New puppy need advice

smidge

New Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2007
Messages
30
Likes
0
Points
0
#1
OK so i got a new puppy, not quite sure what she is or how old she is but i believe she is part rott and lab.. The guy i got her from said she was about 9 weeks he thinks. this was a week ago so 10 weeks? she weighs prob about 10 pounds now.

Ok well i have a few problems with her. She is doing well with potty training and has had few accidents inside the house. But what she is having problems with is biting, and listening to me when i tell her no/stop doing something.

If she bites me i tell her no and move my hand away out of her sight. sometimes give her a toy with other hand immediately. But heres my problem sometimes instead of gettning the toy she will go for my other hand or as soon as i take away my hand she barks at me and goes after my other free hand.

This also happens when i tell her no when she is playing with or biting something she is not supposed to.. She just barks at me and continues to do it.
 

DogMinded

New Member
Joined
May 8, 2012
Messages
19
Likes
0
Points
0
#2
She thinks it fun. You could try yelping like a puppy and walking away. You do not want to give her anything if she is biting. I know you are trying to take her mind off your hand, but it is almost a reward for biting your hand. Yelping and walking away is what a mom or litter mate would do. This tells her the behavior is not acceptable.
 

~Tucker&Me~

Active Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2005
Messages
4,940
Likes
0
Points
36
#3
OK so i got a new puppy, not quite sure what she is or how old she is but i believe she is part rott and lab.. The guy i got her from said she was about 9 weeks he thinks. this was a week ago so 10 weeks? she weighs prob about 10 pounds now.

Ok well i have a few problems with her. She is doing well with potty training and has had few accidents inside the house. But what she is having problems with is biting, and listening to me when i tell her no/stop doing something.

If she bites me i tell her no and move my hand away out of her sight. sometimes give her a toy with other hand immediately. But heres my problem sometimes instead of gettning the toy she will go for my other hand or as soon as i take away my hand she barks at me and goes after my other free hand.

This also happens when i tell her no when she is playing with or biting something she is not supposed to.. She just barks at me and continues to do it.
Since she is so young, mouthing your hand is actually not a bad thing. What is NOT ok, is mouthing so hard that it hurts. Instead of saying no (dogs don't come knowing what "no" means), make a high pitched yelping sound, then get up and walk away. The idea here is that the sound should communicate to the puppy that what she did hurt you, and walking away translates to "when I bite too hard and hurt my owner, the fun ends". Right after the yelp, when you are walking away, make sure you 100% completely ignore your pup. Don't make eye contact, don't say anything... Nada. Leave for a couple minutes, and when you feel like she is calmer return and resume play. She should catch on really quickly that if she bites hard, all the fun stops so it is worth it to make sure she mouths gently.

The reason you don't want to discourage ALL mouthing yet at this age is because it is important for her to learn bite inhibition, or in other words, how to bite softly. In the future, if she is ever in the position where she decides to bite another dog or a person (hopefully not, but it can happen), she will be able to understand the difference between a soft 'warning' bite and a hard, skin breaking bite.
 

smidge

New Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2007
Messages
30
Likes
0
Points
0
#4
well ive been trying to get her to learn the word no ive been enforcing it over a week now and she has still yet to understand it. i was alwats taught when younger to tell the dog no and smack its nose, but i dont think this works, and breaks trust between you and the puppy. but she is so **** stubborn!!!!!!!!! and she wont leave the cat alone either.. even if i yell HEY!! NO!! she still continues what she is doing!
 

~Tucker&Me~

Active Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2005
Messages
4,940
Likes
0
Points
36
#5
well ive been trying to get her to learn the word no ive been enforcing it over a week now and she has still yet to understand it. i was alwats taught when younger to tell the dog no and smack its nose, but i dont think this works, and breaks trust between you and the puppy. but she is so **** stubborn!!!!!!!!! and she wont leave the cat alone either.. even if i yell HEY!! NO!! she still continues what she is doing!
Yeah, I would never recommend hitting a dog. That can backfire really badly and permanently damage your relationship, you don't ever want her to think that people can be 'dangerous' and hurt her because you can create a ticking time bomb of a dog who thinks people are unpredictable.

What is she 'stubborn' about? If you list the exact issues I can try to help you find solutions that don't involve being negative with your dog. The problem with just shouting "no" is that you are telling her to stop what she's doing (through intimidation), but not telling her what she SHOULD be doing. Sometimes when people describe their dog as being stubborn, it is more a case of the person not understanding HOW to train and has actually little to do with the dog. This is a video by a trainer I really like that focuses on teaching a dog to not chase chickens, but the same methods could be applied for your cat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4qjarQFohY&feature=plcp

I would really encourage you to drop the use of "no" and try to redirect the dogs behaviour instead of punishing. Here are two videos I think you would really benefit from watching:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs_M9Fzc94U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBvPaqMZyo8&feature=channel

And this is a great resource in general:

http://www.dogmantics.com/Dogmantics/Free_Video_List.html

What kind of dog do you have? If you have more questions feel free to ask them :)
 

DogMinded

New Member
Joined
May 8, 2012
Messages
19
Likes
0
Points
0
#6
I agree that some mouthing is ok as long as they do not bite down hard. Instead of saying no you can telling her no bite. This can hurt a bit but I have held their jaw when they have a hold of my hand saying no bite. When they calm then I let go. It is turning the tables on them. The pain comes from the tiny needle teeth in your hand, but it is worth it to teach them no bite..
 

Maxy24

Active Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2006
Messages
8,070
Likes
2
Points
38
Age
32
Location
Massachusetts
#7
Sounds like Tucker lol. I remember my uncle tried smacking him once for nipping and Tucker dodged his hand and then clamped onto it hard. Anything physical will likely just make him think you are playing (dog play can be rough) or else it would make him defensive. I wouldn't hit or grab hold of the muzzle, your puppy is just playing you simply need to teach him playing with your hands fails every time. Instead of just putting your hand behind you back (which he may think it part of the game) actually get up and move away from him and ignore him completely for a minute so he really understand that biting is no fun for him. When you come back from ignoring then interest him in a toy. As soon as he chooses your hand again get up and walk away for another minute. Repetition is essential for getting the point across. The nice thing about mouthy puppies is that they usually develop great bite inhibition because they learn how fragile human skin is and that they never need to bite hard to get a point across. So in the future if they ever feel they NEED to bite because of fear or pain they likely won't do much damage. My dog was the type that made us bleed every single day but by about 4 months old it was gone and he has amazing bite inhibition when we play roughly.


The barking is likely frustration, ignore it and it will probably extinguish. I also suggest teaching some self control games, a lot of young dogs have serious self control issues and it leads to all sorts of problems.
 
Joined
Aug 4, 2011
Messages
259
Likes
0
Points
0
#8
Pups are not really aware of what they're doing and most of the time, they think it's part of playing. Thus, you need to let them know that what they're doing is wrong and that you are hurt by what they do. If your pup will not heed your command, it would be best to seek the help of a behaviorist.
 

Members online

Top