crazy dog...

[marmstr]

Apparently we're hitting the adolescent 'ignore the people who tell you to do something' stage full steam. Artemis is 7 months...
Ever since we got her, she's been limited to the family room/kitchen area and back yard unless someone is with her and 'invites' her upstairs. We restrict our dogs to uncarpeted areas until they're reliably housebroken (including not chewing things up!). Apparently she's decided that she doesn't want to wait to be 'invited' upstairs and if the door from the family room to rest of the house is left open she barrels upstairs and bangs into bedroom doors till she finds one open, then jumps on the bed...(we don't allow dogs on beds/furniture at our house due to allergies).

Other than when she takes off upstairs she responds well to a recall command (we use "touch") but when she gets through the door and heads upstairs you could stand and yell "touch" all day long and she'll keep racing from room to room upstairs and jumping on beds...but if we come up after her it's a big game of chase! If someone's upstairs and can head her off at the pass she knows the 'game is up' and will compliantly come back downstairs but if we have to go up after her its a disaster and I'm sure feeds the whole 'game'.

Not sure what to do other than continue to remind everyone in the family to close the @#$## door before they bring her in from outside or let her out of her crate...it aggravates the fool out of my husband and me to have a dog who just keeps going when called back!

[Tanya]

yeah, stop running and chasing her and yelling at her. like your said - you are creating a big fun game for her. consider a baby gate to help your sanity. and tether her to you more often as you move around the house so you have more control over her.

up the training, this is a good time to take obedience classes (again if you already have) but if you are opposed or cannot take them, just make sure to practice her training daily (adding new things to keep her from getting bored). don't repeat yourself and set her up for success (don't give commands when she is blowing you off). Tether her to you more often or have her drag a leash to better grab her.

exercise isn't always the answer but that can help as well (make sure she is getting enough)