Badly behaved puppy

[smartiejake]

We have a five month old sheltie puppy who is mostly adorable. But she has these totally mad moments sometimes when she charges around like a demon charging up behind you and attacking everyone's ankles and feet barking wildly. She still has some of her puppy teeth and it really hurts! I have tried everything the puppy manuals advise.e.g yelping (apparently this is what another dog attacked in this manner would do) pinning her down on the floor (as a mother dog would do to her pups) and shouting "no" loudly. We also shut her away in the utility room to let her calm down.

Lots of people have told me that puppies grow out of this nipping but I am just wondering when? I am worried that I will end up with a badly behaved adult dog. Has anyone else had experience of this and if so what else besides what we have tried did you do?

have no advice cause ive had sheltie pups and theyre nutters but they do grow out of this - do you have pics?

Does she have a high protein diet? My first springer was like this before we switched him from a high to low protein food.

I'm pleased to hear they grow out of it. This was what I was hoping. I haven't any pics on here yet but will try to attach some later.
Not sure about the protein. SHe has a small dollop of pedigree poch wet food and a few handfuls of James wellbeloved. I will look to check as now you mention it I have a feeling I read something about high protein diets. What do you feed your springer?

Are you taking her to dog training classes yet? Might help, so you can give a positive command eg Sit instead of No - and then praise the sit. Its like parenting really - positives work better than negatives. Good luck!

Not started actual classes but have started training (did this with my previous dog.) She can sit and nearly stay. I do praise her an awful lot soit's not all negative.
I have put a few pics of her on my profile if you want to look.

I feed my present springer Burns (and the loopy one mentioned before - sadly no longer with us). The loopy one couldn't eat anything made by Pedigree - he'd go crazy. Even one of their gravy bone biscuits was enough to do it. His main food was originally IAMS, until a behaviourist advised against it.

Oh thanks that's really helpful. I have been thinking about weaning her off the pedigree pouches as I had heard they weren't very good. Only prob is she doesn't like dry food only so I need to look for another wet food that is additive free to go with the dry. I've heard Dienes is good but I'm not sure if they do it in a puppy food.

Good! ... can you get her to obey Sit to break up a mad moment?

no experience with shelties, but I grew up with dogs around, and they all had crazy spells like you describe. We found it was best to let them out in the garden to run it off. It seems to be pent up energy and extra walks helped.

I have tried to get her to sit in a mad moment but she is just too hyper! Perhaps I am expecting too much. She is only 5 months.

Can you distract from ankles with a toy maybe?

Otherwise you'll all just have to wear wellies in the house till she matures.

It is just normal puppy attention seeking behaviour. You need to have several fun toys about - or many duplicates of the ones she likes. When she starts this sort of ankle nipping a firm "NO!" to her then introduce the toy to her to distract her as soon as possible. Any attention to the toy should be praised and try to keep her distracted with this until she is over the mad moment. She will soon learn to channel her energy to play with the appropriate toys rather than you! All she is looking for is attention and whilst shutting her away stops you from getting nipped at, it does nothing to teach her how to behave really. Saying No, yelping etc help to a point but teaching her what is more appropriate is a vital missing part to what you have been doing.

Good luck - I grew up with a sheltie and she was a FANTASTIC dog. I loved her to bits and still miss her many years on since she departed this world.

Ditto beautifulgirls.

She's a sheltie, and she's very young, so it's normal for her to be excitable. They're also working dogs originally and so are very bright and need loads of stimulation. If she learns that nipping gets a fun reaction, she'll keep on doing it! To this end try really hard to get the kids to ignore her when she starts - and as suggested, divert her attention with a fun toy/squeaker/raggy or similar.

Remember, she's not badly behaved, she's just behaving as a normal puppy behaves, I'm afraid! With patience and perseverance you can teach her to behave differently and more as you would like her to.

Thanks that you have all put my mind at rest. She has got lots of toys but they are not always immediately to hand. I will suggest my dds keep one in their pockets to distract her. Problem is as soon as she nips dds start leaping around and saying OW which excites her more!
Agree they are fantastic dogs.I was brought up with them and had one (Jake)who sadly died last year age 16. Thinking about getting another as a companion for my puppy (Smartie) as my parents always had them in pairs and they keep each other company.
(Now you know where I get my nickname from!)

awwwwww i want one .... again