Hi All, Me again with another random question! haha We want to know how best to tell Lola off! so far she's been very well behaved but when she nips etc and chases the cat! how do we tell her off is it just a lift away with a stern NO! or something a little firmer? Thanks Billy
I don't when they nip I distract, turn away leave the room or shove a toy in their mouth it stops in time. I use a house line to stop cat chasing along with distraction. I learnt early on to ignore bad stuff and encourage good. Telling them off is a waste of time they even see that as attention so they carry on doing it because they've got you to notice them.praise them even through gritted teeth it gets the best results and watching them get all happy when you praise them and tell them they are clever is the best feeling ever. I won't say i never say no or get annoyed as I'm only human but praise wins in my house
Hi! Welcome to the forum from me and my black lab, Stanley! Personally - I wouldn't tell her off at all. She's not being badly behaved, she's being a puppy doing puppy things. When Stanley used to bite, I used to withdraw all attention. Just for a few seconds, then resume play. Every time he nipped, I just stopped the game. Eventually he learnt that biting meant the fun stopped and he stopped biting. With chasing the cat I'd just try and distract her with something else. I'd put a baby gate or something up so the cat has a means of escape but if she did attempt to chase I'd try to get her attention and play with her until the cat has gone. I'd try and limit the chasing of the cat as much as possible as you don't want her to think it's fun and want to do it - I'd try and be much more interesting than the cat. Good luck! Do you have any pics of her? We LOVE puppy pics!
Hi, I agree with @SwampDonkey and @JenBainbridge , try very hard to engage with the positive and ignore the negative. Withdraw from the nipping, re-engage when they behave as you wish. With the cat, give her something positive to do, encourage her to come to you for reward. I have problems with this, my cat is very feisty and fights Cassie which makes her want to play , chase etc. I have always enticed her to me, and recently started LAT training. Tonight for the first time she stopped, looked at me of her own accord and came to me, so perhaps we are progressing. Early days though!
Great thanks, what about when she's chewing on things she shouldn't be when you are not necessarily playing or engaging with her
That is such a great pic. She's adorable. Get something she really wants and distract her with that. Make what she's chewing seem boring and that you've got something loads better and you don't want what she's got. Be excited about what you've got its the best toy ir treat ever. You feel a bit silly sometimes but it works
I used a houseline with my pooch who came to us at 8 months with some very bad habits. It helped us to redirect when we needed him to stop something dangerous or annoying (continually humping the leg of my brother comes to mind). Also good to have the mindset of thinking of what you want your pup to do INSTEAD of the annoying behaviour. So if she is jumping up on people when they arrive, then teach her to sit. If she is using you as a chew toy, giving her toys to chew on instead. Teaching a dog what to DO instead of what NOT to do is more productive in the end.
Give her something she can chew, her teeth will be coming in. I use to give mine a rawhide cigar, but stay with her or a wet knotted tea towel she can chew. I also use to give them a box from the supermarket, it didn't last long, but didn't cost anything.They don't chew anything now, it just when they were very small puppies and their teeth hurt them. By the way she is beautiful.
Adorable puppy, looks like she is a lovely colour. As well as all the great advice you have above it's a good idea to keep things she shouldn't have out of reach where possible. And remember it does stop as they grow up!
Such a super cute pup! Echoing what others have said, we were very strict (WITH OURSELVES) about keeping temptations out of Harleys reach. I think part of the reason that it was so exhausting for us to have a puppy is that if she wasn't in her play pen, she was being watched by one of us. I know that it is common and fun to have puppies tear cardboard and paper, but it was one of my nightmares that Harley would rip up or eat one of my books or important documents, so we didnt make that part of her play. We bought her tonnes of toys, and Kongs. Whenever there is a fun raising sale at work and they sell soft toys for next to nothing, I buy the whole lot, remove the eyes and noses and anything else that shouldn't be swallowed and she has a basket full of these. Low value to us, high value to Harley. She always has something in her mouth and we usually have something nearby that we can swop out for a kindly presented shoe or sock. I know that not all labs are as calm as Harley but we found that the high level of survellience when she was younger has worked and she does have an idea of what toys are and what are not toys.
