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puppy help (Page 3)
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 2009-09-21 4:33 PM in reply to: #2418459 |
Veteran  144   El Dorado Hills, CA |  Subject: RE: puppy helpHahahahahaha...I would agree with that! Add to it..lots of socialization and a sense of humor. They do tend to invent fun for themselves if you dont provide it. I have one girl that watches TV whenever she can. Carole |
| 2009-09-21 5:00 PM in reply to: #2418459 |
Master 1920  Ann Arbor, MI | Subject: RE: puppy help pga_mike - 2009-09-21 5:05 PM As you may know, I work at golf courses. Aussies are popular for goose control. In my 25 years, I have only seen 1 well-behaved Aussie of any age, although they were all sweet, loving dogs. IMO, Aussies are too smart mischievous for most owners. To get a well-behaved Aussie, your dog will need the following two things: 1) Several hours of physically and mentally strenuous work each day 2) A strong alpha human, who won't take any bull-pucky from the dog (I own a St Bernard. She needs about 40 minutes of work each day, and a place to sleep for the rest of the day, and owners who tolerate drool and fur by the truckload) Omigod- please hire my dog! In the winter, we take her to the local golf course to let her out after the geese- what great exercise! It's so fun to watch, too! hehe. I agree with you about well behaved aussies, it's not a guarantee. The aussie breed will easily take advantage of unsuspecting owners. They are NOT golden retrievers, or labs, and can easily be in charge of the pack, if the position is open. I know this because my girl is the Alpha of everyone but me (and my fiance), and she was my boss for about 6 months of her teenage years. I didn't even know it, but there were a million little things she did to be Alpha: 1. Stepped on my feet constantly 2. Went through the door before me 3. Demanded that I feed her, by throwing her food dish at me (I thought it was cute), or she wouldn't eat unless I spread her food on the floor (again, cute!) 4. She humped our legs 5. Blocked us at every opportunity (i thought it was herding) 6. Jumped on top of me at every opportunity- in bed, on the couch, on the floor- literally laying on top of me 7. Barking outside- she thought she was the boss, so she had to gaurd the property There were other subtle things as well, and it didn't just happen overnight- all of these little behaviors were things I sort of knew to look out for, but I didn't stay on my alpha status, I let her get away with too much, cause she was so darn cute! But, when she wouldn't stop barking at the neighbor when she was going to her car, I realized that I was not in control, and went to work fixing it. It wasn't just about being a natural pack leader- I had to enforce it with her. She had to do 10-20 'downs' a day, at any point, and also before getting fed. She had to earn getting pet. She had to wait before I went through every doorway. A big one was before being let out, and going down the stairs. Also, I would walk around the house, and walk THROUGH her, pushing her out of the way, or even stepping on her, if I needed to. This all happened between months 8-14. I also watched a lot of dog whisperer, and worked on leash walking. It all worked very well, and she is a very well-behaved aussie  Like the other poster said- their teenage years can be a while, and they will go through very distinct stages- and then finally, you have your dog!! |
| 2009-09-25 7:19 AM in reply to: #2411130 |
Elite 3770 | Subject: RE: puppy help So an update! We are doing MUCH better with the toddling. She is learning off! pretty pleased that dinner wasn't so awful last night. Hyper diaper lately. As in running from room to room. We are working on training plus are playing with her constantly, but the pooped puppy is GONE. She is active all night too now in her crate. She used to sleep soundly on the floor on her favorite towel...now she is all over the place, hence back to the crate so we can sleep! Our biggest problem lately is still the mouthing. As in, any time we got to pet her, she bites. I know we can always substitute a toy to get her to chew on...but is there another way? corrections just don't seem to work, and it really hurts! like her attacking my hair or toes... |
| 2009-09-25 8:08 AM in reply to: #2425779 |
Veteran 1097 Elizabethtown, KY | Subject: RE: puppy help You can use a verbal cue to get her attention - to correct Sam we use "AT-AT-AT", consistently. Whenever he hears it now (well, most of the time) he'll stop what he's doing and look in our direction. If that doesn't work, then a light tap on the snout could work, but I'm a positive reinforcement kind of guy. On that note, make sure you praise him whenever he STOPS mouthing at your command. Also, just turning away and ignoring him (as someone already mentioned) is a great technique for deterring all kinds of behavior. All that said, puppies mouth and most eventually grow out of it. But you're right, their teeth sure can be sharp! |
| 2009-09-25 9:05 AM in reply to: #2425779 |
Master 4101 Denver | Subject: RE: puppy help turtlegirl - 2009-09-25 6:19 AM So an update! We are doing MUCH better with the toddling. She is learning off! pretty pleased that dinner wasn't so awful last night. Hyper diaper lately. As in running from room to room. We are working on training plus are playing with her constantly, but the pooped puppy is GONE. She is active all night too now in her crate. She used to sleep soundly on the floor on her favorite towel...now she is all over the place, hence back to the crate so we can sleep! Our biggest problem lately is still the mouthing. As in, any time we got to pet her, she bites. I know we can always substitute a toy to get her to chew on...but is there another way? corrections just don't seem to work, and it really hurts! like her attacking my hair or toes... What I read about mouthing was that any time her teeth touch skin - whether in a bite or an accident or whatnot give a little yelp or a quick 'Ow!" and then all play stops immediately. Either fold you arms and ignore her or get up and move to a different room and ignore her. The lesson being she has to be responsible for her teeth and it's NOT ok to touch humans skin with them. Any time she does the fun stops immediately. It'll take a little while but eventually she'll catch on. After a minute or so you go back to playing just like nothing happened. |
| 2009-09-25 11:13 AM in reply to: #2425959 |
Elite 3770 | Subject: RE: puppy help drewb8 - 2009-09-25 9:05 AM turtlegirl - 2009-09-25 6:19 AM So an update! We are doing MUCH better with the toddling. She is learning off! pretty pleased that dinner wasn't so awful last night. Hyper diaper lately. As in running from room to room. We are working on training plus are playing with her constantly, but the pooped puppy is GONE. She is active all night too now in her crate. She used to sleep soundly on the floor on her favorite towel...now she is all over the place, hence back to the crate so we can sleep! Our biggest problem lately is still the mouthing. As in, any time we got to pet her, she bites. I know we can always substitute a toy to get her to chew on...but is there another way? corrections just don't seem to work, and it really hurts! like her attacking my hair or toes... What I read about mouthing was that any time her teeth touch skin - whether in a bite or an accident or whatnot give a little yelp or a quick 'Ow!" and then all play stops immediately. Either fold you arms and ignore her or get up and move to a different room and ignore her. The lesson being she has to be responsible for her teeth and it's NOT ok to touch humans skin with them. Any time she does the fun stops immediately. It'll take a little while but eventually she'll catch on. After a minute or so you go back to playing just like nothing happened.
that worked the FIRST week. now its non-stop! we've tried ouch, yelp like a puppy, and the ah-ah! Thinking I may just get a trainer for an hour private lesson and see if that works?? Or BEG Caesar to come out!!! |
| 2009-09-25 11:22 AM in reply to: #2426227 |
Master 1920 Ann Arbor, MI | Subject: RE: puppy help turtlegirl - 2009-09-25 12:13 PM drewb8 - 2009-09-25 9:05 AM turtlegirl - 2009-09-25 6:19 AM So an update! We are doing MUCH better with the toddling. She is learning off! pretty pleased that dinner wasn't so awful last night. Hyper diaper lately. As in running from room to room. We are working on training plus are playing with her constantly, but the pooped puppy is GONE. She is active all night too now in her crate. She used to sleep soundly on the floor on her favorite towel...now she is all over the place, hence back to the crate so we can sleep! Our biggest problem lately is still the mouthing. As in, any time we got to pet her, she bites. I know we can always substitute a toy to get her to chew on...but is there another way? corrections just don't seem to work, and it really hurts! like her attacking my hair or toes... What I read about mouthing was that any time her teeth touch skin - whether in a bite or an accident or whatnot give a little yelp or a quick 'Ow!" and then all play stops immediately. Either fold you arms and ignore her or get up and move to a different room and ignore her. The lesson being she has to be responsible for her teeth and it's NOT ok to touch humans skin with them. Any time she does the fun stops immediately. It'll take a little while but eventually she'll catch on. After a minute or so you go back to playing just like nothing happened.
that worked the FIRST week. now its non-stop! we've tried ouch, yelp like a puppy, and the ah-ah! Thinking I may just get a trainer for an hour private lesson and see if that works?? Or BEG Caesar to come out!!! We also tried pinching her tongue down to the bottom of her mouth. The instructor at our puppy class told us that one after we had tried the 'OUCH' 'NO', ignore method. Everytime she bit, we'd pinch her tongue, HARD, but it didn't work either....nothing worked. Nothing. I even tried biting her back And then, after 8-9 mos, she just stopped. |
| 2009-09-25 11:42 AM in reply to: #2426227 |
Master 4101 Denver | Subject: RE: puppy help turtlegirl - 2009-09-25 10:13 AM that worked the FIRST week. now its non-stop! we've tried ouch, yelp like a puppy, and the ah-ah! Thinking I may just get a trainer for an hour private lesson and see if that works?? Or BEG Caesar to come out!!! That might be a good way to go.  I think what I'd do if she kept doing it non-stop is to give her a time-out whenever she does it. NOT in the crate (never use it for punishment), but maybe fence off a room (I have a baby gate I used to keep her in the kitchen while I was gone) and as soon as she does it give the "Ow!", then wordlessly pick her up, don't even acknowlege her after the 'Ow' and put her behind the gate and walk away. Come back after a minute (as long as she isn't crying) and resume playing. If she does it again, back she goes. It might take 100 times but I bet she'd figure out that biting=end of fun. The hard part is you have to be really consistent. You could do it 20 times, but it you let her bite on the 21st without any consequence they are smart enough to start thinking 'oh, maybe it's ok now'. That's just what I'd do, but either mine figured out the no biting people thing early on or she's just easy. Edited by drewb8 2009-09-25 11:44 AM |
| 2009-09-25 11:48 AM in reply to: #2411130 |
Master 2477 Oceanside, California | Subject: RE: puppy help No real short cuts... 1 - Consistency 2 - Attention 3 - Positive reinforcement 4 - Set up for success -- -reward accidentally correct behaviors... or does the right thing after being bored with misbehavior. 5 - Activity and exercise. 6 - Patience. 7 - Rinse/Repeat Not much different than good parenting. |
| 2009-09-27 4:59 PM in reply to: #2411130 |
Expert 1019 Muncie, IN | Subject: RE: puppy help A puppy that cute cannot possible do anything wrong - it must be you.  |
| 2009-09-27 8:33 PM in reply to: #2428609 |
Extreme Veteran 3177 | Subject: RE: puppy help Afletcher - 2009-09-27 2:59 PM A puppy that cute cannot possible do anything wrong - it must be you. you might be on to something there  as for the biting thing, even though my dog is older (4.5 years) we got her from the humane society 4 months ago with no training and no puppy social skills either (but that is another story) when ever she nips at all or gets to rambunctious I have a hand signal I use (think of an umpire calling a runner safe) as soon as she does it along with a little whelp sound. Then I get up and we are done playing for at least 3 minutes. I don't know that this would work with a little puppy but for an older dog it is working wonders for her. |
| 2009-09-27 9:14 PM in reply to: #2428888 |
Regular 330 | Subject: RE: puppy help Never noticed this thread. Don't have a Aussie Shepard but a Blue Heeler (Aussie Cattle Dog). Even though he lives at my mom and dad's house now since they have a farm, and he has never been in a crate. Couldn't imagine even trying to crate him honestly. They are amazing dogs, and he is going on 6 years old now and still acts like a puppy. These are when he was younger. The dog is like a little brother and never have we ever had a dog that was so human like. Love walking somewhere and he stays exactly 1 foot to your right and stays in your shadow. He, knows commands and is very, very intelligent. (mick1.jpg) (mick2.jpg) (mick3.jpg) (mick4.jpg) Attachments ---------------- mick1.jpg (34KB - 3 downloads) mick2.jpg (50KB - 2 downloads) mick3.jpg (43KB - 4 downloads) mick4.jpg (44KB - 3 downloads) |
| 2009-09-27 9:18 PM in reply to: #2426246 |
Expert 1456 Central New Jersey | Subject: RE: puppy help This will not only help your puppy, but will help you to not nibble on anything extra for the day (whether it's a problem for you or not) Spray your hand with that icky spray stuff (bitter apple?) I was spraying my shoes one day and it got on my hand, the puppy went to mouth me and hasn't touched me since. A little less drastic, but we were also told (and test successfully) that dogs don't like deodorant (we put in on her leash) and she still won't put it in her mouth. Put that on your hands and let her nibble. She won't like it too much and it won't hurt either of you! |
| 2009-09-29 1:47 PM in reply to: #2428955 |
Elite 3770 | Subject: RE: puppy help Great idea! I have to get some. We used to use listerine for the horses that cribbed (nibbled) on their stalls...or bitter apple. Worth a shot! This morning she was in bed with me (crate overnight!) and scratched me right in the eye! I got a trip to the ER and a tetanus shot. Lucky me! Oh boy.... |
| 2009-09-29 2:57 PM in reply to: #2432411 |
Extreme Veteran 3177 | Subject: RE: puppy help turtlegirl - 2009-09-29 11:47 AM Great idea! I have to get some. We used to use listerine for the horses that cribbed (nibbled) on their stalls...or bitter apple. Worth a shot! This morning she was in bed with me (crate overnight!) and scratched me right in the eye! I got a trip to the ER and a tetanus shot. Lucky me! Oh boy.... But I bet you still love her. My dog has been worming her way onto the bed at night until my wife catches her and kicks her off. What can I say I am a sucker for her big sad puppy dog eyes. |
| 2009-09-29 6:52 PM in reply to: #2432574 |
Elite 3770 | Subject: RE: puppy help Funny how the nurse asked me how I was, then after I told her, she said, and how's the puppy?
She didn't mean to! I had taken her out of her crate then plopped back onto bed. She got up on it and told me to get up. I prefer my alarm clock. |
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