Pup Im Minding

[ncarter]

Im minding my friends pup for a few weeks. She is a malt shih Tzu, she must be nearly 12 months old now. I haven't had a pup of my own for about 4 yrs now so im a bit out of practice. Anyway dog is driving me nuts. She is overweight and hyperactive. Jumps up a lot when excited, Cant relax inside unless she is in her pen. Dog appears to be really hand shy. When I try to pat her she either mouths at my hand or drops herself on her back like she only wants to be touched on the belly not on the chest or back or head. However when brushing her she wont let meput her on her back to brush her belly. She is a little better after some exercise but not much. Dog pulls on the lead also. Ive been given the retractable lead. She is still on the pal puppy food which says you can feed til 24 months. She also does this thing where she stands on her back legs and flails with her front legs to get attention, thinks that's been rewarded in the past. Any help for me and owner would be much appreciated.

[Sheridan]

How much work do you want to put in if you only have her for a couple weeks?

In regards to the flailing, my two do that when I arrive home. I don't open the door until they're sitting. If I get close and they flail, I back away.

Edited August 4, 2015 by Sheridan

[hippo]

I agree with Sheridan. Very frustrating to put work into a dog only to see the owner fall back into their habits and see all your work come undone.

She's on a retractable lead. You're supposed to pull on a retractable lead. Unless you can be bothered getting her a lightweight small lead, and start lead training from scratch (or even worse than scratch, as she's already been taught to pull), there's not much you can do there.

[Dogsfevr]

The dancing on the back legs is a typical Maltese trait ,every Maltese i have known does it they dance on there back legs whilst there front legs wave & all the Malts we board & groom do it ,

Most of the Malt/Shih crosses we board are active dogs,many people seem to think they should be placid & boring .Shih Tzus are awesome active dogs ,

As for brushing the dog has most likely been taught to stand to be brushed which is what a groomer expects ,just make the dog stand .Ihate it when people teach them to be groomed upside down & then come to us for grooming & they wont stand .

The dog actually doesn't sound that bad just more a case of not the type of behaviour you like so it will annoy you no matter what .

In all honesty i would hate to think a friend babysat my dog & then wanted to train it to there liking .

If its fat then just feed it accordingly .

[ncarter]

thanks for the replies. Yes showdog you are right, this dog is very active. I give her a 2k walk and I feel she could easily take double that. Regarding the brushing, I have taught my dogs to tolerate being put on their backs on a table as I feel I can brush their bellies better and also cutting their nails and foot hair is easier from this angle