Topic: Snappy pup

[northener]

Got a 13 week old pup, shes a cross between a plummer terrier and a cocker spaniel. We've had her from being 7 weeks and shes been great, house trained, no problem on the lead a lovely dog. Problem with her is she becomes a bit snappy in the evenings. Its like she has a mad hour, i've got to do something because she bit our teenage son yesterday. I've tried smacking her, she stops and cowers for a while but starts snapping again. Any ideas?

[tomatoada]

There is a program on freeview called "Its me or the Dog".   It is about dog training.  I think it is very good.   The lady who trains the owners  never hits the dog, she thinks it makes them more vicious.   There is a lot of time and patience involved.   Best of luck.   

[Squash64]

I have two dogs.  When we had the first one, 12 years ago, I had serious doubts about her behavior, it was so awful.
From the age of 7 weeks she bit me every day.  (I'm sure you know how puppy teeth are like needles!)  I tried my best to ignore it, gave her chews, plenty of toys, things to keep her occupied.  No rough play, no tugging games and definitely no smacking. 

Ignore the bad behaviour - praise the good.

When she was about 4 months old, the biting stopped.  She is now 12 years old and has never growled or snapped at anyone and the only thing she has ever bitten was a mouse she found in the garden!

I learned a lot from having her and when we had our second dog two years later we had none of the problems we had with her.

Tell us more about what happened when your puppy bit your son - what were they doing at the time?

[northener]

They were playing at the time, our Tom was getting up from playing and shes bit his back. Yes i think smacking makes her worse i'm just at a loss what to do. I'm going to watch more closely how our Tom plays with her and make sure hes not winding her up. Its a bit weird because during the day shes lovely.

[lewic]

I'm wondering how much exercise the dog gets? Perhaps your son should take her out for a long walk, rather than just playing. If the dog is descended from 'working' dogs then its going to take a lot to tire her out!

Sounds like the pup may have bitten him in an attempt to get more attention and extend the game, rather than any malice. Agree with Squash, no tugging games etc.

[Squash64]

They were playing at the time, our Tom was getting up from playing and shes bit his back. Yes i think smacking makes her worse i'm just at a loss what to do. I'm going to watch more closely how our Tom plays with her and make sure hes not winding her up. Its a bit weird because during the day shes lovely.

This might be part of the problem.  I take it that Tom is not at home during the day?   It sounds as though she is getting over-excited.  Instead of 'playing', could Tom do some training with her perhaps?

You might think this is a bit strange, but I never 'play' with my dogs.  I do training excercises, take them for walks, pay them attention, make a fuss of them, reward them for good behaviour, but no 'playing'!

Training classes are a great help.  The Association of Pet Dog Trainers
www.apdt.co.uk has a list of trainers all over the uk.  They use reward-based training only.

[gardentg44]

Hi Neil
what sets the dog off.

is he getting teased in any way?

is he the master of your home?

is he treated like a human rather than a dog?

I'm sure my missus could do something for him, but sooner rather than later,
the longer you leave it  the worse it will become.

little noel started to nip at first but hes fine now.

but it does take alot of time and Patience.

you must be firm

[northener]

Heyup Kes. Hes a she, Lola. Going to cut out the playing then, i suppose he could be teasing her, throwing the ball then hiding it, stuff like that .Squash when you say training exercises what do you mean? Shes only just started going for walks because of her injections, i take her out when i get back fom work for at least half hour, as she gets a bit older she'll go out in the morning aswell. I'll keep you posted. Cheers for the offer Kes of Tina helping, see how it goes.

[flowerofshona2007]

Ok i have the same with Indy at the moment she is going through the snappy phase.
Do NOT walk a puppy to far it will cause bone and ligament problems, they are still growing and the strain will damage them.
If pup nips do not take your hand away but in a very high pitched voice shout ouch !
Use your voice, lower it and slow it down to enforce the point, i high voice makes them more hyper !
Have 'time out' where pup is held and given time to calm down, they get so excited they get carried away.
I never hit my dogs but boy they know wen they have over stepped the mark, im the boss and you must set an order in your home, you eat first, you go through doors first but you must all do this all the time.
Get a clicker and do some training with that and my best tip is join a puppy training class !

[northener]

Cheers flower. With the high pitch voice bit you contradict yourself, have you written it right?

[flowerofshona2007]

Kind of hard to write that bit  :P
You need the high pitch when pup nips as it stops them in their tracks but use a low tone to calm a pup down when they get to excited, hope that made more sence  :D

[star]

The high pitched 'Ouch' when they nip is what puppy litter mates do when they get hurt. It stops too rough play straight away. But its only effective as a nip stopper. Any other time it increases hyperactivity.

[Squash64]

I took my younger dog Graham to puppy training classes and now, at the age of ten, he still remembers what he learned then.

I don't do it very often now, but if I point to the ground, he will lie down. I don't even need to say the word "down", just point.

Even very young puppies can learn to do things.  Reward Lola with lots of praise or a treat when she does something right and she will soon get the idea.  You could teach her 'sit', 'down', 'leave' (very useful when you want her to give something up) 'take'.....

Good luck and let us know how you get on with her.  (a photo of her would be nice!)

[northener]

http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac226/nekatom/DSCF0806.jpg?t=1259166596bb

[northener]

Yessssss i've done it. Here she is our little Rottweiler, about 10 weeks.

[gardentg44]

Very cute.
and shes got your eyes too lol! ;D ;D ;D

[Squash64]

She is very, very cute!

[northener]

Cheers Kes.  ;D