Tilly's biting problem

[Sophiesmama]

If you carry treats in your pocket, when she has a no-no in her mouth, you can teach her the "drop it" command. Offer the treat and say drop it! Not only does it save the no-no from certain destruction, it teaches "drop it"!

[felicity62]

she knows sit and leave already, she doesnt always drop it when very wound up tho, and i am so aware my tone of voice has to remain calm and assertive ( i think i may have been exciting her with my tone and anger). she will "leave" then sit for a treat most of the time.....will she ever do it without a treat tho ? when do i stop treating with food? praise i can always give her in adundance tho. i just didnt think to use the sit and leave command when she was lunging at me! thanks again

[Sophiesmama]

Sophie is 7 months and we still have to treat her some of the time for her to drop it. Tonight she had my husband's ball cap and she totally knew it was his! She ran like a crazy dog, and she is FAST! So we bribed the drop it command with a biscuit to save my husband's hat. We had already gotten her to drop it with a roll of Ritz crackers, a toy pistol, a coat hangar, a soda can and a video game box. She knew daddy would chase her over the hat, so she was no way going to drop it, so out came the biscuits! LOL! She gets in crack-dog mode all too often!

[felicity62]

ha ha ha ha!!!!!! that s funny

[okiwa]

hi everyone.

Tilly seems to be improving with her biting (hope i havent jinxed it) the problem now is when someones out the room she cries and barks like mad. Even if i am in the room with her if someone else isnt she will cry and cry. She seems very anxious when she cant see someone. Its good shes getting attached to us but I am worried she is too attached, making her stress out when she cant see one of us.

Any suggestions?

[Sophiesmama]

Try distracting her with a toy or play. It will get better as she matures. Some dogs have separation anxiety when left alone. You can start by leaving her just a few minutes at a time at first.

[BigBrownDog]

On biting the toddler. You can't have them in proximity without the puppy being under your complete control. I would have this puppy leashed to me at all times when your baby is present so you can immediately intervene. A small puppy is always going to be mouthy. A small child is just as likely to hurt the puppy.

Tie the leash to a belt you wear and you can go about your business in the house while controlling/training/reinforcing good behavior. Good dogs are not just the result of good breeding - your management of this baby animal can make her succeed or not.

[felicity62]

How is Tilly doing? we have seen some minor improvements, and the ONLY thing she responds to is the "sit" command, that will stop her in her tracks. everything else just excites her. A sit command and reward have won the battle.

we start puppy class tomorrow so hope the socialising will teach her some lessons about gentle bites!

[marmstr]

Puppy class is wonderful for so many reasons. There were days when I was practically (or literally) in tears with misbehavior. It was so good to go to class with other folks who were also in the same ages/stages. We did the beginner/puppy class followed by intermediate level class. Those classes took up all our Wednesday evenings during the summer. Daily walks on a leash (short at first, just 10 min or so, then longer as she got older) also helped. A misbehaving dog is usually a bored dog...

Good luck. It really will get better...only to be replaced by the next problem (our latest is jumping up again at 9 months...thought we'd cured this one already!)

[somet23]

my chihuahua used to chew on everything. couldnt get her to stop. so one day we left something out we knew she was going to get but we put habanero sauce on it. that was the last time she ever chewed on something she wasnt supposed to