and pulling like crazy on the leash and harness. How do I stop this on a two year old corgi? I feel helpless that my dog has lost his manners and other dog owners don't that do not own a corgi do not understand how corgis are LOL. Any suggestions or advice? Do corgis go through a rebellous phase at age 1.5 or 2?

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Permalink Reply by susan on September 23, 2014 at 12:50pm

That is about the time they are going through adolescence, from about 8 mouths to two years, roughly. Just like kids they get a bit rebellious and challenge 'the rules'. My pup is about 20 months now and she seems to have regressed back to obnoxious puppyhood sometimes. Lol. I also think part of it may be that as they get a bit beyond puppyhood, to a place we can relax in our training, that we get a little complacent about our rules and that is, in turn, confusing to them. Being consistent about what we expect from them really helps. They actually like rules. They just don't want to admit it. ;)

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Permalink Reply by Mike Reid on September 23, 2014 at 12:59pm

Thank you for that! I really feel like he is a teenager at this point it is driving me nuts. I will keep being consistent on the rules and hopefully he will snap out of it. I feel bad because I think he know this isn't him and so I am trying to keep him positive and know that it will be okay LOL. Dogs truely are our kids

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Permalink Reply by Holly on September 24, 2014 at 12:47am

My dog was overly submissive when I adopted her at age three last year. She would go belly up and try to lick me out of fear or at least out of lack of confidence. I refused to pat her when she went belly up whenever I approached her. I turned my back on her every time and I immediately praised and patted her when she sat up. It wasn't long before she stopped rolling over. I was told having her ears laid back against her head was also a sign of submission so I had to teach the command for perking up her ears. Every time she had her ears up I would praise her and give her a treat while touching her ears. I didn't take long at all before she raised them every time I said "pretty ears." I was also told to give her choices while still showing her I was in control, to help her build confidence. I did that by having two different treats in each hand and letting her choose one. You could do it with toys too, but my dog doesn't play with toys. The pulling on the leash I am still working on, but she is actually pretty good at healing. I give her treats at random times if she is walking beside me on a slack lash as expected. I never let her walk ahead of me, even through a door, but I never raise my voice to my dog, nor would I to any dog, to avoid causing any fear. I do stick to the rules though so she respects me. I think she had a similar experience to your dog's past. She still seems timid to me, but others always comment on how far she has come since I first got her.

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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on September 24, 2014 at 4:44pm

I don't know if you had done any formal training, meaning classes, or just trained him on your own. Classes can be very beneficial at this age, as he will learn to listen to you around other dogs and people. Harnesses are made for pulling. If you had done training with him before ( sit, down, stay, come, etc. ) retrace your steps with a collar for a couple of weeks with daily practice sessions where he is the only dog. Alternately you can try the Easy Walk Harness by Premiere (Pet Safe).