naughty puppy + active toddler + 2 cats = disaster!
My husband and I have a 3 mo. old sheepie, and a 15 mo. old daughter and when I'm home alone with both of them I having a hard time getting the dog to listen at all. I know he's still young, but it's like he's laughing in my face whenever I ask him to come or drop it or whatever. He listens pretty well when my husband is home, but it's like he knows I'm gonna give in because I have to watch the baby. I'm so frustrated, any advice? Jami |
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| Has he been trained? You cannot expect him to know what you are sasking him to do unless you have trained him to do it. At 3 months old he is hardly old enough to know where to pee, much less anything else.
Has he been to classes? |
Oh boy... that's quite the combination. Having to shift from baby to puppy mode in training  It can take several months to reliably get your puppy potty trained. Remember that he's only 12 weeks old... just a babe. Take him out to potty as soon as he wakes up, in the middle of play, immediately after he eats or drinks, and before he takes a nap or goes to sleep for the night.
If you control what goes in, you control what comes out (to some extent anyway). All of our puppies are/were fed 3 times a day... 5-6am, noon and 5-6pm. We pick the water up by 7pm (unless it's exceptionally hot or there's a sickness) so there are fewer interruptions throughout the night. This is just one opinion and I'm in no way a professional trainer or handler. It's always best to seek guidance from a pro that can work with you and your dog... He's just a baby but NOW is the time for training... I can't stress this enough especially with a small child in the house. What you see as difficult now will become much more so when he's 80 to 100 pounds 
To make it work you'll need to take time for some one-on-one training with him... every day is best. These sessions can simply be 5 to 10 minutes a few times a day. Keep it fun, keep it simple (one or two word commands only- not a complete dialog). Use positive reinforcement and be consistant. If you call him to you and he won't come to you, you go get him... every time. But don't chase him because he will think of it as a game. When mine are outdoors in our fenced in backyard, we attach a length of clothes line to the collar (but you must supervise him so he won't hang himself on something or wrap it around anyone... remove it everytime if you can't be watching him). Then call him... "Fred come!" in a happy voice. If he doesn't come, go pick up the clothesline and pull him in to you as you say "come". Then praise/treat him. The key is to immediately release him to play again. If you call him everytime in order to restrict his activity, he will definately be reluctant to come. Never call him to you and scold him... that's definately putting out crossed signals (You get over here so I can punish you?? I don't think I'd come either). If he knows he'll have to come everytime and it turns out to be a good thing for him, he'll start coming more reliably when called. Another way is to crouch down, open your arms to him and say "COME!"... most will naturally come to you. Encourage him along the way with happy words of praise... treats help too. (Later the treats will be given less frequently.) Another way you can reinforce this command is have a hand full of small treats and have someone hold his collar. Let him smell the wonderful tidbits... get them in his face for a good ol' sniff, then walk quickly away. He's going to WANT to follow you but the other person will still be holding his collar. Call him to you "Come!" or "Fred!" in a happy voice and have the person immediately release his collar... again encouraging him along the way. He'll come running. (A good time to do this is before a meal so he's good and hungry.) Please don't think he's laughing at you by not minding. He just needs some guidance and consistancy... this breed CAN be stubborn. Please enroll him in classes and take time out each day to work with him... you'll end up with a great sheepie companion. Please keep us posted on how he's doing! I'm sure others will also post some ideas. |
| Even if your husband has been doing all the training, you still need to be actively involved in it too. Much of the time this "laughing in your face" stuff comes from the dog respecting one person and not the other. If your husband is the one who feeds him, takes him out, does the training and is the disciplinarian while you just jump in and expect him to act the same way for you, it's not going to happen.
Make sure that everyone's commands are consistent also. Tone of voice, body language and exact wording will make things easier. |
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