Puppy climbing onto me

[BecauseIsaidS0]

Hi, I have a 9 weeks old pug puppy who is a delight. He is already having very few accidents (only one in the last three days) and obeys the 'Come' command most of the time.

My only problem is that sometimes when he wants attention he climbs and paws at me, or at my armchair if I'm sitting down. Every time he does, I get him, say 'PuppyName, down!' and put him down, but I am worried that he will then associate the pawing/scratching with getting some attention.

I then try to play with him, he's got a teddy bear that he likes chasing and a chewing toy, but sometimes none of them will do and he just wants to climb/scratch.

Any advice would be really appreciated!

I wouldn't use his name when you tell him off. His name is for nice things! Have you tried ignoring him when he scratches/climbs (head turned away, eyes on the ceiling) and then the second he stops the bad behaviour giving him loads of attention?

Hi HavantGuard, I started doing that today but then I lost my nerve as he got really insistent. I guess it will take a while to catch? Would you recommend I keep doing that?

I'm not in any way an expert but it works for me.

If they carry on for a while and it's not clicking I would get up and sit somewhere else/go into another room to break the pattern. It's not about showing you're annoyed because they won't understand. It's disengaging when they are doing stuff you don't want them to and giving lots of positive attention whenever they're doing what you do want them to, whether it's after being 'naughty' or just spontaneously.

I'm at your 9 week old. They are hard work but so utterly adorable when they're asleep being good.

Think of pup like a toddler (btw, freakin' LOVE pugs, greats choice of dog). Anyway I digress, when he does it you have to not talk/touch/look at puppy at all. As soon as he stops, and it could take a while, praise him lots and lots and lots and reward him with a bit of playtime or a cuddle. Definitely don't pick him up though, even negative attention is wanted so whilst he's doing it you have tom pretend he doesn't exist.

As he gets older you can teach him to "settle" or even sit. He will be still sleeping quite a lot at the moment too so do engage with him when he is awake and use those awake times as training/playtimes.

He is an absolute doll.

I love his tiny wrinkly forehead!

It is also worth creating a command for the behaviour you want. I used settle, so when dog was settled quietly I would very gently say good dog, settle and stroke. This taught the command to just lie quietly without bothering me.

do you use 'down' as the command for him to lie down also? this will confuse him so maybe try 'off' or 'away' or something?

OMG you guys, this is harder than I ever thought it would be! Yesterday he scratched the living daylights out of me. And I don't mind that much when he scratches me, but my poor sofas... I kept ignoring him as suggested but he doesn't seem to be getting the message at all.

(He's now scratching the inside of his bed like it's done something to him)

Look he's tiny! And it's only been three day! This is what puppies are like, and they are like it for months, not a few days. You need to be patient and consistent and you will get there. This is why posters are often advised to look for an older dog. Puppies require a lot of work.

My sofas haven't seen daylight in months. They are swathed in throws, some of which are well chewed at the edges. Don't talk to me about labels or fringes either.

This too will pass.

HavantGuard, I hadn't thought of throws but that's a great idea! Thank you.

To try and instil some manners in pups we would totally blank any poking, scrabbling, nibbling.

So a firm "NO!", hands off pup, do not even look at them, and a low gruff "aaaaah" if they continue to try to engage you. They will usually settle after a few seconds..either a sit, or a step back and as they look at you all hurt and offended providing they are calm then you give soothing quiet praise.

Usually we are sitting on the floor with them for this so they'll settle nicely on our lap or cosy next to us. You progress this to them approaching for a fuss, but waiting nicely...praising, and then onto sending them off to lie down or settle on your feet.

I don't know how persistent pugs are though, we are a lab/gsd household...they seem to me to be fairly easy to teach as they want to be loved!

and if I had that pug I'd tuck him in my dressing gown and make kissy faces at him all day!!

A firm no and a low gruff aaah is never needed for any dog. Teach them what you DO want and it is less likely they will do what you don't.

Have you had terriers? If so I doff my cap to you.

don't be ridiculous Lilcamper......never needed??? ahahahahahaha!

I don't own terriers, but I work with them, and bull breeds, sight hounds, Northern breeds, GSDs, spaniels.......

No is just a random English word that has little meaning to a dog. I am serious. You don't ever need to say no or aaah to a dog. In this case, if he is jumping up and scratching, distract using a kissy noise and redirect him onto something appropriate that he CAN do, like a chew toyor do some training with him.

(Speaking out of complete ignorance here) But isn't that the case for all words? They only get their meaning by association? Can you not train a dog to understand that "No" means to stop what they are doing?

Yes they learn to associate words with actions. 'No' teaches them nothing. this is a good article on the subject.

I would agree with Lilcamper. Dogs do not speak English. You name what you get, so first you need the behaviour happening consistently and then you name it. I also tend to avoid using the word 'no' as it is in such common usage it is easy to desensitise the dog to it. I use the word "ah uh" for "stop what you are doing" but first I have to teach the dogs what it means - and yes, if anyone is interested, I do own a JRT and have owned GSDs and other breeds as well.

So OP what you want to teach is not "don't jump on me" but "all four paws on the ground", so you have to find some way of getting that behaviour and reinforcing it. The easiest way to shape behaviour is to reward what you want, so anytime the puppy has all four paws on the ground click and treat. Other techniques that might work with a young pup is distraction, e.g. taking a toy and playing with the pup at the level of the floor, or giving him a nice chew, and sometimes time out can also be helpful for a pup that is becoming over excited, e.g. pop in crate with a nice chew to relax with but only after the puppy has been crate trained.

I would strongly recommend a good, reward based puppy training class as soon as you have his vaccinations in place. Meanwhile a puppy socialisation class will allow him to interact with other pups safely.

Interesting article.

I have a pug and she does this and it bloody hurts. I call it the "straight paw" as she just kind of puts her leg out in front of her, totally straight and just scratches you over and over again until you stroke her don't come to me for training advice!