He hurt my 3 year old son =) - Poodle Forum - Standard Poodle, Toy Poodle, Miniature Poodle Forum ALL Poodle owners too!

shalynn · 06-30-2010, 08:30 PM

Ok so i know he didnt mean it, but my pup mannie has a bad habbit of running up and down any steps, or if we go to the door he will push past everyone and wont back off. Yesterday mannie, my 3 year old son and i were at my moms and i was in the back room painting while my son was in the livingroom with 3 adults, all the sudden i heard him start to cry so i ran to find him. I found him standing outside (the doors was propped open) holding his head and crying. Mannie was standing right behind him not knowing whats wrong. I grabed my son and started checking him over, i found he had hit his head twice on the steps ( which happen to be pure concrete) he had a huge greenish blue egg on his forhead and it was scraped all the was down towards his ear and another big bruise behind his ear. We had to take him to the er where they did an MRI and THANKFULLY he was ok. I know my pup did it and i dont blame him cause i know he dont understand what he is doing, but it has to stop and i just dont know how to make him stop. My son is almost 3 1/2 and still not even 25 lbs hes a very small kid and im so scared mannie will hurt him even worse one day (on accident) I could really use some help, i am in no way thinking of getting rid of him i love him too but if i cant controll this bad habbit he just wont be able to be around the kids much, and he loves them so much i dont want to punish him for something he dont even realize hes doing. Please any advise would be great. Thank you all for reading.

Marian · 06-30-2010, 08:39 PM

He needs some obedience training, and it needs to be consistently applied. Mannie needs to learn that he is not allowed to go ahead of the humans, including your young son. If you need to, don't be afraid to hire a professional trainer. Whatever you have to pay will be worth your peace of mind.

In the meantime, I would keep him tethered to you any time your son is not in the same room with you.

shalynn · 06-30-2010, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marian

He needs some obedience training, and it needs to be consistently applied. Mannie needs to learn that he is not allowed to go ahead of the humans, including your young son. If you need to, don't be afraid to hire a professional trainer. Whatever you have to pay will be worth your peace of mind.

In the meantime, I would keep him tethered to you any time your son is not in the same room with you.

good idea thank you =)

fjm · 07-01-2010, 03:52 AM

How old is Mannie? I agree with the need for appropriate training - it doesn't have to be stern or harsh, there are wonderful methods now that work with even the youngest, softest pup. I have found the UK APDT classes excellent, and the trainers brilliant about giving sensible, useful advice.

If there is one command mine really know it is "Wait!" - very, very useful for keeping things safe around doors, getting out of cars, putting leads on at the end of walks, and when there are children around they want to play with. Don't forget that it won't be enough to teach Mannie to wait at a door when you go through - you will need to generalise it to when anyone goes through, and especially that he needs to be calm around your small son (glad he is OK! - it must have been very frightening for both of you). I think you were very wise not to blame the dog, by the way - you don't want Mannie to be fearful around your son, just careful!

Olie · 07-01-2010, 04:25 AM

You need to apply training daily. If he is rushing everyone - he's been allowed to do this, and I am sure not purposefully. You can even buy DVD's and free training websites online to help aid in getting Manning settled down. If I recall he is still young, but you should address it now.

Glad your son is ok

Also - are you still breeding him?

shalynn · 07-01-2010, 05:33 AM

Mannie is still young he just turned one on the 19th of this month, i was planning on enrolling him in an obedience class in july but as of right now the way i was going to pay fell throught so im hoping if i can get some business i will be able to afford it. As for his breeding im only wanting to do it once, and thats IF i can even find a bitch. Standard poodles are REALLY hard to find around here.......please nobody bash me again about breeding him, i did take what everyone else said about how he's not breeding standards but in my eyes hes a good dog and i honestly believe he will produce good pups. And i dont plan on breeding more than the once. Im am really greatful for everyone advise and concerns, it means alot to me, and i will be looking up obedience training today. thank you all again. =)

Purley · 07-01-2010, 07:17 AM

You can practice NILIF - nothing in life is free. Probably you should have been doing this from day one.

The dog doesn't get anything unless he works for it. As someone said "wait" is a good word. He doesn't get to go out the door until he sits and waits. You will have to put him on a leash to teach him. He doesn't get to eat his food until he sits and waits. The humans are first. The humans go down the steps first, the humans go up the steps first. The humans include little humans too!

You can Google NILIF. You will find lots of sites.

If its your dog, then its YOUR responsibility to train him and teach him to be careful. Why you have waited until he is a year old is beyond me.

So you don't want bashing for breeding him. OK. But there are thousands and thousands of unwanted dogs in the world. I don't think adding to the number of dogs being born unless the dog is of top quality in every way - is what a responsible person would do. Enough said.

Olie · 07-01-2010, 08:03 AM

Heres a start:

How To Train A Dog, dog training tips and techniques for home based dog trainers

Dog Training - Dog Obedience Training - Dog Behavior Training Books

Nothing in Life is Free

This is not bashing, just something I feel obligated to say.

If you do not have Mannie trained by a year old - there are two problems, one, he seems like he might not have the right temperament. And two, most reputable breeders are pretty good at dog training, as they do a great deal of this with a pack of pups for 8-12 weeks. Just food for thought.

I know you want to get him properly trained for his sake and your children so please commit to some daily training of come, sit, sit and stay, heel, down, leave it, off......I would do at least 10-15 minutes a day and get Mannie on a leash too, all the time in the house - this will stop the charging and allow you to do a quick correction.

Purley · 07-01-2010, 08:25 AM

I am not sure if this comes under the heading of "bashing" but there seems to be a pattern of irresponsibility here!

JE-UK · 07-01-2010, 08:30 AM

My 2 cents, again not bashing anyone!

I have a year old miniature and only recently managed to get him into a formal obedience class (I had time constraints and there was a waiting list for the late class).

In spite of that, we had done so much work at home that he spent 2 weeks in beginner obedience then got promoted to intermediate.

It is SO easy to do five to ten minutes a day, just on very basic commands if you haven't trained a dog before.

Take him out to play ball, and in between throwing the ball, do a couple of sits and downs, then play with him. Graduate to a few short stays. You have to take the dog out, so might as well spend a few minutes working on 'wait' before you snap on the leash and take him for a walk. When you are preparing his dinner, put him on a down-stay on his mat.

Sometimes, we humans make things too complicated! Training doesn't have to be a dedicated hour every day, especially when you are busy. You can look for training opportunities in the margins.

Good luck with your guy; I'm finding training my poodle a real joy. I've never had one learn so quickly.