Eli's challenges and doggy daycare help

[Karen C]

First of all let me say I LOVE this website and all it's valuable information! I have had dogs all my married life (37 years) but this is my first doodle. Eli has been challenging to say the least. We love and adore him dearly. However, there are a few areas he wears on my last nerve. Eli is 7 1/2 months old and is still nippy when he wants my attention or suddenly decides to attack. He also wants to bite everyone we meet on our walks who thinks he's adorable and wants to pet him. I feel like I get lots of looks when they bend down to pet him and he goes into full on attack mode on their hands. They always comment on how hard his bites are. I walk him 3-5 miles a day split up into three walks. I don't work so I spend all but about 4 hours two days a week away from home for volunteer work so he gets lots of attention and play time. Eli is also a very heavy chewer! We go through tons of toys on a weekly basis. I have all sorts of kongs and such but he really prefers stuffed toys which I pretty much quit buying since they only last about 10 minutes if that long. He's now trying to work on my two expensive oriental rugs and my couch cushions! I take him to obedience classes once a week and train daily at home throughout the day. I also hired a private trainer to come to our home once a week to work on some of these other things as they arise. We are taking a field trip to Home Depot on Monday to work on our manners when greeting people properly. I also made an executive decision to try out daycare and see if that helped him burn some excessive energy he seems to have at all times. Eli never seems to chill. He's always on the move. I have to admit I was afraid the daycare would turn him down after his evaluation since he's so nippy. To my great surprise they bragged and bragged on how well he did and how much the workers loved him! They also said he played great with the other dogs. He went two days in a row last week and did great both times! Both Eli and mommy are SO happy! I was struggling to get much of anything done around our house because Eli was always on top of me OR into whatever I was trying to get done. I am now planning on taking him to daycare two days a week one of which is a volunteer day for me and another for a free day so I can do home chores and such. I truly thought I would feel guilty putting him in daycare but quite the opposite is true. He gets to have some fun with his furbaby playmates and I get to be productive around the house. Life is good!

[Kaitlin and Ludo]

I'm glad daycare is going well.  I started taking Ludo (8 months) to daycare this past December to help with socialization with other dogs and to set him up for success in being away from me. I'm glad he's doing so well!  One thing you might think about (or ask your trainer about) is teach your dog to touch on command during greetings.  It gives them an appropriate option and way to interact with the people they meet.  I taught Ludo "Ludo, do you want to say hi?" and that is his cue to go and greet people.  With touch, you would train Eli to touch an outstretched hand with his nose (no teeth!).  Good luck!  You also might consider posting this in the training group, if you haven't-- you might get some great responses there!