So Kyko turned 13 weeks today & how smug I've been "oh he doesn't bite, much prefers a kiss & cuddle". fast forward to this weekend & his new thing is to pin me down & attack my hair! My hair is my pride & joy too! So last night he jumps onto the couch & has a go at my hair (he was having his mad half hour so knew he had got over tired), so I sat up and turned my back on him ignoring him & he bit me hard on the arm. My sister grabbed him & put him in time out for a minute in his crate. He cried the place down, so when he was quiet we let him out. Was quite comical when he got out he walked right up to me & gave me a big kiss then lay on the floor looking bewildered with a right sulky face, then crashed out for an hour and a half. We don't have a room that we could put him into, so used the crate. Is this the correct way to deal with this? We really can't have him biting like this, as we have kids & elderly people visiting from time to time
Hi @leighxxxx yes you acted appropriately. The consequence of his undesirable action was negative punishment. Be consistent..if it doesn't work in reducing the behaviour, then you may have to move him out of the room. As for the look, he is suffering no guilt. Evolutionary response to appease us.
@Michael A Brooks Thanks for answering, we thought this would be correct as he needs to know when he's like this he gets no interaction from us. His crate is actually out of the room in the hallway anyway. You're advice is well appreciated as although I've had 4 labs before they were all rescues, so this is my first experience of having a puppy & I don't want to break him with love
Hi @leighxxxx you will not break him, providing you're fair and consistent. Yes and no in the same sentence time after time can break a dog. Or punishing a dog for anticipation. But you're not doing that. No, all good.
Yes, this sounds fine. But take care that you don't put him in the crate in an angry or punitive way or after saying 'NO' or something similar - just matter of factly pick him up and deposit him there. By the way, there are ways you can lie or sit on the sofa which will make your hair less accessible, or you can tie it up - which I highly recommend until he is out of baby puppyhood
We didn't speak to him at all when we put him in just deposited him & closed the door. I'm afraid tying my hair up doesn't stop him he just rips the pony tail out & leaves me looking like I've stepped from an 80's music video . I'll be honest he really is a pretty easy going guy, and generally just loves a kiss and cuddle most of the time. When I read what some people go through with their puppies we have it really easy. Good job I love him so much when he's giving my extremely long hair split ends though The only other thing that really gets my goat is pinching my make up brushes when I'm getting ready for work........one day he managed before he was banished from my bedroom
Kyko sounds like an angel... My Bentley is a terror. He has his angelic moments however my ankles and hand are bloody from his nipping me. I tried the crate... Ha! That didn't work at all. He cried for two hours straight and then started barking... he's nine weeks old! He is highly trainable. He can play fetch, sit and stay on command and he understands "no." I can distract him with these things... until he wants to "bite"! I envy you and your kissing Kyko!
I do agree with this is in theory...meaning remove dog from being able to rehearse undesirable behaviour on people...absolutely I do wonder about reducing the negative punishment element. Perhaps employing a different tactic where possible. Of course making your hair inaccessible, and thinking about positioning yourself in relation to puppy is one way. Redirecting onto a toy is another. Start a bit of "boundary training" meaning training the puppy to go to bed/crate and be rewarded for that behaviour. For me, "timeout" in a crate is the very last resort. Some good resources here:
When he's just being a bit bitey ie. mouthing then I will just redirect him to his toys & he'll happily go to chewing them instead, however these last 2 days these were full on bites in fact my arm is still aching and bruised today, we just can't allow that behaviour when my 6 month old nephew & 87 year old nana visits him. He was literally in his crate for 1 minute if that as I don't want the crate to be a place of punishment for him & he has chew toys in there all the time too. Honestly though I know I'm really lucky with him, he hasn't tried to chew the furniture or anything & for probably 23 and quarter hours a day is an absolute delight to be around, he's only been with us just over 2 weeks & we couldn't imagine life without him he is our world. He loves his training sessions so much & generally picks his tricks up within couple of sessions. We are working heavily on leave it & drop it at the moment as he won't listen outside & there is an apple tree in the garden which has shed a lot of apples at the moment. I go out & think I've got them all & he'll somehow manage to sniff out the most rotten bits he can find and eat them. We are concerned he gets the pips though so imperative he gets the drop it & leave it command down. Also desperately need to be working on recall as he will take off from us and won't come back
He really is a joy to be around. Sleeps through from 11 to about 6 or 6.30 now, we only really had 1 week of sleepness nights, was pretty much good on the lead straight away and loves a good cuddle. So far he has learnt sit, wait, down, give a paw, high 5, beg, the start of roll over, watch me, kiss, touch & an inconsistent leave it & drop it. He loves his training sessions & knows when the treat bag comes out it's coming and his 'lipstick' pops out . We find it a good way of draining his energy, so started a routine on a night of a training session, then out for a short walk & when we started that he started sleeping right through. I bring him to work with me twice a week & he really is no bother there either apart from an occasional piddle on the floor that I've managed to hide from the boss so far . He's so quick to learn we had him in the car on Saturday & he barked a little bit, so we gave him a quiet command & a treat when he was quiet & I'm sure after a couple of times he clicked that when he barked & we told him quiet he got a treat, so the little monkey barked the whole time, when previously he only ever barked a couple of times at the beginning of the journey
@leighxxxx you are doing a great job! Don't panic! It just takes time. Make sure he LOVES his crate and is comfy there (which it sounds like he is...) Maybe invest in a house line, and use it outside as well. A good way to teach recall is actually in the house. So, use your verbal or whistle cue and use for example, when you place his feed bowl down. When he is at one end of the room, running toward his bowl, gently blow your recall whistle or use your recall cue. Hide in a room, then use your recall cue...reward with lots of praise and a treat. Then transfer this to the garden. Always make recall a fun game! The ping pong game is another good one for the garden, just be careful not to use too many repetitions. So, stand with some big chunks of say chicken (easy to see in the grass...). Have roughly 8 in the palm of your hand. Then, throw one piece about 10 feet to your left. Puppy runs for the treat. The instant puppy looks at YOU use your recall and throw a treat directly 10 feet to your right...puppy looks at you..rinse and repeat
