Funny story, other people and your puppy

[Eva and Fenway]

Has anyone experienced something like this? Fen and I have been doing a LOT of work on not nipping or jumping up on me every second. We also have mastered a lot of the very simple commands. 

 

So tonight I took the pup to my neighbor's house to visit since they had a bunch of friends over for dinner. Within 10 seconds of being in the house, Fen was racing between the people sitting around, getting love and attention from they all. I'm thrilled because I am having my pup meet 6 new people at once and she's doing great, very friendly. Suddenly I start to notice people letting her mouth at them, etc. Long story short, this progresses into people allowing her to play with their hands as though they were chew toys, and Fenway starts biting/growling as if the hands WERE her toys (this is partially my bad for not bringing a toy). 

 

Of course I try to stop this, and am received with "oh she's just a puppy." Since these people have all raised dogs more recently than me, they assume to know better. I said to myself, "this 15 minutes won't ruin the dog, let's see how this progresses". As I thought, the bites became harder and suddenly it wasn't cute. Fenway raced over to me, nipped hard, and received our usual "OW!". She stopped instantly and played nice. Enter, looks of awe and some minor training in how to not allow a puppy to bite. I have to say I felt pretty good about myself considering the last time I raised a puppy it was a shih tzu and I was 10.

 

Lessons learned:

1. As much as I worry about her mouthing, tonight I saw what she COULD become and am proud of my training. 

 

2. Dogs teach people what they should be doing with the dogs. 

 

3. I probably need to set some ground rules with people in the future until she's out of puppy phase.

 

4. DK rocks.

[Heather Martinez]

When Teddy jumps on people we have the same problem. I say OFF! loudly and they tell me not to worry about him jumping, that it's cute. well, it won't be cute when he does it to a kid or knocks someone over when he's fully grown. The problem is he's so cute right now that people are surprised to hear me be strict with him. Fenway sounds so cute and its great she responds so well to ow and plays nicely!

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

Definitely trust your instincts with your own dog! I'm so glad you were able to build your confidence in this situation. People who have dogs often times think they are experts about other people's dogs, not realizing that their training methods might not be what you use (consistency is important) or maybe their methods are outdated or even cruel. I have an example of not vocalizing ground rules for guests and therefore failing my dogs. We had guests for Thanksgiving who thought they were dog experts. We offered to put our four dogs in bedrooms, but this family said "no" because they love dogs and have several of their own. My family has a St. Bernard puppy (he just turned a year and gets better by the day). Anyway, I admit he can be obnoxious, but our friends advised us to get shock collars because that's what they use. I was appalled. I don't think that's training. I think that's instilling fear in a dog of a painful punishment. These same people also smacked my doodle puppy Barley across the face when he put his chin up on the table. Barley has never stolen food; he was just sniffing and did not deserve that. I have never hit my dog and we are definitely a no-hit household.  I was really angry, but I was too shocked to say anything. One of these people also held our St. Bernard puppy's mouth closed twice because he was doing the puppy nipping. I think Baron (the Saint) cried once because this woman squeezed his muzzle too tightly. Anyway, the lesson I learned from this was to inform people of the training methods you use (positive motivation in my case), politely but firmly ask them to follow your preferred training methods with your dog, and definitely advocate for your dog.

[Eva and Fenway]

Jaime, thanks for the example! I'm glad I'm not the only one who experienced this type of thing. I think it was really interesting to see how other people may not initially even respect your wishes, but pretty quickly decide puppy behavior isn't 100% cute all the time.

 

From now on it's "pull away and say ow when she bites you or else the dog doesn't visit".  

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

Eva, I completely agree with you. It's a shame that folks sometimes won't respect the owner's wishes. I'm glad you were able to advocate for Fen and educate your friends that the training method you're using works best for your puppy. Thanks for sharing your story, too. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has experienced that frustration. I've also had the experience of Barley being taught to jump up on people to say hello which undermined my initial training (Aargh! It's not cute!). My puppy has also been fed people food which I didn't want because I don't think it's healthy for dogs, and I don't like begging. Well, somewhere along the line Barley got an addiction to popcorn and even learned the word for it. Sigh.

 

 

[Coco Chanel and Cheryl]

Everyone has different training methods and you have to use what works for your dog. When you go places tell them what to do with your dog!! If they can't then she can't come over. I do use the grab the muzzle for nipping because it is what works for my dog, but I never hit her for anything. She is not scared of my hand and with nipping sometimes it's the only thing that works. Coco also understands that my dads hand is the only one she can bite at. They are smart and they know what they can do with certain people! You will see that as she gets older.

[Helen & Kirby]

Always be an advocate for your dog.   Even when your puppy grows up, you must watch how others treat your dog.   Don't be afraid to say, "She needs a time out now" when its really the other way around!

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Way to go! I sometimes get annoyed at people who are experienced dog owners thinking they know better and trying to tell me how to do things. I think my friends with kids feel the same way. Trust your instincts and make your expectations clear. Your doodle, your rules! If they don't understand, too bad.

 

I agree, DK rocks!