Yet More Puppy Questions

Factual Questions
1

Polaris is now 13 weeks old. We’re having a couple of issues, and I thought I’d seek advice. We have her in puppy daycare to help with our socialization issues, and the owner gave me some tips, but I’d like to see what you guys think.

  1. Aggression/dominance. She is a very willful little pup, and will sometimes growl if thwarted. The owner of the puppy daycare told me I need to make her sit before giving her anything-- “Make her work for it,” is the way she put it. Though I know Polaris knows the command, she’ll often stare at me when I tell her to sit, making me say it two or three times. Often, she’ll flat-out refuse to come, or to give up something she’s stolen. (She loves to get in my cleaning rag box and steal one. I actually have to pry open her mouth to get it out.) She has also bitten my husband when he tried to take a french fry away from her.

What should I do when she ignores a command?

Should I get a choke collar?

I’ve recently started pushing her to the ground and holding her on her back when she growls to show I’m dominant. When I do this, her eyes look scared, and her ears go back, but she will do the same thing later in the day.

Should I no longer play tug-of-war with her? Some of my dog books say this encourages dominant behavior, while others say that it helps them to get out their aggression.

  1. Fearfullness. She’s afraid of strange people and loud noises. She backs away from strangers and tries to climb up my legs. Should I force her to remian still while strangers pet her? Should I hold her, or will this encourage the behavior?
2

Polaris really is a sweet little pup. I’m not just saying that.

In a way, it’s easier to own a dominant dog, because you know how it will act. It’s predictable. From your description, it sounds as if Polaris is insecure. IIRC, you got your pup at five weeks, and I seem to remember saying in some thread that it’s important to leave puppies with mom till 8 weeks, since momma dog trains them in social behaviour.

Anyway, the advice given so far is good, but you should try another form of correction/punishment: Ignore Polaris. Completely. Go for a walk, but just so she can relieve herself, tyhan go back in and ignore her. Put out food and water, but no matter how much she tries to get your attention, don’t give her that. It’s a very harsh punishment for a little puppy, since dogs crave attention and companionship.
But right now, she’s insecure and you need to tell her that her job is to be adorable puppy and nothing else.

I’ll warmly plug the books by Brit dog trainer Jan Fennel (easy to remember, since it rhymes with kennel), who has a different approach to training dogs, that have worked like a charm for me.

Have you signed up for a basic obedience class yet? It did wonders for me with Buster, since the training really told him who was in command.

3

I agree with the above post. You have to get control. Now. You are the leader of the pack.

Especially since there is biting and nips when you are taking “their” things away. Everything belongs to you. Food, toys, people, bedding. You should make a big stink about giving him food. Put the bowl on the counter and act like it is yours, ignoring the little one at all costs. Then give it to him like it’s leftovers. This worked pretty good with my puppy–though she was a few months old when we got her and was raised with her pack of pups. She knew to look for someone in charge–which is me, then the other dog, then that guy who lives here. But food is number one – take the bowl away from him, shoo him away while he is eating. Same with toys and stuff. It seems so :eek: but it works–and works fast.

For biting, Flip that pup over on his back and yell NO BITING and hold him there until he submits. You can do this for all “unwanted” behavior. Then walk away. Ignor him until he sits. He’ll be begging for your attention. Kissing up to the alpha…It seems to be working for you already–perhaps you need to do it a bit more.

It was hard for me to be the mean mom for a while, but this is how it works with the fuzzy butted ones.

4

I think the advice you were given about making her sit before giving her anything is right on the money. Keep in mind that it’s not good to repeat commands, because that signals to the dog that there might be some room for negotiation in the future. Say it loud and clear one time, and if she doesn’t obey, make her obey. When she doesn’t sit, for example, take her collar in one hand and gently but firmly use the other to push her butt to the ground. If she won’t come, go over to her and make her come to where you were. When she won’t give up something she shouldn’t have (the concept of “stealing” isn’t really ever going to sink in, I’m afraid), do exactly what you’re doing: pry open her mouth and take it away. Your husband should be doing pretty much the same thing: if she bites him, I’d do exactly what sj2 said to do.

For socialization, I’d make her sit and bear it. I would bet that there will come a time sooner than you’d think when strange people make her go crazy and she’ll want to jump all over them, in which case, you’ll want to do the same thing: make her sit and receive attention as calmly as possible. I have to do this with my four-year-old aussie all the time, and he used to be scared of his own shadow.

The only other thing I can tell you is that none of this is uncommon for a puppy. She looks adorable and sounds completely normal, just like a puppy. She’s still trying on life to see how it fits and where she fits into it, so you have to continually help her. Just be consistent and clear with her about boundaries; you’ll do fine. Getting some help in training is always a good idea for new puppy owners.

5

One more thing: if it’s not already in your repertoire, the command “drop” should be. She’s a golden, right? Then if she hasn’t already started playing fetch, she will soon. The first part of learning how to fetch is learning to bring the ball or toy back to you. After that, generally if you try to take the toy away, the dog will think it’s a tug-of-war game, so you’ll want to make her drop whatever she’s got in her mouth. So train her to do it with anything–even a toy that it’s ok for her to have.

6

Agreeing to what the others said and adding a few more comments:

You’re the leader of the pack and that means you take initiatives for everything. Some examples, you should always have your meal first andfinish leasurely (sp?). before putting out food for Polaris. In a dog/wold pack, the alpgha pair eats first. If you’ve left the puppy alone, never acknowledge it when you return. In effect, you’re giving the dog praise for handling being alone, which it shouldn’t get. Being alone is its downtime, a few hours to relax, with no demands. If you praise it, or even greet it, you’re telling it that it’s completed a task, mainly to watch over the house when you were gone. If there is any watchful behaviour in the dog (and most dogs have that), you’re gonna get a dog who’s watching your house and barking at everything when you’re not at home - not a good situation. My dog doesn’t make any sounds when someone knocks on the door if I’m not at home, but he’ll give a bark when I’m at home, saying “Hey, didya notice that?”.

And speaking of which, when your dog does that, praise it. Yes. Praise it. It wants affirmation and if you don’t give that, it’ll keep on barking. I have a boxer, which is very much a watch dog, and he could become a pain in the ass, if I let thattraity go unchecked. N.B. - if you want a watch dog, you’re gonna have to work in another direction.

You’re gonna have to take the initiative for playing as wel. It’s easy to give in when the puppy comes and tells you it wants to play, but it should always be your decision. This way, you’re the person that initiates all fun stuff, which will make obedience much simpler.

And re. sit. Dogs will sit naturally. Just repeat the word sit, whenever the dog sits down and praise it afterwards. It’ll only take a few days of this for it to learn. Lie or stay is harder, since forcing the dog to do that is very dominant on your part, and it’ll take much more time to teach.

You should always make your dog wait inside the door in your house or the car, with the door open, before you let it out. Again, you’re calling the shots.

Almost all dogs enjoy play fighting and tug-o-war is great and dogs love it. I’m hesitant to give advice in this direction, so check with your local dog trainer, but if Polaris indeed is insecure, you can boost her confidence by letting her win every now and then.

7

All good advice so far. To add to that: when you tell her off, growl! I have a huge dog (a v. large Newfoundland) who has had similar problems. If you tell her off in a loud growling voice she will respond more.

Also as to the ‘choke collar’ there are a few types. The most common one used by careing owners is called a ‘check chain’ and is just a chain (about 1.5 times the circumferrence of the neck) with a metal ring at each end. It can be put on in two ways, one involves pressure being put on the neck when it is pulled (this is a ‘choke collar’).
The other (the ‘check chain’) only makes a loud noise in the dog’s ear (it can be pulled tight but is not designed to and if does it is quickly relesed and dosn’t normally hurt). I would recomend the second type, my dog likes having hers on so I don’t think it would be a problem.

BTW, she is really cute!! What is she? :confused: She looks like a golden but also a little like a mountain dog of some kind. :slight_smile:

8

:smiley:

“Fetch” was the third command she learned, and it’s a game she loves. Unfortunately, we have trouble getting the toy out of her mouth. She growls and pulls-- thinking we’re playing tug-of-war, I gather. I firmly repeat, “Let!” which is our version of “drop it”. (That’s the command the older dog knows-- I figure it will be less confusing on both canines and humans if we keep the same one.) But she grows mysteriously deaf when I do this. I end up having to pry her mouth off of the toy.

Unless I have a treat in my hand, that is. She’ll spit out a toy instantly if there’s a biscuit to be had. I’m hesitant and confused about giving them to her, though. Some of my dog books say that food rewards can be bad because the dog may refuse to obey when there’s no tasty payoff. They say your praise should be reward enough. What do you think?

No one knows. She was a puppy we found at the pound. A litter of eight way-too-young pups had been abandoned there. The staff never saw the mother or father. Some of Polaris’ brothers and sisters were different colors-- some grey and some brown, and some tan. The vet says he thinks there may be some golden in there because of an ear infection Polaris had-- goldens are prone to them. There may be some sort of Pomeranian or Spitz because her tail curls up over her back, and indications are that she probably won’t be more than 30 lbs when fully grown. (She’s about ten now.) Other than that, it’s anyone’s guess. My grandma says she’s the breed known as a “sooner”-- because she’d sooner eat than anything. :smiley: