Rosie

**felicity62** · 12-04-2011, 10:21 AM

Hi guys I know there are threads on this subject and believe me I have read them all! But today for the second day I have a very deep wound on two of my fingers from her (needing streri-strip to hold the wounds together), i have allot of bruises and woundss on my arms and its getting worse.

I know I have asked for help before but its just not working any more....we did see a small improvement before but that has gone! The situations are possibly the key here, for example the finger wounds are when I took a sock from rosies mouth....when i took it she lunged at me barking....i say no she gets worse lunging and tearing the arm on my sleeve. at this stage sge is barking constantly at me showing me her teeth. I ignore her and she bites my arms so bad i got instant bruises! I cant reach her as she bites my hands and fingers and it excites her! the "no bite" command excites her immensly. I guess she is cross and frustrated because I took the sock away, but it then becomes a battle which she wont drop! I maintained eye contact and thought i saw a moment to try remove her from the room hence why my hands got torn badly (the pads of my fingers have deep gashes in them)

what can i do? am i letting her do too much with me? if we (my son and I) go upstairs to bath/dress etc she comes with us and maybe i should not take her? how can i stop it as it is becoming a real issue, nothing is lasting or working. she wont take a toy from me when she is barking and shouting so i cant even give her that. saying "ouch" never worked it made her worse. turning away makes her bite me harder and more times. walking away means my jeans get torn (and the skin on my legs) and she jumps up to my arms as well (from the ground). I have to correct her and cant let her chew household objects but she attacks me for doing so (despite giving her her toy)

please help i am desperate and getting angry with her (and despondant)

felicity x

she is 4 months now and strangely she only does this to me???????

**BigBrownDog** · 12-04-2011, 01:11 PM

As much of an advocate as I am for positive training methods this is a situation that calls for correction. Do you keep a leash on her at all times? She needs to have one so you can control what she is doing. You also have to puppy proof so that she cant get the items you don't want her to chew.

If I were you and she bit me hard enough to hurt I would grab her by the scruff of her neck and give her a loud strong verbal correction. I don't think she perceives you as an authority figure in the household.

Your puppy sounds to me like she is bored, looking for attention, looking to burn off some energy.

Beyond that- what are you doing to exercise her? What are you doing for mental stimulation? Have you gotten into a puppy kindergarten class? There is a limit to how much training help you can get from the Internet. Nothing beats having a trainer observe you and your puppy and then give you accurate advice along with hands on direction.

**tammyhuffman** · 12-04-2011, 02:39 PM

Sharon is giving you excellent advice, please make use of it before you become too frustrated. Keep that leash on at ALL times.

**felicity62** · 12-05-2011, 03:50 AM

thanyou for taking the time to help. i know you get lots of similar questions! she isnt leashed i didnt want to initially try that route (i know you did suggest it before-i guess i didnt want to do that at the time as i want her to learn on the job rather than be leashed but that is my error maybe). puppy proffing is difficult as I have an 18 month old monkey making this rather difficult, we do try our best because it isnt her fault she got the toy if it were there laying around, but she should be correctable by me. i feed her, i walk her, i train her. she cries after me when i leave the room, she follows me around constantly ! you are probably right she doesnt actually see me as an authority figure and i need to gain that control now.

she is now getting a strong verbal command and scruff of neck hold-she still gets up and tries again....but with less vigor, if my partner is around he says no and she stops! i am just worried she will become scared of me if i am stern (or am i being silly) i dont want her to fear me!

she gets three walks a day and as she is 4 months old i believe i am restricted activity wise but she does need to RUN off the lead. we are in puppy class which started last week....we did an introductory class learning sit command and just saying hi to each other. she can sit, give paw, fetch, lay down so responds very well to those training commands. i am scared about the recall bit, but i agree she needs to be tired out and let off the lead to run and play. she socialises very well and loves everyone (but me it seems)

i may look to hands on profesional advice, the puppy class is too busy for one to one advice and they told me to do everything i have already tried.

**kassabella** · 12-05-2011, 04:16 AM

Here is my story with Erns whe I adopted him at 3.5. He hadn't been trained at all . NOt even house trained so thought he was boss. He lunged at his family, even ripped the shirt off her back, and tried it with me. I have to say I was a little scared, frustated and all the other things that come with being bitten, lunged at or the constant crocodile death roll he went in to when I tried to get him outside for peeing inside. One night trying to get him to bed he did his usual up on the back legs trying to get my face and bit me. I was so feed up I kicked (not hard) his legs from under him and he went to the ground. Think we both realised then I needed to be firm and in control.

I put him on a lead and he had to work for everything he got. If he behaved the lead came off. I used positive reinforcement, with lots of treats, patience and didn't give in for one moment. I worked on the sit command then used this to get him to drop things, and treated.
I stand tall, puff myself up to make myself look bigger, drop my voice and give a strong command not a please sit which is ignored. I worked on a long lead and didn't let him off until he earned that right. I took one step at a time, loads of praise and treats, ignoring the negative,never rough, and before I knew it I had a great dog. His eyes light up when he he gets praise for being a good boy.

Tessa is untrained and she is a laid back dog, but surprisingly stubborn. I am finding like Erns teaching one thing and getting that perfect before going onto the next is working better than over loading her brain. For me, sit, and come are my most important.

Good luck and hang in there. It takes time, being consistent and patience but worth it in the end.

**Tanya** · 12-05-2011, 07:01 AM

exercise is a big part of your issue (but glad to hear you are in puppy class). Labs are energetic breeds and need to RUN RUN RUN. She is still young so it won't be for hours at this point but walks are not going to tire your her. things will get worse in a few months - by 6-12mts they will need ALOT of off leash play so you should start thinking of options soon on how to make that work. Do you have a fenced yard? Do you have friends with dogs who would be good play partners? doggy daycare? doggy walker (that goes to a dog park)? sitter to watch the 18mt old while you go out with the puppy?

**felicity62** · 12-05-2011, 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by kassabella

Here is my story with Erns whe I adopted him at 3.5. He hadn't been trained at all . NOt even house trained so thought he was boss. He lunged at his family, even ripped the shirt off her back, and tried it with me. I have to say I was a little scared, frustated and all the other things that come with being bitten, lunged at or the constant crocodile death roll he went in to when I tried to get him outside for peeing inside. One night trying to get him to bed he did his usual up on the back legs trying to get my face and bit me. I was so feed up I kicked (not hard) his legs from under him and he went to the ground. Think we both realised then I needed to be firm and in control.

I put him on a lead and he had to work for everything he got. If he behaved the lead came off. I used positive reinforcement, with lots of treats, patience and didn't give in for one moment. I worked on the sit command then used this to get him to drop things, and treated.
I stand tall, puff myself up to make myself look bigger, drop my voice and give a strong command not a please sit which is ignored. I worked on a long lead and didn't let him off until he earned that right. I took one step at a time, loads of praise and treats, ignoring the negative,never rough, and before I knew it I had a great dog. His eyes light up when he he gets praise for being a good boy.

Tessa is untrained and she is a laid back dog, but surprisingly stubborn. I am finding like Erns teaching one thing and getting that perfect before going onto the next is working better than over loading her brain. For me, sit, and come are my most important.

Good luck and hang in there. It takes time, being consistent and patience but worth it in the end.

goodness me that was a job indeed for you!? big respect for sorting Erns!

**felicity62** · 12-05-2011, 08:44 AM

Originally Posted by Tanya

exercise is a big part of your issue (but glad to hear you are in puppy class). Labs are energetic breeds and need to RUN RUN RUN. She is still young so it won't be for hours at this point but walks are not going to tire your her. things will get worse in a few months - by 6-12mts they will need ALOT of off leash play so you should start thinking of options soon on how to make that work. Do you have a fenced yard? Do you have friends with dogs who would be good play partners? doggy daycare? doggy walker (that goes to a dog park)? sitter to watch the 18mt old while you go out with the puppy?

yeah i see that is necessary now, we have a fenced garden and i need to work on recall next. maybe use the childrens area in the park (during school time when it is empty) this is securely gated so i can let her off first to practice recall. i guess this is heavily treat based training with high value food? i am racking my brain for play mates as well! i may put an advert out for gated areas for walking. i cant imagine letting her go, she is very scared of barking dogs and i am scared she will run off when scared. i do believe it is part to do with not running...........instead of it being personal!

**tammyhuffman** · 12-05-2011, 08:54 AM

I absolutely would NOT allow any off leash running unless you are in an enclosed/fenced area! A puppy that young is not going to just understand recall and come back to you. Do not be afraid of correcting and rewarding your puppy, they do have to know who is in charge. Praising and rewarding work well at this age, when puppy gets it right make a big deal of it right away, on the spot, let the treats rain from the sky! Keep working hard, I know how frustrating it can become. If you are frustrated take a break. Keep your sessions short and frequent. When your puppy grows up well behaved you will be rewarded and happy that you stayed consistent and stuck it out. Good luck!

**Dio's mama** · 12-05-2011, 12:16 PM

Try using a 15-20 ft long leash to practice recall and to let her run while still being safe. I used one on Dio until his recall was pretty much stellar. I would use it even in a fenced in area, at least at the beginning so that you can catch your pup and reel her in if needed.