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Help! I'm not very happy right now......

3K views 19 replies 13 participants last post by  Dawson Creek Girl 
#1 ·
Dh decided that Rowan should have an old slipper to chew on ~ problem is when she goes onto the deck she thinks she can grab the good shoes and growls at me when I take it away. ( I'm so mad at my husband for this ~ something else I am going to have to break). :-\

She was eating chunks of wood outside and when I would bend down to pick them up and take them from her she would growl at me and begin to grab at my pants making those growly noises as she was shaking my paint leg and ended up putting numerous holes in my favourite pj's.

HELP~ what is up with this?????? How can I nip this behaviour in the bud?? I guess the leash and collar is happening sooner than later.... :-\
 
#3 ·
I'm sure others will have better advice for you since Lexie was my first puppy, but I will post a few thoughts.

You already know, never give objects that they can't always chew. They can't differentiate between old shoes and new. :-\ When Lexie was very little and chewing a lot, one of my students said "oh give her old shoes" about seven students told me "no, no, don't do that, she'll be chewing all your shoes"

I think part of this is Rowan being a puppy. Lexie would go into these puppy crazes, sometimes I thought she was possessed. She would chew on me when she got excited and she put lots of holes in my PJ pants and other clothes. This really does get better with time, but sometimes the behavior can get really frustrating for us.

Work on redirecting the undesired behavior. When I would take an object from Lex I would always try to give her something in return, a good chew, as opposed to just taking. I would tell her "good chew" when I was giving her the toy. I do the same thing with high value food objects; when I give her some kind of bone I take it away periodically and then return it to her so she doesn't get possessive of her treats/food/bones. I also learned quickly to carry treats with me all the time and when she would go a little nuts with me we would immediately start working on training, usually just "sit" or "down" at that age.
 
#4 ·
Thanks ~ everything you said makes today sense. I have been taking from her though and giving her the 'desireable' things she is supposed to chew on.

Thanks for filling me on the puppy craze ~ I'd never seen it before and thought ~ OMG an 8 week old nightmare. Good to know these crazes are normal. ;)
 
#5 ·
Dawson Creek Girl said:
Thanks for filling me on the puppy craze ~ I'd never seen it before and thought ~ OMG an 8 week old nightmare. Good to know these crazes are normal. ;)
When Lexie first started acting crazy, I thought I was the only one; I never saw any posts from other members with pups the same age that were crazy and nipping a lot. Then I started chatting with members with older dogs, in particular Connie (AngusFangus), and she shared her experiences with Angus when he was a pup and assured me that it would get better and totally made me feel better. It has gotten better, Lexie's nipping started about a week or two after we brought her home, it lasted until she was a couple of weeks shy of 4mos, stopped for a bit and then started again at exactly 4 mos. when she started really teething. Now at just over 5 mos. she really doesn't nip much anymore; every now and then she gets excited and nips, but I can usualy just tell her to sit and she calms down.

Oh and usually she only went nuts with me; she really didn't behave this way with Rob. Other members told me this was pretty normal too since I spent the most time with her and I was typically the one who corrected her.
 
#6 ·
be careful with that growling. as the dog gets older and stronger - it MAY turn into some sort of pack establishment aggression... try doing more things to establish you are alpha may help with that...

When a dog that is not alpha tries to take something from alpha dog - the first thing the alpha will do to display its dipleasure in the other dog's behavior is growl. If the other dog does not back down it could turn into a quick bite. If the other dog wants it bad enough, they will fight for it. The winner is then alpha.

don't let your dog be apha...there a few easy things to do to help you establish yourself.
eat first
no bed
no furniture
walk through your dog
go thru dogs first
obedience training

It will all be fine - the dog is just a pupppy afterall!
 
#7 ·
I'm also concerned about the growling. My 7 month old lab has never once growled at me, but my golden was like that as a puppy, challenging me on everything... it wasn't play, it was that she was a dominent girl who constantly tested limits. She was not allowed on the furniture and we didn't tolerate it as "pupy behaviour" but didn't punish her for it either, just worked extra hard with her to teach her to give things up to us, and so on. Although I'd never heard of it then, we instinctively used the NILIF approach ("nothing in life is free") and she eventually became the best dog I ever had, and I loved her dearly. About shoes -- I wouldn't give your pup anything that you don't want a similar object chewed, as they can't make a distinction between new shoes and old shoes (or perhaps they get a taste for them, no matter the age!) Good luck!
 
#9 ·
Good to know Kathryn. Thanks

I decided to be one step ahead of her this afternoon when I took her out. I had a ball in my hoodie pouch and everytime she tried to grab at my pant leg I'd give the ball to her. It worked very effectively. ;D
 
#11 ·
Bear has never ever growl or showed any alpha behaviour to me, but I think Kathryn's idea is great. You should let her know she is not the boss, and do it now that she is small... you certainly dont want to have to wrestle with a 60Lbs dominant Lab.
 
#12 ·
Welcome to the world of Puppydom! Its hard because you have to watch them like hawks all of the time so they don't hurt themselves or destroy your house. If you can't watch her put her in the crate and don't feel bad about it. A book I would recommend that was very helpful for us is The Perfect Puppy. The reason I would recommend this book is because it will tell you what you can expect from your puppy developmentally as it grows into an adult.
Olie
 
#13 ·
Kassa was a horrible chewer. I trained her to get my slippers and treat her. Even if I was late home my slippers would be at the door waiting. She then took my shoes to my room. Shoes and slippers were regarded as treats and not to be chewed. If she wanted a treat she would go and get my slippers.

When I adopted Ernie he chewed everything. I have finally been able to train him to get my slippers. No more chewed shoes or slipper.
I say get my slippers. He gets so excited and rushes off. Gets them and waits for his treat.

 
#14 ·
I agree that substituting a toy for the shoe or pant leg or ankle (sigh!) is a good idea.

On the growling part, here's my $.02. As a wee pup, Katie pulled my jacket off the back of a chair one day and was happily laying on it and chewing away. When I tried to take it away she growled- a serious growl. That pup was on her back with a big NO! NO GROWL! before she could blink. And a couple of minutes later we were playing and the best of friends. And she's never growled at me again.

Works for me! :)
 
#15 ·
Gosh, Rowan is adorable and getting bigger! Anyway, hub did the same thing! Gave Mellow an old sneaker (which he loves). I told hub that when he goes after his good running shoes he can't get mad at Mellow because he set him up. Anyway, we've not had any growly problems with Mellow and believe me, I take LOTS of things away from him. But, from the get go, he doesn't get anything without doing something for me/Emma/hub first - he has to sit and stay before each meal, before he gets an ice cube (which he loves), before he goes outside, when he comes inside (to take his leash off) and before he gets a treat. I don't know if that makes a difference.
 
#16 ·
putertutor said:
You already know, never give objects that they can't always chew.  They can't differentiate between old shoes and new.   
This is also what I was told by the breeder I bought my puppy from. Give her plastic toys or bones to your puppy to play with. As for the growling, your puppy maybe wants to be "dominant" or something. That is what my puppy did. If you don't want her to be dominant, then teach her what is forbidden for her to do. When my puppy barks at me (for any reason except when we are playing) I pull the leash and shout "no!". I do that whenever he does something that I want to be forbidden to him, like picking things from the ground or biting people. He learned that quickly and now stops and throws away what he has in his mouth when I shout "no". Good luck with training your pup :)
 
#17 ·
I had to really work on the biting because I have a 3 year old grand daughter who comes over often. The combo of a running squealing 3 year old and a 50 # puppy can be lethal. With biting, it was never acceptable for Miles to bite at us or grab our clothes. We hold him by the sides of the face and say No bite! and stop play. It's taken some time, but it's working. We still have to remind him. When we first come home and he's greeting us we always grab a toy for him to hold in his mouth. He just has to have something in his mouth at that time! But he's learning that human skin is not an option and he is becoming trustworthy with my grand daughter. Oh, do they love each other!

As for the growling. I think establishing yourself as the alpha is extremely important as others have suggested.
 
#18 ·
I'm not sure that growling in a puppy that young is a sign of dominance.  I think I'd try distracting and substituting something else before making that judgment. 

re: your DH.  I suggest you take him with you shopping for a couple hours in women's wear departments while you look over pajamas and shoes to replace the ones damaged.  Repeat as needed.
 
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