Need Help with My Pup...

    • Bronze
    Thanks for all the advice and tips everyone.
    But i do have another question that is about dicipline.
    What should i do about my puppy when hes doing something bad like biting? i've tried to do that method where you yelp like a dog and turn a cold shoulder to him but that didnt work too well because he just doesnt seem to get the picture that biting is bad (either that or my dog impressions are horrid).
    Also how to you get your dog to stop jumping on you? ive tried to just push him off and ignore him when he does that but he just keeps trying and trying again...
    When my crate gets delivered here should i use that as his punishment and lock him up for 5 minutes or so everytime he does something naughty? or is it better to associate the crate with only positive things?
    Last one...
    could anyone give me any tips on how to make him fall in love with the crate? aside from just putting treats in and near his crate...
    • Gold Top Dog
    You have to understand that he isn't biting to be BAD, and that biting is pretty normal puppy behavior.  Honestly, when I have pups I wear a fanny pack stuffed with ok toys and when someone chews on me I very gently but firmly say "unh uh, no bite" and replace ME with an appropriate chew thing.  If the biting persists, I get up and leave the room.  In a litter, that's what happens.....another pup doesn't like the way one is playing, he absents himself from the first pup.  No scolding, no recriminations, just get up and leave the room.
     
    Jumping, same thing...you have to ignore unwanted behaviors...TURN YOUR BACK when he jumps.  If you push him off, well, that's attention and he doesn't care WHAT kind of attention he gets, so long as he gets some.  You can have him drag a leash and step on it about a foot from the clip when he starts to jump, that way he self corrects, but I prefer to just say OFF and turn my back and become the most boring object in the room.
     
    If you want your pup to LOVE the crate, please don't use it for punishment.  Special "crate only" toys and treats, feeding in the crate, and very short exposure to the crate in the beginning are the way to go.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Hi there,

    Yikes, don't ever use the crate for punishment, he needs to love it and want to be in it, don't do anything negative ever with it's use. 

    For puppy mouthing me--there's a few things I've done.  If the puppy is in a really playful mood and I know it's going to start getting mouthy, I'll spray my arms and hands with bitter apple.  PRoblem with that method is you have to be ready to be covered in bitter apple ahead of time all the time, kind of a pain.  Also, I will take a toy and stick it in the dog's yap, to redirect.  Another method is to turn your back on the dog, as if to "shun" him and just walk away. 

    For jumping up, the only way I've ever been able to stop that is to instill in the dog a very reliable SIT command, and not pet them or give them attention until they would sit.  When there are people coming in the house, don't answer the door until the dog is on a leash.  When they walk in, make him sit, and they cannot greet him until he sits.  So, start working on that sit command. 

    I'm sure others will have lots of ideas, jumping and mouthing are standard puppy problems and there's lots of ways to deal with those problems. 

    Good idea to get them under control now.  They are easier to deal with in a puppy than an adult.