I'm really struggling with 6 month old Nelly. She doesn't respond to a stern, firm voice when I'm telling her to 'get down' or 'leave it' or 'no biting' when I do this she barks at me and jumps at me and tries to bite my clothes- she just goes wild and she seems aggressive but I know she's not. I've heard people say to turn it in to a training session quickly and focus her attention on something else but would that seem to her like I'm rewarding her behaviour because I'll be then treating her for her training straight after? Also, is 6 months a bit of a teenage stage and do they seem to play up more at this age?
I never bother with a stern, firm voice with my pups - it simply doesn't work. Train your cues with a normal or quiet voice and use a whistle where you would need to shout (long distances etc) No, you are not rewarding the behaviour. My Mollie problem just now is counter surfing. I tell her 'off' (she knows the cue, I taught it by saying 'off' as she came down). Once she is down I count to ten before treating so that the behaviour she associates with the treat is being off not coming off. Mollie is seven months old and half puppy half dog. I forget how young she is because she's huge! The same when she shouts at Tatze. My cue is 'enough' and I count to ten once she's quiet, so the reward is for the quiet, not the stopping shouting. I do use tasty rewards for other "stop it" activities like 'stop playing' as playing is fine, but just needs controlling. .
I try not to use a stern voice with Red who is almost 6 months. I have found using a quiet voice with her to be more productive and I talk softly to her all day. We do say 'no biting' - if she persists we put her in her crate for a few minutes time out. I try to say 'leave it' in a lighthearted way (not easy) as advised by the trainer at the puppy classes we go to. It generally works better than when I get all tense and stern. When she jumps up - we do say 'no jumping' or 'get down' but will gently guide her back to all paws on the floor. I look away from her or turn my back - she quickly gets the message and she is a lot better but as always 'a work in progress' . I wouldn't then start a training session as such. I just deal with the unwanted behaviours as they happen. Red is teething - so I expect Nelly is too.
Without wishing to high jack Olivia's post @Boogie (sorry @Olivia__ ) - how would you deal with this scenario? Red is getting so much better around Sky but Sky just won't respond to Red and waits for us to intervene when Red has this frustrating way of biting Sky's collar under her neck. I hate it and we say no - quiet but firm and try to remove her to her crate - this is when she is likely to snap. I do verbally praise her when she stops when I ask her to but generally she doesn't.
All mine bite Tatze's neck and she doesn't mind in the least. Tatze is younger so I leave them to it - dogs have thick fur, even little pup teeth don't get through to the skin. The neck biting is how all pups play, even teeny tiny ones in the litter. But, from a young age, I do teach 'get a toy' so that I can begin to re-direct the bitey behaviour. We get to the stage (about now) when Tatze neck bites the pup. Now I do not like to see this even 'tho I know for sure it's only play. So 'get a toy' is invaluable for stopping this too.
I would actually use a house lead on these occasions. It sounds like Sky is hugely exciting to Red, but although Sky tolerates Red, she doesn't want to engage in play. The more Red is allowed to play with Sky, the more reinforcing it becomes. I would be focusing on lots of engagement with Red through short exciting games and training.
@Olivia__ just to let you know, Snowie did the same to me as a pup (he's 5.5 yo now). I must confess I found it very funny and even videoed it when I was telling him to get off the bed and he refused and spoke back at me. Unfortunately though I think it taught him that it's okay to shout at me now. So at 5.5 yo I'm the only one he barks at for attention or to tell me he wants something. At these times he's not being rude as such, like a naughty puppy, but his bark is unbelievably loud and it's no fun in a cafe when he's saying he's bored or at the park when he says he wants to leave. So in retrospect I should've taught him that being loud vocally is not a good thing. He doesn't bark at other times except also if he's outside and the door is closed - but then he knows that he should modulate his voice - it's pretty amazing that he knows a loud bark is unnecessary then. And I am trying to teach him an "inside voice" with good success - I don't want to shut him up, I just want a quieter voice. I reward heavily (with praise) when he uses his inside voice - it is a very cute sound! But still a work in progress when he shouts at me.
It tends to start around then, my lab's was closer to 8 months. If she's gotten to the stage of jumping about and barking, I would remove myself from her attention rather than shouting or trying to talk sternly to her, I don't think you're going to get far if she's overexcited like that. She isn't being aggressive or wayward, she's just full to the brim with teenage puppy energy and little impulse control, and is probably just thinking it's one big game. I would make sure she got a nice walk and play in the morning to burn off some of that energy, with some training thrown in. The difference is night and day between when my dog has had his walk and when he hasn't
Haha! That's so funny. I end up laughing at the whole situation too actually. She is just like a mouthy teenager- like me really!
Yes that's helpful actaully. I do try and use a quiet more coaxing type of voice and yes it does seem to work better it's just so hard when I feel so frustrated. I think I need to count to 10 a bit more with her.
Harley would bark at me too when she was a little pup. It is so hard to not laugh and encourage her but gratefully she has grown out of it.
