Yogi.

Thanks for your advice. I have spoken to a chiropractor and will take him for a check up.

Hi All, I have a 12 month old pointer that is struggling to sit down in the afternoon/evening. He sleeps in a crate at night and sits perfectly in the mornings, however some evenings he tries to sit but is unable to and seems to be in discomfort. Occasionally he will not sit and flop into a laying position. He doesn't seem tender to touch anywhere and is his usual excitable self and not overly restricted in his movement. I haven't noticed that's its directly after activity that he experiences discomfort. Our vet is a little pushy and is looking directly at his hips and already talking xrays and surgery. I have my doubts as to whether its his hips and could be another injury (knee) of some sort or possible something internal(digestive?) He recently had a skin allergy that was cleared using a steroid cream. That has been clear for a few weeks now. He is not showing any other symptoms. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Cheers,

Thanks for all of your advice. We consulted a behavioural specialist and they spent some time with us to help him to control his excitement. We used a combination of correction and rewards. He has now realised that he doesn't need to go crazy to get our attention. Cheers.

Hi, Long time reader, first time poster. I have found this site very useful and appreciate everyone's input. I have an 8 month old male pointer that we are struggling with his mouthing and jumping. We find that the only place that he displays this behaviour is in our backyard. When he is inside the house he is almost perfect, although he shows an interest in new things and likes to try and roam. When we let him into our front yard when we are gardening he is relaxed and does his own thing. When we are down the park off the lead or walking on the lead he is fine. I can only assume this is because there are other more interesting distractions at these locations?? I'm concerned we have done something in our training to reward this behaviour in the back yard. At present his mouthing is met with a firm 'STOP' (I find that he will stop chewing on most occasions but not take his mouth off) and then we leave the yard, the problem with this is that we might be 15 metres from the back door when we want to isolate him. This walk to the backdoor almost becomes a game in itself for him has he tries to continue to mouth us. Once inside I will leave him for 30 seconds then re-enter the yard. Interestingly, we have a sunroom adjoining the backdoor and I don't recall him mouthing me whilst near the door. I have tried to redirect him to chew on other things but often our shoes, and now that it is summer and i'm wearing thongs, our ankles, are more enticing. His bite strength is reasonably weak but in the occasional moment of madness a nip to the arm or back of the leg still occurs. As far as the jumping goes, I put that down to excitement and can work on calming that with rewards. I have asked myself a number of questions as to how we have fostered this behaviour, is it a separation issue because he knows we are going to leave him alone in the yard at some point, is it because he wants us to take him on a walk, is it because he wants me to walk inside so he can chase me, is it because he wants treats because we train him in the backyard.... I hope I've explained my situation clearly. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.