Hey guys. I moved out of home aboout a month ago into my bf's friends unit. I have a maltese so she came with me. A few weeks ago our housemate bought a 8 week old rhodesian ridgeback pup [with rottie in her] for 55 dollars. Anyway she is so naughty and she bites all the time. My housemate goes out all day and leaves her here. Im wondering what you guys opinions are on rubbing a puppy's nose in it!? Cos both my bf and housemate are firm on it.. But I can't do it. What do u think? Also he doesn't buy her puppy food... and he hasn't wormed her or even taken her 2 the vet, she gets fed early in the morn at 5 30 and late in the afternoon like 5, and the hm gets pissed at me if I give the pup dry food during the day at bout lunch. Anyway let me kno =]
rubbing their nose in it is a waste of time. Dogs don't remember what happened 10 seconds ago. If you don't catch them in the act, just clean it up with a paper towel, take it outside, put it on the ground, and give the dog a treat. the biting is not acceptable. next time, take you hand and grab the dog on the front shoulder and squeeze. don't hurt her, but don't be put off by a bit of yelping. you want her to submit and calm down. if that doesn't work, make a leash out of rope by tying a loop on the end and running the free end through the loop so you have a choke chain. get it on her, and pull straight up. when she submits, make it go slack immediately. You need to dominate this puppy or it will become insecure and aggressive. also, dry food is fine. I only feed dry food. When you feed, make sure you make the dog work for it. It can be tricks, or just sitting and lying down, or whatever. just make sure you are in charge, and take her out right after she eats. reward her for peeing in front of you. And worming is not a luxury.
Wat do u mean by worrming is not a luxury? Yeah she bites me all the time on my ankles and arms and hands.. She also nips my maltese's tail and that and she growls straight away.. My maltese is 7.. is it wrong if my maltese growls at the pup A LOT? Like the pup gets heaps anoying.. She does put up wif her a bit though. When I put my arm on her shoulder do I give her a littlw pinch? My bf is good at being dominant to the dogs.. He said its good for female dogs to have a dominent male around cos they wanna please him. This pup doesn't have a ridge on her back from the rottir side of her..
Do not let your dogs "work it out". You are ALPHA. Not your maltese, not your puppy. You. If the maltese is correcting the puppy, get in there and be the boss of both. Male or female is irrelevant. You are the boss. Your BF is the boss. Not the dogs. Squeeze as hard as it takes for the dog to submit. It will lower its head. You want to make your hand like the mouth of an alpha dog, and you are biting it on the shoulder. Not a pinch, but your whole hand. If that fails, grab it by the neck. Go overboard. You can start with a growl. Literally growl. First your voice, the warning, then your touch, the enforcer. Make the maltese sit, and make the puppy sit or lie down. Reward the good behavior with play. Can you describe the biting? is it play biting? or is the dog correcting you? Here's another thing to try: the rope leash I told you to make? Tie the loose end to your waist, and go about your day, puppy in tow. By worming is not a luxury, I mean it's a necessity. It sure beats a dead dog.
That's a good idea next time im hanging my washing ill do that [connect her] Hmm the biting is sometimes play biting but then again it can be pretty constant.. She pulls at the ends of my pants and when I pat her she grabs on. When I pick her up when she's being naughty she bites my hand quite hard. She does have a few toys. When its feed time should I put my maltese's food down first? Everytime I hear my housemate telling people that u should rub a pups nose in it I just roll my eyes.. Ill try putting my hand on her shoulder next time she is biting. I want 2 be dominant but I find it hard to for some reason.. I can admit. Those are some good tips you gave, ide hate if that puppy turned out bitey and aggressive cos I did the wrong thing.
being dominant does not mean being harsh, or mean, unless you have to. It's all about energy. The dog really is asking you to be the leader, and your confidence will become the dogs confidence. a big part of this new challenge will be reëxamining your relationship with the maltese. Should you feed the maltese first? if you want. any arbitrary rule that you enforce will help make both dogs more confident. chnge the order at random if you like. If you can get the dog to roll over on its back while it is small, that is great. toys: the toys are yours too. not the dog's. take them away randomly, and give them back when you feel like it. nothing belongs to the dog. no space, no toys, no food, no water. all resources belong to you, and the dog has to work for them. don't let the dog put its mouth on a human for any reason until it can learn not to bite down. wait until the new teeth, since they aren't as sharp. no biting the pants or other clothing either. biting is an immediate end to play time. the result of a bite should be boredom for the dog. rubbing the dog's nose in it is only going to tell the dog it should keep urine and poop out of sight. it's harder to clean up when it's behind the couch. if you catch it in the act, come down on her like the apocalypse, but otherwise it's too late after 2 seconds have gone by. they are not like us, they live in the moment.
Some of the "advice" in this thread is WRONG and should NOT be followed. But feel free to follow maryjohn's advice by all means if you wish the pup to be scared of you. How I would deal with the dog would be when it starts biting/mouthing you or your clothes is, yelp as it would do then stand up and just totally ignore the pup for a min or 2 and keep doing that each time. Picking the pup up when she's being bad is just giving the pup attention, which it wants. You want to turn that attention round to when the pup is being GOOD, while ignoring the bad.
some of it is spot on though. dominance is key. my dogs, and I have 5, are all trained not to potty in the house, not by rubbing their nose in it, but by being closely watched and taken outside immediately, they give clues when they wanna potty. they walk in circles, smell the ground. as soon as they eat or have water, take em for a walk. If the dog hurts you, hurt it back. Obviouly not to harm them, but show them what pain is. My dogs got the point by me biting them back. they still bite, but never hurt much less tear. what I learned worked best say for bigger dogs, when they bite, hook your finger on one of their canines, the longer sharp ones and "hook" them. It annoys the shit out of em and they get over the oral fixation. I dont think you should take their toys away, after all, you want them happy. An unhappy puppy is a destructive puppy. boredom is the worst thing you can do. make everything fun, so when they are punished they know it. The grabbing with the whole hand behind their shoulder blades and squeezing works wonders. especially when training to go off leash. stop em dead in their tracks, then administer discipline and 10 seconds later, if they obeyed, give em praise.
My dogs are not scared of me, they respect me. I never hit them, and I have not advocated hurting the dog. A bit of yelping can happen when you pinch the shoulder because they are responding to the dominance, not pain. It does not actually hurt them. I have rehabilitated a lab/pit mix used as bait in a fighting ring, and I am not by any means cruel. I've been through hell following bad advice from people who only believe in rewarding good behavior and ignoring the bad. It sometimes works, but the confident dominant approach always works. The result is always calm and submissive dogs who get rewarded alot. I did not say to take all the dog's toys away. I said the toys don't belong to the dog, and like all resources, have to be worked for. Any random modification of behavior will improve your bond. I leave all the toys on the ground, but when I say "drop" my dogs drop the toy. They get rewarded with a game of fetch or wrestling. The yelping thing makes sense, right? Well, the only problem is that it only works with a dog that is very submissive. If the dog is showing dominance and you yelp and run away it will learn to dominate. Be firm. Don't depend on genetics.
