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Permalink Reply by Rebecca Marie O'Bryan on October 13, 2010 at 9:30pm

6 weeks really is young but that is the part of learning from owning dogs:) i got teddy at 7weeks and he was fine but at 6weeks pups learn some things from their mother such as the biting thing.

what worked for me when teddy was a pup with the biting is when he does make a sharp squeal as dogs do this as pups as to say"ow! u hurt me!" after making the noise turn your entire body away from him and fold your arms. dont look or say anything. wait a few seconds and try again. he should then get the message. repeat until he understands what u are telling him with your body.u can even squeal and walk away if you would like but do not look or anything as that is even rewarding. body language speaks more volumes than your voice. dogs watch us more than they listen lol

when he is barking and u say no and he barks back at u, face your back towards him. no matter if he just keeps barking. ignore him so he learns that barking isnt going to get him anywhere.

for the barking at a noise, well corgis generally bark a lot but i have trained teddy not to bark at the door, noises, etc. the most he does is growl unless he knows someone isnt invited. if he does bark at something say no but if that dosnt work clap your hands and say enough! it will startle him so he will stop.

the peeing problem, if u know the time he is coming home take him out 10minuets before so he will not have to pee. u could have him meet him inside or when your hubby gets home have your husband ignore him for a few minuets (i know its hard!) so he will calm down so he will not pee as this can be a bad habit( i went through this for a month)

i wish u luck. puppy hood can have its tough moments but u will get through them!!:)

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Permalink Reply by Chris West on October 13, 2010 at 10:43pm

Biting - Whenever Frosty would bite, we would say "NO BITING!" and immediately stop playing and start ignoring him.

Barking - We make a noise to distract him like "EH!" or "UH-UH!" and then if he doesn't stop, I will poke him in the neck. If we are working on getting Frosty to stop bark/attacking things (i.e. lawnmower, vacuum), I leave his leash on and give him a correction with the leash when he barks.

Excitement Peeing - My parents dog did this to me so many times, they nicknamed me "Potty." The most important thing to do is for your husband to completely ignore him when he comes home. I mean completely. He can not acknowledge the dog at all for at least 5-10 minutes. He should pretend like Ein does not exist. My parents still have their dog, she is 10 years old, and doesn't pee at the sight of me anymore, but I still have to ignore her for the first 5 minutes every time I go to their house.

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Permalink Reply by Kimberlie on October 13, 2010 at 11:32pm

With the bitting, do a loud "ow" "ouch" or a puppy squiel sounds then turn away, stop playing, petting, giving affection and ignore him until he is distracted or walks away. Adora did will with this technique but still would nip during excited play, my boyfriends mom told me to then put or hand in a claw like position and gently hold the ear, some dogs will correct another dog by holding the ear in it's month, no pressure needed just the ear feeling like it is in a mouth will do. This bite like gentle touch really worked well with Adora.

I have never had a problem with my dogs barking so i can't help you there but for the peeing, my cousins dog has the piddling problem since she was 10 weeks, she is now 14 months. What works best is when they come home they do not look, touch or talk to Soca for a few minutes (until she is calmed down). Works everytime.

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Permalink Reply by Edison on October 14, 2010 at 9:13am

I'll add my vote to everyone's favorite anti-biting technique: a loud "OUCH" and instant end to playtime generally teaches them to tamp down their gnawing on you. (Also, it'll be less painful after he loses those razor-sharp puppy teeth and gets his adult set. But by that time, you've hopefully taught him what is an acceptable jaw pressure and what is not.)

Weird fact: Barking is a group activity for dogs, so if you shout at them, they'll just think, "Oh, goody, Mommy/Daddy is joining in!" It's like a sing-along for kids. :) Usually, they are just barking to let you know that there is something that needs your attention- be it a burglar or a neighbor slamming a car door (how dare they!). Acknowledge the bark and react calmly, to the tune of, "Thank you for telling me. I'll go deal with it." If there is no apparent reason for the barking, i.e. he just wants attention, definitely ignore him until he stops.

I agree w/everyone else that the best way to deal w/excitement peeing is to give them much less to be excited about, i.e. not playing with them for a good 5-10 minutes after coming home- which is so hard when you have a new puppy!

Good luck with Harlequin! These are all normal and fixable behaviors. If you're still worried, try taking him to weekly puppy classes- it's helpful to have a professional on hand, and regular classes help keep the training consistent and permanent. :)

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Permalink Reply by Cindy on October 14, 2010 at 1:53pm

Part of the issues is that yes, at 6 weeks, he was way too young to be taken away from his siblings. At that age they start learning bite inhibition techniques from the other puppies and eventually learn how hard to bite. You now have to take the roll of the other puppies and do most of what everyone else has suggested. A loud "ouch", or some sort of squeak or yip that means it hurts, remove your hands or feet and walk away. Actually even just turning your back and ignoring the pup works.

Barking, he's at an age where you can also start training him. Some annoying behaviors can actually be cued using basic clicker techniques and then you have an "off" and "on" switch. Example: I had a dog at one point that found that sitting on her butt and begging in the show ring made people giggle. So she did it all the time and trying to get her stack was next to impossible. No or stop it didn't work. So instead, when she offered the behavior, I would reward her with a treat. After a few days, I started naming the behavior and rewarding it. Finally when she wasn't offering it one day, I asked her to do it and rewarded. Then she only got rewarded when I asked for it. If she offered it when not asked, I turned my back and ignored it. We then went on to add a name to the sit position and then to the stand. It went like this-- sit on your butt. Then I would ask her to give me Ten and she would push her self up off her butt and pound her feet into my out stretched hands. I then asked her to put four on the floor--which was sit, then Stand Up for her to stand and stack herself.

Peeing-is he crated during the day while you are gone or in an area that has him restricted to where he can go? When you come in the door, never greet your dog. Ignore them, walk right past them and don't acknowledge them until they settle down. Even add in some training. Ask for a sit before petting or a down or stay. Then the very first thing is to clip on that leash, go outside to potty and then make a big deal about greeting them and praising for getting "busy" outside.

Good luck but it takes lots of patitence and lots of work, continual work. Usually once you fix something, then something else happens. Such is the life of a puppy!

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