Puppy Is Ignoring Me. Help!

[newpuppyowner]

so i read online that you were supposed to ignore the puppy whining, even when in the room. i also walked away from it when it whined and ran towards me. this was 2 days ago.

my puppy isn't responding to claps and running towards me very much anymore. sometimes it does, sometimes it just sits there and stares at me. it doesn't come for treats.

ive had it for about a week, and its 7 weeks old. my vet said its ok to take back a puppy between 6-8 weeks.

can anyone suggest some tips or help? could the puppy just be tired and cbf responding? or is he deliberately ignoring me, because i ignored him?

=(

thanks guys

and yes maybe ill get some bashing. bash all you want =) but please also add some advice as to how i can reverse or re-establish that relationship with the puppy. I'm a new owner, and really wanting to have a healthy and happy puppy.

[Steph M]

He's missed a lot of development leaving his mum so young, poor thing.

When puppies whine, sometimes they need to wee or eat or need attention. I don't know of flatly ignoring all the time is a good course of action. My 17 month old still whines to go wee.

[newpuppyowner]

hey thanks for the reply

i only ignored it for that time that day, and since then I've been trying to get it to come, which it occasionally does and i praise it a lot. before that, we only ignored it when it cried in it's pen, but never when he was outside. i read it online, and thought it was another technique of training the dog.

He's missed a lot of development leaving his mum so young, poor thing.

When puppies whine, sometimes they need to wee or eat or need attention. I don't know of flatly ignoring all the time is a good course of action. My 17 month old still whines to go wee.

[miss2]

what do you mean by this? " my vet said its ok to take back a puppy between 6-8 weeks." do you mean take it back to the breeder?

[tikira]

Are you making it the most exciting thing in the world for puppy to come to you.... the BEST treats, Llots of happy praise etc? What is in it for Puppy to come to you????

Make sure you never call it to you if it is going to get into trouble..... you soon teach a pup that sometimes it is a bad thing to come to you.

Play lots of "come" games, if you have another person, sit on the floor, and take turns in calling puppy yo you, tap the floor, make silly sounds,use squeaky toys, use the words puppy puppy if it is not yet sure of it's name.... whatever it akes to get puppy to you, thrn huge high pitched voice praise, and yummy treats, then the other person calls it... rinse and repeat.

It takes time to develop a bond, puppies arent born knowing what we want them to do, so my best advice to you if this is your first dog is to take it to puppy classes when its second injections are over and have kicked in, , and it is safe to socialise the puppy. Maybe before then find a dog training facility in your area, and go there without your pup and pick up some early pointers. Look at puppy training info online, there is so much out there.

Owning a puppy is not easy, but the time investment is worth it, this first uncertainty for you both will pass, you just need to learn how to get through to this particular puppy.

Good luck, and I think we need piccies of your new addition, and a name too!

Di

[Pjrt]

What breed is your puppy?

Remember that your puppy's name is not a punishment word. Never use it when you are cranky with the puppy. And like someone else said, if you want your puppy to come to you every time you need to be the most exciting thing in it's world at that moment in time.

[persephone]

puppies need to be rewarded for being close to a human .

they respond to LOVE ..food.... play ..honesty.

Can you tell us a bit more?That way we can maybe work some things out

What breed?

What colour ?

Whefre did you get it ?

have you mentioned this to the breeder?

How was puppy brought up ? Inside/outside ...or?

How do you feed puppy ?

Where does puppy sleep ?

[Sandra777]

Another question - why are you referring to your new family member as "IT", the pup is either male or female.

Pup is much too young to be ignored. The pup is probably whining because it is desperately lonely and confused being removed from the litter much too young. For the moment give the pup as much attention as possible to teach the pup you are safe, reliable and comforting.

[newpuppyowner]

thanks for all the replies! he knows his name, Oscar. he responds every time with his head moving over. i think i accidentally taught him that coming over is me ignoring him...and i feel terrible.

he's a maltese/pekingnese/shitzu.

by take back, i mean take it home, ie my home. the vet said it was ok to take it back to "my" home.

at the breeders, he was also kept inside. he sleeps in his pen, on his bed, with a puppy pad next to it.

i feed the puppy 4 times a day, mixture of royal canin + wet food, to wean him fully into just Dry food/biscuits/royal canin.

[teekay]

Absolutely what tikira said. Build your relationship up with Oscar. Play games, lots of treats. If you want to watch a few great videos, check out Kikopup on you tube, she is fantastic and has some puppy specific stuff on there. And don't forget to enjoy your pup, sometimes we get a bit overwhelmed with trying to do the right thing and forget to have fun :)

Oh and to DOL

[Rebanne]

are you sure he's not sick? Poor little mite.

[persephone]

look here -

you can use a word instead of using a clicker - use "yes" - or good or something short & happy .

[WeimMe]

It takes me a while to really build a solid bond with a new dog - about 6 months. I'm sure that other people will have different experiences, after all a "bond" is a two way thing and very personal. Training and positive reinforcement will help, not to mention just spending time with your dog.

In terms of training techniques, I think it's important to use some common sense, and be gentle and kind always. After all, this is your puppy, he's just a baby and adjusting to a new environment away from littermates. Right now he's relying on you for everything that his mother would do for him.

Don't take for granted that everything you read on the internet is the best way to go. Just like raising a child, there are thousands of ideas and methods of raising a puppy. Much of what you read will be just someone's opinion and not necessarily the absolute right way to guarantee that you end up with a well trained and socialised dog. As Oscar's owner you need to weed through what makes sense to you and what doesn't and try to find a way that is in keepiing with what you believe. Causing distress and ignoring basic requirements is probably not the best way to go. Some kind of attention and affection is a basic requirement for all baby animals if you want them to live happily with humans.

Right now, you have inadvertantly taught your puppy that you won't respond to him, so he's stopped trying to engage with you - he's smart! Try teaching him to come when called and sit instead. It's never to early to teach these things and it helps to build a great relationship.

[Christina]

If your puppy is eating & seems active he is not sick but probably sad.

He has been taken away from his mum & litter mates ( too young but that's done now )& taken to a strange place with a person he doesn't know & is alone now. Its a shock.

Pups need love, warmth & lots of cuddles & play. Try an igloo type bed for him. They have them in Kmart for $8 or Cheap As Chips for about $17. Much snugglier on cold nights sleeping alone & he will feel safe with the hood part.

Don't get too caught up on harsh training & there are so many ways on the internet that they can't all be the one right way. Dogs were trained by various methods before we had all this expert advice at the press of a key.

Your pup needs human contact now & to bond with you. Use common sense & don't ignore all whining. Like human babies sometimes they just need a cuddle.

So more cuddles & contact is what I think & then maybe he will feel happier & settle more.

[Justrace]

Try using your puppy's meals to treat him when he is doing anything good. Even just lying there doing nothing is behaviour that you want. Try calling him to you with pup, pup, pup & treat just for coming - even just a few steps at this stage.

[suziwong66]

Your baby is so very young - i wouldn't be ignoring it at all at that age; in fact the opposite - spending as much time as possible to develop a strong relationship. I spend a good six months hand feeding a puppy to help build a relationship. I also toilet on lead for the first six months so i can teach evacuation on command. The only time i ignore pup is for bad behaviour and it's a very limited 'time out' of a couple of minutes and then i immediately engage them in play again.

Every interaction with your puppy is an opportunity to engage with it and then treat for wanted behaviours. One of the first things i teach is "look" and also the pup's name and how to engage in play so that it engages with me willingly. It will come to you willingly if you're fun to be with and your hands are the food source rather than the bowl. A flirt pole is ridiculously fun-filled play for a puppy and a controlled game of tug (teach it an out like 'give' first though), fetch with squeaky toys (use a light weight long line to help it come back to you rather than running off). The flirt pole is good because you can let puppy catch it and then gently reel it in, all the while saying 'come' and then when it arrives say "YES" and then start the game all over again. A couple of weeks of that and puppy will be coming happily.

When your pup is a few weeks older than it is then you can consider short 'time out' periods for whining when you leave the room for short periods of time to teach it to separate. Your puppy is very very young to be home with you. Don't forget to reward it for short frequent periods of alone time to teach independence and don't make a fuss when you come back into the room.

good luck and enjoy this time with puppy; they grow up so very fast.

[zeebie]

Hope by now few weeks after original post pup is settled and more relaxed, personally I would be doing lots and lots of 'mothering' and bonding with the pup and introducing lots of different experiencing in a positive way and building up confidence. Once they are 'happy' in the new environment + know the new owner well you will find all the rest will just fall into place.