Our new puppy!

lasthidingplace

Hello everyone,

I'm new to these forums, but since I have already asked advice on my cat I thought I'd go ahead and get some for our little doggy too.

We have had him a month or so now - he is two and a half months old, and is as naughty as they come. Here is a photo of him:

These photos are old - he's a bit bigger now.

Anyway, my questions are basically behavioral ones. There are three:

Firstly, how on earth can I stop him nipping at us all the time? He's not trying to hurt us, but when you give him a little tap on his nose or bum and say firmly "NO", he tries to nip your finger and doesn't listen.

Secondly, we're trying our hardest to train him not to pee and poo all over our nice clean house, but alas it's not working. He doesn't like the rain, and coming up to winter worries me because it's hard enough to get him to go outside as it is (he likes to wait till you get back in the house, THEN go to the loo), but when there is rain he want even step outside. Any advise on house training would be fantastic.

Thirdly - and this may be an odd one, but we also have four cats and one of them isn't well (see my other topic in the cat section), however he's also way too timid and Jack likes to jump all over him and knock him over constantly. As he's not very well, I'm worried this will hurt him more - what can I do to stop Jack doing this? As mentioned, every time you row him he thinks your playing and does it more.

Oh...and my damn shoes Mad

Why is it you can buy him the most expensive toys in the world, yet he still perfers to chew your shoes and pull up your floor tiles?

Gha Wink

Mind you, it's all worth it of course! I counted how many people stopped to stroke him when we last went to the car boot sale - 23!!! (we're not trying to sell him Laughing

we take him with us every sunday for a big walk and the chance to have fights with other doggys!)

shadylady

aww such a cute pup, as for nipping you, you should yelp quite loud as hes probably been taken away from his siblings far too young as this is what puppies playing together would do, to say it hurts, but if this dont work ignore him completely as dogs hate being ignored they prefer to be canter of attention and stroked all the time this should learn him nipping isnt a good thing to do as he will get ignored, never smack a dog they dont understand what it means.

training him to go outside should be fairly easy with newspaper or puppy pads, incourage your pup to go on the paper/pad inside the house somewhere its easy to clean up, then gradually move the paper towards the back door, then finally outside your house your puppy should learn soon enough it just takes alot of patience and time from you.

with the cat thing i would remove jack from the room and your veiw as like i said a dogs hate being ignored and isolated from his family and he should learn bothering the cat will just removde him from your attention which he obviously loves.

and i seriously hope you dont mean your encourging him to fight, Mad

as this aint good for your pup, im sorry if your joking though Smile

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lasthidingplace

Ha ha, no no I don't mean we actually really want him to fight other dogs Wink

But most of the time, he walks up to them and the other dog just barks and growels. Jack doesn't seem to be scared of anything, and just wants to play non-stop with all the other dogs.

My mum suggested the newspaper thing, but we haven't tried that yet actually (we don't get newspapers, so I'll have to actively obtain some from somewhere). We used pads, but he didn't like them for whatever reason (being an awkward child, perhaps?). He will go outside, if I take him out and wait with him for about 10 minutes - the problem is he knows he SHOULD go outside, but doesn't. What I was expecting by now was he'd go by the door when he needed the loo so we'd let him out, as he knows this is what he must do; alas, this hasn't yet happened.

The vet showed us how to get him down when he's climbing on you the way his mother would, by grabbing him at the top of his back gently and pushing him down - this works pretty well (I've not described it terribly great, but the vet showed us so it's not a violent maneuver). But then of course, five seconds later he's back, grabbing the sky remote and running off with it, changing the channel as he goes.

I'll definitely try ignoring him, but it's hard when you're in pain by him biting your hands Wink

I like the idea of when he's been naughty, putting him in another room. What do you think an appropriate amount of time for this would be, as he cries, whimpers and scratches and it melts me so I cave in.

nahatalie

Apparantely for a time out, you should wait for about 3-5 seconds of good behaviour (silence and calmness) then go let him out. If he does the undesireable behaviour again straight after taking him out, it's back in the time out zone straight away! Some dogs learn quite quickly that the bad behaviour = being ignored, with others it might take many repetitions of doing this before he gets it! I know it sounds silly, but have you seen programs like "It's me or the dog" and "the dog whisperer"? They are full of training tips. There seems to be a fine art to praise and consequence and catching the dog at the right moment to do either!

lasthidingplace

I haven't seen any programs like this, but funnily enough my Band mate (who has also just got a new puppy) told me about the Dog Whisperer. He said to me "This guy just held out his hand and said 'SHH', and the dog stopped and sat still...I tried it, and nothing happened at all" so I didn't watch it after that Wink

I might try to catch it, though...

Thanks for the tips with how long to "ignore" him for - like I said, this is not a method we have tried yet (though we have put him outside for a few minutes when he's been naughty).

But I will start to do this as of tonight...in the day, he stays in the kitchen with his basket (till he's house trained, anyway) so when he's naughty, I'll put him back in there...he'll associate that with going to bed, and realise that we -may- not be coming back for him for a while. Hopefully he'll learn that way.

nahatalie

Ah yes, the ol' "shh"...lol. The dog whisperer is amazing, what sets him apart from normal dog trainers is that he really understands and uses dog body language. He says that dogs can feel what you are feeling (like you can sense when there is tension in the air) and they feed off that, often with behaviours reflecting it because as leader of the pack, you are projecting your mood on to them. So if you are feeling nervous, unsure or stressed with your dog, your dog knows this and may mirror your behaviour, or even challenge your position as top dog. You have to kind of expect it to obey you, and let it know your expectations, a bit like kids really! Dogs need boundaries too!

A lot of the time, the problems are because the dog of the family is actually top dog, which means the dog thinks he rules the roost and will "train" the people he lives with! The problem with this, is that being leader of the pack is a huge responsibility and can stress out the dog, which manifests itself in undesireable behaviour.

The trick is, as demonstrated by the dog whisperer is to have complete control and show this to the dog by being firm with him and quickly correcting any poor behaviour, and only if the dog is good reward him with love and affection. You have to see it really to see what I mean! (not that your puppy is behaving badly like this, just talking about the dog whisperer)

Just a thought, do you go to puppy socialisation classes? This is probably the best way of getting advice as well as providing that much needed socialisation with other dogs and other people, and fun for both of you!

lasthidingplace

It really sounds like I need to watch this program - I'll look out for it on sky. Any idea when its on or what Chanel it's usually on?

To be fair to the little terror, MOST of the time he behaves very well - he's just a bit nippy, which we can get him to stop doing. As mentioned earlier, he does love to grab our shoes (when they're off of course) and run around the house with them - the thing here is he KNOWS he has done wrong, because as soon as I approach him he runs off.

For the most part, he knows we rule the roost. I do play with him sometimes where, for a minute or too I'll be running around the house chasing him, making him hide and so on. But then I'll flip it around and run away from him, which he loves because he chases me then. But he knows when I mean business, and usually listens to me (I hope).

We haven't been to any kind of classes with him though - we've only just been able to start walking him (he had his two shots a few weeks ago), but we've taken him to a puppy party with the vets. It was mainly for him to experience other dogs, but we make sure he gets that every Sunday.

nahatalie

The Dog Whisperer was constantly on animal planet, but it hasn't been recently, and there don't seem to be any training programs on at the minute on any channels. He has written a book though, but I guess that's not really the same as seeing him in action! Maybe when he's old enough, take him to training classes, sounds like you're looking out for him! If it were me, I'd try not to let him have access to shoes, and replace the shoe with one of his toys when he does get hold of them, as I had a friend who's dog did this and developed into a strange behaviour of whenever someone was wearing shoes in the house, she'd try and bite them and take them from you (she learnt that shoes = person going out, didn't like being left alone and therefore tried to steal your shoes so you couldn't go out!) but this is a different reason for biting shoes! I guess just make sure he knows the difference between your things and his toys! Aww, I can't wait until I can have a puppy...all this puppy talk makes me puppy broody!

Hcollie85

ooh very cute puppy

Heather
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shadylady

[quote="lasthidingplace"]Ha ha, no no I don't mean we actually really want him to fight other dogs Wink

But most of the time, he walks up to them and the other dog just barks and growels. Jack doesn't seem to be scared of anything, and just wants to play non-stop with all the other dogs.

phew thank god lol Very Happy

when your puppy does go outside, when he is with you, you should praise him as soon as hes done his business this way he knows he is doing a good thing, and keep praising him until you know hes learnt were to go, also take him outside more as puppies have very small bladders and he will need the loo more often than a fully grown dog...

nahatalie covered how long u should isolate your pup for lol, and im feeling puppy broody aswell lol everyone seems to have a pup Smile

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hev_gsd

awww what a cutie little pup youve got! Very Happy

louise gave loads of good advice! Very Happy

watching dog training programs is a good way of teaching you all the differnt ways which you can teach your dog but not all are right for every dog.id strongly advise you to get along to some training classes the trainer will then help you with loads and can see what your pup responds well to!

also dont take him for too long walks just yet its not good for his growing joints.

good luck with him! and have fun! Very Happy

.........edited to add......just seen your from north wales...i am too!!! where abouts are you? i could point you in the direction of some great trainers if you like,depending on where abouts you are.im north east wales Very Happy

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My goal in life is to be as good of a person as my dog already thinks I am!

lasthidingplace

Thanks again for all the advice; I'm being sure to thank you all in the sidebar Wink

When he does go outside, we certainly give him loads and loads of praise. Even though the other day he went on the outside mat, I still had to give him praise cause technically he didn't do wrong (though that wasn't ideal, obviously).

I recently discovered that our cat Chuckie who is ill has been responsible for some of the wee, because he's unable to get to the litter trays now. I obviously don't row him for it, but I guess it means Jack isn't as bad as we thought.

I really do want to get some training programs down, though he's learning some things quickly. He already knows sit, paw and sws (kiss - he licks your face when you say it!).

And hev_gsd - I live on Anglesey, in Llangefni.

The walks we take him on aren't very long at the moment - just around our estate, which takes maybe five minutes. The car boot sale we take him too in Mona every Sunday is fairly long I suppose, but that's just once a week (plus, I carry him when he starts getting fussy...though, he's also starting to get very heavy now!)

hev_gsd

awww thats good ive seen quite a few people that have taken their pups for walks and never knew when to stop and their joints have suffered really bad later on in life.

my grandparents live on anglesey they live in amlwch port,i go up there quite often with my dogs,they love it up there! Very Happy

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My goal in life is to be as good of a person as my dog already thinks I am!

lasthidingplace

Anglesey isn't too bad - a bit boring at times, but it's OK Smile

Our dog has really only just started having walks cause of the vaccinations, but he's been to the beach once (in fact, the first day we could take him out).

He didn't know what the sea was, and every time a wave came near he ran a little back or tried to jump it. I was mean and pushed him in the water Wink

He loved it after that though, and got me back by covering my towel with wet sand.

I'll get some newer photos of him soon, cause he's a lot bigger than those ones (they were taken on the first few days we had him).