New BC mix puppy, lots of questions

[coalchaser]

I adopted a border collie / coonhound mix puppy a couple weeks ago, and Lily is just over 11 weeks now. I don't know much about coonhounds, so I'm not entirely sure which traits are due to which breed!

 

I've grown up around dogs, but this is the first time I've ever raised a puppy myself. So far, she is house trained for the most part (although if I take her upstairs where we have carpet, she sometimes has accidents - not sure she understands what carpet is?), and I've been putting her in her crate at night and for short periods of time while I leave the house.

 

A few things I'm looking for advice on. She does bark a bit any time I walk outside and leave her inside (getting things from the garage/car/etc.), and sometimes when I am in the kitchen making lunch for myself. I've just been ignoring her barking with hopes she'll realize it doesn't get her anything, but I'm not sure if there's a better way to handle it.

 

She play bites quite a bit when she gets wound up (which is just a general puppy thing of course), and any advice on how to best deal with this would be great! My brother's bulldog is currently living here and Lily often tries to get him to play by barking at him and biting his ears, jumping on him, etc. He is clearly not interested in playing and mostly just ignores her, and occasionally growls or snaps when she starts nipping at him, but she doesn't get deterred in the slightest. Any suggestions on how to prevent this behavior? I play with her whenever she does this, but I am concerned that she will try this on other dogs whenever I start socializing her, and I am worried that those dogs may not be so tolerant.

 

Other than that, I have been working with her every day on getting used to a leash, and so far she is doing well with the commands sit, come, and down. She has her first obedience class on Saturday, and I am excited, although not sure how she will act towards the other puppies (back to the nipping/barking issue).

 

She is so adorable though and I am thrilled to have her!

[RMPiper]

Cute puppy! I also know nothing about coonhounds but have a border collie that is just over a year. The biggest thing we learned was to be consistent. Biting was a big issue for us and took many months to stop. There are many different approaches, what I would recommend is pick one or two and stick with it. It might take a while, but one day she'll wake up and it will all have clicked. Oh and lots of patience really helps!

[Gideon's girl]

Gosh!! I don't know how you could ever say no to those eyes. If she ever got sad I think I would cry. She is too cute!!

[MollieMae]

She is beautiful! I don't know a lot about coon hounds. Our dogs' trainer has worked with them, and she says it's tough to motivate them, but that's the sum of my knowledge of them! Our little guy ( 19 weeks) is a biter/chewer, too. He drives our 2 yr old crazy. She likes to play with him, but he will get carried away. We use the command 'let it go' or 'off' (he will sometimes launch himself at her and grab her collar) to make him calm down. Also, we give him something that he can chew on instead. It's a slow process, you just have to be consistent. But, you're right, other dogs won't tolerate it. Your trainer at the puppy class should be able to give you some tips too.

[maggiesmommy]

What a sweetheart! I actualy had a BC/redbone coonhond mix when I was a teenager, so I might be able to help! Mine was as smart as a BC but as laid back as a coonhound. Coonhounds tend to be active but they're not neurotic; they want to run and play, but they don't have the obsessive behaviors and quirks that you see in BCs. Honestly, it's a great mix, so you're lucky to have one! Good luck with everything!

[coalchaser]

Thanks for the welcome and the advice, everyone. Lily's now just over 14 weeks. We've been to a couple training classes and I'm using a clicker with her. She's doing great with the commands I've taught her so far, she's pretty quick to pick things up.

 

Anyways, I have a couple more questions! First, she's getting a bit aggressive with her play biting (not actually aggressive I'm sure). Her bites are pretty hard, and I'm not sure how to deal with this, since I've been trying to avoid negative training techniques. What's the best way to handle it?

 

She's getting great at loose leash walking, and I'm happy to take her on long walks but I'm not sure how long is appropriate for her. I just took her on a half hour walk and she didn't seem tired at all even at the end. Any suggestions on walking frequency/duration?

 

Thanks!

[Falon's Mom]

Others will probably give you better advice but I would yelp whenever she bit at me, turn my back and walk away from her. She should get the idea that biting = no more attention.

[GentleLake]

Puppies learn bite inhibition from their mothers and their littermates. When they bite too hard during play, the other puppy will yelp and the play stops. Since the fun stops, the pup learns that biting too hard ins't as much fun as it though.

 

You can do the same thing. When the puppy nips at you, yell "Ouch!" in a high pitched voice and stop whatever you were doing and walk away. No more fun.

 

It should work pretty quickly.