Puppy help!

[beggsie]

Hi there
If anyone can give me any guidance, I would be very grateful! I am having some trouble with my lovely 11 week old puppy.

Most of the time she is just a delight. However, she has a tendency to go completely potty when the children are around. She gets frantic, which results in biting, which results in screaming, which results in more biting etc etc etc. I am trying to train the kids (6 and 5 yo) to ignore her when she is like this, but admittedly it is very hard for them. She really does get crazy. I am just not sure how to handle it (and as we are not at the end of the vaccs yet, we can't go to puppy training yet). I have tried ignoring, distraction, putting her outside but I don't know which one is most effective and therefore am probably being inconsistent.

If anyone has any wise words, I would be very grateful indeed - before I go bonkers!

TIA
beggsie

Ignoring her is the best method but you do have to be consistent and that will be difficult if your children are also jumping around and screaming, it will make her even more excited.

praise her a lot when she is good around the children and try really hard to all ignore her when she is manic. Don't pick her up and put her anywhere as any attention is still attention. Try turning away from her and ignoring her and when she calms down praise her, if she gets over excited then ignore her again.

it is hard but it does work.

Good luck. What sort of dog is she?

Thanks fruitshootsandheaves. I'll try ignoring as much as possible - it's a shame for the children as they adore her, but this is really putting them off.

She is a cockapoo - and she really is a lovely gorgeous dog. I know she is just being a puppy, but it is hard to explain that to the children. It usually happens at the end of the day when we are busy trying to get ready for bed etc, so I am sure she is playing off that.

Thanks for your advice - I will try to follow it!

beggsie

if she gets over exicited, put her outside/cage/spare room to cool off. this will act like a punishment aswell, as she will quickly learn that this behaviour reasults in her being taken away from the fun
this isnt mean. its the same as you would not let a toddler get away with destructive behaviour. its kindda like the naughty step, but for dogs
good luck with her!

I'd say a firm No and pop her outside to calm down
do you have a crate or quiet area you can settle her in?
If she is nipping mouthing then use a long line lead so you can have control
be firm calm and fair. Ask the kids to try and be calm around her. Try and use food treats to distract her from getting over excited in situations
also getting kids to cross their arms be silent and turn their backs on a puppy is very effective. This is what we used for our kids aged 2,7 and 15 with our ridgeback girl.
Now at 13 mths she is the calmest sensible child tolerant dog you could ever meet

You need to reward her calm behaviour. When she is sitting quiet if even for a minute reward her. ( I would be using the clicker). If she is getting excited remove her from the situation, do not tell her off and do not shout at her as this just gets her more excited. Do not put her in her crate as a punishment as this will cause more problems. Put her in another room for a second and when she is calm praise her.

You say it is hard for your 5 and 6 year olds to be calm well it is just as hard for the puppy who really is less than 2 in human terms. So you do really need to make sure your DC do know how to behaviour around the dog.

I know I go on about it but clicker training is fantastic and also give the children a positive way to interactive with the pupy rather than make the situation worse.

An added bonus is that the mental clicker training will tire out the puppy big time and hence also less manic behaviour

I've not used our pup's cage as a time-out/punishment place - I wanted it to be her safe place, and somewhere she associated with feeling comfortable, so she's happy to go in it when she has to - in fact she goes in there of her own accord when she wants a quiet nap.

My dog is a cockapoo also, and when we first got him he was exactly the same as yours. He is now 5 months, and has calmed down a lot. He is still rather excitable, but that is his personality.

When he was tiny we could not come downstairs with bare feet because he would nip them. He is still a very mouthy dog, so we have given him lots of toys to bite, which has saved our feet. He particularly likes cuddly toys, although he gets through them quickly.

Children's bedtime has been a difficult time for our puppy too. He cannot understand that I am busy and do not have time for him. I have a gate on the kitchen, and he has to stay in there when I am upstairs doing bath and bedtime. He would always howl the place down, but now is more likely to curl up in his basket and go to sleep.

It does get easier, I promise. Training a dog can be hard work, and training young children to be good with a dog is even harder.

Thanks so much everyone - all really good advice. The children really are very good with her and try very hard to turn their back on her etc, but I appreciate it is hard when she is knawing on their achilles!

I am keen to try the clicker training - last vaccs tomorrow so we will be getting into the classes very soon. I have heard good things about this. Once she can go for a proper walk outside the confines of the garden, I am hopeful she will be getting more tired (despite the huge amount of playing we are doing in the garden - she loves to chase a ball!).

Madsometimes, it is interesting to hear from another cockapoo owner - mine loves cuddly toys too.

Thanks again - it is really helpful and helps me to gather myself and keep going, rather than getting frustrated as I know that's not fair at all on her. She's just a baby still and so lovely in all respects.

beggsie

beggsie - nothing more to add on the advice front. However, our pup is now 13 weeks old (she is a vizsla) and between 9 - 11 weeks, she was biting constantly. My DCs (aged 9 and 5) were distraught most days and like you we struggled with consistency. It is hard to be consistent when your poor DC are crying and upset so I do have lots of empathy with you . We tried the ignoring thing but she would keep on jumping up at my youngest DC and almost knock him flat so I had to let that method go, I'm afraid.

I used a combination of the command "leave it", gently pushing against her mouth (this was advice from a trainer) but also, when she was really hyper, scooping her up and talking to her in calm, hushed tones before settling her into her crate and stroking her before closing the door; effectively, just as you would a tantrum-addled toddler

Also, I encouraged the children to ignore her when they first entered a room. She knows that she must "sit nicely" to get attention from me and she had to learn to do the same with DCs.

Now, at 13 weeks, she rarely nips. However, what does work now is either the ignoring or the "leave it" command.

It will take some time but you will get through it

one thing I did was dab a little tea tree oil on the kids clothes where the pup was keen to nibble, they loathe the smell of it... lemon juice also good btu cna bleach

Tea tree oil can be toxic to dogs and cats so be careful with this. Usually only the smaller breeds but I tend to stay clear of it just in case.

I am glad to hear you're getting through it tulpe! It sounds like you've come out the other side of exactly what we're going through now - it is heartening to hear!

Someone else suggested a very small spray of cheap hairspray on whatever you don't want them to nibble, but I haven't gone down that road yet......

Glad to be of help, Beggsie

Tonight we had a very interesting situation with my sis who came over for dinner and the first time she has met the dog. Ruby was an absolute nightmare with her - trying to bite her and constantly jumping up. As soon as I intervened she stopped So it seems that at this age they will try it on with anyone just to see what they can get away with. Also, I had to point out to sis that she was doing exactly what the kids had been doing - panicking and waving arms around etc whilst trying to give her commands. So obviously Rubes thinks "oooh play time with lovely waving arms "

I really question how good these "chew stopper" sprays are, tbh. When Ruby was at her worst stage of biting, I sprayed an old gardening cardi with chew stopper and wore it for 2-3 days solid. DIdn't make an ounce of difference . She gagged a bit when she first bit into it but then got used to it and continued attacking sleeves etc.

I do think it is just a matter of time. Hang on in there and in the meantime, keep coming back to these boards and offloading

Our pup used to have a manic phase at around the children's bed time too. We found taking him for a walk just before hand was the best way to calm him down, but where we live no one seems to worry too much about walking dogs prior to their final vaccinations (puppy classes start very young too). Or children are 9 and 10 so more able to understand how to cope with the wild rushing around with the mouth open moments. We found equipping them both with chew toys helped - then they could put the toy in his mouth when he rushed up to them. Plus the usual being calm, not flapping, not shrieking, turn away, yelp stuff (ds found this very hard though).

The good news is that they do grow out of it, even when you aren't the most experienced owner. Our pup is not six months and (generally) more sensible, although he has taken to jumping up, which is a nuisance.

Mine's coming up for 6 months and behaves, most of the time, with me, but is still a bit of a nightmare with others tbh. He is big so even though the dcs turn away when he jumps, he grabs their collars/hoods/hair in his mouth and yanks them down. He clearly thinks it's a marvellous game. Our response is to hop over the stair gate and walk off. Hope it works in the end.

Likewise, if I sit down to eat, he lies down in the kitchen as I've taught him to lie and stay for a treat while I have lunch. But if it's just me and dh even he jumps up to try to get his tongue in dh's plate, and dh is useless at applying my training rules consistently. When the kids are eating, pup knows he's got a 95% chance of succeeding in bagging a weetabix or whatever, so I put him in the garden until they've finished.

Well, she's just had her last set of vaccs - the vet said not to take her out for another week but at least we are a little nearer to being able to take her out (and wear her out!).

Thanks for sharing your experiences - it seems we are not alone! More training of children and dog on the cards for me it seems!

beggsie

Patch never begs for food when I am eating, because he knows that it is a waste of time. However, when the children are eating he gives them puppy eyes, and if I turn my back my little horrors ones give him a titbit.

The dog is far better trained than the children.

Puppies of this age seem to get brain boil in the evenings especially. If she bites it's best to yelp like she really hurt you, then turn your back on her, or slowly go to another room where she can't follow you. You could show the kids how to do this.

Once she's able to go for proper walks and get out and about, she'll settle down fast.

Could you ask your vet to put you in touch with some other unvaccinated puppy owners for a good romp and play?