Problem Puppy

Jenny from the block

Hi guys,

I was hoping to get some advice from other users.

I have a 6 month old golden retriever bitch. The problem is she is constantly grabbing at us and mouthing us. If you're standing up she tends to leave you alone. As soon as you sit down she is jumping up on you and biting at your feet so nobody can relax. We've tried giving her chew toys when she does this to distract her, it'll work for a minute. We've tried tapping her on the nose, that just encouraged her as she thinks we want to play. I'm now just removing her from the room as soon as she tries to do this and am hoping she makes the connection that everytime she does this she has to leave. I'm just worried that if we don't nip this in the bud now it'll eventually get worse as she gets bigger.

Has anyone else experienced this? Or has anyone any suggestions to get her to stop?


Thanks

cofy

I'm not an expert, but sounds perfectly normal for a puppy. She will grow out of this, just plenty of patience required.

ardinn

Your doing the right thing by putting her out each time she does it - but you have to keep doing it, if someone lets her away with it it's pointless so if you put her out 100 times and then someone doesnt the next time - you have wasted 100 good efforts.

So tell everyone whats happening, even guests when they arrive.

If your strict the message will get through very quickly, If you can put her outside in front of a window where she can see you its even better.

Whispered

Yep putting her out of the room is the way to go, but remember that it will only have an effect for a few seconds before she's distracted by something in the other room, or thinks of lying in her bed, or decides to scratch the door etc. The best way to use a "time out" with a dog is out of the room for 30 seconds, then allow her back in as if nothing has happened. You might be up and down like a yo-yo the first few times you try this but it will work and it's worth it.

Please don't tap her on the nose, as you've said it rarely works and you risk making her hand shy, because as far as she can see she's showng affection/happiness and she's getting a smack for it. It would be pretty confusing.

tk123

Yeah my retriever was the same! You need a bold word/phrase eg ours is "too bad!!" and say that each time you put her out - she'll learn soon enough that when you say that it's game over and she's being bold.
Another thing that really helped with our guy mouthing is having a friend with a dog around the same age and size for him to play with - they learned from each other when they were going too far and biting too hard. So if you can get her playing with other dogs eg at the park or even if there's a daycare near you the socilaization with other dogs should help.

Jenny from the block

Thanks for your replies. I'll keep going with removing her from the room and hope she gets the message then.

I'll maybe look to see if there's other dogs she can play with aswell and hopefully they'll help teach her some manners!

The other thing I was wondering is how long should I put her out for. If I leave her out for more than a couple of mins she lies down and goes to sleep. I'm worried if I don't leave her out for long enough she won't care that I'm putting her out, she knows she'll be straight back in.

I feel like one of the parents on supernanny!

Whispered

Jenny from the block wrote: »

The other thing I was wondering is how long should I put her out for. If I leave her out for more than a couple of mins she lies down and goes to sleep. I'm worried if I don't leave her out for long enough she won't care that I'm putting her out, she knows she'll be straight back in.

30 seconds to 2 mins I'd guess, but start with the 30 seconds - she won't care that she'll get straight back in, all she'll care about is that she is missing *that* moment. You're also making her realise that all she gets for misbehaving is removal from her people. No fun, no attention, no hilarious (in her eyes) screeches for her to get down. Just a quiet and boring removal. Don't be afraid to leave her out of the room for longer though if she just gets too much - it's so hard to train when you're frustrated (my biggest downfall I think).

toadfly

Whispered our youngest dog does this but when she is put into a different room she sometimes starts barking and scratching at the door. So do I wait until she stops barking etc before I bring her back in? Will she have forgotten why she was put out in the first place then?!

ardinn

TillyGirl wrote: »

Whispered our youngest dog does this but when she is put into a different room she sometimes starts barking and scratching at the door. So do I wait until she stops barking etc before I bring her back in? Will she have forgotten why she was put out in the first place then?!

Ha, well your teaching her to be quiet then aswell which is a good thing, if you go in to stop her barking and scratching, thats a reward for scratching and barking, so maybe a place in the garden on a lead or chain where she cant do anything bold. Never reward a dog for shouting and roaring, attention is a reward!

toadfly

ardinn wrote: »

TillyGirl wrote: »

Whispered our youngest dog does this but when she is put into a different room she sometimes starts barking and scratching at the door. So do I wait until she stops barking etc before I bring her back in? Will she have forgotten why she was put out in the first place then?!

Ha, well your teaching her to be quiet then aswell which is a good thing, if you go in to stop her barking and scratching, thats a reward for scratching and barking, so maybe a place in the garden on a lead or chain where she cant do anything bold. Never reward a dog for shouting and roaring, attention is a reward!

I wouldn't tie any of my dogs up, will keep separating her see if there is any improvement. Thanks.

tk123

I would just put her out and when she stops barking bring her in - thats what I was told at class. Now with my guy he'll bark then stop and bark again so sometimes I miss the quiet time and have to wait until the next one lol.

ardinn

TillyGirl wrote: »

I wouldn't tie any of my dogs up, will keep separating her see if there is any improvement. Thanks.

You dont have to tie her up per se, it was just an example - no point letting your dog destroy a door! Somewhere she/he cant get into trouble, and its not inhumane to tie him up for 10mins either!

toadfly

ardinn wrote: »

You dont have to tie her up per se, it was just an example - no point letting your dog destroy a door! Somewhere she/he cant get into trouble, and its not inhumane to tie him up for 10mins either!

I know what you are saying but I think if I done something like that she would go mad barking and I dont want to annoy my neighbours! Ah she doesnt scrap too much, its more barking.

Whispered

If you have to stand at the door ready to pounce to open it as soon as she even takes a breath between barks then do it we've been doing it with Phoe who jumps at the back door to "ask" to come back in. It's glass so I've to hide behind the cabinet and dive out as soon as he takes his paws off the glass. It's working though. Even if I do look ridiculous. He's now sitting at the door patiently, he sometimes gets excited and jumps on it but he sits down again straight away. We used to have a window washing routine, like a little dance across the door waving his paws. Very cute but noisy.

You could start with 3 second quiet and increase it I think.