sas

Fussy eater here as well! I'll have a lookie into it.

If you're referring to my post, it's unfortunate you felt it an attack. This is really serious. If the child is allowed to continue this the child could be seriously hurt. From the OP, it wasn't clear who the poster thought was at fault, but it did come across that she felt the dog was, hence my response. I suggested the crate for a safe place for the dog to sleep, I don't know where you thought anyone said the crate should be used as punishment.

What about when a child does not hurt/harass the pup and it is still nipping at them. Then what? Dogfish The OP poster didn't allude to this, so I gave my opinion on what she did say.

I doubt a 1 year old toddler/baby could be expected to understand the concept of leadership or the Triangle of Temptation. The dog needs a safe place of its own where it will not be disturbed by the child. A crate is good. All contact between dog and child must be supervised by an adult and no one, child or adult, should pounce on a dog when it's sleeping. Please teach your child that she must never grab at a dog, ever. She obviously frightened the dog and it reacted as most dogs would. Children of this age can be very rough and must be taught how to interact appropriately with the dog. I would have reprimanded the child. I clearly wasn't expecting the 1 year old to understand anything, however including children in feeding dogs is often used to help the association. However as I already stated the child shouldn't be left to disturb the dog. I don't feel it is a leadership issue and I didn't say it was either.

Because it's toileting on the owners bed, the dog knows that's where the owner sleeps. Dogs who aren't toilet trained properly or aren't being taken out enough don't generally choose to jump up on a bed to toilet. Toileting on an owners bed and clothing is a pretty good sign that you need to look a little deeper. I'm certainly not the type of person who chucks around the term 'dominance' as an answer for everything, but I do think the dog is confused as to where it stands in this relationship.

You want to repremand your puppy for defending itself? The child should never be allowed to do this to the dog. Lot's of handling will help but if the child hurts the dog then the dog will most likely defend itself....how do you think so many kids get bitten.....parents who expect the dog to act in some kind of Godly manner and not get upset when a child harasses them. You might want to crate train your dog so it can sleep in peace without being worried it's going to be harrased by your child. Secondly read up on Leadership such as the Triangle of Temptation and get your child to participate in it as well as other Leadership methods if you feel this is an issue.

That's actually completely different, you have confined a dog to a crate, it has no choice. A crate of the size where a dog can only stand and turn around is best as of course dogs don't like to toilet where they sleep. Provide a bigger crate where the dog has plently of room, it is likely to toilet on the far side of the crate.

We'll just have to agree to disagree, sas ETA: Just because humans recognise the whole piece of furniture as our "bed" doesn't mean the puppy does. At this stage, I would think the puppy is using a bit for sleeping and a bit for toileting - just the same as if it was allowed full run of the house without supervision. Yeah, ah, I think you're missing the bigger picture here. There are some great books out there that will help you further your knowledge of what puppies and dogs do understand and what has been proved in clinical studies. One such book is 'How Dogs Think', there are many more though.

The poster said she does take her out often to the toilet. Toileting on a bed is usually a sign of something else other than just being a puppy.

Age doesn't have anything to do with it. Puppies show dominance when they're in their litters and if they don't have a leader in the house then they automatically assume the role, dogs are pack animals and that's what they do.

Leadership issue perhaps?

Can't help but to laugh, poor bastards, I guess they've learned their lesson. Good that they're going to puppy pre-school though.

For adult dogs I get a 3 monthly wormer, annual heartworm injection and monthly flea preventative

Thanks for your help, I will check this book out. What do you mean by the leadership may be out of whack though? (sorry please detail) Dogs need a leader, when they have a leader it takes the stress right off them as they don't need to worry about the multitude of things a leader worries about. If your leadership os out of whack, you puppy/dog may see itself as the leader because you haven't proven that you can be one, so this means when you leave the house without them, they're going to stress because they feel responsible for you, stress then brings up issues such as chewing & barking and so forth. When you come home and your dog is way over excited to see you.....don't be flattered because that's your dog saying "Thank God you're home, I've been so fricken worried!"

Ok, so limiting them to only 2 a day will bring up her appreciation levels. However she won't appreciate anything if the Leadership is out of whack, she sounds like a very stressed puppy that needs to understand where she stands, it fairly easy to do. I really reccomend you get that book, it will save you from pulling your hair out. This is just my opinion based on experiencing foster dogs with similar issues.

Our GSD is about 7 months now and its like a bomb has dropped. I have never had so much trouble with a dog!! She is highly distructive (digging holes, pulling washing off the line, chewing up bedding, chewing up her kennel, chewed off part of the house!!!) etc etc the list goes on. Sounds like a stressed puppy, I would suggest you read up on pack leadership such as methods discussed in the book 'Dog Listener' by Jan Fennell available at your local book store. She has a million toys in the backyard and actively plays with them. She has 2 other dogs to keep her company and they are best mates, she has a large yard and gets walked everyday. We are home 4 out of 7 days of the week but she does these naughty things while we are at home as well (I have sprung her lol), so she isnt bored. Just like children, a dog doesn't not appreciate toys if they are given a lot, rotate 2 toys a day. Just darn NAUGHTY!! hehehe She responds well to obedience training and is a very smart girl while im training her, but as soon as she has the run of the yard, she turns feral. Our Border Collies are a god send compared to this cheeky girl, .....but she really is beautiful You have a highly intelligent & active dog, they need a lot of mental stimulation otherwise they will turn into ferals. Instead of providing your typical toys, look into toys that will stimulate her mind such as Treat Balls/Cubes, Kong Despencers, Sand Pits in clam shells, Paddling pools in clam shells, scatter kibble around the yard, the list goes on, however, even with this in place, if the pack leadership is out of whack it probably won't make too much of a change..[/color]

What title are you working towards?

Seriously thinking of building agility equipment, seems to be quite a gap in the market place!

I have a Great Dane puppy, so you can imagine the amount of wee compared to a puppy of a smaller breed and they cope fine

You might not want to state the Kennels Name.

Our old neighbours had this issue and they did something I never thought would have worked in a million years but it did. They set up a fence made out of the stronger type chicken wire approx a metre away from the fence.

LOL We bounced treats off Leila's head for a good 2 months before she got it. We'd put our foot on the treat if she missed it and always tried it be close to her when doing it.

She sounds unsure to me because you're not giving her the verbal ok, she doesn't know if she's doing ok or not. Have you practised staying quiet in practice?

You have 2 x 8.5 weeks old puppies? Are you on drugs? LOL Well if one is not older or bigger than the other, they should be able to play together. They may hurt each other from time to time, I think that's a given. When you're feeding a high quality kibble putting anything else in it unbalances it, that's fact. Many people do mix the two, that doesn't make it right. I'd ultimately say that do your research and make your decision from there

It's puppy behaviour, some do it more than others and some don't do it at all. In an adult human I'd say put the 'Stop Chew' spray on yourself but I don't think that's a good idea for a baby. Puppies shouldn't be repremanded for the licking, it's a good thing, can you redirect to an everlasting treat ball that requires them to lick them?