Celeste McFarlane Posted May 26, 2003 Report Share Posted May 26, 2003 Greetings, I'm Callum's other half and Leo's mum. Leo essentially is an angel, and we've had very few problems with him over the past weeks - only the usual puppy problems that pop up and are quickly solved, but over the last two days, he's done a complete turn around, and decided no he wont sit, or come or do anything that we've trained him to do. I'm not sure what triggered this, but it was first noted on Leo's first day of puppy preschool when he refused to come, then furthermore BIT me very hard in order to get away from me and play with the other puppies. Now Leo has nipped before but never bitten!! Anyway, since Saturday he's been an absolute horror... and we can't figure what the problem could be, we've tried extra attention, trips to the park, treats. We also went through some small training sessions with him again several times. The problem is Leo isnt fussed on food rewards and isnt all that enthused with our positive reinforcements either.... Any suggestions? My parents have been breeding BCs for years, and we've never encountered a turn around like this. Its upsetting me very much, as I love Leo dearly, and he seems to have become a completely different boy!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy Goosey Posted May 26, 2003 Report Share Posted May 26, 2003 How old is Leo? Age is very important. One would not have the same expectations of a 12 week old puppy that one would have of a 6 month old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celeste McFarlane Posted May 26, 2003 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2003 Sorry, yes, he's 12 weeks old. We've had him since he was 6 and a half weeks so almost six weeks hes been living with us, however, we've known him since the day he was born, so basically we've spent time with him from a very early age. The major reason for my concern was there was such a turn around in behaviour very quickly... we've been spending alot of time trying to re-establish his training and obediance however, improvments seem very small and far between, as he has no willingness to co-operate with us. We havent used any punishments with him at all, other then a warning 'argp!' or the occasional 'time out' in the bathroom, and there is plenty of positive reinforcement .. so I guess patience and perserverence is probably the answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callum McFarlane Posted May 26, 2003 Report Share Posted May 26, 2003 12 weeks? really? already? our little babies growing up! hes gotten into barking today! barks at the TV alot, so if had to turn it off. usually he loves watching the tv but now hes barking at it. i think hes getting very narky and territorial. has he been egtting narky since we showed him his reflection? maybe that was the problem????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy Goosey Posted May 26, 2003 Report Share Posted May 26, 2003 I think a good place to start would be with bite inhibition training. Puppies normally learn bite inhibition from their littermates, which is one good reason for keeping them with their litter until they are 8 weeks old, instead of removing them earlier. Since your pup didn't have the benefit of his littermates for that week and a half (which, in a puppy's life, is a long time), you will have to teach him what his littermates would have taught him by now. Here's a link, HTH: http://www.doglogic.com/obedienc.htm#biteinhib And a bonus! http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/pupdev.htm All in all, your pup is still young, but is at a good age to start training for real. Just remember that his attention span is short, so keep your training short and fun, and always end on a success. Dogs need to know what they are doing right, and the more you reward the behaviors that you like, the more likely he is to repeat them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celeste McFarlane Posted May 26, 2003 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2003 Yes indeed our baby is 12 weeks old!! Well he is due for his 12 week shots in two days, so almost!! The reflection in the mirror? Yes he wasnt keen on that, but I dont think that was too much of a problem because he was very keen on playing with other puppies at puppy pre-school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.