Naughty Newfie Puppy

[Azreal]

Hi everyone,

my little baby tinkerbell is a wonderful little puppy but she is very strong minded & she constantly bites my ankles & pants or skirt as i walk. yesterday she almost pulled it off & as i was holding my baby i couldnt really do much to stop her

So my question to all you dog lovers is a pretty broad one - what is the best way to teach her not to do this without being too scary or overwhelming for her. I don't want to make her scared of me & being a female its harder to discipline her with my voice, please can someone advise on any tips that i can use to teach her she is not in charge without being too forceful. Because of her breed i dont like pushing her away too much when she does it because she lands on the tiles & i worry she will hurt her bones etc as she is quite heavy for a puppy.

I want to get it right before she gets too big to teach her & i need to make sure she respects me as i need her to listen especially when i need her to get down if i am holding my baby etc.

Any advice would be much appreciated - there is some stuff online & we do have a private trainer booked in a couple of weeks but i want to start things now before its too late.

Please help.

Thanks in advance.

[sas]

What you're experiencing is normal - not fun mind you.

It depends on how you want to handle this one, you could try the re-divert method by getting her to re-divert this behaviour to a toy and then praise her when she's interacting with the toy and not biting you.

You could ask her for obedience instead of her biting at you i.e. "Sit" and then give her a treat - there's no reason you can't walk around with a small treat pouch or treats in your pocket.

You could correct her - the level of correction a puppy needs is individual and lot's of people are worried about correcting a puppy and over-doing it.

Are you going to puppy school?

[TsarsMum]

growl at her and say NO in the deepest voice you can mangage. and then praise her when she is chewing the right stuff.

Im not trying to sound rude but you need to start learning to be strong with her as in even a few months you will have no hope and a extreamly large dog who wont listern

have you seen what a mum dog does to its pups if they do stuff like a little growling from you is not going to damage your dog but not toughing up will.

[Azreal]

What you're experiencing is normal - not fun mind you.

It depends on how you want to handle this one, you could try the re-divert method by getting her to re-divert this behaviour to a toy and then praise her when she's interacting with the toy and not biting you.

You could ask her for obedience instead of her biting at you i.e. "Sit" and then give her a treat - there's no reason you can't walk around with a small treat pouch or treats in your pocket.

You could correct her - the level of correction a puppy needs is individual and lot's of people are worried about correcting a puppy and over-doing it.

Are you going to puppy school?

thanks sas, yes i do try to redivert sometimes & it does work - i will keep doing this as well as letting her know biting is not ok.

We have an obedience trainer comming to the house in a few weeks & then we will also send to her to the group classes as well.

[Azreal]

growl at her and say NO in the deepest voice you can mangage. and then praise her when she is chewing the right stuff.

Im not trying to sound rude but you need to start learning to be strong with her as in even a few months you will have no hope and a extreamly large dog who wont listern

have you seen what a mum dog does to its pups if they do stuff like a little growling from you is not going to damage your dog but not toughing up will.

thanks tsarsmum, i actually did this yesterday & it worked really well. I just wanted to see if this type of stuff is ok, as some sites say to just use positive reinforcement & i am being a bit too sensitive about it all maybe. I think i will combine the advice you give above with the advice sas has given as i am comfortable doing both depending on the situation.

Yep, i def am aware about the dominace thing & how hard it will be in a few weeks to get her to do anything.....i guess she needs to learn her place in the pack & what is appropriate. I will have to remember that she is a puppy & not a human baby but it is hard sometimes with those fluffy cute looks.

Thanks again guys.

[siks3]

growl at her and say NO in the deepest voice you can mangage. and then praise her when she is chewing the right stuff.

Im not trying to sound rude but you need to start learning to be strong with her as in even a few months you will have no hope and a extreamly large dog who wont listern

have you seen what a mum dog does to its pups if they do stuff like a little growling from you is not going to damage your dog but not toughing up will.

That is good advice.

But make sure you are not constantly scolding the puppy make sure you reward the puppy as soon as it is doing the right thing.

A lot of dog owners are over keen on scolding the puppy but hold off on the treats and praise which can have consequences on your dogs temperament like making him shy or fearful of you.

Getting the balance right is the key to having a balanced dog with a good happy loving nature.

It sounds like your puppy is chasing anything that moves which is triggering your puppies prey drive.

Dogs in that frame of mind learn well so getting him to do obedience when he's lively and focused on you this will help your training process go along a lot quicker.

I also believe in a small correction when the word "no" is used such as giving a small flick by his collar which will stop him in his tracks until the pup understands the meaning of the command "no". when he stops the behavior you don't want and is doing something you do want make sure you praise and treat your puppy.

Giving the small correction enforces the command otherwise just growling will stop having an effect after awhile.

[poodlefan]

We have an obedience trainer comming to the house in a few weeks & then we will also send to her to the group classes as well.

I hope you mean you'll take her to the classes.

In order to have a well mannered dog, you as the owners need to learn how to train her. You can train her partly by showing her what to do (and rewarding it), partly by showing her what not to do (and discplining her) or a combination of both.

Dogs learn fastest by being giving boundaries (don't do these things) and within those boundaries being rewarded for the manners we want them to have.

What you need to focus on is that you've got a pup that's going to grow into a powerful giant dog and that you need to be starting to get that training happening NOW. Every week a behaviour is or is not trained is another week of things you're going to have to undo.

I would be starting NOW, by reading the training section of this website and by both setting aside a couple of short periods a day for formal training (sit, walk on loose lead, come etc) and then formulating ways to deal with normal puppy antics like mouthing.

Do the hard yards now and you'll be rewarded with a dog that's a pleasure to have around.

Don't get hung up about "dominance". Not everything a baby puppy does that you don't like is a about ruling the household. Reward what you want, don't reward or discourage what you don't want and remember that she won't know any better than what you teach her to do and not to do.

This is going to be a dog that you will not be able to physically dominate so start as you mean to go on.. work on a theory of cooperation and leadership with you as the guide and controller of all good things.

ETA: I would not be having her loose while you are holding the baby. You can only concentrate on one baby at at time. If you have not considered crate training her, I'd strongly recommend it.l

Edited September 19, 2010 by poodlefan