Horny dog redirect

[Meeps83]

So Maverick is still intact. The first intact male at 14 months that I've ever had. Well a 13 month golden is at the end of her heat cycle and 2 Danes have yet to go thru their cycles in our training class. He is going CRAZY over Diney (the golden) and I don't know how to handle him. What redirect or handling techniques do you guys recommend other than neutering? Our breeder is going to evaluate him for conformation this summer so we need to keep him intact for a while longer. I just don't know how to deal with his hormones and energy........

[Labradorks]

I have LOTS Of intact females in class with my intact boy. We've only had one issue and that was when he was in a down stay in a corner while I was being a post for a figure 8. A girl with a UTI had sat there earlier and dripped quite a bit and they didn't get it all up. So...that was fun. It was toward the end of class. I tried to work through it and mostly got him in the end, but honestly, I wish I would have crated him in a corner and played with someone else's dog in front of him! That's the only issue we've had other than very occasional air-sniffing toward a girl or two, and I tell him to leave it.

I would work on focus with him during distractions. There's always going to be something better than working even when he's neutered: pee, poop, hotdog, squirrel, etc.

[Snowshoe]

Our trainer encouraged folks to bring their in season girl to class so we could learn how to handle our dogs. Dogs plural as it was not just the intact males who would react. One intact female was more upset than any of the male dogs. Neutering might not help with that distraction. Now, that said, I have no tips because Oban and none of the intact males in our classes was so distracted he could not still work and train. We were careful with off leash parts. Ask your trainer, ours was very good at suggesting tips. We were inside at obedience class. All we did was extra firm focus work.

[Annette47]

Mulder was intact throughout his life (so during his entire Obedience career). It took a lot of work when he was your boy’s age, but it did get easier. The two main things I would recommend is make sure he knows a strong “LEAVE IT”, which we teach as “leave it and come here” meaning not only stop going after what you are interested in, but return your attention to me. That plus working on attention in general and asking for it when intact bitches were around (our trainer encourages us to bring our girls who are in heat to class as distractions).

I did find it was hardest to get him to stop being interested in the girl if I wasn’t asking him to do anything else. So if we were standing/sitting around before/after/while others were working. If I was actively asking him to do something else, it was much easier to get him to ignore the girls. So tell him “leave it”, reward him when he looks at you, and give him another job to do. Rinse and repeat .... at his age it will take a lot of repeating but he will get it eventually.

[Meeps83]

Thanks everyone. I was trying to do that, and it normally works, but I had different training treats today and he didn't appear to want them at all. They were hot dogs and he prefers....just about any other treat. It's also been raining all week so we haven't gone on regular walks PLUS we didn't have agility class last week. I think it was all around everything just didn't work. Then I was getting frustrated because he wouldn't redirect for me and I couldn't get him to stop. The trainer could get his attention and have him work for her, but he just wouldn't for me. It's the first time I've ever had that issue with him. I just couldn't wait for it to end...

It is good to know that neutering him probably won't help. I'm hoping it was an isolated incident and I'll keep working with him to redirect his focus on me. We do that a lot anyway because well.....SQUIRREL!

[Labradorks]

Thanks everyone. I was trying to do that, and it normally works, but I had different training treats today and he didn't appear to want them at all. They were hot dogs and he prefers....just about any other treat. It's also been raining all week so we haven't gone on regular walks PLUS we didn't have agility class last week. I think it was all around everything just didn't work. Then I was getting frustrated because he wouldn't redirect for me and I couldn't get him to stop. The trainer could get his attention and have him work for her, but he just wouldn't for me. It's the first time I've ever had that issue with him. I just couldn't wait for it to end...

It is good to know that neutering him probably won't help. I'm hoping it was an isolated incident and I'll keep working with him to redirect his focus on me. We do that a lot anyway because well.....SQUIRREL!

Your dog found the instructor more interesting than you because she is new to him. Typical. Denise Fenzi has great exercises to increase focus. Her blog is great. Good books, too.

[Meeps83]

But she's not new. We've been working with her for almost a year. He liked her treats better. He worked better for me after she gave me some to use.

Where can I find her Denise Fenzi's blog at?

[Labradorks]

But she's not new. We've been working with her for almost a year. He liked her treats better. He worked better for me after she gave me some to use.

Where can I find her Denise Fenzi's blog at?

But, isn't it a novelty that the trainer actually works with the dog? He has to look at you all day long!

What are you planning on doing with your dog in the long run as far as training or competition?

Here's her blog. I like her books, too. Here's a recent blog post on engagement, but if you do a search for the word on her blog, you'll get lots.