Crazy after he comes in from outside
He gets into more trouble with nipping and showing dominance during these times than at any other times of the day! Luckily he came to us with basic obedience, but we still could use some advice on what to do. Thanks all! |
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| This is typical! You need to continue to work on the obedience - even though he's familiar with training - you aren't the person(s) who had trained him. You need to establish your dominance. I would suggest to enroll in a positive reinforcement puppy class.
Try to avoid activities such as tug of war or rough play - sometimes they can be problematic with dominance issues. When he starts this wild behavior - tell him to sit and when he does give him a treat. Work on some obedience commands with him (treat always in hand) and get his mind working in a positive direction. They just get over rambunctious and can't control themselves - and the nipping, etc. is their only way to communicate at this point. Good Luck! Kristen |
| I'm new to this as well - Harry is only 11 weeks old and he is our first sheepdog!
I've found that when he has eaten, he gets quite hyper and after coming in from playing or exercising...it's like he's a small child who hasn't quite realised that playtime just ended! We've been working on the nipping over the last few days, which tends to go hand in hand with the above and is generally accompanied by jumping. Saying no or yelping doesn't seem to work but the suggestion of distraction (by Brit) has worked a treat. We give him a command that he knows ie. sit or paw then give him a treat and hold his bone for him (he enjoys it more when someone's holding it!). After a while, we've managed to spot when it's going to happen and pop him in the kitchen (where his bed is) before it does - that way he calms down without the chaos that goes with us trying to chill him out! NB. we don't put him in there as a punishment, just put him in, give him a wee instruction (ie. sit and paw) then give him a treat. He now contendedly sits there as we leave and when we take him out 5/10 mins later, he's already relaxed and just lies down. Another NB. after reading The Dog Listener: Learn How to Communicate with Your Dog for Willing Cooperation, by Jan Fennell, we ignore him when we let him out...just open the door quietly and go and sit down on the sofa...this works far better than giving him lots of hugs and getting him all hyper again although it sounds mean 
It works for us and the manic wee dog I posted about previously has changed into a far more contented wee pup (more exercise and training has helped too!)  |
| Remember that sheepies have mind of their own and they want to do things their own way, and they will keep on testing how far they can go. Continue with training, and show him that when playtime is over, it's time to be quiet. Ignore all his attemps to continue playing and he will get the message. A very firm NO!, Quiet! do wonders when teaching them to be quiet.
Patience and consistency are the keys, but remember he's a puppy and all puppies do is play, so don't expect a perfect record from day one. In the meantime, continue creating a bond with your sheepie and soon you'll have a magical walking rug that follows you everywhere you go.  |
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