Bad behaviour getting worse :(

[Christine and Daisy]

Hi All:

 

I am saddened that my puppy whom I've only had for one week is beginning to exhibit some really negative behaviour. She is 4 months old and keep jumping up on the couch where she is not allowed. Everytime we catch her up there we tell her "NO" and grab her collar. Usually she gets off on her own. I did a search on the site on couch jumping and couldn't find anything that supported ways of keeping her off as the majority of people allow their dogs on.  I would love to have her on the couch but at the moment, I believe, she is thinking she's Alpha which we are trying to discourage. She's not sleeping in our bed either.

This new behaviour that we are getting a really good taste of is whenever she's on the couch and we ask her to get down she doesn't listen to "No" or a hand clap. We can't even reach her to pull her off with her collar as she darts back and forth away from us. At one point we were both trying to grab her and she started growling at us! Finally one of us grabbed her collar and my husband said "No" to which she responded by running frantically around the livingroom jumping up on us and biting us like crazy. Bites that hurt with her puppy teeth. He took her by the collar over to her crate and put her in because we didn't know what else to do with her, she was totally out of control.

 

This is our first dog, we read books and we watched a well known dog trainer (not Cesar Millan) show beforehand. At the moment we are doing obedience lessons with her daily. I get up at 5:15 am to start her day with a walk, then she goes out two more times/day. She has a backyard to run around in, we play ball with her.  We are affectionate with her. I just don't know why she's acting his way all of a sudden or how to handle it. I really need some pointers with how to deal with her acting out behaviour.

 

Thanks for any tidbits!!

 

 

[Kyoko]

I am so glad!!! I think positive iinforcement not only helps to curb the behaviors, but also helps to buid a good relationships! I spend 10 ~ 15 minutes each feeding time, working on some simple behavior using that meal as treat. ( Basically, Charlie is being hand fed few kibbles at the time, working on the behavior and food as reward ) Daisy is still a baby. She will be OK!! Like everyone said, her behavior seems pretty tipical to me.

[Ronnie & Emma]

i think im going through the same thing as well. . there are times wehre emma does jump onto the couch when im not looking or i've limited her to that area.i tell her off / i tell her sit and she does that . Soemtiems when my parents are home and watching tv ..she tends to jump on them while sitting on the couch. they say ' off' as wel to her. she just keeps pushing ..i step in and i tell her to go to her bed. she stays there for a bit calmly.

she tends to play with the soil in the plant pots in our house. she was not like this before. it just started two days ago. .

[Christine and Daisy]

Yes, she is normal I am realizing more and more! Typical puppy behaviour and even though I read books in advance of her arrival, nothing prepared me until she arrived and I experienced it full on.

I think Daisy is only jumping up on the couch because she knows she's not allowed! I don't think she actually wants to stay up there, but that it gets our attention and she's feeling like she's wishing she has more attention at times! I am always watching her 110% but hubby allows her free run of the open area she's allowed to stay in. That goes against my wishes of always watching her. She actually got into the cat food tonight after he told me to relax and forget about watching her constantly. Boy was I mad! That is exactly why a puppy cannot have free run of any open area as there's always a chance she will get into something.

[Leigh & Allie]

I can certainly relate to the hubby saying calm down. Oh and the great one was, "she doesn't need to go out she just went" Then proceeding to pee or poop right there. I would be soooo mad. I say it's better to just blame the hubby FOR EVERYTHING! It worked for me.

[shelly]

Oh Leigh... this sounds like my DH!... How 'bout this one...She'll be fine... she's a dog.... dogs eat stuff and are just fine.... NOT! LOL

[Leigh & Allie]

Shelly, are you married to my husband?!?!?!? I LOVED this one..... "She can stay out in the house, she does not need the kennel anymore. (We leave, I am NOT happy) we come home to a den FILLED with a shredded up newspaper.

And how can I forget when she was just a few weeks old. DH thought she should be given the whole kennel (I had the divider in). I said "I don't think she is ready for the whole kennel. She feels safe with the divider in" Now, you have to know she had NEVER cried at night. Well, after taking the divider out she proceeded to cry and whine. Guess who got to get up and put the divider BACK in.

[shelly]

LOLOLOL ~ Does your husband have a long lost brother???We have MANY similar stories.... Actually waiting to see if she poops out the piece of a tee-shirt she chewed last night - that "she's just cuddling with" - now who's the dummy? ME! Toooo funny! He almost had me convinced that I was too much of a worry wart, but nah.... there are many of us out there (all on DK!) THEY"RE ALL ALIKE!! Gotta' love em'!

[Max, Sunny Girl and Jeanine]

I love this group. So many great suggestions.

My labradoodle is almost 16 weeks old. About the time the sun is setting each day, a switch goes off and he becomes "Rambo Max" - starts off jumping up and biting my husband's feet (those teeth hurt) inviting him to play like he would invite another puppy to play - growls, runs like a crazy puppy - circles, jumps. Pushes at us with his nose when told "NO" bites (like I said it hurts).

Initially we tried to wear him out but reassessed and realized that we were going too long and over stimulating him. Now we know what is coming and play fetch or anything else that engages him and then we encourage him to "settle" after a few minutes, resume play and then settle etc. If he gets too carried away with the biting/mouthing/nipping/growling, we give him a "crate time out" for just a few minutes - this seems to break the cycle a little.

We read a great deal "before getting our dog" and I think one needs to combine one's instinct with what one has read. After all, it is your puppy in your home and as long as lots of love, positive reinforcement, distraction and substitution are used, how can you go wrong in the long run. My fear with the biting/nipping was Bite Inhibition but now I believe that this phase will pass. We can see him really trying with gentle mouthing and licks versus actual bites in his non-Rambo moments.

We live in the country and he has not socialized with any other dogs. Now that he is 16 weeks and immunity more established, we will be visiting w other dogs. Puppy K does not start here again until fall.

Sophia's book "How to behave so that your dog behaves" was great and Max asks "please by sitting" as described in her book but during those Rambo times, there is definitely some puppy energy that must be released - with guidance from us. At first, also happened in morning but this has calmed down a lot. So great to know that others are going through some the same things.