Ok, is it just because she is a puppy, or should I seek a behavioralist???
Okay, so, i want to throw this out there for everyone. I have had maggie for 5 months now and she is a great dog, really. But I don't know if it is just her being a puppy, a corgi, or both, or if there is something wrong in her behavior. When she gets worn out, which it take tooons of activities and excersize to do, she behaves well. However, without that, or before we give her lots of exercise, she barks and barks and barks. Plus, she tends to start to try and play with us...she has her adult teeth now and all though it isn't as often, she still will bite at our hands or elbows and try to play with us rough. We never taught her that that was okay. we did the yelp thing, the walk away thing, and the submitting on the side thing. It does not seem to have had a full effect. Like I said, she is a great dog. The biting thing is not all the time, every now and then, but she does bark excessively. Do any of you own very vocal corgi's? We went to a basic obedience class and the trainer said that maggie was not aggressive, just very energetic and needed to get lots and lots of play time in order to behave well and listen. Do you think this is true? or should I look into it? She is fantastic around kids and other people...she loves to play with other dogs but isn't the best with small ones, i dont know, it just seems to be with my boyfriend and I that she thinks she can bark, bark, bark and bite.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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Hi Breanna, your trainer is correct, a tired corgi makes a great corgi, remember they are herding dogs, they need exercise and mental stimulation. What makes your situation even harder right now is the teenage period, it is just like human teenagers where they rebel and stop listening and doing crazy things, this stage shall pass, they will relapse in everything you ever taught them, that's why no dogs are fully potty trained or house broken until the age of 9mo -1yr. Continue to train her, challenge her everyday, exercise diligently, be calm and try not to lose your temper, exercise, discipline, then affection, make sure all your family members have a united front and you'll be just fine :) Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Natalie, Lance &Tucker on
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Hi! Corgi and Corgi pups have lots of energy. The more excercise the better! We also have a very vocal corgi. I have heard people teaching their corgis the quiet command and also the speak command as well. I have not had any luck with that.
I took Lance for a 45 minute walk today and he seemed fairly tired, I was exhausted, lol. As soon as we got on our block and he saw another dog, he wanted to go GREET and PLAY with the other doggie after a 45 minute walk! He was still pulling me towards the other dog and I struggled to keep him from pulling, I was like geesh what is going to exhaust him, lol.
Although I have to say Lance is pretty laid back not as energetic as some corgis but still has energy. Certain things get Lance more worked up than others, like going to say hi to other dogs, I am currently working on that issue.
As far as the nipping, I would continue to say ouch louldy and a NO as well as walking away from her for a minute or so. I think shes still young and is just taking her a bit longer to outgrow that. Just keep up with the consistency and he should get it. Are the nips really hard? Does he have a kong toy or busy buddy waggle she can get some of the energy out on? I think its the age, I dont think you need to resort to a behaviorist just yet in my opinion. Remember corgis can get bossy they need to know who the boss is. Ive also heard that your suppose to ignore them when they bark, if its just to boss you around. I know its hard!!!!
Well sorry for rambling, hope this helps you out.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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Hey Sam is right. You have a teenager and you will get tested. It the same with kids, you just remain calm and cosistent and eventually the stage will pass and it will improve. I think corgis may be a little more apt to test their training because they are so smart.
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Permalink Reply by breanna bellefontaine on
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thanks sam, natalie, and bev!!!! Great tips. sometimes I am just paranoid. I was just reading some other posts and there are sooo many others in my boat. lol But it helps to have places like this with people who have "been there done that." I will definitely not give up! She has to lay low this week as she had her spay last friday, but as soon as she is healthy, we will be back to training. I am done with my classes in a week so I plan on taking her on much longer walks and fetch in the park. She does bite pretty hard. My boyfriend and I are really good with her. If i ever we feel like we are loosing our patients, we just walk away. I didn't one time when she was just a little puppy and it was just a horrible day and she was just biting and barking and threw the bag of treats on the floor I just started crying right there in the room with her lol. She just looked at me like " ugh, what the heck is wrong with you?" and then she came over and licked my face and I started laughing. Sometimes it can definitely be difficult. But she has come very far! She's so adorable and so good. But you guys are right, she kind of is like a teenager!!! I don't think she likes being "grounded" this week to no exercise. lol
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Permalink Reply by Ross on
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The biting thing will get better with age. Your pup is only 5 months old and still has a lot of growing up to do. There is a reason why shelters are overflowing with 6 month old - 2 year old dogs.
What was cute as a puppy isn't as cute when the dog is full grown and stronger.
As others have said get your dog working. Corgis are intelligent and active dogs, that means they want their mind and body stimulated.
For mental stimulation, I like to give Atlas meaningless chores to do. I have taught him different words for different dog toys "rope, bone, kong, ball." I will take all those toys, put them on the other side of the room, and then have him get the correct one. I reward him with praise, and a some tug-o-war.
Concerning biting: biting is a natural and healthy behavior for dogs, let her use her mouth but don't let her bite hard. Atlas is allowed to bite me when we play, but only gently, if he bites hard, I get up and playtime ends. This has been something that gets better and better as he gets older. Atlas has always been a rough and tumble kind of guy, and he likes to growl and snarl when we play. It's quite comical now because he will tackle my arm, snarl, and bare his teeth, but his bite pressure probably wouldn't puncture the skin of a tomato. It sounds so vicious and intense, yet at the same time he is so careful with his teeth.
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Permalink Reply by Boo Buchheit on
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Leo is a talker. He does not bark for no reason but he does talk alot. I like that he is vocal, makes me feel he is trying to communicate with me. So far Randy is about the same way.
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Permalink Reply by Susan Stanton on
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Definitely a teenager. If she was human, she'd be slamming the doors and blasting music and demanding the car at all hours, so appreciate she's a dog! Do you have time to do some other training activities? Llike agility class, something like that, which uses a lot of both mental and physical energy, but also helps you bond as a trainer with her? My guys bark a fair amount, but usually to tell me something (look! something ran through the yard, you just missed it! that kind of thing). Just be sure her barking doesn't get her anything -- if she's barking and nipping to get you to play, and you do something (often people will toss a toy or something to make the dog be quiet or move away), you've reinforced the barking (i.e., she's training you!), so watch how you behave with that. We've started doing weekly agility classes and then practicing stuff at home during the week (jumping through hula hoops and stuff) -- Bertie loves it and he is listening to me more and more lately, too, so a double advantage!
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Permalink Reply by Amy on
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Exercise, exercise, exercise. I can't stress that more. I take my Maggie for a 1 mile walk in the morning and another 1 mile walk when the kids get home from school. Let me say I keep her tired out. We also play fetch alot. Sometimes I will tie her leash to the stroller and she will pull the stroller on our walks. That tires her out too. But I have to say the days that she can't get her exercise because of rain (we have been getting alot of it lately) I can tell. She starts getting crazy and doing things to get herself into trouble. Maggie was a biter when we first got her. I tried everything to get her to stop. The yelping only made her more excited and she would bite me harder. So I just started getting up and ignoring her for awhile. She hates it and it taught her not to bite anymore because she doesn't get attention. This is just a stage in the life of having a puppy but you have to remain firm and consistent just like you do with kids.
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Permalink Reply by Laura Jones on
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I have two corgis KC hardly ever barks, Taz on the other hand barks all the time, and he is so not an active corgi, as in he doesn't want to go for walks or play with the kids, he does play with the other dogs, but not for long and when I took him on a walk to the kids school with me one day you would have thought he was going die. OR at least he thought he was lol, he laid on the couch the rest of the day and pouted at me. KC likes to "go for rides" but really both of them are pretty laid back from what I have heard everyone else say about corgis. They have a group play time in the morning fraping through the house and yard and usually one in the evening also.
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Permalink Reply by Patty & Frodo and Crystal CWCs on
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Barking tends to be a corgi thing from what I've seen. Frodo (CWC) LOVES to bark. Fortunately he is a big boy with a heavy chest and has a nice deep bark, so it isn't as annoying as it could be.
My trainer used a spray bottle in class; if she told a dog 'quiet' and it didn't stop, she sprayed it. We used that at home - the only 'disciplinary' thing we do - and it works pretty well. We only use it when we have told him 'quiet' and he appears to be rebelling.
He never bit, and we don't even allow him to nudge us when walking for fear it'll escalate. He does sometimes get mildly scolded for that, but he is also aware we don't want him to do it, by now. Frodo is 1 1/2 years old, though, and is ALSO still in the teen stage sometimes ;) Still, I see a marked improvement. I agree with others - keep her as busy as possible!!! agility is a great way to work off energy, but make sure the agility instructor knows that as a corgi puppy she shouldn't be doing any jumps yet, or very very small ones. If you can teach Maggie to retrieve, that saves you some work - throw the ball, she brings it, throw it again ;) I do that one a lot. Good luck, and keep it up - she'll be worth it!
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oh i will! she loooves fetch. could play it all day! i am going to get a hoola hoop, i want to see if she'll go through it, i bet she will!
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Permalink Reply by Sam on
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This sounds pretty normal to me. You have not taught her it is okay to do this but you also have not taught her it is not. Same with the barking. Different types of activity would be helpful. Taking the obedience class was a good start. Young dogs need controlled and uncontrolled exercise time. Walking with her and practicing your basic commands would be a great way to reinforce the obedience lessons you have learned. Use the commands daily when you are interacting with her. Using a command before feeding, playing, petting etc is a good way to help her stay focused on you. You also need to develop "brain games" You may like teaching her to find a hidden toy, teach her to put her toys away, teach her tricks. All of these things will increase her focus and respect for you. As for detering the behaviors a squirt bottle of water works wonders to redirect a dog. Just remember this is not a substitute for good training but a quick way to redirect a dog. Good luck!
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