Puppy Development Calender

[Pluto01]

We have a German Shepherd puppy who is 9 weeks old and is already at the biting stage, it seems to be like he is teething but is it to early?

[huski]

We have a German Shepherd puppy who is 9 weeks old and is already at the biting stage, it seems to be like he is teething but is it to early?

Hey Pluto, it's normal for pups that age to bite. It's because they haven't learnt bite inhibition yet.

[joelle]

Hi, I read the development calendar and was interested to note that the second fear phase comes in approx 8 months. is this set in stone or can this appear younger? ie 6 months?

ETA I also just read some of your advice earlier where you say a female deveolops quicker than a male so Im guesing we could be entering FP2? It sounds like clear confident leadership, ongoing training and socialising will help to bring her out the other end safely:)

Edited March 12, 2010 by joelle

[minpinmum]

Hello K9. My puppy is a 10wo miniature pinscher. I have read the calendar and she is in her Human Socialization Period. She has been home for 4 days and today i have had 2 visitors over (1m and 1f). She has growled at them and hidden from both of them. I would like her to feel comfortable with other people. is there anything i can do to encourage her to be social?

thank you for your time.

[flux]

" Second Fear Period (8 - 16 Months)

As puppies become what is called gangly, long legs due to growth spurts, they seem to become a little weaker in nerve than previously noted.

It's strange sounds, new sights that often spook a dog more easily than just a week ago... It's at this time we need to be good leaders, when your dog baulks at a stairway, keep walking at full pace to show your pup all is ok. Coddling him when he shows fear will re enforce that fear & you will have to work to get over it later.

More training now is crucial to his behavioural development."

SO VERY TRUE!!! Seemingly overnight, Jazz (rough collie) who is now 8 months and a bit has started barking at most "noises" on the outside of the fence. In fact she actually employs barking as he response to most things that spook her, which the other day included a plant pot rolling about in the wind. Could I ask what you would recomend the best behaviour is from me when she shows this barking? I tell her to shush, "ah" noise, and generally poo-poo it with negatives, but I do get the feeling she seems to think it is her job to protect me and I obviously don't understand the severity of the rolling plant pot. I have avoiding coddling her when she does it, but at the same time feel she is getting too much attention from me when she does bark (with my coming over and shushing etc). I have tried ignoring her and letting her bark it out, but I feel like this merely reinforces her belief that yes, she is the ONLY one on patrol and taking care of plant pots and strange bangs on the outside of the fence. We walk her once in the morning, for about 20mins and once in the afternoon for about 20-45mins. We are learning painfully slowly how to be good leaders, we aren't perfect, but we do try (always reinforcing going through a door way first, walking on a loose lead, eating first and demanding good manners) even though she seems to have hit "selective hearing" and "knowing far better than us" age. Hope the background info helps, would love some advice on how best to respond to barking, I don't mind some barking but would hate to encourage it or create a terrible barker at EVERYTHING. Many thanks, your post has been exceedingly useful and was up on our kitchen wall when we first bought Jazz home at 8 weeks.

[Steve K9Pro]

We have a German Shepherd puppy who is 9 weeks old and is already at the biting stage, it seems to be like he is teething but is it to early?

K9: Its not unusual for pups to teethe at this age or bite for that matter. They are learning that biting can make things happen. Look for redening of the gums, if so some chews toys, ice cubes, frozen treats can help...

[Steve K9Pro]

Hi, I read the development calendar and was interested to note that the second fear phase comes in approx 8 months. is this set in stone or can this appear younger? ie 6 months?

K9: no but it would be nice if it were that predictable, the age differs slightly from dog to dog, breed to breed and sex of the pup also has an influence.

ETA I also just read some of your advice earlier where you say a female deveolops quicker than a male so Im guesing we could be entering FP2? It sounds like clear confident leadership, ongoing training and socialising will help to bring her out the other end safely:)

K9: Yes thats always a good recipe and avoid anything you cant control..

[Steve K9Pro]

Hello K9. My puppy is a 10wo miniature pinscher. I have read the calendar and she is in her Human Socialization Period. She has been home for 4 days and today i have had 2 visitors over (1m and 1f). She has growled at them and hidden from both of them. I would like her to feel comfortable with other people. is there anything i can do to encourage her to be social?

thank you for your time.

K9: This is likely her coming into the first fear period if she has been quite confident prior to this. If it is the first fear period, it will pass and she will not be like this as long as she isnt traumatised in this period.

If she was like this or continues to be, it would be worthwhile seeking some help as dogs like this can turn aggressive through fear easily.

[Steve K9Pro]

SO VERY TRUE!!! Seemingly overnight, Jazz (rough collie) who is now 8 months and a bit has started barking at most "noises" on the outside of the fence. In fact she actually employs barking as he response to most things that spook her, which the other day included a plant pot rolling about in the wind. Could I ask what you would recomend the best behaviour is from me when she shows this barking? I tell her to shush, "ah" noise, and generally poo-poo it with negatives, but I do get the feeling she seems to think it is her job to protect me and I obviously don't understand the severity of the rolling plant pot.

K9: Raising your voice can often be seen by the dog as a positive reaction to the barking, your better off walking to teh dog and distracting her, calling her etc than "joining" her.

I have avoiding coddling her when she does it, but at the same time feel she is getting too much attention from me when she does bark (with my coming over and shushing etc). I have tried ignoring her and letting her bark it out, but I feel like this merely reinforces her belief that yes, she is the ONLY one on patrol and taking care of plant pots and strange bangs on the outside of the fence. We walk her once in the morning, for about 20mins and once in the afternoon for about 20-45mins. We are learning painfully slowly how to be good leaders, we aren't perfect, but we do try (always reinforcing going through a door way first, walking on a loose lead, eating first and demanding good manners) even though she seems to have hit "selective hearing" and "knowing far better than us" age. Hope the background info helps, would love some advice on how best to respond to barking, I don't mind some barking but would hate to encourage it or create a terrible barker at EVERYTHING. Many thanks, your post has been exceedingly useful and was up on our kitchen wall when we first bought Jazz home at 8 weeks.

K9: Sometimes, with some dogs, no matter how much your try little things like this crop up and need addressing, so see how she fares when this period moves on, feel free to email me if she doesnt let up with the barking...

Edited September 29, 2010 by K9Pro

[aussielover]

My 6 month old lab puppy has gone from walking nicely on a loose leash, to pulling and lunging in about 2 weeks

I can control her and get her to focus but the problem is my family members can't seem to control her. My dad is better with her, but he just holds her on a short leash and doesn't let her lunge but its still not loose leash walking.

Other dog trainers and instructors can get her focessed and walk her ok.

Is she just testing people?

It is a bit bad that i am the only one who can walk her nicely....

ETA just read the thread on socialisation and neutralisation which was very interesting.

Is it too late to neutralise once the pup is 6 months?

I let my puppy play with other dogs, her recall is "pretty good" LOL from other dogs, but i'm sure you would be able find it is not reliable under significant distraction (like a bbq chicken!!!).

She always seems to know that on lead means no play, no talking to other dogs. Of course we sometimes can't avoid the idiots who let their dogs run up off (and sometimes on!) lead to her but she will just ignore them. She lunges on lead to smell things but won't lunge to see another dog.

I think your method makes sense in thoery but am not overly certain of the practicality of it. For instance, most pet dog owners would take the dog to the park for off leash exercise due to not having a large enough yard at home to properly exercise the dog. If you do this, ignoring other dogs is almost impossible as you always get idiots who don't ask and just let their dog do whatever.

Edited October 12, 2010 by aussielover

[Steve K9Pro]

My 6 month old lab puppy has gone from walking nicely on a loose leash, to pulling and lunging in about 2 weeks

I can control her and get her to focus but the problem is my family members can't seem to control her. My dad is better with her, but he just holds her on a short leash and doesn't let her lunge but its still not loose leash walking.

Other dog trainers and instructors can get her focessed and walk her ok.

Is she just testing people?

It is a bit bad that i am the only one who can walk her nicely....

K9: She probably is testing you, but if other trainers can get her to walk nicely on the leash, there may be something that you need to look at to help you get the same results as them.

ETA just read the thread on socialisation and neutralisation which was very

interesting.

Is it too late to neutralise once the pup is 6 months?

K9: Yes it would be as some values would be set already.

I let my puppy play with other dogs, her recall is "pretty good" LOL from other

dogs, but i'm sure you would be able find it is not reliable under significant

distraction (like a bbq chicken!!!).

K9: Ok well I look at it this way, you either have a reliable recall or you dont, I dont like the term "pretty reliable", this means to me she comes some times lol.

She always seems to know that on lead means no play, no talking to other dogs.

Of course we sometimes can't avoid the idiots who let their dogs run up off (and

sometimes on!) lead to her but she will just ignore them. She lunges on lead to

smell things but won't lunge to see another dog.

K9: Hmm I would look at what plans you have for her, will she be a pet, sport dog? These things are nice to know before you set too many rules on energy right near you, this can cause you to fall over later if you ever decide to train in drive.

I think your method makes sense in thoery but am not overly certain of the

practicality of it. For instance, most pet dog owners would take the dog to the

park for off leash exercise due to not having a large enough yard at home to

properly exercise the dog. If you do this, ignoring other dogs is almost

impossible as you always get idiots who don't ask and just let their dog do

whatever.

K9: Based on my experience with many clients, with dogs that have become aggressive or disobedient, they do take their dog to the park, they allow it to play with other dogs and then become annoyed when the dog wont recall.

A few weeks later in that same park, their dog gets attacked by another off leash dog and within a few weeks - months, their dog is displaying aggression too. So I find that impractical.

If you dont start by allowing your dogs to play with others, but allowing controlled meetings to set social values low or close to neutral, then later if you go to the park, your dog wont be desperate to play with them, ignoring your recalls and perhaps ending up in harms way.

[aussielover]

Thanks for replying so quickly!

K9: She probably is testing you, but if other trainers can get her to walk nicely on the leash, there may be something that you need to look at to help you get the same results as them.

I can walk her nicely- it is just that no one else (family or friends) can.

K9: Ok well I look at it this way, you either have a reliable recall or you dont, I dont like the term "pretty reliable", this means to me she comes some times lol.

she recalls pretty much 100% off other dogs, for some reason she find me more valuable than them.

She is unreliable with recalling off a scent though, but she doesn't actually run away so i can just walk over and get her back on the lead.

Obviously i am more attractive than a dog, but not as attractive as a piece of soil or urine

LOL ok so she is not reliable then.

Should i keep her on a long line until she is?

K9: Hmm I would look at what plans you have for her, will she be a pet, sport dog? These things are nice to know before you set too many rules on energy right near you, this can cause you to fall over later if you ever decide to train in drive.

She will hopefully be a working guide dog.

Otherwise if she comes back to me, i'd like her to be a therapy and sport dog.

K9: Based on my experience with many clients, with dogs that have become aggressive or disobedient, they do take their dog to the park, they allow it to play with other dogs and then become annoyed when the dog wont recall.

A few weeks later in that same park, their dog gets attacked by another off leash dog and within a few weeks - months, their dog is displaying aggression too. So I find that impractical.

If you dont start by allowing your dogs to play with others, but allowing controlled meetings to set social values low or close to neutral, then later if you go to the park, your dog wont be desperate to play with them, ignoring your recalls and perhaps ending up in harms way.

How do you exercise the dogs then?

Leash walks only

I have to say after reading this, I am surprised that guide dogs allows the pups to play with other dogs at the park considering the risk of the pups being attacked or developing a high value for other dogs.

[Steve K9Pro]

K9: She probably is testing you, but if other trainers can get her to walk

nicely on the leash, there may be something that you need to look at to help you

get the same results as them.

I can walk her nicely- it is just that no

one else (family or friends) can.

K9: Ok they may need to put in some more work then, the method you use may have some certain signals or cues they are not giving?

she recalls pretty much 100% off other dogs, for some reason she find me more

valuable than them.

She is unreliable with recalling off a scent though, but

she doesn't actually run away so i can just walk over and get her back on the

lead.

Obviously i am more attractive than a dog, but not as attractive as a

piece of soil or urine

K9: You said that, not me lol...

LOL ok so she is not reliable then.

Should i keep her on a long line

until she is?

K9: I would but call it a safety or emergency line, no need to hang onto it all the time but its there if you need it. Good recalls are conditioned rather than trained, so there must be good conditioning that is consistent to turn a good recall into a great recal.

K9: Hmm I would look at what plans you have for her, will she be a pet, sport

dog? These things are nice to know before you set too many rules on energy right

near you, this can cause you to fall over later if you ever decide to train in

drive.

She will hopefully be a working guide dog.

Otherwise if she

comes back to me, i'd like her to be a therapy and sport dog.

K9: Ok lots of different goals there, for therapy or guide dog, being calm on the leash is the goal, not the goal for sport dog though...

K9: Based on my experience with many clients, with dogs that have become

aggressive or disobedient, they do take their dog to the park, they allow it to

play with other dogs and then become annoyed when the dog wont recall.

A

few weeks later in that same park, their dog gets attacked by another off leash

dog and within a few weeks - months, their dog is displaying aggression too. So

I find that impractical.

If you dont start by allowing your dogs to play

with others, but allowing controlled meetings to set social values low or close

to neutral, then later if you go to the park, your dog wont be desperate to play

with them, ignoring your recalls and perhaps ending up in harms way.

How

do you exercise the dogs then?

Leash walks only

K9: well think of splitting up what you want to achieve, are you socialising or exercising? I dont do both at once. Exercising may mean, bike riding, jogging, fetching, swimming, walking, recalls, frisbee, none of which need to have other dogs there.

I have to say after reading this, I am surprised that guide dogs allows the pups

to play with other dogs at the park considering the risk of the pups being

attacked or developing a high value for other dogs.

K9: Me too, may be worthwhile to look at the failure rate of dogs they call "reactive".

[aussielover]

Thanks K9!

I know lots of guide dogs fail beause of dog or food distraction!

Actually a number of the other dogs mindy has trained with are dog "reactive" (in an aggressive and over friendly type way). A LOT of them wear head halters! We have been lucky enough not to need to use one.

This pup is very sensible and laid back thank goodness!

The main problem with other family members is that they don't actually communicate with her when walking. They are what i call "purposeful striders" almost oblivious to the dogs presence. i think i will continue to work with the pup myself.

Edited October 12, 2010 by aussielover

[aussielover]

Hey K9, I have another question about your program again! (sorry couldn't post in socialisation thread due to it being too old)

If your dog is already "socialised" to other dogs can you still achieve a high level of reliability? Obviously, it will be much harder, but is it still possible? Is this achieved through drive training?

Can you have two dogs living in the same household, one socialised and one neutralised and trained in drive?

I think my next dog will be trained using your methods- neutralisation and drive, so i can try to avoid problems. Do you find that people who follow your program from puppyhood generally have good results, with reliable dogs?

[Steve K9Pro]

Hey K9, I have another question about your program again! (sorry couldn't post in socialisation thread due to it being too old)

If your dog is already "socialised" to other dogs can you still achieve a high level of reliability?

K9: Yep sure can.

Obviously, it will be much harder, but is it still possible? Is this achieved through drive training?

K9: It can be achieved a number of ways, thats the beauty of dogs, they are pretty adaptable to training, but yes it does make it harder / more time consuming and adds steps.

Can you have two dogs living in the same household, one socialised and one neutralised and trained in drive

?

K9: yep, no reason why not, but this question makes me wonder if you truly understand what each is, none of the concepts will effect pack structure in a negative way.

I think my next dog will be trained using your methods- neutralisation and drive, so i can try to avoid problems. Do you find that people who follow your program from puppyhood generally have good results, with reliable dogs?

K9: That of course is the goal, but there is always a chance that things can go wrong from genetic inception to death, its that uncertainty that keeps us guessing!

Many people that have working dogs have used these methods with great success, more success even than pet owners I would think as their routine is more regimented and social outings less...

[chellz]

My puppy sometimes barks at me (or the kids) im guessing to get attention.. she dosent do it all the time but i dont like that behaviour.. do we just ignore her when she does that and go back to her when she stops barking?

[poodlemum]

Thank you SO much for posting this - I am not planning any litters in the very near future, but have bookmarked this thread - chock-full of useful information which I couldn't have put better!

[sallyandtex]

K9: to teach anything, you will need to establish a motivator (reward system) for your pup, then there are ways that you can use this with a method like show/place & reward system..

Yes there is a difference, in reality respect comes from discipline which is you setting boundaries for your pup... Consequences can be from time outs to physical corrections..

Just read the article , thanks.

Have 15 month old Kelpie.

She's doing OK obedience wise, but I am wondering about your "Consequences" as my hubby(OH) and I disagree. Had a personal trainer tell me (when Sally was about 9 months) not to use any form of physical punishment. I prefer to use positive reinforcement.

When Sally chews something up, (example only), my OH goes mad at her, and also gives a smack (not hard), and she looks REALLY sheepish and then proceeds to sulk for a good half hour. I usually say Uh-UH.

Thanks

[Steve K9Pro]

Have 15 month old Kelpie.

She's doing OK obedience wise, but I am wondering about your "Consequences" as my hubby(OH) and I disagree. Had a personal trainer tell me (when Sally was about 9 months) not to use any form of physical punishment. I prefer to use positive reinforcement.

K9: In the reply I sent I was just letting you know where consequences start and finish, use what ever fits with your choices and your dog.

When Sally chews something up, (example only), my OH goes mad at her, and also gives a smack (not hard), and she looks REALLY sheepish and then proceeds to sulk for a good half hour. I usually say Uh-UH.

K9: remember that anger isnt a consequence, it is an emotion, one that has no place in training any dog. Best come up with a chew toy loaded with food and give your dog something to chew, rather than her find something on her own.