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| Twiglet issues; Any hints for puppy behavior?! | |
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| Topic Started: Mar 25 2009, 08:36 PM (211 Views) | |
| Nic | Mar 25 2009, 08:36 PM Post #1 |
Competition Manager
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I know every puppy is a hndaful, and to be honest all these things Im about to say I can handle fine, but its good to put down the things I need to work on and see if anyone has any suggestions/tips? I like to think iv tried obvious solutions but they havnt worked, so thought id see if anyone on here can give me any more tips! My little bundle of energy has the following issues, and this is what ive been trying, any hints would be excellent; 1. Being a bit obsessive with Brandy, if Brandy gets excited or runs around it sets Twig off big time, and she cant help but try and paw Brands and get her face in Brandy's! Brands just growls and snarls and has bitten her a few times, but she still doesnt get the message, I have been trying to give her time out when she is OTT like this. 2. Biting - usual puppy behaviour, but she's very vicious with hands, or if you put a coat on she tries to tug on it, oh and also the lead, I remember all this with Brands and I used to kinda scream if she did it and that used to work, doesnt have the same effect with Twig, she just carries on! so I have been trying to give her attention when she's in a quiet mood, and not hyper, or if she's hyper, give her something she's allowed to chew such as a toy 3. Interest in me on walks- again SOOOO fixated on Brands she doesnt seem to notice me, and I can squark, shout, call her etc and she carries on focusing on Brands or sniffing, Ive tried treats by calling Brands, giving her a treat which gets Twigs attention, and also MAKING her give me eye contact, and when she does, walking on again....how can I be more interesting than Brandy! 4. Training - everytime I try to train Twig, Brands thinks its her turn for attention too, so I end up telling them both to sit, and lie down and rewarding, but Brandy is way past that and dont want her having as many treats as Twig! But on the other hand, I dont want to just reward Twig, and ignore Brandy when she is doing all the things Im asking Twig to do! :unsure: 5. toileting on walks- she'll poo on walks if she has to but wee'ing, oohhh no, why when u can hold it in and do it in the garden! Tried rewarding her when shd oes it outside, but cant reward n walks if she doesnt do one! :rolleyes: 6. length of walks - they are supposed to have 5 mins for every month of their life so I am told, this would mean Twig should have 20 mins, this works some days, as Will does it after work, but when he is busy it seems silly for me to take Brands and her out for 20 mins, coem bk and then take Brands out for another 40! Does the odd longer walk matter?! 90% of the time its 20 mins, but sometimes she does 45mins-1 hr, to be fair she is completly not tired out, as proved tonight, 45 min walk, and the last 20 ins she has been running around the house like a looni! :hyper: hmmmm, think thats it for now! It makes me sound awful, but all these things aren't massive probs (except her annoying Brandy) just wondered if anyone had some help, or advice if im doing things wrong! |
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| Linda & Fred | Mar 25 2009, 09:09 PM Post #2 |
Chatterbox
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I'll comment on what I can, if it helps! 2. Biting - a Weimy puppy I walk used to be awful for this - screaming never bothered her either, even at 9 weeks! She seems to have 'grown out' of it somehow. Now when she had a 'bad day' I put her muzzle on. She mainly does it to stop me doing something she doesn't want to be bothered with - like putting on a coat. Having a muzzle on at least makes her unsuccessful at self-rewarding for biting. 3. Interest in me on walks & 6. length of walks I would walk them seperately. They should get used to being 'home alone' anyway. Walk them together sometimes maybe for a treat. I think the 5 min rule is 'guidelines', and matters more the bigger the dog will be when it's fully grown. I usually stick to about 30 mins until the pups I walk are 6 months or so, but this includes training time, so is not 30 mins of running around or non-stop walking. When they get to 7 months I up it to about 40/45 mins. Edited to add, I always walk puppies alone until they are around 6 months anyway, because I think they need that extra attention. 4. Training again, seperate them. Fred knows when I'm asking Beauty to do something, but Beauty has no clue, so they go into different rooms. If I do teach them together, for instance, if we are outside, I put them both in a down, then Fred has to do a downstay while I might ask Beauty to do a few other things. He gets a verbal reward when Beauty gets a treat, and it seems to work. When I'm dog walking I'm very mean - if I ask all the dogs with me for a sit, and one doesn't I have no concerns about treating the others and not the one who didn't sit! Seeing Fred get so fat through treats taught me not to be emotionally blackmailed into handy them out like sweeties! 5. toileting on walks is this really a worry? My dad's dog is 6 and still won't wee on a lead. They were worried because sometimes when we go away for a weekend camping there is no opportunity for offlead walks. They worried, I told them to let her get on with it, and she went on the second day. She still won't if she hasn't got to. We just leave her to it. 1. Being a bit obsessive with Brandy - I use crates for this. Some puppies just never get it unless they are really hurt, and even then, they'll come back when the pain has faded. So no real help, just sympathy! I've found of the puppies I walk, they get more annoying the more tired they get, so pop them off to a crate for some sleep. If they resist, well, a couple of hours won't hurt them, if they are at least lying down! Hope some of that helps! Edited by Linda & Fred, Mar 25 2009, 09:11 PM.
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| Nic | Mar 25 2009, 09:17 PM Post #3 |
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Competition Manager
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Wow, am I glad I spent time to write all that down! You have so much experience with so many different pups I can see from readin that, your comments are taking with a HUGE thanks, and I will take them on board, having had no puppy contact for 6 years since Brandy was one, sometimes you just like to check your doing things right or how you can improve! Thanks again, hoenstly :) |
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| Tafia | Mar 25 2009, 09:24 PM Post #4 |
Total Gas Bag!
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I believe really strongly that some dogs find concentrating on anything incredibly difficult right up until their 2nd set of teeth is properly through. Boo couldn't do housetraining at all, wee'd in the house practically everytime right up until she was 9 months - immediately her teething finished and her ears settled we never had an accident again. Literally like someone had flicked a switched, 7 months it didn't matter what I did or said, she wee'd exactly were she wanted and then over night, outside everytime. The biting, whilst it's normal pup behaviour, is also partly to do with teething. You guessed it - the old frozen wet knotted flannel. Just keep them coming. |
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| Nic | Mar 25 2009, 09:34 PM Post #5 |
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Competition Manager
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And another excellent piece of advice, thanks Tafia, is it as it sounds, literally a frozen knotted flannel?! Not heard of this before!! Must admit, cant wait till the teeth are through, hey are a nightmare until they have their adult teeth! Thanks :) I do love this forum, so useful to pick people's brains who know what they're dong! |
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| Tafia | Mar 25 2009, 09:45 PM Post #6 |
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Total Gas Bag!
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That's it, literally. A knotted wet frozen flannel (buy a load from the £1 shop) - pup's love them. Gives them something to really chop down on and the cold acts as pain relief. It's a tried and tested favourite! |
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| Linda & Fred | Mar 25 2009, 09:47 PM Post #7 |
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Chatterbox
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I've only been doing this six months! Don't take my word as perfect knowledge. I care for 4 puppies at the moment and they're all around 5-7 months now, so just what I've learnt with them I've never had a pup of my own younger than 5 months. I think with training/learning ability it depends on the dog, so I agree with Tafia - my weimy puppy learnt really quickly, anything we could teach her, and anything we didn't mean to teach her, but did. Today she was about 30 feet away from me, and I raised my arm for a distance sit (I think she has done some at training with her owner, but the compounds are barely 15 feet long) and she looked at me for a few seconds, then sat! My Fred can't/won't do it from 10 feet yet! She was also giving me perfect heelwork from very early on (lost that over xmas sadly). On the other hand, we're still working on getting a 5 month daschie to sit, and he won't walk on a lead at all! Little buggers. ;) |
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| Linda & Fred | Mar 25 2009, 09:48 PM Post #8 |
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Chatterbox
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Thank you for this tip, I think I will buy a load of flannels and give them out as an introductory gift when I take on new puppies! |
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| piwoodhouse | Mar 25 2009, 10:39 PM Post #9 |
Total Gas Bag!
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Just a thought on the biting - how about a cheap plant spray bottle - the ones they sell at garden centres for a couple of pounds? Quick squirt in her general direction (big cheers for a head shot!!) should stop her in her tracks and only wound her dignity. I know Julie used one on her terrier Alice every time she tried to eat the kitten and it worked in a matter of days.
Edited by piwoodhouse, Mar 25 2009, 10:40 PM.
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| Nic | Mar 26 2009, 09:51 AM Post #10 |
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Competition Manager
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:yay: another good idea! Thanks Pam, I will go to £ land/ somewhere similar at lunch time and try and find some flannels and a spray bottle! Il stop the little monster! :devil: |
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| PaulaK | Mar 26 2009, 02:45 PM Post #11 |
Moderator
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Along with all the other advice - CHILL OUT You've only had her 5 minutes enjoy the puppy stage while you can don't start trying to put 'problem' tags on her already, this happened with Tom and it's taken me nearly 2 years to undo the stuff a 'behavourist' told them to do. |
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| Sky | Mar 26 2009, 03:02 PM Post #12 |
Chatterbox
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We use a squirt from a can of compressed air on ours when they jump all over people at the door. It works wonders and nothing gets covered in wet! I only have to get it down from the shelf by the door now and both dogs immediately behave. It doesn't cost much (got mine on ebay) and it lasts for ever, we have only ever bought one can!
Edited by Sky, Mar 26 2009, 03:03 PM.
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| Laura | Mar 26 2009, 07:26 PM Post #13 |
One of the regulars
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:wub: Aww puppies are great!! Can't really add much to the great advice given, just wanted to say it's definately really important to walk Twiglet seperately at least some of the time, it let's her concentrate on you and gives you a chance to do some training. And I'm sure Brandy will appriciate some peace and quiet too! I had a similar problem with Meg when she was a pup - she was obsessed with Sally and followed her around like a shadow, I thought I could use this to get a good recall by calling both names, knowing Sally would come and Meg would follow, then give them both a treat and Meg would learn that she got a treat when she came to me. Except as soon as she got to about 6 months and stopped following Sally so much, she also stopped coming back! :devil: Make sure you have lots of fun with her before you get too serious about training, let her be a naughty little puppy for a bit! She'll learn better as she gets older and starts to calm down anyway. Good luck! |
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| Tafia | Mar 26 2009, 07:29 PM Post #14 |
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Total Gas Bag!
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Brilliant advice. |
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| Laura | Mar 26 2009, 07:32 PM Post #15 |
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One of the regulars
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OOh also, about training them together, I had/have the same problem, Sally loves food way too much to let Meg have any! At first It's probably best to train them seperately to get the basics, but I have taught mine a super quick sit and down by 'racing' them, when they are both in front of you ask for a 'sit' the first one with a bottom on the floor gets the treat, they get it really quickly! |
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