Puppy Problems

Lainy2

Hi, Im looking for adviice on behavioural problems i hav with my 5 month old yorkshire terrier. i love her to bits but she is a handful. Our main problem is nipping, biting and jumping. She is very excitable and when she is playing she often nips. Also when she has something she shouldnt have and im trying to get it back she growls and snaps. im worried the problem is getting out of hand. i hav tried techniques such as stopping play when bad behaviour occurs, putting her in another room when it continues to give her a time out etc. I really love my puppy and would love to have a fun loving relationship with her but at the moment i seem to be spending more time trying to discipline her than play with her.

lasalle

we have a 4 month old doing the same thing, she gets a bit hyper from time to time when she wants attention. The puppy chew bones are a great distraction from her chewing things she shouldn't. She could spend an hour occupied with it. also when i'm doing 'sit' and 'stay' training she'll do anything i say because she knows there is a treat on the way when she is good. Our main problem is constant barking and growling everyday when she meets people while out for a walk. even kids, she cant walk past anyone without making herself heard! We have enrolled her into a 4 wk obedience class so we'll wait and see how that goes

roxiesmammy

sorry cant help but my neighbour has a 5 month old tiny yorkie, omg the smallest little thing i have ever seen. My other neighbours 11 week old kitten is bigger. Anyways she has exactly the same probs as well. Very excitable, barky, nippy, growling and dosent seem to be great with kids. I think, maybe im wrong, is that cos of their size they tend to get away with alot more than if they were a big dog. Also i think cos of their size they feel threatened.

SarahSassy

roxiesmammy wrote: »

cos of their size they tend to get away with alot more than if they were a big dog. Also i think cos of their size they feel threatened.

Maybe it has the 'Napoleon complex'

Sigma Force

Our pup went through this stage but earlier than that and it's kind of normal for them to test their boundaries but usually 5 months they calm down a bit but depends on the dog, training given so far and how long you've had the dog etc.

Flood her with toys, get her loads of toys and try to keep socks and other housey type items well off the floor, being a small dog she won't be able to reach very far so it should be easy to keep everything off the floor.
If you have kids then keep their toys in their rooms, with door closed at all times or a puppy gate on it to stop the pup getting into kids bedrooms and stealing small bits of toys, they still swallow things they shouldn't at that age too so better to be safe.

With plenty of puppy toys the pup won't feel as possesive about certain things, distraction works great. If the pup has something she shouldn't have get another toy and squeek it like mad, make big fuss and the pup should want to come over and see what you're up to.

Tesco have a great pack of puppy toys at the moment, they won't last forever but are fine for small pups for under 4 euro there's 4 toys in baby blue or baby pink. Getting a puppy kong (or red kong since the pup is a bit older) and other fun toys.

Puppy classes are handy too if you can get enrolled in one it will be great for the pup to become more socialised and you can get tips on puppy manners.
So many small dogs have a bad rep. being ankle biters etc. it's more down to us fussing and spoiling them then the breed itself although it's tempting if you do tend to baby the puppy a bit avoid babying too much and be fair but firm.

Distraction is the key with puppies and at that age they are easily distracted. Plenty of excercise will tire the puppy out as well, at that age they are well able for a walk, ok not miles but an hour gentle strolling does no harm at all.

There are loads of puppy classes now, depending where you live check out irishanimals.ie for a list. If you are in or around Dublin area try dogtrainingireland or if you are in the midlands try happier hounds there are a bunch of others around the country as well.