Help With Puppy

[Emmi]

We have a 7 month old heeler pup. She is a very smart dog, she can follow several commands - sit, up (onto ute or into vehicle), out (of house or vehicle) etc and can fetch her toys.

We are however having a couple problems with her.

One is her constant jumping on people, she knocks the kids to the ground, she jumps on people the second they walk outside or get out of their vehicle.

The other is her biting. I know she is a puppy and will chew things, she has plenty of chew toys, but how do I teach her not to chew on us? She isn't biting in a nasty way, more a playful way, but it hurts.

It is to the point with both of these things now, that we are having to chain her up a fair bit. I don't doubt her ability to learn not to do these things, I just have no idea how to teach her not to jump and not to bite. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

[Kelpie_Pup]

We have a 7 month old heeler pup. She is a very smart dog, she can follow several commands - sit, up (onto ute or into vehicle), out (of house or vehicle) etc and can fetch her toys.

We are however having a couple problems with her.

One is her constant jumping on people, she knocks the kids to the ground, she jumps on people the second they walk outside or get out of their vehicle.

The other is her biting. I know she is a puppy and will chew things, she has plenty of chew toys, but how do I teach her not to chew on us? She isn't biting in a nasty way, more a playful way, but it hurts.

It is to the point with both of these things now, that we are having to chain her up a fair bit. I don't doubt her ability to learn not to do these things, I just have no idea how to teach her not to jump and not to bite. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

HI Emmi

I don't know about how to fix these things with an older pup, but I will tell you what we did with ours when she was little. The biting used to really upset me.. it was only play biting, and only baby teeth, but still. Basically, if she used her teeth on our skin, we would yelp "OOOWWWWW" and ignore her for about 30 secs. She had three chances until play was over for good. Sometimes if she was being overly cheeky we would tap her nose and then leave her alone. Just remember, YOUR attention is all they want. If they **think** they can get it, they'll try!!! You need to try and fi the biting thing soon because an adult dog, with adult teeth, who thinks its ok to bite, can do some harm.

Secondly, with the jumping, I can totally relate to this. Halle was a really bad jumper for a while there, but it was basically because every time she jumped on us, she got a pat/attention from us. We became very strict and each time she jumped on us, we would say "UGH OFF!" and ignore her totally.We would use our thigh or just turn away from her to get her off us. Once she was distracted (within a minute generally!), we would then call her over, tell her to sit, and then lavish attention on her. You have to be consistent. And you need to make sure that other people who come in contact with her do this too. If it means making your visitors stand outside the door while you get your dog settled, then so be it. We used to take treats with us everywhere, and ask ppl to only give halle a treat once she was sitting still at their feet. Most people are more than happy to help!

These days, when we get home she gets SO excited, its soooo cute. She knows she can't jump up cause she'll get in trouble, but she's so desperate for a cuddle!!!, but she tries to stay down on the ground but jumping at the same time...

Maybe you just have to be there!

Have you done any reading on the forums? or on the net? there are heaps of different ways of doing thiese things which you may like to try., Just remember to give each one a really good go, don't swap between one or the other daily..

Edited May 14, 2009 by Kelpie_Pup

[W Sibs]

hi, sounds like you have a very excitable puppy

have you given her timeout if she starts biting? or cry out 'Ouch' loudly and and turn your back towards her and ignore her? that's what i do to my dog when he gets bitey. i let out a big Ouch, then my back at him and ignore him, even when he tries to come back. he will usually lick where he bit me... and gets sooky.

with the jumping... shove her off and ignore her. don't look at her. don't say anything to her. no attention at all. when she is calm and nice... give her the biggest and happiest greeting.

if you know that kids are going to be around, just put her on the leash and tell the kids they aren't allow to play her till she sits and is good. even when you have guest over and they are to go to the backyard, put her on the leash and tell them to ignore her, till she behaves. when she is calm again, give her a lot of attention, praise, pats and hugs.

puppy or dogs don't like being ignored, so they will realise you will only play and give them attention when they are good and well behaved.

hope that helps you some

good luck.

[poodlefan]

Unfortunately, at 7 months, your pup has had at least 5 months of experience to reinforce her biting behaviour. You're going to need to have something a bit stronger than an "ouch" for an adolescent.

I'd suggest you research the "mouthing" threads here for advice on how to deter a really persistent mouther.. I think you are looking at using aversives.

On the jumping - train a more desireable behaviour like "sit". Teach her that she gets NO attention until her bum is on the ground. Put her on lead for greeting guests and around the kids and insist on the sit before she gets any pats etc.

[Emmi]

She gets quite loud ouches from the kids when she bites and jumps - and thinks this is part of the game and keeps going. We have tried turning our backs and ignoring her (found that idea on google) but she just jumps more & more.

I will go research those threads, thank you

[Jetty]

Hi Emmi,

I have recently finished puppy preschool with my 4 month old foxy x. The trainer instructed us to turn around and not face him when the puppy jumped and wait til he stops then turn around again and continue if he keeps on jumping. when he sits however give him a treat and praise him. You need to teach him that he should sit in these situations, the instructer also told us to get our visitors to do the same thing. It might take a bit of practice but eventually he should get it! I hope this helps

[Cosmolo]

What PF said. Highly likely that when your ACD is mouthing they are in drive and enjoying the behaviour immensely so you may need to use an aversive/ correction to stop the behaviour. I urge you to perhaps try a few different options mentioned in the other threads but if they are not successful- please do seek recommendations for a trainer in your area who can help you. I saw an ACD 12 months ago whose mouthing turned into significant biting as it was not dealt with early enough.

ETA Ignoring a mouthing dog in drive will not work and squealing may very well make the problem much worse.

Edited May 14, 2009 by Cosmolo

[persephone]

ETA Ignoring a mouthing dog in drive will not work and squealing may very well make the problem much worse.

*nods- maybe more so in a herding/nipping breed such as an ACD.*

Chaining her up will not help.

it will remove her from the situation temporarily, yes- but will also increase her frustration and excitability ... so when she is released, she will be VERY full of energy.

How much time each day do you spend training her?

Does she ever get walks/training on leash?

I would also recommend you read these two articles!!

TRiangle Of Temptation

and Nothing In Life Is Free

[Nekhbet]

your dog has little respect for you, and it is up to the parents to show the dog not to bite children, not to let them do it.

Have her on a leash around the kids, if she acts up 'bahhhh uh uh' and walk her away. She has learned tricks so far but not manners. THey are natually pushy dogs as well, its what they were bred for, so take that into consideration.

For the jumping, 2 pot lids hidden behind your back and when she runs to jump on you bang them in her face. She'll be shocked and if she tries it again give it another go. Get her to sit for you, reward with a treat (praise can excite dogs) and practice.

As for the mouthing, when she grabs you put your thumb under her tongue and press gently until she submits. That or grab her top lips and roll them in, pressing the inside on the lips on the points of her top teeth until she submits. Sorry at this age you missed the mark, you need to be more pro-active. This is a working dog that needs guidence and to be shown what to do.

ETA just watch her a this age jumping in/out of cars. I have seen a heeler that fell out of a car at under 12 months and $1500 surgery later to repair the leg. If you dont let a 5 year old child jump on and off a ute dont let a 7 month old pup

Edited May 14, 2009 by Nekhbet

[BigDaz]

I can only comment on the jumping, I still have worked out how to stop one of my girls from mouthing.

We have two Staffy's who used to jump on everyone that came through the door, a number of people show us different methods and nothing worked, except this.

When our girls would jump, we would stand over them, so leaning slightly forward, stamp our feet and make a loud noise.....always using the same noise. Now if they jump we just have to make the noise and they know, although the number of times they do it has reduced greatly, it is really only our inconsistencies holding them back.

What works for one doesn’t always work for another, but this worked great for us.

[Kirty]

We used to raise our knee, so it connected with the dogs chest when it tries to jump up. Also, make sure the kids fold their arms when near her, so she can't nip little fingers.