New Puppy Advice

[Fromtherough]

Our new puppy has been with us nearly two weeks now. He’s settled in nicely. He’s a little whirlwind and turned our house upside down. But we all love him, even if he is a bit of a cheeky devil. He quickly picked up toilet training, sit and paw. The only problem is he’s very mouthy when playing and/or when getting cuddles and strokes. He also likes to nibble on feet/socks even though he’s got lots of toys (of different variety) to keep him entertained. Despite the intelligence he’s displayed so far, he doesn’t seem to grasp “no”. Or more likely doesn’t care about it...

Anyone got any tips? Trying to calmly say no wears thin over a fortnight. We’ve tried positive reinforcement. Giving treats when he’s a good boy or following orders. We’ve tried turning our backs and stopping engagement when he’s chewing/biting. He’s starting nibbling at furniture, which isn’t ideal. He gets his second injection next weekend so hoping once we can get him out for walks, some of his energy will be burned off.

We both go back to work on Monday. Luckily we’re both working at home - so he won’t be alone. But we won’t be able to provide the attention we’ve been giving him since he arrived. As he’s chewing on furniture, we’re considering putting him in a crate for an hour or so at a time. Between which one of us will spend some time with him and give him a bit of a run in the garden. He sleeps in the crate at night. Would this cause any negative connotations?

 

[Deleted member 29109]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/060061722X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_99k8Fb8DY9KKP?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[DanFST]

Distract him with a loud noise or a yelp, then replace whatever he was biting with a toy, then praise. If he is biting you definitely yelp, they get very distracted by noise.

 

[Backache]

Our new puppy has been with us nearly two weeks now. He’s settled in nicely. He’s a little whirlwind and turned our house upside down. But we all love him, even if he is a bit of a cheeky devil. He quickly picked up toilet training, sit and paw. The only problem is he’s very mouthy when playing and/or when getting cuddles and strokes. He also likes to nibble on feet/socks even though he’s got lots of toys (of different variety) to keep him entertained. Despite the intelligence he’s displayed so far, he doesn’t seem to grasp “no”. Or more likely doesn’t care about it...

Anyone got any tips? Trying to calmly say no wears thin over a fortnight. We’ve tried positive reinforcement. Giving treats when he’s a good boy or following orders. We’ve tried turning our backs and stopping engagement when he’s chewing/biting. He’s starting nibbling at furniture, which isn’t ideal. He gets his second injection next weekend so hoping once we can get him out for walks, some of his energy will be burned off.

We both go back to work on Monday. Luckily we’re both working at home - so he won’t be alone. But we won’t be able to provide the attention we’ve been giving him since he arrived. As he’s chewing on furniture, we’re considering putting him in a crate for an hour or so at a time. Between which one of us will spend some time with him and give him a bit of a run in the garden. He sleeps in the crate at night. Would this cause any negative connotations?

I can't offer help but if it's any consolation our puppy is at exactly the same stage , we will have had him for two weeks tomorrow and we sound like we are pretty much at exactly the same stage for behaviour .
We're maybe a bit less lucky with the toilet training he still wee's occasionally when excited indoors.

 

[Fromtherough]

I can't offer help but if it's any consolation our puppy is at exactly the same stage , we will have had him for two weeks tomorrow and we sound like we are pretty much at exactly the same stage for behaviour .
We're maybe a bit less lucky with the toilet training he still wee's occasionally when excited indoors.

Ha, I’m glad it’s not just our little so and so who is the same. What type have you got? Ours is a Lurcher. He’s worth all the chew (no pun intended) but he’s much harder work than I remember from our previous dog.

 

[Backache]

Ha, I’m glad it’s not just our little so and so who is the same. What type have you got? Ours is a Lurcher. He’s worth all the chew (no pun intended) but he’s much harder work than I remember from our previous dog.

We went designer dog because my Mrs has always wanted a dog but is very allergic so we have a labradoodle. (To which she is only mildly allergic)

PS the book above we have and is excellent and certainly recommends crating at times during the day but never as a punishment.

 

[AmandaJR]

Distract him with a loud noise or a yelp, then replace whatever he was biting with a toy, then praise. If he is biting you definitely yelp, they get very distracted by noise.

This. Always have a toy to distract and replace the bit they're biting. If you're on Facebook I can highly recommend a group on there run by professional behaviourists. They do answer specific training questions BUT mainly have a whole heap of resources to help. They are pretty amazing. "Dog Training Advice and Support".

 

[Lord Tyrion]

All puppies go through a biting stage. As per the advice previously, make a noise. When we watched training stuff before we got ours they said to make it quite theatrical. That was effective in our experience but maybe we were lucky.

My SiL has a puppy going through this right now. I can confirm that swearing at a puppy does not resolve the problem ?

 

[DanFST]

Also just to add, turning your back and ignoring won't work at this early stage. They will notice and then get distracted by something almost immediately.

 

[Fromtherough]

This. Always have a toy to distract and replace the bit they're biting. If you're on Facebook I can highly recommend a group on there run by professional behaviourists. They do answer specific training questions BUT mainly have a whole heap of resources to help. They are pretty amazing. "Dog Training Advice and Support".

Thanks, I’ll get my wife to join the group on facebook. We have tried to replace/distract with a chewy toy. It’s not always easy. He sometimes accosts you as you enter the room or catches you unawares. It doesn’t especially hurt, but he also does the same to out 8 year old.

 

[Fromtherough]

Also just to add, turning your back and ignoring won't work at this early stage. They will notice and then get distracted by something almost immediately.

That explains quite a lot. As soon as we turn our back, he’s on to his next nibbling target.

 

[hairball_89]

This. Always have a toy to distract and replace the bit they're biting. If you're on Facebook I can highly recommend a group on there run by professional behaviourists. They do answer specific training questions BUT mainly have a whole heap of resources to help. They are pretty amazing. "Dog Training Advice and Support".

This support page is exactly what I was going to recommend. - read the units supplied, then if they don't answer what's going on (they will do!) make your post. it's not a discussion forum, so you will get a reply from a professional dog trainer and not a bazillion different "I did this and my dog is perfect" types of reply.

A must for all new dog owners.

 

[AmandaJR]

This support page is exactly what I was going to recommend. - read the units supplied, then if they don't answer what's going on (they will do!) make your post. it's not a discussion forum, so you will get a reply from a professional dog trainer and not a bazillion different "I did this and my dog is perfect" types of reply.

A must for all new dog owners.

I love their attitude and anyone who doesn't is welcome to leave!

 

[Norrin Radd]

The only advice I can give is plenty of toys and lots of walkies . They get bored very quickly and will chew anything , which you have already found.
Lots of toys.

 

[Fromtherough]

The only advice I can give is plenty of toys and lots of walkies . They get bored very quickly and will chew anything , which you have already found.
Lots of toys.

Hopefully things will improve when we can go for walks after he has his second injection. Only another week to go for that. We have a fair few dog friendly beaches and fields locally so looking to utilise those to tire him out. I’m sure we’ll get there, it’s important we remember he’s only a baby and is testing boundaries as well as learning.

 

[Fade and Die]

Hopefully things will improve when we can go for walks after he has his second injection. Only another week to go for that. We have a fair few dog friendly beaches and fields locally so looking to utilise those to tire him out. I’m sure we’ll get there, it’s important we remember he’s only a baby and is testing boundaries as well as learning.

Exactly, he’s just trying everything out. I was worried about our Goldendoodle biting us and chewing everything when he was wee... but once his adult teeth came through he seemed to stop straight away.

 

[AmandaJR]

Hopefully things will improve when we can go for walks after he has his second injection. Only another week to go for that. We have a fair few dog friendly beaches and fields locally so looking to utilise those to tire him out. I’m sure we’ll get there, it’s important we remember he’s only a baby and is testing boundaries as well as learning.

Be careful and don't over exercise a young pup. Lots of advice out there about restricting this to protect joints as they are forming. A combination of physical and mental exercise will tire out a pup and not risk physical issues later in life.

 

[patricks148]

when we got Rupert, we thought he was cute, liitle did we know instead of a Cute GSP puppy, we got a Velociraptor crossed with a Tasmanian Devil. We tried everything, none of it worked.

But he grew out of it, pretty quickly, so don't worry its normal.

Brain stimulation is the best way to go, Training, Training Training, that is far better in the long run. Also as Amanda says you have to be very careful about exercise with a puppy, i think its 5 mins for every month of age at any one time. the joints don't fuse prop until most brreds are fully grown, so you can be doing ser damage over exerting a puppy.

good Luck

 

[Fromtherough]

Be careful and don't over exercise a young pup. Lots of advice out there about restricting this to protect joints as they are forming. A combination of physical and mental exercise will tire out a pup and not risk physical issues later in life.

The vet thought 15 mins 3 times a day, raising by 5 mins per walk per month until he’s getting 90-120 minutes a day. Seems sensible. I was thinking more of the additional stimuli he’ll be subjected to that would tire him out. Luckily we have easy access to beaches, fields, trails, cycles paths etc with very different surrounding for him to enjoy and experience. So hoping to mix them up to keep him interested/engaged.

My wife joined the Facebook group. Thanks for the recommendation. A plethora of information. No namby pambyness. We’re working our ways through the units and have already picked some useful tips up.

 

[DanFST]

It seems pretty unfair that you've taken all this free advice. And not even posted a photo of the little guy!