Need doggie advice

Wobbie

I'd put this in ~:~:~the doggie thread~:~:~, but WTF no one seems to "be there" anymore :( C'mon!

Anyway, my 15 week old Golden has TWO majorly annoying quirks..

1) When she's fired up, she tears through the yard, yanking up grass. That stuff's hard to grow around here! I can't spray my whole yard with Bitter Apple. Any ideas?

2) When I approach Gracie to take her out to go potty, she rolls on her back for a tummy rub. That's fine, but she nips and bites at my hands if I try to flip her onto her feet. If I manage to get her leash clipped on, she chews on it and it's not a pretty sight as I try to drag her to her feet. I know she's just playing, but sheesh....

All in all though, it's good to have a dog to lick my toes again.

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll56/ddgrh8r/IMG_1839.jpg

eyedclaar

Feed the dog to this cat. Problem solved...

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07302008/news/regionalnews/fat_cat_122221.htm

Wobbie

eyedclaar wrote:

Feed the dog to this cat. Problem solved...

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07302008/news/regionalnews/fat_cat_122221.htm

I like that cat!! If I were in NYC, I might adopt!

norm

imalive wrote:

I'd put this in ~:~:~the doggie thread~:~:~, but WTF no one seems to "be there" anymore :( C'mon!

Anyway, my 15 week old Golden has TWO majorly annoying quirks..

1) When she's fired up, she tears through the yard, yanking up grass. That stuff's hard to grow around here! I can't spray my whole yard with Bitter Apple. Any ideas?

for the first couple months, when i took norm out in the backyard, he'd always be on the leash....the only time i'd let go of it, is when he was calm...usually after a walk

imalive wrote:

2) When I approach Gracie to take her out to go potty, she rolls on her back for a tummy rub. That's fine, but she nips and bites at my hands if I try to flip her onto her feet. If I manage to get her leash clipped on, she chews on it and it's not a pretty sight as I try to drag her to her feet. I know she's just playing, but sheesh....

once she rolls over, put the leash on her...then right her by using the leash

i know there are some people that don't like cesar milan's techniques but they worked for me and my dog is far from being abused....if you get a chance, watch his show....you'll learn a lot about how to control gracie

imalive wrote:

All in all though, it's good to have a dog to lick my toes again.

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll56/ddgrh8r/IMG_1839.jpg

okie doke!!! :eek:

Cree Nations

I dont think there is too much you can do other than always telling her to listen and direct her to do what it is you want her to do. She's a pup and thats what they do.
You could give her time outs in a kennel too....might save your grass.

Wobbie

cutback wrote:

once she rolls over, put the leash on her...then right her by using the leash

So, you're saying yanking her up is OK? It doesn't seem to hurt her. I'm looking for input and do respect your opinion.

RolandTD20Kdrummer

Teach it to read, then write verbal commands on a white board that the dog can easily refer to.

Go over them with a pointer in a white lab coat every so often....daily if required.

problem solved.

Cree Nations

I dont know aboot yanking, it can hurt the dog. I trained my dog by cupping my hand around his mouth and looking into his eyes ....sometimes growling.

Who Princess

imalive wrote:

I'd put this in ~:~:~the doggie thread~:~:~, but WTF no one seems to "be there" anymore :( C'mon!

Anyway, my 15 week old Golden has TWO majorly annoying quirks..

1) When she's fired up, she tears through the yard, yanking up grass. That stuff's hard to grow around here! I can't spray my whole yard with Bitter Apple. Any ideas?

2) When I approach Gracie to take her out to go potty, she rolls on her back for a tummy rub. That's fine, but she nips and bites at my hands if I try to flip her onto her feet. If I manage to get her leash clipped on, she chews on it and it's not a pretty sight as I try to drag her to her feet. I know she's just playing, but sheesh....

All in all though, it's good to have a dog to lick my toes again.

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll56/ddgrh8r/IMG_1839.jpg

Gracie looks very sweet!

I've raised several puppies, all shelties. I'm no genius at it and I'll admit that puppies are a lot of work but fortunately they want to please.

Looking at your second problem, lots of puppies will try to bite and nip when they play. Biting is NOT allowed at my house! Puppies have to be taught not to do that from the very beginning. There are gentle ways to do this, such as saying "No!" or "Ow!" very loudly when they do it. Also, draw your hand back quickly as if you have really been hurt. Dogs watch your facial expressions. Gracie will notice that she has "hurt" you and that you have stopped playing with her.

You can also try a corrective measure like keeping a spray bottle of water handy and spraying her in the face when she nips you. You'll have to be REALLY fast for her to make the association though.

What I do, when all else fails, if a puppy nips me I say "no" and quickly stick my finger into the puppy's mouth and throat, just for an instant. I don't hurt the dog but it's an unpleasant feeling and dogs don't like it at all. I don't have to do it very many times and the dog figures out that biting people is a bad idea. But I haven't had to resort to that in a very long time, and usually only with other people's dogs! My puppies usually had learned not to nip by the time I got them.

If she is biting the leash when you put it on her, try using a Gentle Leader. It has a loose loop that goes around the dog's muzzle. It's perfectly humane and the dog can still drink water. But she won't be able to bite you or the leash. She'll probably get used to walking on a leash much faster.

As far as your first problem, let me get this straight. She pulls up the grass? I've had dogs that dug up plants and dogs that wore paths around the yard but I've never known of one that pulled up the grass. Could she teach my dog to pull up weeds? Sorry, I know it's a real problem for you. It's just a new one to me and I've been training dogs for years. Ask your vet.

Finally, think about signing up for an obedience training class when Gracie is about 6 months old. Don't worry about becoming a pro at it but it's good exercise and a good way to learn how to train your dog. Plus you meet other people who are training their dogs and that's always kinda fun.

Good luck with Gracie! I have one dog right now but lost my old guy in February. I'm thinking about getting a puppy because we've always had at least 2 dogs. Here's my dog Django:
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii149/cgoodspeed/djangosit.jpg

Wobbie

whoprincess wrote:

Gracie looks very sweet!

I've raised several puppies, all shelties. I'm no genius at it and I'll admit that puppies are a lot of work but fortunately they want to please.

Looking at your second problem, lots of puppies will try to bite and nip when they play. Biting is NOT allowed at my house! Puppies have to be taught not to do that from the very beginning. There are gentle ways to do this, such as saying "No!" or "Ow!" very loudly when they do it. Also, draw your hand back quickly as if you have really been hurt. Dogs watch your facial expressions. Gracie will notice that she has "hurt" you and that you have stopped playing with her.

You can also try a corrective measure like keeping a spray bottle of water handy and spraying her in the face when she nips you. You'll have to be REALLY fast for her to make the association though.

What I do, when all else fails, if a puppy nips me I say "no" and quickly stick my finger into the puppy's mouth and throat, just for an instant. I don't hurt the dog but it's an unpleasant feeling and dogs don't like it at all. I don't have to do it very many times and the dog figures out that biting people is a bad idea. But I haven't had to resort to that in a very long time, and usually only with other people's dogs! My puppies usually had learned not to nip by the time I got them.

If she is biting the leash when you put it on her, try using a Gentle Leader. It has a loose loop that goes around the dog's muzzle. It's perfectly humane and the dog can still drink water. But she won't be able to bite you or the leash. She'll probably get used to walking on a leash much faster.

As far as your first problem, let me get this straight. She pulls up the grass? I've had dogs that dug up plants and dogs that wore paths around the yard but I've never known of one that pulled up the grass. Could she teach my dog to pull up weeds? Sorry, I know it's a real problem for you. It's just a new one to me and I've been training dogs for years. Ask your vet.

Finally, think about signing up for an obedience training class when Gracie is about 6 months old. Don't worry about becoming a pro at it but it's good exercise and a good way to learn how to train your dog. Plus you meet other people who are training their dogs and that's always kinda fun.

Good luck with Gracie! I have one dog right now but lost my old guy in February. I'm thinking about getting a puppy because we've always had at least 2 dogs. Here's my dog Django:
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii149/cgoodspeed/djangosit.jpg

Django is a beautiful dog!!

Yeah, getting Gracie to go for weeds is a great idea! Our last dog did the grass thing, too. It's just been so long ago I can't remember the "cure." Probably maturity.

Thanks for the advice on the biting. I do know about the "Yipe!!!" approach and it works a little. Got the spray bottle, too.

Gracie starts a puppy class on Monday. We can't wait! She's sweet; just a normal puppy.

Thanks for the help!

Who Princess

imalive wrote:

Django is a beautiful dog!!

Yeah, getting Gracie to go for weeds is a great idea! Our last dog did the grass thing, too. It's just been so long ago I can't remember the "cure." Probably maturity.

Thanks for the advice on the biting. I do know about the "Yipe!!!" approach and it works a little. Got the spray bottle, too.

Gracie starts a puppy class on Monday. We can't wait! She's sweet; just a normal puppy.

Thanks for the help!

You're welcome! I talk a lot. Gotta learn to make my posts shorter, lol.

And thanks, Django is a very handsome guy. I think it's the blue eyes that do it. He's real sweet but he was 100% puppy when he was a little guy.

Cree Nations

whoprincess wrote:

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii149/cgoodspeed/djangosit.jpg

this dog is so cute, I just want to hug him and scratch him on the ears.

Is he named after the famous guitarist?

Who Princess

Cree Nations wrote:

this dog is so cute, I just want to hug him and scratch him on the ears.

Is he named after the famous guitarist?

Yeah, our other dog was named Pete after the dog on the old Little Rascals show and we found there are a gazillion dogs named Pete so we wanted to give this guy a unique name. The first time I took him to the vet, the vet walked in and said "Well Django, can you play guitar yet?" He would just love it if you scratched his ears btw.

vedderfan10

Grab her by the neck (loose skin) and hold her to the floor and get in her face. Show her you're the boss...

Otherwise, wait a bit and she'll grow out of it. She is still a puppy...but I'm sure you know that

TheDecline13

dont wait for her to grow out of it. Thats prob the worst thing you could do. Its nervous energy. Lab's have a ton of energy. She thinks its a game be very firm with her. Maybe start with treats, like make her sit before you put the leash on.

I want a golden retriever soooooo bad!

sponger

Teach her how to play fetch and get out there and throw the frisbee/ball around a few times a day so she can get that energy out of her system.

I remember I used to say the word "UP" to my dog and he always knew what it meant. I forgot how he got that way. Must've been treats and positive reinforcement.

TheDecline13

sponger wrote:

Teach her how to play fetch and get out there and throw the frisbee/ball around a few times a day so she can get that energy out of her system.

I remember I used to say the word "UP" to my dog and he always knew what it meant. I forgot how he got that way. Must've been treats and positive reinforcement.

its always the treats, its doggie heroin. Ha