Why does a friendly puppy suddenly zoom around, grab clothes and bite when over-excited? This is the start of my Puppy Parenting journey… …with the delightful Richie, a Goldendoodle puppy now age 14 weeks. I usually like to start as soon as the puppy arrives in his new home but Read more
Why was Henry getting more bitey the more people tried to stop him? I have just met Henry. Henry is the most adorable ten-week-old Labrador imaginable – with some of the sharpest teeth! When he’s excited, Henry morphs into a nipping, biting puppy. Faced with him in this mood, his family feel helpless. Read more
What helps a new puppy settle confidently into family life from day one? They picked up their nine-week-old Border Terrier puppy yesterday. As part of our puppy parenting plan we had already discussed on the phone where Monty would sleep on his first night and what they would do if he was distressed Read more
How do you help a frightened young dog who refuses to leave the house? Benji is just seven months old and never goes out beyond their garden. The German Shepherd, Standard Poodle mix lived in a barn on the farm where he was born until he was four months old Read more
Other dogs have to be transformed into something the puppies feel happy to see. Force won’t do that.
Their understandable reaction to his running off with a twig for example – chasing him, enticing him, bribing him then maybe forcing the item off him – is now actually making his ‘scavenging’ for things like twigs, leaves and bits of paper and eating rubbish a lot worse.
The chase that ensues will be stimulating and maybe even a little scary and Chutney is responding with the beginnings of resource guarding behaviour.
What is behind the behaviour isn’t dominance – the puppy wanting to become Alpha – but that certain behaviours bring him the most reinforcement. When he gets a bit rough he can bank on getting rewarded in terms of attention of some sort.
They are now upping their socialisation of Digby and acclimatisation to things. Things such as traffic, noises, people of all sorts and ages, other dogs, the car and so on – within the restrictions of being unable to put him down until his injections are finished. He seems a stable and fearless pup.
They brought their two beautiful cream-coloured German Shepherd brothers home a couple of months ago at eight weeks old. they believed they would be great company for one another, thus making life easier, not realising that littermates could actually be a lot more work.
For first-time dog owners they had started off brilliantly, so it was unfortunate they temporarily got themselves ‘tarnished’ by this dog trainer’s archaic methods. With the right approach and the family’s level of commitment I reckon they will be quickly back on track, so long as each family member ‘drinks out of the same water bowl’ so to speak.