15 week old puppy biting and growling - Page 3 - Poodle Forum - Standard Poodle, Toy Poodle, Miniature Poodle Forum ALL Poodle owners too!

Ryker-&-Canyon · 12-21-2012, 09:24 AM

LegalEagle, I want to thank you for the link. My guys are not home yet and I have been trying to learn as much as I can before their arrival. I put Dog Star Daily in my bookmarks. What a wonderful resource.

fjm · 12-21-2012, 11:58 AM

I would have two concerns about board-and-train - firstly, are they using the positive, reward based methods that I would consider essential with a pup, but also secondly, why is it necessary to take a dog away from the owner to be trained in the first place? Training is so much a matter of the relationship between dog and owner that I cannot really understand how a short course with someone else can work in the long term - if the owner is unable or unwilling to put the time and energy into training, surely anything learned will quickly be undermined as soon as the dog gets home? Most of the classes I have taken my dogs to have been at least as much about training the owner as training the dog ....

MaryLynn · 12-21-2012, 03:27 PM

I agree with FJM, the training is just as much for the owners as the dog. It won't do much good if your dog is trained, but you aren't.

My dad adopted a 3 year old female golden retriever this fall, she had advanced obedience training and she is almost a complete spaz/wreck now since they don't seem to be keeping up with it (or exercising her enough-which is crazy since they live on an absolutely HUGE farm with fields, and woods, etc).

I have been working with her a little bit when I can, but she seems to be progressively 'worse' every time I see her.

Lou · 12-21-2012, 04:28 PM

In 3.5 months I have already taught Lou about 25 different commands, (she is a little genious, well a big genious!And I Think she doesnt need to learn much more to be a good well behaved dog LOL) the board and train/play is more for socializing. They introduce 3 new people each day, take them to stores if u want them to, play with many other dogs etc... Do a physical exam each day, for them to get used to being touched anywhere by strangers, brush them etc etc etc,... Lou was attacked by 2 dogs at 4 months of age, so this is mainly to overcome mild fear of dogs, which she has been accomplishing! :-D

milliesmom · 12-22-2012, 11:41 AM

Lou- There are many board and train programs that are wonderful! I had a toy poodle, who for the life of me, I could not get a reliable recall, and he also had serious separaton anxiety. I tried and tried to train him with no luck for these two things...everything else he was great at. I sent him to a great place 8 hours away to a reputable training program and they trained him for three weeks. The trainer and I spoke regularly and she helped me know how to use the techniques she used. I got my dog back and I was so happy, he would come when called and heel off leash beautifully with many distractions. I think it actually helped him to be taken out of his normal enviornment to learn these new behaviors.

Lou · 12-22-2012, 06:01 PM

Milliesmom, thank you!! LOL :-) Im glad it worked out for you guys as well !!

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Lou · 01-06-2013, 08:03 AM

Lou is back!! Hair hair is soooo long LOL her face looks funny, big head! LOL - way too much hair haha, so happy to have her here and being even more obedient, and they said she is totally not afraid of dogs anymore!!! Played with several of them at once! And not jumping on people at all so far :-D

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meredian · 01-06-2013, 09:50 AM

I want to say another thank you to the original poster and the advice. I was just about to come on the forum to let off some steam/seek some advice about biting.

Wade is 2 months old and we've made a lot of progress with bite inhibition when it comes to hands (he still mouths, but it's better) using Dr. Dunbar's method, but now he has moved on to biting our LEGS! Just this morning he ruined my favorite pair of stretch pants while we were playing fetch in the yard. It's always when he is wound up - he'll just lunge at our legs and bite and it HURTS. I always say "OUCH" or "NO" and give him a stern look. Today he was so bad that I brought him right inside and put him in his pen.

I don't think I missed this anywhere on the thread, but has anyone used the "bad noise" method for biting or other bad behaviors? I've heard about filling a can with coins and throwing it on the ground whenever they do something you don't want them to be doing. There is also some loud spray called something like "Stop It" spray.

Thanks again for great advice.

meredian · 01-06-2013, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milliesmom

I need some help with my spoo. She is 15 weeks old and we have had her since she was 7 weeks old(I know now that I should have waited until 8 weeks...didnt know then). We have had problems with her biting since she was about 8 weeks old. We have tried everything in the book but now that she has really started teething she is even worse. She bites hard even after 8 weeks of bite inhibition training. We have taken her around many people and she bites all of them. So she cannot even be properly socialized because we have to pull her away from everyone because she wont stop biting them HARD! We are taking her to a puppy class starting Jan 3rd. I am only taking her because I am hoping being around other dogs and people will calm her down. Other than the biting she is perfect, she is pretty much housebroke, knows sit, down, come, and turn in a circle. Will this ever end?! I am afraid she will never be reliable around other people! HELP!!!!

Would love to know how to the training works out! We will be putting Wade in a class once he is fully vaccinated.

fjm · 01-06-2013, 11:22 AM

I wouldn't use the "bad noise" - too much risk of really scaring a puppy for me, but I have to admit that when Poppy started the fun game of let's-bite-Mum's-bum-when-she-is-not-looking-and-see-how-high-she-jumps, and ignoring wasn't working because it always took me by surprise, and it is very difficult not to jump and squeal when those needle teeth nip a tender part of your anatomy, I eventually turned around and ROARED at her, in my biggest, deepest, maternal dog voice! But she was quite a bit older than your pup, and I also took care to manage things so that she got very few opportunities to play the game - I'd watch her when she got over excited, and play something calming instead; I taught her not to crowd me at the top of the stairs; I watched her like a hawk around other people, and called her away at the first hint she might be getting excited enough to nip.

With a very young pup like yours (at 8 weeks he really is a baby and you want to make sure that he has as few scary experiences as possible) I would focus on management. I would avoid wearing anything valuable that he might tear, or anything temptingly flappy, and put on really old clothes to play with him for a few days (am I the only one with a drawer full of clothes for gardening and decorating in?!). Then if he grabs clothes it means game stops - you stand absolutely still. Offer him a toy instead, and if he takes it play a quick fun game of tug. Tugging on clothes = no attention and boring, picking up a toy = lots of lovely attention and play. We all tend to pay attention to our dogs when they are "naughty" - pulling at clothes, biting our feet, nipping bums, etc - and ignore them when they are calm and quiet. Then we wonder why they go on doing more and more of the "naughty" stuff...