Rambunctious Pup
He's pretty well behaved, as well. He knows sit, shake, down, leave it (with almost anything but the cat) and stay. For the most part, he seems to be a regular Newfoundland, finding more joy in lazing around and napping than running around. Occasionally, however, he gets in the fits of craziness.  He'll run around, jump on the couch, and bark like a mad man. It doesn't bother me that he wants to play, and I usually take him outside to run it out in our fenced-in backyard. Very occasionally, though, he's too much for me to handle. I'm home alone with him a lot while Patrick is at work, and I'm not very big. So having such a large puppy jumping all over me and bashing into my legs causes a few issues, and quite a bit of pain. In the past two weeks, I've suffered a mild concussion, and a brand new lip piercing (he jumped up in a fit of excitement and his puppy tooth caught my lip - it almost completely pierced it!!!). To get to the point, I use my command voice and tell him to sit. But he doesn't always listen to me. Sometimes whatever got his attention is just way to exciting, duh, mom.  So I don't always get the correct response from him. I then move on to ignoring him until he calms downs and sits. You have no idea how long that can take. And in the meantime, he's banging into my legs and nipping at my arms, causing pain the the opportunity for serious injury.Anyway, in an attempt to find something that would actually work, I hit Google hard. And I stumbled upon the idea of using a 'dominant down' in an attempt to show him who's boss and calm him down. Have any of you heard about this? Have you used it? Does it work? I'm not sure how I feel about this. I've never been a fan of the dominance training, but I'm honestly getting the point where I may try anything that may work. I'm so sick and tired of getting hurt/bleeding/bruised, and I'm pretty sure people think that my fiancé is beating me.  So any ideas or advice? |
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| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Be A Tree Dogs are excellent at reading body language which is one reason that I prefer to be a tree because once a dog gets the concept, being a tree can be used for a myriad of problems: jumping, elbow nudging (especially when you’re holding a cup of hot coffee!), pawing, begging at the table or any other pesty behavior. To be a tree: 1. Cross your arms in front of your chest 2. Turn at least ¼ turn away from the dog 3. Look away and slightly upwards 4. Keep your mouth shut. We are a very verbal species but trees don’t talk. For example, if a dog is jumping up, be a tree. Ignoring the dog is the worst thing you can do, no one ever wants to be ignored! If you push the dog away your arm motion is like the front legs of a dog when the dog is playing and ‘boxing’ and the dog might think you are playing and that will only positively reinforce the jumping. If you talk to the dog, the dog who is jumping to get attention is getting attention and so talking, even yelling NO!!!! is what the dog wants and the jumping will be positively reinforced. Even more important is to remember that if the dog comes up to you and doesn’t jump, make sure the dog knows what you want and give the dog lots of attention! It’s always easier for a dog to learn to do something (come up to people without jumping) than it is for a dog to learn to not do something (don’t jump). We often forget to make sure that we positively reinforce the behavior we want because we don’t think about it when the dog does it right. If you are sitting at a table or in a chair and the dog paws or begs for food, instead of turning, twist your upper body away from the dog. BE PATIENT! This will probably not work the first time. Stay in tree position until the dog gives up and goes away. If you give in to the dog, even once, you are a slot machine and instead of stopping the behavior, you are making it stronger...oops! People sit at slot machines all day (the dog keeps jumping) because sometimes money comes out (sometimes the dog gets the attention he wants, even bad attention like NO!), even though money rarely comes out (even though your dog rarely gets any attention). If money never came out of slot machines, no one would put money in. So, if your dog never gets any attention, your dog will stop jumping. Once your dog understands the body language of ‘be a tree’ for one thing, it’s easy to start being a tree for all the pawing, nudging, etc. that your dog might do. It will take a few times to sink in, but the dog will learn faster each time. Sometimes dogs are so reinforced for jumping that being a tree doesn’t work very well, although you can still use it for pawing, etc. If your dog’s jumping is not starting to decrease in frequency and you don’t see your dog hesitating before jumping and sometimes not jumping after a while (be patient, it will take some time!), then you try using your hands. Its best if you can move before the dog launches herself, but if not, do it as fast as you can. Keep your hands low because raised hands seem to be a target for dogs, turn your palms downward and slightly outward so they are directed at your dog and extend your arms towards your dog. Do not push your dog or it won’t work. If your dog jumps against your hands, try not to push – it’s hard because pushing back is a reflex - and try not to let the dog push you – keep your hands/arms as steady as you can, preventing the dog from getting closer to you, even if you have to back up, the dog should be at arm’s length or more. Keep your hands in position and look up and slightly away from your dog and do not talk. Repeat, repeat, repeat. And always remember to give your dog lots of attention if your dog comes up to you and doesn’t jump. Copyright Virginia Wind 2008 |
| Im going through all that with bloo at the moment, nipping and biting. I have bruises everywhere. I know you have the old fashioned way of teing a dog no but i dont agree with that. The be the tree methos is great, normally bloo will bite my but instead though  The breeder told me to shout NO in the loudest deepest voice ever, not easy as im no man lol. I used a bottle of bricks when bloo was a baby, it worked for a while but then he carried on. This thread has taught me something too, tree methos is next, right bloo get ready to be ignored   |
| I used the tree method (though never new thats what its called) when I come in from work and let my OES out of her crate shess excited and jumps. I too dont want to get hurt. I dont say anything to her and keep my hands folded and turn away from her until she settles down. My older son has a newfie, it took almost 2 yrs for him to calm down. He had to be crated for a good 1.5 yrs. If he wasnt, he destroyed the kitchen or anything on the counter. While newfies can be lazy, not when they are young. Is there a park you can take your newfie to swim or run? When I had my son's newfie this past summer, I took him to the dog park everyday. He loves to swim, then we'd walk 3 miles. The 1st yr+ my son used to put a dog pack on him. Newfies are workers, they need a purpose. Remember you have a large puppy with a lot of energy, shes not ready to be lazy. |
| Benson has become more and more responsive to being ignored. She tends to quiet down and sit, trying to figure out why we have suddenly become the most boring thing in the room. Eventually, she picks up one of her toys and forgets about harassing me. The hardest thing for me is not watching her to make sure she gets it. If she catches me looking at her before she decides to give up, she starts in again. We have not had to do this (yet  ), but a short time out in the crate, or even in another room is supposed to be very effective in showing them their unwanted behavior will result in being removed from their pack, albeit temporarily.In the words of Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson, "you get what you pet, and you raise what you praise." I find myself stopping often to think about whether I am unintentionally rewarding her with my responses to her unwanted behaviors. Sometimes, (usually when I'm reacting to her being pushy), the answer is yes  |
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