Pup at brat stage!

Optimus485

Watch Cesar Milan (The Dog Whisperer), and get cuddly toys for him to munch on.

Graceland

kildara wrote: »

Are you going to get him neutered?

Thanks for your reply, it was interesting what you had to say.
Yes I will be getting him neutered, probably when he is around 9 months. I think this is supposed to make them calmer.

Graceland

Optimus485 wrote: »

Watch Cesar Milan (The Dog Whisperer), and get cuddly toys for him to munch on.

He has plenty of toys to chew on. He loves the squeaky ones the best.

Graceland

Bluefrog wrote: »

How about making him stay outside the bedroom door when you are in there - make the threshold of the door the line which he can't cross without your invitation. I do that kind of thing a lot with my two, for instance, I make them do a 'stay' inside the kitchen door when I'm in the hall getting ready to take them out They have to sit to get their leads on before we go out and off when we get back and also to eat so through the normal activities of the day I am constantly reinforcing with them that good behaviour gets them what they want.

Thanks for your reply. I'm going to do what you said about making him stay outside the bedroom door and only letting him come in when I say so. I'll see how this goes.
Another thing which I have been doing with him - which seems to be working - he had a very bad habit of jumping up at the table when I'm eating and when I would give out to him, he would get a bit snappy, but he would just jump back up again. Well my new thing with him for this is - when he jumps up and I give out to him, if he doesn't do what he is told, I just put him in his bed and leave him there for a while. It's a crate, so he can't get out of it. I've been doing this for the past few times and he is definetly getting better. When he does jump up at the table and I tell him to get down, he will get down now. He might just jump up another time, but that is it. I can see the difference in him. He knows if he keeps jumping, that he will be put back in bed.

I'll let you know how I get on with keeping him outside the bedroom door. He's clever enough for the size of him. He does understand - he just doesn't want to do it, lol.

Bluefrog

Well they're cetainly clever enough to experiment which is why you need to be consistent in the response. When the pup first came he tried the table thing with us and I basically played mother dog and pushed him back from the table - back to the border idea again I basically set up an imaginary ring around it, if he came inside that ring he got pushed back even before he got to the table, he gave up trying within a couple of days. Same thing applies to the dishwasher, sweeping brush, laundry basket, vacumn cleaner etc. The all have a no-pup zone

Also on the table thing - watch your guests, some will fall for his handsome good looks and try to feed him from there undoing all your good work so if he's out and about when people are there to eat, just mention it to them.

Its a lot of fun figuring out ways to get them to do what you need them to

Graceland

Bluefrog wrote: »

Also on the table thing - watch your guests, some will fall for his handsome good looks and try to feed him from there undoing all your good work so if he's out and about when people are there to eat, just mention it to them.

It was my fault at the beginning because I used to give him bits and pieces from the table - I felt sorry for him when he looked at me with those big pup eyes, lol. Now he thinks it's his right to get whatever is on the table.
But as I said before, he is a lot better at this now.

As I write this bit now, he is being made to sit outside the bedroom and wait for my command to come in - can't help laughing in silence at the look of him, but I have to do it for all our sakes, lol.

Bluefrog

Well its great that you can already type and get on with what you need to do while he waits - a few weeks of that and I am sure you will see a decrease in the snappiness as he learns his place and you become less stressed and frustrated.

My pup had a bit of a brat incident today while I was having a sandwich he stuck his big jowly head up on the table, big floppy lips splayed out but a no sent him packing.

Let us know how he gets on. As someone else said on the thread, don't forget to work on his socialisation with other dogs too.

Graceland

Bluefrog wrote: »

Let us know how he gets on. As someone else said on the thread, don't forget to work on his socialisation with other dogs too.

I take him for a walk everyday and meet dogs each time. He loves to see them and puts noses together with them, so I think this will be a help to him in his socialisation.