Puppy to loving

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#1
We have a 6 month old jack Russell/border terrier/poodle mix.

We are having a hard time with two things.
1. Laying down. She learned sit, come, wait for food, up(she gets super excited to see us so I taught her up/down for when she wants to jump) in two days of training. But I cannot get her to lay down. I am watching the Victoria stillwell(?) videos. Should I try something else?

2. She is an extremely in your face puppy. If you sit down with her she is climbing on you trying to smell your mouth, ears, lick your ears, hands, arms, feet. Is there anything I can so to tone it down?

Oh anther thing. Is there anything I need to know about border terriers or poodles? I've had a jack before so I know what to expect there.
 

emc

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#2
I don't really have any help for you, when my chihuahua was a puppy she would try to crawl on top of my head, no fear of heights whatsoever. She did grow out of it on her own.
 

Maxy24

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#3
1. Laying down. She learned sit, come, wait for food, up(she gets super excited to see us so I taught her up/down for when she wants to jump) in two days of training. But I cannot get her to lay down. I am watching the Victoria stillwell(?) videos. Should I try something else?
I assume you're luring her with a treat? You can try a few things. Make sure she's on a comfortable surface, maybe start on carpet.

You can break it down into smaller steps. So if she won't go all the way down start by rewarding her for dipping her head down. Then for bending her elbows a tiny bit. Then for sliding a leg forward a little bit. Eventually she should bend/slide more and more until she goes all the way.Once she's done that a few times and understands that's what you want she should have no problem.

Here's a video of that
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpAFj-p23ig

If smaller steps isn't working you can try to capture it. This means, without doing anything, just sit there and wait (try to not let her know you have treats or it may take longer). Eventually most dogs will get bored and lay down. When she does immediately praise and give her a treat. You'll have to wait her out a few times before she understands what you're doing but then she should start offering it over and over.

Here is a video of that. I didn't watch the whole thing but the first 3 minutes or so gives you the idea (note the comfy blanket used to encourage the dog to lie down)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT-H0z4tfkM


2. She is an extremely in your face puppy. If you sit down with her she is climbing on you trying to smell your mouth, ears, lick your ears, hands, arms, feet. Is there anything I can so to tone it down?
Some of that might be age so it could just get better with maturity. A lot of dogs also get excited when people sit down with them because people are so rarely on their level. In that case spending more time on the floor but being super boring could help (read a book and ignore her or if she's being calm you can calmly pet her).

Try and think of what you'd like her to do, what you consider proper "personal space etiquette". No jumping up/putting feet on your chest if you're sitting, no licking, whatever it is that you want. If she's following those rules then you can pet her or play (using a toy, I'd avoid rough housing at this point) with her, whatever it is she wants. If she breaks the rule remove her from you and stand up, then wait for her to calm down and stop jumping/nipping/whatever else she might do to try and get your attention then CALMLY sit back down. She'll probably want to leap back on as you're sitting down. It might be helpful to teach her a little sit-stay so as you go to sit down she's self restrained. If she can't do that yet then perhaps use a toy to distract her or hold her back by the collar or with a hand on her chest as you sit down. Or even try sitting down facing away from her so she can't rocket straight into your lap. You'll need to see what works best for her. Then let her come and get her attention/play. Repeat. Eventually she should catch on that certain behavior makes you stop interacting with her and she should do that less.

You may be able to simply remove her from your lap and hold her back by the collar/chest until she sits then praise/pet and let her go to try again instead of having to stand up. For some dogs this will cause lots of mouthing though so standing up may be safer. Standing up is also a more complete removal of attention (since you stop touching her or paying any attention to her) so may be more effective.

If you're on the couch while she does this you can remove her from your lap, put her beside you, then slide to the edge of the couch so she can't get back on your lap. Ignore her until she's calm, then give attention when she behaves. Then you can try sliding back again to see if she stays calm.

I tried to find a video but all jumping up videos were of dogs jumping on standing people, not sitting people.

Alternatively if you want something very specific (for the dog to sit or lay down in your lap or beside you for example) you can train that directly and ask the dog to do that (for treats at first if she's having a hard time following commands when excited and then later for attention) while you sit. She'll learn that to get attention from you while you're sitting she needs to come up to you and sit or lay down. If she jumps/mouths/licks you can penalize as above by standing/removing attention and waiting for her to go back into the sit or down before giving attention again.
 
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#5
I recently once wrote an article about poisoned cues and the ways to prevent this from happening. Dogs will associate what happens after the cue as being a positive or negative and then decide if he/she wants to listen to the cue.

I will use the cue "come" as an example. This word is probably the most often poisoned cue since it gets used so much (in many different contexts) throughout the day. If last time you used the word "come" and it was to lure your dog into the bath, he/she may be a little reluctant to follow the direction next time you say "come".

A great solution to this problem would be to use different words instead of "come" some great examples are "here", "go", "now", or anything else that you will remember. Instead of using it to do something he/she might not like (like a bath for example), make it a fun event like lining the tub with peanut butter and let them lick it up while you scrub them clean.

This same principle can be used with the word "lay down". Make laying down a fun event and your puppy will soon learn to do it regularly!
 

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