over excited puppy??
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| Well, we're only about six weeks ahead of you, as Beau will be 18 weeks on Saturday. But, I can honestly say his behaviour has made great improvements since we started obedience classes. Of course, he does still have his wild times, but he's gentler and listens better. The big change was really in me knowing what to do and in making him "work" for things.
We went through the same stages though. At times it seemed the only way to play with him was to keep a toy stuffed in his mouth! LOL  We started playing a lot of fetch about that time, too. It really helped. He has soooo much energy!! It really does keep you busy, but it's sooo worth it!  |
| Oh the joys of puppyhood! Brace yourself because the 'wild' behaviour
is probably going to get worse before it gets better. It is completely normal. The biting you should probably put a stop to, but teething will make him want to chew anything in sight including you. At 12 weeks he is forming his behaviours and personality and if he were still with his mother she would not tolerate biting. This is why many like the puppies to stay with mom beyond 6 weeks and even up to 10-12 weeks. The mother teaches the puppies how to behave and what not to do. Maybe you could mimic what the mother would do to discipline? That has worked for some. Shellie (in PA) |
| oh -I forgot.. Often puppies are like our kids who act out and misbehave
much more when they are tired. This may be a great time to play fetch, toss a ball or go for a walk. Spend that last bit of energy constructively and he will eventually tire out, hopefully without biting you! Shellie |
| Thanks all, I have noticed the biting is definitely happening when he's getting tired, I give a stern 'no' and try to then ignore him. What sort of discipline might his mom have given? I can see in his eyes how desparately he wants to please me, so I know this is all worth it!
Sharon |
| What a happy time!
Our Shayleigh was the third puppy my wife and I had but the first to consider our house a giant chew toy. I wish we'd known then what we know now! Some of the things that were 'sheepie-chews': -the rungs of my wife's cosmetic chair -my carved wood sitting chair (an antique) -the wooden legs of our formal sofa -the bottom step of our staircase Needless to say, it became necessary to keep between Shayleigh and my wife so that threats against the dog couldn't be acted upon. 
We survived. The coming new puppy will be more dilligently crate trained or else we'll both be in the doghouse out back. 
-John |
| His Mom probably would have nipped him...but I don't recommend trying that..LOL! When he DOES nip, squeal. Seriously...imitate a hurt puppy and use a command. Turning your back is great to use on him when he jumps up on you also works. It takes a bit of time and it WILL feel like you're just spinning in circles for a while, but it will work. Once he catches on to the fact that you're ignoring the jumping add a command like down or sit. If he doesn't do it, turn your back on him again and try again. The biggest problem is getting your whole family AND anyone who comes into the house all on the same commands and all being consistant. Try to avoid "no" ... I know that's a REALLY hard thing to stop from popping out of your mouth, but try "leave it" or make up something else. Think about how often you hear or say "no" in the course of one day?? Pretty soon it's so common it means NOTHING. I used "kisses" when being shredded by puppy teeth. Worked on the cat, too! : )
You'll probably never have to use this one, but if he happens to turn into a back of the couch walker? Yell "Heidi says get off the couch, GoatGirl" Worked for me.
THE BEST ADVICE? A tired puppy makes for a happy upright! Do your best to exhaust him and whatever you do..HAVE FUN! Remember, one morning he'll just wake up and be the best dog in the world! Sometimes it happens no matter what you do! : ) |
This is the exact age I'm dealing with right now too and yes, I'm dealing with the nipping/biting as well. My dog trainer neighbor has taught me to make a very loud obnoxious "EHNNNN" sound (hard to type out) when he bites and when he jumps on me to shout "OFF!". I too was using "no" much more than I should have, out of habit. It's quite a shock to see how much more well behaved my boy is with my friend than he is with me which definitely tells me that I need to follow her advice to a T. Since most of us aren't fortunate enough to have dog trainer neighbors, I would suggest getting a book on dog training (as I plan to do as well) because dogs are not humans and should not be humanized. They think differently than we do and so it's not our first instinct to train them the way they truly need to be trained. You have about 3 seconds after something takes place to get it into his head that he's done either a bad thing or a good thing. Make sure you're praising him when he's doing something good - tell him he's a good boy and rub him a lot, and when he's bad, make that loud obnoxious sound and be stern. In time, he'll get it. Or so I'm hoping.  |
Today I will start using some of the techniques you've all offered, I'm not going to use 'no' anymore, and I'm working with my kids to make sure we all use the same techniques to be consistent. Spring break is beginning for us so this will be a good time for Max to spend more time with the kids, (i have 3 kids, 2 girls, 1 boy, ages 13, 12, and 10) and get them more involved in his routine. They've been gone a lot with school and activities. Should be lots of fun 
Sharon |
| Sharon, I am so glad that Max is just a little older than Bailey! I just have to look for your posts to get the advice I need. Bailey will be 12 weeks tomorrow and has been nipping and jumping the last few days. It's always in the evening, but I hadn't realized that it was because he's tired. Ignoring it is helping, I usually go sit on a barstool in my kitchen and start reading a book. He gets the message after a few jumps. I'll have to work on eliminating "no" from my vocabulary! Sue |
Hi Sue, It's definitely great to talk with other people going through the same thing, as you've seen from my posts, it's been a rollercoaster ride, but the routine gets better every week, and I really see that he is learning and understanding the older he gets!! One thing that really helps is getting the puppy energy expelled from them in positive ways. If Max starts to get in his nippy mode, I ignore and then change activities and this has been working much better than saying NO. He always seems to get more nippy/biting when he has to go #2, after he's done he always is in a better mood  I also think these little guys get bored easy so I try to keep the chew toys rotated frequently so he stays interested, another funny thing whenever I talk on the phone with someone Max does everything he can to get my attention back to him, jumping, nipping, my mom thinks maybe he's jealous that he's not the center of attention
Sharon |
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