I am beginning to hate my puppy...

[GunpowderTreasonAndDragons]

Don't get me wrong, he's not going anywhere because he is adorable and I also love him dearly but I am beginning to get really p*ssed off with him nipping people and housetraining is not going well.

I can't get to any of the sodding puppy training classes as they are all evenings etc when I have all 3 children to contend with.

None of the tactics for stopping him jumping and nipping work (yelping, ignoring etc ) but just drive him to further excited nipping. The children can't play with him much because of the nipping (thankfully they still love him and aren't scared of him) and I can't take him on the school run because he'll nip the children there too.

In other stuff he's great - he's learning to sit and will come when called (provided he's not distracted by other dogs/people) and he's great out in the woods off the lead. and did I mention that he's adorable?

I am just sick of all the nipping and chewing people and and...

I don't want miracle solutions (well, I do really) but just want a whine and a rant. I know he's a puppy (18 weeks) and he'll grow out of it (in about 10 years) but I'm tired, irritable and fed up with it. I can't even put his lead on without getting snapped at and chewed.

Minimu, please don't flounce - your dog posts are really helpful and encouraging! And light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-ish, if you know what I mean.

Minimu - I never knew that. Could you explain more? I had no idea about the electric shock collars and obviously would never use them on my puppy All his dogs seem so happy on the tv, sounds niave I guess. I don't have a great deal of experience but have tried reading lots of different things. Do you have any links about what theory is now used then and is it all just theory? What he says on his shows about how dogs "think" seems to make so much sense.

I think I dislike the whole working for treats thing as I feel the same way about children, I subscribe to the Alfie Kohn method and don't think really like the whole gold stars, treats etc. That's why I could see the same way transferring to animals.

Rest assured though I would never harm, scare or mistreat my puppy She is lovely and also have 2 kittens which we think the world of.

I hope you don't leave, was it my comment that made you want to?

Minimu please don't flounce, I'm avidly reading your post on clicker training as it works a treat on my puppy.

I love my puppy dearly but I have had moments of oh my goodness, what have I done . I'm hoping you forget all the traumas of puppyhood like you do the hard bits of a baby! I think if most of us who have 4,5,6 month puppies are totally honest we'll have had feelings occasionally that we'd rather not admit to.

Gunpowder, I'm sorry it is hard ATM. I remember reading that it is hard for you to get to a puppy class. Would it be possible for you to have a couple of one to one sessions instead, it really can boost your confidence getting input from people who know what they are doing. I've learned a lot from watching trainers handle dogs.

Clickers definitely make it easier. I am still stunned when our pup comes back to me. That's a result of the clicking and rewarding. The other two never did. I have to make sure I close my mouth so she doesn't see me looking stunned!

Just spotted your post and I really hope things are improving for you. I had a similar labrador pup and was driven to the end of my tether! I don't honestly think puppy training classes did anything for his behaviour. He just got hugely over-excited and developed more bad habits. I forked out for a couple of one-to-one sessions in the end which were a huge breakthrough. At £30 each they were not cheap but it saved my sanity.
Also, although he is getting a lot of flack, the dog whisperer is a huge education, especially the older series. If some of his techniques seem harsh (which they don't to me) it is harsher to let your kids and their friends be nipped...
Anyway, I really hope it is getting better. Stay calm!!

We also have a cocker puppy who is 8 months ,honestly the nipping etc does stop eventually!

At the risk of being told off for recommending another forum I would heartily recommend www.cockersonline.co.uk the forum is fantastic ,you will get lots of advice from cocker owners on nipping,housetraining etc and funny cocker ways !

hello, i have a 10 week old staffordshire, its been a while since i had dogs, we had a bullmastiff which was brilliant, but this one is proving to be hard, he is adorable, but he growls wen the kids pick him up, they just want to cuddle him, and there starting to get scared of it, it growls, now just starting to show its teeth, and once i caught it trying to bite as well, i watched the kids there not being rough, but he objects to being picked up, so do i just stop them from picking him up,or does this mean he wins,,,, its like he does not like being here, he makes a huge fuss when he see other kids, bounds straight over to them for them to fuss him, but my kids he trys to avoid, starting to feel like i made a mistake, i just want him to be a happy pup who wants to be with us, how do i turn around this behaviour and make him want to be a part of our family, i am concerned that at some point he will bite one of them, i am asking for help so i hope someone can give me some good useful advice, loud no's are not working, at all

sorry i have put this message in the wrong place i think, i am so sorry i will try to rectify this and put it where it should go,,

Minimu, if you don't come back I might actually cry, who will show all the CM lovers the correct path sensibly and without being rude if you go?! Please, please stay.

OP, as has been said, you do still need to take the puppy out regularly. Some dogs never ask to go out, mine don't, but they are now old enough to hang on until I let them out. Puppies obviously can't hang on.

Re: the nipping/ecitement. I feel your pain, really I do, it is frustrating. You need to pick one method for dealing with nipping and stick with it. It will take longer if the biting has been in any way accidentally enforced and dogs do get an 'extinction burst' at first, where the behaviour gets worse before it gets better. This is because the nipping got whatever the desired effect was previously, and now it isn't working, but it did work before, and the dog doesn't get why it's not working now, so will try harder. Think of it like this. If every time you said my name I gave you a £10 note, you'd say my name a lot. If oen day you said my name and I didn't give you a £10 note, you'd probably think I didn't hear you and say it again. If I still didn't give you a £10 note, you might say my name again, louder this time. After a few tries, you might even start to dance about a bit and wave your hands to get my attention whilst saying my name. You might give up after a while of me ignoring you, but chances are you'd try saying my name again another time to see if it still worked.

Nipping/trying to get treats out of your hand when training... a few things you could try. Invest in some leather gloves and then try. You'll be able to ignore the nips with gloves on. Or, you could try standing up, arms folded and ignoring until the pup sits (he will eventually, honest!) and then immediately saying 'sit' and giving the treat.

You'll get there eventually.

Midori - this is a very old thread

JodieO....

pack theory was disproven years ago. It was all based on one study done on a captive wolf pack. However, the pack was not naturally formed, but 'man made' and it has since been shown (through studies on wild wolves) that wolves do not behave in the way the study showed they do. Add to that, of course, that dogs are not wolves.

Training with treats or rewards (and it doesn't always have to be food based, can be a ball, toy, stroke etc) worsk for dogs because basically they are in it for themselves, selfish. If they do what we ask it is because they understand what we are asking and are motivated to comply. So, if you train a dog to sit by holding a treat above it's head, it is going to sit because it wants the treat. If you train a dog to sit by pushing it's bum down with your hand, it will probably sit in an effort to avoid the pressure. If you train a dog to walk to heel by yanking the lead or choke chain when it pulls, it will probably walk to heel to avoid those things. If you train a dog to walk to heel by giving a treat every time the dog is in the correct position, it will learn to walk to heel because it wants the treats. In both scenarios, the dog is either working for something or working to avoid something. When the dog is working for something, it will be happier, learn (in most cases) much more quickly, be more motivatd to comply, think being around us is a good thing, and it will be easier to teach difficult behaviours.

Some links here you might find interesting, also 'The Culture Clash' by Jean Donaldson is a good read.

www.4pawsu.com/posreinforcement.htm

www.4pawsu.com/dogpsychology.htm

www.4pawsu.com/cesarfans.htm

Also, there was a joint press release some time ago from concerned organisations such as the Dogs Trust, RSPCA, Wood Green Animal Shelter, The Association of Pet Behaviour Consellors, amongst others, regarding aversives and Cesar Millan's techniques.

Here:

www.dogwelfarecampaign.org/press-statement.php

Gah! Just noticed that, posted earlier and came back and finished posting again without re-reading the thread.

I'm so glad I clicked onto pets. We also have a 18 week old colliexspringer and she is driving me nuts. She has chewed skirting boards/welsh dresser/half of the padding off one of the dining room chairs/emptied the bin and its contents all over the kitchen and dining room. She is still constantly messing right in the middle of the kitchen and when the dc try to play with her she nips and darts towards their faces. She has also ripped a complete bag of compost open and dug in it so it is all over the patio, chewed up a cycle helmet, endless amounts of shoes even managed to pinch DS school shoe and i found it next morning in a ditch covered in mud and sodden from the storm the night before.

I have resorted to keeping her in a crate overnight and when I go out (something I originally thought was horrible) and keeping her by my side all the time.

She has learnt a hell of a lot quickly without me really teaching her and without classes so she is by no means dumb just bloody naughty!

Have to go and do tea now so will read all suggestions later on this evening.

I am really beginning to regret getting her even though i love her to bits :(

Whatever happened to your puppy? Did he stop nipping eventually? I had a spaniel and he stopped nipping but guarded his space and went for the kids viciously and I had to rehome him on the advise of a behaviourist. I was devastated and it was like someone had died when I rehome him. Got another puppy. Labradoodle. He is amazing. Just going through the nipping stage. But he is so much better around the kids and the kids aren’t scared of this dog. They were petrified of the last. He is 18 weeks and still trying to get the toilet training right too. Our previous spaniel just got it and was fully trained by 13 weeks