kima Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 Hi all, Hoping for some advice on how to manage my suddenly defiant 17 week old Stafford puppy. Generally he is a very quiet dog and will only bark when we are playing with him, however recently he has started barking at us whenever we tell him "no". When he was younger he would throw what i called puppy tantrums when we told him no (would roll around on the floor grumbling) however now he has started planting his feet and barking at us. He isn't being aggressive at all and the fact that his tail tends to be wagging the whole time makes me think he believes its a game. If you walk towards him when he is doing it he just runs off under the table and barks at you from there. We have tried ignoring him when he barks at us, but this does not seem to be helping. If anything the behaviour seems to have escalated over the last two weeks. On the plus side, he does stop doing whatever we have told him not to do, but the behaviour in general concerns me. We are hoping to start puppy school in a fortnight and i am sure they will have plenty of good advice on how to manage this behaviour, but in the meantime i would be greatful for any suggestions anyone may have! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salukifan Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 (edited) Hi all, Hoping for some advice on how to manage my suddenly defiant 17 week old Stafford puppy. Generally he is a very quiet dog and will only bark when we are playing with him, however recently he has started barking at us whenever we tell him "no". When he was younger he would throw what i called puppy tantrums when we told him no (would roll around on the floor grumbling) however now he has started planting his feet and barking at us. He isn't being aggressive at all and the fact that his tail tends to be wagging the whole time makes me think he believes its a game. If you walk towards him when he is doing it he just runs off under the table and barks at you from there. We have tried ignoring him when he barks at us, but this does not seem to be helping. If anything the behaviour seems to have escalated over the last two weeks. On the plus side, he does stop doing whatever we have told him not to do, but the behaviour in general concerns me. We are hoping to start puppy school in a fortnight and i am sure they will have plenty of good advice on how to manage this behaviour, but in the meantime i would be greatful for any suggestions anyone may have! What do you think "no" means to your pup? Say it often enough and its just white noise. I suggest you show him what you want him to do and reward him when he does it , rather than telling him what not to do. At 19 weeks, your pup will be too old for any "puppy school". I suggest you head straight for obedience training and keep doing it until he's got through adolescence. Teenage dogs are far more of a handful than baby puppies. Edited October 12, 2012 by Haredown Whippets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 The trainer I had at my first basic obedience course put it well I thought - she likened it to a workplace where you are trying to type a letter: would you do better if your boss showed you what to write, or just waited for you to type something then yelled "no!" until you stumbled on the right key? So what HW said - figure out what you want instead and reinforce that :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kima Posted October 12, 2012 Author Share Posted October 12, 2012 Thanks guys for the quick responses. To clarify, by puppy school I meant obedience school. He did puppy pre-school at 10 weeks. We had our first try at obedience school last weekend but were not too keen on the methods they used so have been looking around for another one. Have one that looks very promising lined up now. Definitely agree with the trying to show him what he should be doing suggestions. Just not sure how to go about it in this scenario. When he does something wrong (it's usually trying to chew your shoe while its on your foot) we have been trying one firm "no" to let him know that the behaviour is not acceptable and then trying to divert him with chew toys and kongs etc. and then give him lots of praise for chewing on them instead. This was incredibly effective in getting him to stop mouthing. Where is gets difficult is that nowadays if he grabs your foot as soon as he hears the word "no" it just sets him off and you cant even get near him with toys to try and divert him cos he just thinks it's a game and runs off and keeps barking. In this case would it be better to not tell him "no" and just try and divert him? I just worry that he wont understand that the reason he is being diverted is because he is doing something he is not allowed to do. Overall he is a very smart and obedient dog, he has good recall (except when in barking mode) and will sit, drop etc. I am hoping that this is just him testing the waters in regards to what he can get away with, but as you said, the older he gets the harder it is going to be to break bad habits! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackJaq Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 I think I would leave and punish the barking by ignoring him/not letting him be with you. Others might have better suggestions but I found leaving a very useful "punishment" to stop defiant behaviours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Miss Emma Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 I don't see a need for the word no to be used in what you described - he now has probably associated the word with starting to bark so in his mind you are cue-ing him to start barking. I would just distract with something else and I would also use the walk off on him theory that was mentioned above, no point barking at you if you aren't there to be barked at! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simply Grand Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 Does he only do this when he's trying to grab your shoes? If so it's sounds like he's invented a great little game where he bites at your shoes, you tell him no (possibly shaking/moving your foot to get him off) then interact with him all over the place while you talk to him, offer him toys and chase him round the room. And he doesn't want the game to end so he barks to say keep going, and then keeps getting your attention :) When he grabs at your feet you could try freezing, crossing your arms, very deliberately looking away from him and staying frozen and ignoring him until he leaves you alone and is quiet. THEN he gets your attention and toys. If he is barking in all sorts of circumstances then I agree with the others about walking off and ignoring him til he calms down and is quiet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kima Posted October 12, 2012 Author Share Posted October 12, 2012 I think you guys are right and it is an attention thing. He did it before and I turned away and ignored him so he climbed on the coffee table and started barking at me from there. Cheeky bugger!! He knows full well he is not allowed on the coffee table. Have had some success this evening by instructing him to sit and drop when he starts barking. He gets so distracted following directions that he forgets he was barking in the first place. Don't know if its addressing the underlying issue though! Despite the fact he is being a little terror, I love the fact he has such a district personality! Thankyou all for the advice. Will definitely be putting it into practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Labradork Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 (edited) My puppy was doing this too, but I have gotten it under control now. I worked out that she was reacting to me reacting to her defiant behaviour. I agree that ignoring them works best. Edited October 21, 2012 by Labradork Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 A water pistol or spray bottle fired at the very same time as a very firm "ugh" (growl). Worked well with both my border collies who are angels now when it comes to not barking even though they both love water, they don't like it being fired at their face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackJaq Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Hehe I used the water bottle too, when my dogs were little. It worked really well! Nobody wants to be squirted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minimax Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Hehe I used the water bottle too, when my dogs were little. It worked really well! Nobody wants to be squirted! My pup loves the water squirter, she worked out that being naughty meant she got squirted, so she would intentionally be naughty and then stand there with her mouth open to catch all the water I squirted at her face Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessicaM Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 I can imagine a puppy doing this, I have had a naughty pup do this. I would try growling at them instead of no and also a spray bottle with water AND some viniger! Dr harry addressed some dogs like water and viniger smells horrible for the dogs. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 yep ..vinegar is a great additive . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackJaq Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 (edited) Lol.. speak of vinegar! My Wei learnt her lesson about stealing food off plates/bowls when she got tall enough to be able to reach on top of the coffee table easily.. She spotted an unattended bowl and thought "You Beauty!" and went in for a big mouth full.. Unfortunately for her it had had salad in it and I like lots of vinegar on my lettuce. The bowl was empty except for some vinegar and oil and she got a big nose full of the stuff. She never did that again. EVER lol! Edited October 22, 2012 by BlackJaq Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minimax Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 yep ..vinegar is a great additive . But not something I'd be putting near a puppies eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kima Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Thanks everyone for all the advice :) Have finally figured it out I think! was wondering why I'm the only person he barks at and realised I am by far the one who plays with him the most. It seems his biting my feet and then barking when I say no is an attempt to get me to chase him and play with him (admittably my fault for playing chasey games with him in the first place!). Have found that if I ignore him and turn away from him he will keep going for a bit and when he gets no reaction he lies down and starts grumbling and then just gives up. He starts obedience school Wednesday so will be interesting to see if they think I'm on the right track! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 kima - I'm sitting here typing as my temporary puppy resident HOWLS in his crate - he's just finished his meal and wants to come play NOW! We are all ignoring him and trying not to laugh at his persistence. If the dogs and cats could roll their eyes they would :laugh: It's a painful process but much more effective long term, in my experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizT Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Hehe I used the water bottle too, when my dogs were little. It worked really well! Nobody wants to be squirted! My pup loves the water squirter, she worked out that being naughty meant she got squirted, so she would intentionally be naughty and then stand there with her mouth open to catch all the water I squirted at her face Some "mum's" do have 'em! ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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