You could try using a long house line on him. When he jumps on the sofa, gently grab the line and bring him down, using a cue word like "off" and once he is down treating and plenty of praise. I let my two on my sofa, but they know they have to be on their own "cushions", likewise with my bed, I have a throw which they lay on. I don't think he's pushing the boundaries, this is probably a learned and acceptable behaviour in a previous life and you want to now change the behaviour, which is ok, just going to take some work and patience with him and plenty of practise.

As with the shoe or cushion, is it that you want him to play but not with those items? If thats the case and you want him to play with an acceptable toy you need to get that toy when he comes to you and ask him to drop the unwanted item in favour of the acceptable toy. If he is more food orientated you could start with teaching him the "drop" using a treat first and when he gets this change the treat for his favourite toy. I wouldn't discourage play unless its not acceptable or the right time for you ie you are on the way out, to bed etc.

If you feel he has too much energy check the protein level in his food. For example feeding Bakers with all the e numbers (sunset yellow is banned in the UK for children) is like giving kids McDonalds for breakfast, dinner and tea 7 days a week. I use a working dog food but its only branded as that to get around the VAT. James Wellbeloved, Burns or Chappie are good commercial foods.

Be careful when choosing a new pet food to make sure that it's ethically produced. Some pet food manufacturers actually keep animals caged to use them for taste testing. The more ethical ones do testing on family pets kept in the home.

The 'uncaged' website used to have a list of foods to avoid, with Purina, Pedigree, James Wellbeloved and Iams being amongst those featured as being particularly poor. The website has been archived now, so I'm not sure if that info is still current.

There's a link [url=http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/buyersguides/food/dogfood.aspxhere[/url to another website with a list of manufacturers and an ethical rating out of 20. The organic ones are really expensive, but there are plenty in the 8/9/10 rating range that are not too costly.

Quote Rock God X="Rock God X"Be careful when choosing a new pet food to make sure that it's ethically produced. Some pet food manufacturers actually keep animals caged to use them for taste testing. The more ethical ones do testing on family pets kept in the home. The 'uncaged' website used to have a list of foods to avoid, with Purina, Pedigree, James Wellbeloved and Iams being amongst those featured as being particularly poor. The website has been archived now, so I'm not sure if that info is still current. There's a link [url=http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/buyersguides/food/dogfood.aspxhere[/url to another website with a list of manufacturers and an ethical rating out of 20. The organic ones are really expensive, but there are plenty in the 8/9/10 rating range that are not too costly.'" We feed CSJ www.csjk9.com/ They keep the costs down by plain packaging, not advertising and marketing the products as working dog food to get around the VAT.

Quote Rock God X="Rock God X"Be careful when choosing a new pet food to make sure that it's ethically produced. Some pet food manufacturers actually keep animals caged to use them for taste testing. The more ethical ones do testing on family pets kept in the home. The 'uncaged' website used to have a list of foods to avoid, with Purina, Pedigree, James Wellbeloved and Iams being amongst those featured as being particularly poor. The website has been archived now, so I'm not sure if that info is still current. There's a link [url=http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/buyersguides/food/dogfood.aspxhere[/url to another website with a list of manufacturers and an ethical rating out of 20. The organic ones are really expensive, but there are plenty in the 8/9/10 rating range that are not too costly.'" We feed CSJ www.csjk9.com/ They keep the costs down by plain packaging, not advertising and marketing the products as working dog food to get around the VAT.

I'd probably go along with HWS and I know the Dogs Trust behaviorist would too in that persuasion and reward and particularly the same command word will work, you can't shove a big dog off a settee, I know that too



Our GSD has his favourite position on one of our settees, its his guilty secret but not so much of a secret, if you leave the room he'll climb up on there and lay with his big head on the arm ready to stare at you with those puppy dog eyes when you walk back in - we don't even have to say anything to him now, just point to the floor and he gets off, thats simply from re-affirming the same message over and over again, rewarding the correct reaction from him (ie getting off) but most importantly making sure that all of the family tell him the same thing every time he climbs up there - we'll never stop him doing it but he never resists being told to get off.

my brothers Rottweiler/lab loves yoghurt pots too, I'd finished a muller corner and before I'd even put it down for him he had his face in it and bit straight through the pot.

He also seems to have a thing for takeaway chips, mainly the crunchy little ones, must be the same as the obsession with crisps all dogs have. He's still learning to behave so he gets the "sit, paw, high five, lie down, roll over" before he gets food and as I went to give him a chip last night he did the whole routine before I'd asked he was that excited

Thanks for the advice, I tried substituting his toy today and it worked quite well. I also used it to coax him off the couch with too so all in all quite a success.

He's got plenty of energy as you say and seems to need about two hours of walking a day which suits me quite well as I manage to combine it with a trip to the allotment. Foodwise the vet warned us about Bakers so we've been giving him Burns instead.

I must admit to secretly liking her black and white (probably why) border collie.
It's a bit of a fussy pain in the @rse but is a pleasure after the snarling horrible little Jack Russell typee thing she had.
Fooking horrible little rat that was.
I wasn't particularly unhappy when it popped it's clogs.

For someone who has made a point of never having anything to do with our 4 legged friends I've even started taking it out for the ocassional walk and even picking it's shoite up.

A new man?

We should have play dates with the dogs on Rockford Green

Not around Chamberlain area nowadays HWS.

Can you stop Sully from being a little bag?

Can you also stop Tilly from peeing on my pillow?

TIA

1. No, I'm not Barbara Woodhouse, ffs



2. She's telling you she loves you, silly



Dear Tilly

If you leave me a love note on my pillow next week you will be sleeping in the shed. Love Aunty Steph. xxx

Tilly is clearly only marking her territory. You need to keep off her territory.