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Nickel is turning 4 months this week. He continues to be a very playful puppy who is learning new things everyday and is reliably housetrained. But there are several behavioral problems that are definitely catching my attention:
1. He used to stay in his crate quietly until I got off my bed and only then I would hear him getting a bit restless, all ready to come out and go potty. But recently, he is not doing so well in his crate - he has never had any accident inside but he would keep crying and crying for 10 mins after I put him in and he would cry in the morning and wake me up. What should I do?
2. From the very beginning (and still) he is very excited and wags his tail like crazy whenever he sees my husband and he rarely wags his tail when he sees me, except when I let him out of his crate. He follows me around in the house (not so much for my husband) and he stays close to my feet when both of us are watching tv. Recently when he's dozing off near my feet, he would growl at my husband when he walks near him/pat him. This happens almost every time when he's sleepy. How should I fix this?
3. As some of you may remember, Nickel was scared by some skateboarders a while ago. He's getting a lot better now BUT only when walking with me. One time I had to go back home and grab a jacket and I told my husband I would meet them at the regular spot, when I came down I saw them standing right there. Nickel refused to go with him. According to hubby, he cried and cried and dragged him back. But once he saw me, he ran and jumped up to me. I didn't want to reenforce this so I calmly called his name and we walked together to our regular spot. And he walked nicely on leash without any problem. And he ran and played with my husband with no problem.
Background info: I am the sole caregiver - I feed, I clean, I brush, I bathe, I take him to class/playgroup, I myself walk him twice a day. Hubby joins our evening walk maybe 4 times a week and he plays with him like crazy for 20 mins everyday after work (typical dad~)
I think Nickel is seeing me as the pack leader and my husband as his playmate/peer. How can I let him know that papa is papa but not his peer?
1. He used to stay in his crate quietly until I got off my bed and only then I would hear him getting a bit restless, all ready to come out and go potty. But recently, he is not doing so well in his crate - he has never had any accident inside but he would keep crying and crying for 10 mins after I put him in and he would cry in the morning and wake me up. What should I do?
2. From the very beginning (and still) he is very excited and wags his tail like crazy whenever he sees my husband and he rarely wags his tail when he sees me, except when I let him out of his crate. He follows me around in the house (not so much for my husband) and he stays close to my feet when both of us are watching tv. Recently when he's dozing off near my feet, he would growl at my husband when he walks near him/pat him. This happens almost every time when he's sleepy. How should I fix this?
3. As some of you may remember, Nickel was scared by some skateboarders a while ago. He's getting a lot better now BUT only when walking with me. One time I had to go back home and grab a jacket and I told my husband I would meet them at the regular spot, when I came down I saw them standing right there. Nickel refused to go with him. According to hubby, he cried and cried and dragged him back. But once he saw me, he ran and jumped up to me. I didn't want to reenforce this so I calmly called his name and we walked together to our regular spot. And he walked nicely on leash without any problem. And he ran and played with my husband with no problem.
Background info: I am the sole caregiver - I feed, I clean, I brush, I bathe, I take him to class/playgroup, I myself walk him twice a day. Hubby joins our evening walk maybe 4 times a week and he plays with him like crazy for 20 mins everyday after work (typical dad~)
I think Nickel is seeing me as the pack leader and my husband as his playmate/peer. How can I let him know that papa is papa but not his peer?