Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 1:33 pm Post subject: Puppy attacking me!
Hi Darcy's a great puppy (11 weeks old) and responds well to 5 min training sessions but in the evenings he has a really bonkers hour where he just goes loopy.
We let him play in the lounge with us, nothing too exciting just letting him seek toys and strokes, etc. But on a few occasions when I've been sat on the sofa he leaps up at me and really tries to bite my hands and arms. He's obviously excited but I'm actually quite scared when it happens as no matter what I do he won't back down and he's getting bigger by the minute! I say 'off' which he responds to at other times but it's as if he's deaf, I also keep my arms still or fold them and turn away from him but he just continues to jump up and bite (which is scary when you're not looking!).
When I see he's like this I take him in the garden for a good catchy ball game to try and burn off some of the energy but he carries on when we come back in. Sometimes he's had to have a time out which seems to work but I'm keen to know if there's a way to train him to stop this as I'd like to enjoy sitting with my pup in the evenings!
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Kelly, Mark, Abi, Jen & Darcy
We also went through this with Simba who is now 6.5 months. She would lunge and snap at us. If we turned our backs/folded our arms she would just hang off the back of your trousaurs. The only thing that worked for us was 'time out' until she calmed down. I would take her by the collar, put her in the crate saying 'no biting' and then shut the door. Leave her in there for 10mins, she would sometimes just go to sleep as it would often happen when she was over-tired. But if not she could come out.
It was a phase that she went through and has now passed but I know what you mean we thought we had an aggressive dog on our hands!
Mine's the same - I know it's perfectly normal puppy behaviour but any hints on how to stop it would be great. We've tried the ignoring route but he doesn't care - he just trots off and chews something else
we are going through the same with bailey. he will suddenly dash round and then jump and nip. we are trying to sort it by telling him no firmly then putting him in his pen in the kitchen for calm down time. we dont ay anything else to him, as the last thing u want is him thinking hes got a reaction from you - as i think then bailey would do it just to get that attention. bailey is 4 months now, hoping he grows out of it soon
Absolutely Kirsty. There is no real way to get ontop of this behaviour right now - to nip it in the bud - other than to show the puppy that this sort of behaviour causes him only to be distanced from the family. Whilst you will have hopefully, 12 happy years of evening sofa cuddles with your mature dog, as a puppy they need a different way of handling things.
The MINUTE it starts, clip on a lead (have it hidden ready), take the puppy to his or her crate or simply to the kitchen, throw down a biscuit and leave him in there for an hour or so. Then venture in, rassle about doing something unnecessary to see if he greets you pleasantly, if he does, then he can come back to the living room.... if not, he stays in the kitchen a little longer.
To begin with they have NO CLUE why this is done and will cry and leap at you when you come back to them, meaning you do need 2 or 3 'leaves' a night. But you get there.
If you take the pup out and play ball with him when these moments happen, he will be being praised for the behaviour with something also exciting and adrenaline pumping. He needs calming RIGHT down in the best way possible, silence and solitude.
Corbie was bad for this. So we would shut him in the hall saying No Biting as we did it and left him to calm down for a few minutes. If he did it again he'd go straight back out. It took a few weeks of doing this until all I had to say was 'no biting' and he would stop straight away.
Oh heck Diana!! I hour is a bit long isn't it???
I find with my pups that it generally happens when they are over-tired (like 'orrid toddlers!) and that if you put them calmly into their crate they'll crash out. If they are still awake after about 5 minutes then I'll let them out again and just allow them to potter about and I'll just be around them whilst giving them an aura of peace and calm!!!
If the crazy, manic behaviour starts again then they'll go back in their crate for a nap or a quiet chew on a chewy.
To me- 1 hour would seem like a lifetime to a little pup to stay in his crate away from his people!
Just my opinion- but them I'm a big softy!!!!
Love Becs and the Gang
Becs... I was basing the 'hour' part on the fact his owner said 'he has what is a 'mad hour' or words to that affect.
If they want to go into him earlier, of course they probably will want to, then of course its as effective as long as the dog remains 'reasonably' calm (and we all rate 'reasonable at different levels of course) then he can come out....
Ah it's so nice to hear that I'm not the only one going through this and that I havn't got a beast of a dog on my hands!
I think we'll continue with time out and I realise now that by playing ball I'm just encouraging him. Gosh isn't it hard to think 'dog' - often you think you're doing the right thing but it can have the opposite effect!
Darcy loves to be with us so the time out should be successful although I would only close him off in the kitchen not in his crate as I don't want him to associate that with a telling off. When I did this last night we let him back in after 10 mins and he went over to the fireplace and lay down looking at us with those gorgeous green puppy dog eyes!
I'm quite hardened to telling off - dealing with two children has given me plenty of training!
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Kelly, Mark, Abi, Jen & Darcy
I am also at this stage with Amber, she is so naughty.. She will lie happily on the floor then just jump up and bite whoever happens to be there. We have started the taking out to the other room and closing the safety gate but its going to be a long process
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