Pup doesn't pay attention / Biting
I have been trying to start basic training with Azura but i have run into a bit of a wall as she doesn't pay attention to me at all. And when she does its through really rough play, which is another thing she will need to work on. Just this morning i had to literally pry her teeth out of my hand.
So far for the biting and rough play, i have tried the ignoring method but that doesn't seem to work as she really doesn't seem to care if I'm even in the room. If i turn my back to her she just goes over by the door where the cooler air flows through and flops over to go to sleep. I plan to start locking her in her kennel next to see if that helps but i worry that with her already not "needing" me that it will lead to her resenting me more then anything else.
As for trying to get her to pay attention i have tried hiding treats in my hands and waiting for her to look at me before letting her get one but she doesn't seem too interested in it. She will sniff and lick at my hands for a couple seconds but then she will just give up and go lay down, never once even looking at my face. The treats i have tried are cheerios, her normal puppy food and then some beef and cheese flavored soft treats. All of which she likes but doesn't go crazy for. Tonight i plan to try some other stuff, carrots and maybe some hot dogs or baloney lunch meat. Also do try to do the training in my room, but she seems to think being in here means its time to sleep, which does plenty of... unless I'm trying to sleep and then she is chewing on my hair or ears. (She refuses to stay in the kennel if the door is closed and im still working on getting her to like it, i plan to try a peanut butter kong tonight and see how she does with it. I think her issue is it gets hot in there, which is why her favorite spot seems to be by my door.)
I had looked through google to see what i could find for tips and in most it sounds like the dog should be catching on pretty fast so I'm not sure if I'm just not doing something right or if she really just doesn't care one way or the other. Other wise she is doing pretty well, house training is going well and leash training is great. I have been using a double leash to get her used to the area we are in and let her run a bit. She does really well with keeping up and honestly its the only time she really acts like she wants me around lol. She doesn't come when called yet but if i bend down and hold out my hand she will come running expecting a treat.
She also loves to be out in the living room and in our fenced yard with our other dogs, she will play for hours, often wearing the other dogs out. In which case she resorts to running laps in our kitchen and sliding on the rugs.
Anyway i will happily take any tips anyone may have or links to other posts that deal with these issues. Also i know puppy classes would go along way but at the moment i cant afford to it yet, so i want to do what i can for now.
Pictures :
Figured i would attach some pictures i took of her, she is cute but a devil at the same time lol.
The first is her "using" my pillow, which is also what she did to my hand this morning.
The second is her playing with the Kong Wubba toy, she doesn't seem interested in the squeaker but she likes the straps. My pillow is pretty big (used to be part of a couch) so i hide the toy under it and let her get a glimpse of those tail straps and then pull it under she goes nuts trying to squeeze her way under to find it. Which is what she is doing in the third picture.
- Attachments:
-
-
DSCI1731.JPG, 3.1 MB -
DSCI1734.JPG, 3 MB
-
DSCI1733.JPG, 3 MB
-
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Bogart the Cardigan on
-
I would not recommend the hot dogs... tried that with Bogart for special training treat and he threw up! The trainer at PetSmart recommended sliced turkey (lunch meat) which I am going to try. Maybe Azura is too young to really learn anything yet, just getting used to her new surroundings?
-
-
Forgot to say, for the biting, you have to "yelp" loudly as if your arm was being cut off with a saw, so she understands that hurts. It might scare her a little, but you have to teach her that is not OK.
-
Permalink Reply by Yuki & Ellie on
-
I've used hot dog with training both of my dogs and neither ever had a problem with it. You just have to be careful to cut it into itty bitty pieces so that they aren't eating a whole package of hot dogs. Also, don't necessarily rely on hot dogs. Try to find a treat that works for Azura. For example, Yuki goes nuts for just about anything, but hot dogs and other strong-smelling meats were his favorites and he would do anything for those. Ellie, on the other hand, would much rather have banana or even cheese. Each dog is different, so you just have to find out what Azura goes bonkers over.
Regarding the biting, I agree with trying to yelp. Some pups do need a time-out in a crate or closed-off room, but I always like to try the more interactive methods (a loud yelp, redirecting to a toy, or a sharp "No!") since you can give better feedback when the pup does what you want it to.
-
Permalink Reply by Bryan Stevenson on
-
Thought i responded to Bogart a bit ago but right in the middle of typing Azura decided it was time to find a pee spot and spaced out finishing the response.
Trying to remember what i had said lol. I did try the yelping but it seemed to make her bite more, redirecting to toys had some effect but she seems to enjoy my hands more.
However after i made the initial post i took her out with me to feed other animals, and like before she does great on the leash and looks to me to see where to go next and all that. We were out there for about 40 minutes, which i know is a long walk for a puppy but in this case its really more of a walk then stop, walk then stop type of deal. After we got back in she did really well with her food and a improvised clicker (sweet and sour sauce lid.) She did pay attention and watch for me, however I'm not sure if she was sitting on command or just sitting because it made looking up at me easier. But progress is progress. I kind of wonder if I'm having issues with her in that area just because she isn't hungry enough when i try to do it.
I will try the no method for the biting later and if she doesn't get better i think kennel time might help her to learn. I think part of it might just be that she has so much energy and no self control yet. Even after the long walk she is still running wild in with the other dogs. Which reminds me...
Have any of you ever had one of your other dogs get really protective of a new puppy? She is a blue healer blood hound mix and has never had puppies of her own, nor fixed. And she is just obsessive with Azura, trying to do everything in her power to keep the puppy safe, or what she considers safe anyway. She will try and walk on top of the puppy and guard her from the other dogs, even doing this weird body dive where she dove on top of her to keep the other rowdy dogs away. We have never had a dog do that before.
-
Permalink Reply by Beth on
-
From your pictures I assume she's just a tiny baby, right? What was her birth date?
I think that you have been seduced by the internet into expecting too much too soon. :-) It happens to all of us at some point.
For baby puppies (under 4 months old or so) the best method of training is what is called "capturing behavior." At this point you should be focused on a couple very, very basic things:
1) Socialization. Just getting her out and about to meet people and walk on different surfaces and hear different sounds.
2) Her name. Say her name before you do anything fun. "Azura, supper!" "Azura, treat!" "Azura, let's go for a walk!" Say her name before you play with her. Say her name, wave a treat in front of her nose and pop it in her mouth.
3) Potty training. She is too young to control her bladder much at all so the goal is avoiding letting her have accidents by taking her out before and after naps, before and after playing, after eating, etc.
4) TWO and only two commands: "Sit" and "come." Here's how:
Puppies naturally run to you when you crouch down and clap your hands or waggle your fingers. So several times a day, with treats already in your possession, crouch down, clap your hands or wiggle them, and when she sees you and AFTER she is already running full speed towards you (so you know with 100% certainty that she won't get distracted) say "Azura, come come come!!" in a bright, happy, party voice. Virtually all other commands are said once and not repeated, but "come" is the exception. The reason for that has complex things to do with the brain and motion and maintaining movement, but the simple explanation is it's the only command you get to repeat. :-) Remember, you want to sound FUN, like the best thing in the world.
Now, the secret is you did not tell her come and then expect her attention. You waited until she was already coming to you and THEN you put a name to it. Again, this is called "capturing." You are catching her doing something you like and naming it WHILE SHE DOES IT.
As soon as she gets to you, throw a praise party (If you don't feel like a fool at first you are not praising enough). "Gooood girl, Azura. Good puppy. Good girl. Who's a good girl?" while you pop, like, 10 tiny treats in her mouth.
And if you clap your hands or wiggle your fingers and she does not come? Well, then you say NOTHING and let her do what she was doing or go play with her. That's the beauty of capture training; your expectations are low and any time she complies you are simply associating the word "come" with running towards you, which she was doing anyway.
For sit: Again, you take advantage of pup's natural tendency. When you are standing, and puppy wanders over to you, if she tries to look up at you her natural tendency is to sit her butt down so she can see better. AS YOU SEE her butt heading south, you say "Azura, sit!" in a bright voice; "sit" should be short and clipped. Not stern, just very crisp. Then very quickly while she is still sitting, pop a treat in her mouth while you say "yes!" This is actually teaching her two things: one is the sit command, the other is that "yes" means "treats" so later on when you get into harder training you can use it as a "marker" word to mark good behavior when you are not quick enough to pop treats in that tenth of a second when you need to praise the correct behavior.You need to be quick so that you can get the treat in her mouth before she pops up again.
And until she's about 4 months old or so, this is about ALL the formal training you should be doing. The exception would be if she growls at her food dish, and if so then I can point you to some good tips on that. But otherwise, that's it.Teaching her to look at your face is great, but she's not ready yet because she has the attention span of a very stupid flea right now. :-) They all do.
You'll do fine. Good luck!
-
-
By the way, the lack of attention is very pronounced in young pups and they improve quickly as they realize you are fun. When we brought Jack home, I commented to my husband that he was cute but not so bright. LOL Turns out he's the smartest dog I've ever had, but when we brought him home I had trouble getting him to even look my way when I'd call him.
-
Permalink Reply by Ludi on
-
Sounds just like Ace. :-) My first few posts on MyCorgi had me wondering out loud what the heck must be going on in his mind, because he sure wasn't "here on Earth" nor paying me any mind at all!
-
-
I was used to puppies that were super focused on humans. Jack is very independent and didn't really care if I was there or not, so it seemed like he was a bit thick because he was focusing on everything but me.
Turns out there is a huge difference between a gun dog (which I grew up with) and a farm dog bred to work on its own. :-)
-
-
Too right! Lady "needs" humans so badly, and she's always looking to me or my husband for direction (or better, affection!). Ace is on the opposite end of the spectrum. :-D
-
-
Here's a conversation with some tips about biting:
http://mycorgi.com/forum/topics/aggressive-corgi-puppy-how-to-stop-...
Don't expect much from her yet if she's as young as she looks in her pics.
-
-
I will take a look through that, and i try not to expect too much of her as she is young (8 weeks.) And yes she is definitely squirrel bait at this point (nuts.) But i figured she would need to pay attention to me in order to for me to even do the basics. But like i said above i think a bit part of that was that she wasn't really hungry when i tried. Or tired and cranky from playing in the living room with the other dogs.
Another big thing she needs to learn is that night time is for sleeping and not attacking me lol. I have been having her sleep on my bed so i can wake up when she needs to go out, which she does very well. The down side is as soon as i start getting up she starts trying to play. Then when i try to go back to sleep she is wound up and ready to play more. Other then that potty training has been really easy. If i can get her to sleep in her crate though i suspect that that would fix that problem pretty easily.
-
-
I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but sort of the opposite is true: You don't get her to pay attention to you first and then learn the basics. You get her to see that certain behaviors she was already doing anyway please you greatly and lead to you being happy + giving her treats, and so she gets the idea that the noises you make are important and then she STARTS paying attention to you to try to figure out the mystery of why certain things make you happy and others don't get a reaction at all.
There are really two options for training: One is to capture stuff you like and start now, the other is to just sort of manage her and wait til she's a little older. I prefer the former because it's fun for you and pup and they don't even realize they are being trained; they think it's a game.
I originally got the information on capturing behavior from the breeder of my parents' Chessie, and she has winning show and field trial dogs. A lot of agility people capture behavior to teach new things too. It's really the basis of clicker training.
Getting her to look at your face will come after she realizes you are already interesting. :-)
Rescue Store
Stay Connected
FDA Recall
Canadian Food Inspection Agency Recall
Groups
We support...
Badge
© 2024 Created by Sam Tsang.
Powered by
