Poppy is four and a half months old – and delightful!
She is a feisty puppy – with the usual mad tearing around sessions puppies do, especially in the evening.
She has taken to barking persistently for attention. Like many people, their response, telling the dog to be quiet and inevitably getting cross, gives her the attention she wants. So she becomes even more hyped up.
Teeth
This results in Poppy using her teeth. Unfortunately she left her litter mates too young and never learnt bite inhibition from them. From the start, the moment they felt teeth, they should have turned away and blanked her every single time. She would now no longer be nipping.
Unfortunately loud ‘uh-uh’ and ‘no’ and scolding merely fires her up.
Barking
Not only her barking both for attention but also barking at things she hears and sees outside the window is getting worse.
If one dog in a group of dogs barks, usually the rest rush over as backup and start to bark also. When the owner shouts at the dog it has the same effect. The poor puppy is already on protection duty, so the owner’s response is key.
Would you shout ‘be quiet’ to a child at the window screaming that a man in a balaclava with a machine gun was walking up the path? No. Would you ignore him and let him deal with it himself? No.
For much of the day Poppy is relaxed and as good as gold. By seeing things from her point of view and reacting accordingly, these behaviour as will be nipped in the bud before they develop further.
