My Corgi puppy odd reaction.
Hi everyone :)
So it been a week since Sheldon arrived here with us. He's been a good puppy but I have 3 little questions that i'm pretty sure some of you might be able to answer me :)
1) The breeder trained Sheldon to go pee and poop on a pee Pad. Since he arrived we have been training him to go outside. But , he seem to still want to go pee or poop on anything that is square and comfy. Anyone else had that trouble ? Any advice ?
2) Everytime I lay down on the floor or my boyfriend does , Sheldon goes completely crazy , he barks , tries to bite our hair , face ears. Is that normal Corgi behavior ?
3) Sheldon really doesn't like to be hold alot. Like today We tried to cut his nails and we had to hold him and he was crying like crazy. Any advice ?
Thank you SO much :)
Karyne & Sheldon <3
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ashley and Zorro on
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Maybe have him go potty on the pee pad outside to start with? That isn't from experience, but I know if a cat goes to the bathroom in a specific place that is not the litter box they say to put the litter box there and slowly move it to where you want it. Also as far as being held, Zorro doesn't seem to be a huge fan of being in our arms either. But I can tell he loves us because he follows us around and insists on being at our feet and being able to see us at all times :) Since corgis do get on the heavier side it makes sense for them not to want to be held all the time! I'm trying to teach Zorro to stand or sit for any kind of grooming, but he's still pretty mouthy. Hope something in that babbling helps you!
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Permalink Reply by Ludi on
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Read the FAQ on typical potty training mistakes: http://www.mycorgi.com/forum/topics/new-puppy-soon-learning-from?co... ! It is very insightful and fixing whatever mistakes you are making will come easily after reading this post by Sam. :)
Do not let Sheldon bite you in any way without letting him know that it's NOT something you want him to do. A quick, and high-pitched YELP! noise mimics the reaction a fellow dog would have to being bit by those sharp puppy teeth. :) Even if it's cute, you do not want to encourage nipping or biting as a puppy won't learn that it's okay now, but not when he's older.
Some dogs are overly dramatic about being held. They'll struggle and twist and turn. If your dog is particularly volatile when picked up off the floor, it means that his breeder did not do a sufficient job in desensitizing him to being held in awkward positions, and having his feet touched. A struggle is to be expected at first, but even a puppy learns quickly that there's nothing worth crying for.
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Permalink Reply by Julia on
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A few years ago we had some very naughty children who would lie down on the floor to intentionally set off the corgi, exactly as you describe. They, however, would cover their heads and squeal and scream for help which made me want to.....grrrrr. As I said, VERY naughty children. Anyway, my point is that this position can trigger the behavior you describe in a corgi. Now that my girl is an adult, if I were to lie on the floor she would attempt to lick my face and smear up my glasses, but nothing more. As Ludi said, you need to teach Sheldon that acting that way is NOT acceptable. If he wants to play like that, get up and ignore him, or remove him if you want the floor for yourself. The naughty children at my house reinforced my pup's reactions, and since they would not listen or obey, they were banished, and the pup could be properly trained.
I am so glad I was not responsible for training those children.
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Permalink Reply by Tracy Dusek on
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1) I agree with trying to put the pad outside, I've never used them, but hey, give it a shot, that was my first thought.
2) dogs, esp short ones, tend to think of the floor as their territory, when you lay on the floor you are on "his" territory...he's trying to herd you off. you can handle this one of several different ways. you can move...he wins. you can pick him up, move him, and turn the whole think into a game...he might be frustrated for a moment, but will hopefully realize that you changed the rules on him. Or you can sit there and fuss at him...you might win, but no one has fun.3) nails, brushing, being held...yep, he hasn't been handled enough - to start him off, treats are your friend, just make them healthy and you can give him lots.
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Permalink Reply by Sebastian on
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Hi Karyne,
my puppy Tucker I got about 10 days ago and he is 11 weeks. When I'm on the ground with him on my living room he doesn't bark but he does tend to bite. I say "No bite!". He will either do one or 3 things after I give that command.
-He'll stop biting immediately, but will test the waters by finding another part of my body to bite
-He will stop biting and instead lick my hand or whatever he was biting which then I give praise for.
-He will march back into the kitchen and go lay down.
Hope that helps :)
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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1) Therein lies the problem with training to potty on a surface that resembles other surfaces. Your best bet is to keep anything similar to a pee pad away from him for several months while housetraining. When he is a little older, you can start introducing towels and blankets and things on the floor and if he starts to potty on it say a firm but not harsh "no" and take him out. But don't tempt him with it this soon.
2) A not-uncommon reaction by dogs to people lying on the floor. It's not where you are "supposed" to be, it's unexpected, and they find it exciting. I would just avoid the stimulus while he's so young. When he's a little older and responds to some commands, if lying on the floor is something that you will do in your house you can gradually get him used to it. Reward him for calm behavior, have someone quietly remove him for inappropriate behavior. Once he gets it, gradually phase out the reward but continue to remove him for inappropriate actions. But again, he's so young I would not really expect him to have the impulse control to ignore something so exciting to him yet.
3) Well, some puppies are just being stubborn but some truly panic. The breeder may not have handled him enough, but honestly Jack came to us allowing us to hold him, flip him on his back, etc. A few weeks later he spontaneously developed EXTREME fear to being restrained. Vet says he's claustrophobic and he has it marked on his vet chart that he does not tolerate restraint. This is NOT something I am proud of. He also reacts (by backing up) to people leaning over his head, or to being against a way on one side with someone close to him on the other. My Maddie, on the other hand, loves contact (touching, holding, petting). If he is just being stubborn, forcing him to hold still so he realizes fighting does not help will work. But if he is claustrophobic, doing so will make him worse. I realized I had a problem when puppy Jack would start screaming and flailing in panic, his little heart racing. Grown-up Jack gets so scared he releases his anal glands if the vet techs try to hold him still. In these cases, forcing him will make the problem much, much worse. Instead, try "catch and release" where being let go is the reward for being held. Start by holding him for a micro-second and letting go WHETHER HE IS CALM OR NOT. You are not waiting for a calm moment when an animal is truly panicking, you are letting them know that you will always let them go. Try doing it when he is enjoying play time or something fun and distracting. Hold him, let him go, toss a toy. Pick up a paw, let it go, have a tug session. You can do it with food too. Over time (lots of time) you can gradually increase the time you hold him, but always make it random with very short sessions mixed in with longer ones.
No one of us here can tell if your pup is fighting or panicked. However, I had read countless pieces online that told me not to let the puppy "win" the battle to get loose if he's fighting you and that advice made the situation so much worse and I really regret doing that to my poor dog.
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By the way, what I have done with Jack is made him understand that I will never force him to maintain a position (be it doing nails, brushing, etc). I will ASK him to maintain it. If he does, he gets rewarded. If he pulls away, I release him, no reward, and let him try again.
When doing nails, if he can't stand it and pulls away, he will give frustration whines and instantly pick his own paw back up and offer it to me. It's like he's saying "Oh, mom, I messed it up AGAIN. Here, let's try it now."
If I had handled things differently when he was a pup it would probably not have taken so many years to undo what I'd done by following bad internet advice....
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Beth makes a lot of good points. I automatically jumped to the idea of Sheldon being stubborn, and didn't really think that maybe he has an honest issue with proximity of others towards his body. Since he's so young, the likelihood that it's a behavioural disorder like claustrophobia doesn't seem too high... I've found that puppies at that age, when handled thoroughly in their very early weeks, tend to go limp when held. I volunteered at a vet's office for quite a few summers in my teen years, and puppies that had been born at our place then brought back later for shots, deworming, etc. tended to be very zen when with breeders that knew to manipulate them early, and a lot.
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Ludi, you are correct that it is MUCH more likely to be a puppy simply not liking being held and arguing. Struggling and nipping usually means it's just not a happy puppy. Flailing, rapid heart rate, and screaming would indicate panic. You can also tell a bit by how they react when released. An annoyed puppy will probably calm down as soon as you let him go while a panicked one will show signs of being traumatized.
Jack had clearly been handled and was fine when we got him. It was only a bit later that this set in, but he was still very young (maybe around 3 months).
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Do you have any idea what might have triggered it? I take Ace for granted in so many ways, including being handled. He's shy as heck, but if a vet needs to examine him, he won't make a struggle.
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Hmmm, most of my response was not visible so let me try again. It may have been ear-taping but I don't think so. It was probably just developmental. Just like people can develop fear of heights with no precipitating factors. Corgis worked in close-quarters with cows and it makes sense that those who didn't like being crowded were less likely to get kicked or stepped on and so pass on those traits. A lot of genetically based behaviors don't manifest themselves until a certain stage of development (think sound or light phobias in Border Collies).
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Aha, I see. I also know exactly what you mean wrt sound phobias in BCs - we have a fantastic one who frequents our dog park, and he is a typical BC, with the quirks and athleticism. Sadly, he also has a HUGE fear of any noises like a car backfiring, or firecrackers, anything along those lines. The other day, we were all walking together (and it's his owner's call to keep him off-leash, I personally wouldn't) and a car backfires in the parking lot. Djinn (the BC) is off like a rocket, it was insane. He was stable as a table, then bolts like his butt hairs were lit on fire. He came across a family playing football and only finally stopped to try and hog the ball. Had they not been around, Djinn would have run clear out of the park through a thicket and back to his house - that's how scared this dog can be.
It's insane how their brain works!
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