Overstimulation?

[Sonoma_in_CT]

Our new pup Sonoma is about 6 Months old. We have only had her for a few days.

She seems to have moments of extreme hyperactivity when we take her out. No pattern so far, just wild jumping, mouthing and running around.

The only real concern is the mouthing. She never seems to nip or bite us unless we are mistaken for the toy that we're playing with.

Normal puppy behavior? We have not had a pup in twenty years, so we're a bit out of practice.

 

[Doberluv]

Yes, it's normal puppy behavior, but at 6 months she's a little behind. She should have been learning about bite inhibition. You need to end all attention and playtime when her teeth hit your skin. She needs training in general. Can you enroll her in a puppy obedience class? Find a reputable trainer who uses positive methods. She just needs to be educated and you can get some great tips. Plus, it's so important for her to get around other dogs and people. Is she getting plenty of exercise? She needs a physical as well as mental outlet for all this energy.

Is she jumping up on you? This is a dog's way of greeting happily. She needs to be shown the "human way" of greeting. She sits and then she gets attention....never attention when she's jumping up. Same with mouthing. Give her an alternative toy to chew on and remove yourself (her reward) from the situation.

Browse around the forums...see what you can find. Your puppy's behavior is normal for an undertrained six month old. You'll need to hurry and play catch-up so she'll settle down pretty soon.

 

[killerz298]

How do I end all play time when we are outside? Do I bring him back inside? If I do this though he won't get exercise and be crazier in the house?

 

[Sonoma_in_CT]

Thanks!

Thanks Doberluv,

We have enlisted a pro. Jody Rosengarten will be Sonoma's new teacher starting tomorrow.

Jody is a local trainer who wrote "Rover, Don't Roll Over"

We are optimistic that she will help us get Sonoma on the right track.

We'll keep you posted.

 

[Doberluv]

Oh great! Let us know how it goes. I'm sure you'll get lots of help and hopefully you can learn a lot.

Killerz...I meant that you stop for a minute or two and ignore the pup. Remove the payoff of your attention and play from you. You are, in other words, disconnected mentally and physically from him for one or two minutes...then try again. With absolute consistancy, the dog will stop guessing what behavior is connected with your ignoring him and with many repititions, he'll make the connection and he'll learn what behavior brings him the stuff he loves; your attention, your interaction with him, treats, toys. He will repeat that behavior which brings him the good stuff and will stop doing the behavior which does not provide him with anything good. Just like you or I don't tend to do behaviors which bring us nothing at all. But we do engage in things that do give us a payoff of some sort. It's how all mammals learn.

Every animal, including humans wants good things to start and bad things to end, keep the good things going and keep the bad things from starting. Every organism with a brain has the ability to learn which behaviors cause which consequences.

So, that's basically, in a nut shell how it works.

 

[killerz298]

Killerz...I meant that you stop for a minute or two and ignore the pup. Remove the payoff of your attention and play from you.

Yeah my problem is that he could care less if I am ignoring him as he is jumping on me and biting the crap out of my pants and shoes. If this weren't the case it would be a lot easier for me because I could truly ignore him but when he is doing this he doesn't need my interaction.

 

[Doberluv]

What do you do when he is jumping on you and biting your pants and shoes? What do you do with him? What kind and how much exercise? Will he chase a ball? Can you run with a toy tied to a long rope and drag it behind you so he can run and chase that?

What are you teaching him in the way of beginning obedience skills? Can he sit or down at all? Is he getting use to the leash?

What is your anxiety level when he's doing this biting and jumping? How do you react? I understand that you can't ignore him while his baraccuda teeth are coming at you?

It's really hard over the Internet when no one can see exactly what's going on. But Labs can be super rambunctious puppies and very mouthy.

It sounds like he's just very pent up and needs to blow off some of that...needs more of an outlet for his brain and body. That and maturing will help too. He is just a puppy and doing what he knows best how to be....a dog. LOL.

 

[killerz298]

When he is biting on my pants and shoes I usually tell him OFF and he sometimes listens and then sits down but then will most liklely go right back for it again. If I am in the house and he does it and won't stop I leave the room for 2 mins. I have to admit I am very frustrated at this point and he prob feels it.

As for exercise, I take him out every 2 hours and he runs around (or I make him walk around) for about 30 mins. He won't chase a ball or if he does he will run after it, stop, and then come back without it. I can try tying a toy to my leg but I feel he will either bite the rope, or forget it all and come after my feet.

He can sit and lay down on command and he sometimes responds to off (but not very often). He is very used to the leash except he wants to be in control and go where he wants so he really PULLS on it most of the time. He really doesn't bit the leash all that much anymore.

Lately I have been reacting in frustration and when he latches on I grab his upper snout and gently pull his teeth off of my pants/shoes. When he jumps up I give him an OFF and he will sometimes listen. If he doesn't I push his chest a little when saying off until he goes down. I have tried the turn and ignore and either he continues to bite on my or he just ignores ME and goes on about his business.

Pretty much the only time he will play with his toys (of which I bought him many) is when I am sitting there holding it for him and even at those times he will sit in my lap bite the toy for about 2 mins then stop dead bite and "eye" my hand. I know better than to leave it within his range so he will go after my hand and I will immediately put the toy back in his mouth. At that point he will either continue chewing the toy or forget about both it and my hand and go after my shirt or pants or go down to my shoes. Any NO or OFF at this point only gets him more worked up so I stopped saying it and I just have tried leaving the room but he just doesn't seem to be getting the point.

 

[Doberluv]

What do you do when he stops for even one or two seconds? Have you been rewarding him with a high value reinforcer? You need to show him what it is you DO want and make it worth his while.

I hear your frustration and understand. You need some tools. But your puppy will grow up and he'll settle down. This is puppy behavior and you probably should have found out about puppies first because it sounds like you're very suprised about this and that makes your frustration way worse.

Most people tell their dogs what not to do and they tell them a lot because there are so many no no's. But they fail to tell the dog when he's doing something right or they fail to tell him enough. There are more no no's than there are good behaviors at first. So it's a lot more work to tell the dog ALL of the things he cannot do than to tell him what he can do. Emphasise the good behavior and reinforce it sufficiently.

http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/index.htm

Work on a little basic obedience, very short sessions and make it FUN. Give him commands throughout the day here and there. This way you can give alternative behaviors for him to do before he's about to bite you or whatever. And these behaviors which he does instead can be built upon by reinforcing them. The lousy behavior will fade away with training and with maturity. Get him good and tired out several times during the day. (not to the point of exhaustion but tired) A tired puppy is a good puppy. LOL.

I recommend also puppy school with a positive method trainer.

 

[killerz298]

Yeah I have been rewarding him when he stops and sometimes he will continue to stop and other times he will go right back at it. As for knowing about puppies, I had a rott/bernese mountain puppy a LONG time ago and it must have been the perfect pup because it didn't do any of this. It didn't bite our pants, hands, shoes, etc... but he did do bad puppy things and bit other things he wasn't supposed to (like eating 1/4 of a brick from the fireplace!). I guess that is why I was so shocked with this little devil especially since he wasn't like this the first 2 days I had him, I guess he was still adjusting.

I give him commands all the time and he will sit and down on command. Sometimes I can give him a command right before he does something he shouldn't and sometimes he listens. Other times he ignores me which means we need to work on it some more.

I am calling a trainer today and see if we can work something out.

 

[Doberluv]

Dogs are all individuals, like we are and there are breed tendencies too. My most recent lab was very laid back, even as a pup. She was easy. My Doberman, as a puppy was much more difficult, just bouncing off the walls. My Chihuahuas were easy. They just vary. It will all work out if you stay on top of things. Don't worry.

 

[Sonoma_in_CT]

Good Dog

Sonoma had her first "class" with Jody Rosengarten yesterday and did really well.

Jody was very pleased with her generally and gave us some great suggestions to manage her "Hairies". This is when she runs out of control and mouths a lot. Jody suggested giving her one of her toys to occupy her teeth while she plays.

I tried it this afternoon and Sonoma responded well. We were running around the yard and I had a tennis ball on a string in my hand. Sonoma was happy to catch up with me and grab the tennis ball instead of my hand/arm that she had gone for in the past.

We also have had luck giving her a chew toy preemptively when we think she's about to mouth and that seems to help a ton.

Her puppy classes start next week with Jody, so we'll keep you posted.

 

[Doberluv]

Oh great! I'm glad things are looking up.

 

[killerz298]

Glad it was that simple for you! I tried the substitution thing but he loves them hands! He bites the toy for about 20 seconds and then mid-bite its amazing he just homes in on the hand and continues to go for it until I substitute again. He has let up on the feet and pants though and he listens to OFF religiously when he does it so thats a start. I still have to stealth my hands to stay away from his mouth though. It will take some time but he will come around, he has been better recently than before so he is making some progress.

 

[Doberluv]

With my Dobe, barracuda teeth and all, substituting a chew toy helped. I knew part of it was teething and exploring and once he discovered that I wouldn't play with him that way and that the chew toy actually felt good in his mouth, it helped re-direct him. It just takes time.