puppy is driving us crazy

Caroline_a

As I type this I have my 2 dogs, my 54 kg adult German Shepherd boy and my 10 kg 11 week old Spinone who are running riot in the garden. I promise you, the Shepherd could make a meal with one bite of the pup, and sometimes when they play it sounds like the Hounds of the Baskervilles! However... all the noise comes from the pup, not the adult - he growls, barks, squeaks and squeals when they play. The Shep is silent, but puts the baby in his place when it all gets too much, and stalks off where the pup can't bother him. However, that is happening less and less now, as the pup knows by one look that he's overstepped the mark. You need to trust that Molly will behave like the adult dog she is, and she'll do a lot of the behaviour training for you!

Darlyd

Oh We have more Molly time now than we ever did before.

she goes up on the sofa if/when he annoys her, But won't be before long he will manage to get up there too. He can jump up and still get her paws if they are hanging off.. She is also welcome to go upstairs too, but rarely does, only when we go out.

Deep down I know she just putting him in his place, but you know, I am such a worrier, and he is only little and vulnerable, would not want any harm to come to him. He is a darling..... So is Molly.... Hubby took Molly upstairs for munchies and loving so I can have cuddles, iggle !!!!!! fallen asleep.. lol

Fire_Fox

Why not get an up-to-date puppy training book or two, re-train hubby since he was the one wanting a puppy? Maybe consider the basics of clicker training, there are loads of how to videos on YouTube. You need to encourage positive behaviours and ignore the unwanted ones, same in your older dog. Puppies are much the same as small children, think potty training and Supernanny and both parents singing from the same song sheet! At present it reads as if you think of the puppy as a helpless baby and hubby expects adult behaviour when the truth is somewhere in between.

Mupette

Get the fox and cat poo cleaned up in the garden, you have kids..... not good for them to tread in it.

Perry poops in the garden, it's my job to clear it. Everyday.

On another note,

My household at the moment, playful perry 3 1/2 has a new playmate
Georgie the kitteh, 9 weeks tomorrow, shard teeth and claws,

First few days i thought perry might hurt her him being a clumsy dog, wanting to do rude things to her like he does to Gizmo (gizmo lets him)

been almost 2 weeks now and they have their routines etc, Georgie plays attack the dog, dog goes for her, but in the most gentle way, was watching them last night, goes for her neck, but no teeth, kinda nudges her down.

Perry gets lots of Perry Time, still allowed on the bed at bedtime, Georgie is crated because i don't trust her at night on her own, i know she will be fine, but come bed time she wants to play and i need my sleep, so it's more to reinforced that bed time is bed time.

Once she has had all her jabs and is allowed out all this will change as she will have a little more freedom than she has now.

Although me writing this she has managed to climb up onto my bed unaided, so another place she has found.... but whilst she is past out on the bed, Perry is getting Perry fuss on my lap.

What your pets are doing is fighting for ranking, you need to let them do this, pup will push it's luck, but it's supposed to be a puppy license, older ones are supposed to tolerate the young uns.

Perry has been introduced to puppies before on his territory and gone for the throat and i mean go for it, i had the hindsight to muzzle him.

This time around Perry has allowed the kitteh her kitteh license and tolerates the tail being attacked, the paws pounced on, the food being eaten etc... In fact i think he is quite taken with her, even allows her to sleep on top of him on the sofa, he isn't keep but doesn't jump down when she snuggles in. All in a space of 2 weeks (tomorrow)

Darlyd

Mupette wrote: »

Get the fox and cat poo cleaned up in the garden, you have kids..... not good for them to tread in it.

Perry poops in the garden, it's my job to clear it. Everyday.

On another note,

My household at the moment, playful perry 3 1/2 has a new playmate
Georgie the kitteh, 9 weeks tomorrow, shard teeth and claws,

First few days i thought perry might hurt her him being a clumsy dog, wanting to do rude things to her like he does to Gizmo (gizmo lets him)

been almost 2 weeks now and they have their routines etc, Georgie plays attack the dog, dog goes for her, but in the most gentle way, was watching them last night, goes for her neck, but no teeth, kinda nudges her down.

Perry gets lots of Perry Time, still allowed on the bed at bedtime, Georgie is crated because i don't trust her at night on her own, i know she will be fine, but come bed time she wants to play and i need my sleep, so it's more to reinforced that bed time is bed time.

Once she has had all her jabs and is allowed out all this will change as she will have a little more freedom than she has now.

Although me writing this she has managed to climb up onto my bed unaided, so another place she has found.... but whilst she is past out on the bed, Perry is getting Perry fuss on my lap.

What your pets are doing is fighting for ranking, you need to let them do this, pup will push it's luck, but it's supposed to be a puppy license, older ones are supposed to tolerate the young uns.

Perry has been introduced to puppies before on his territory and gone for the throat and i mean go for it, i had the hindsight to muzzle him.

This time around Perry has allowed the kitteh her kitteh license and tolerates the tail being attacked, the paws pounced on, the food being eaten etc... In fact i think he is quite taken with her, even allows her to sleep on top of him on the sofa, he isn't keep but doesn't jump down when she snuggles in. All in a space of 2 weeks (tomorrow)

Am always cleaning up the mess from the garden, can't stand it. I just do not want to risk any diseases going to Alphy aswel as Molly of course. I think it's disgusting that fox and cats mess in our garden, Wish there was a repellent to keep the fox's out, they murdered our chickens this year. We been putting off having new ones.

Frightened me yesterday, and I mean my heart was in my throat, Molly was rolling on her back, and Alphy went up to her, And Molly made her angry sound and showed teeth and Alphy run off making sniffing sound, I thought she had him. I was raving! Told her to get in.

But I do praise Alphy good behaviour, when he been outside he gets a pat and a good boy, makes a right fuss of him. And I do to Molly too, always telling her to be nice, and good girl. As soon as Alphy goes to her, i say Molly be nice good girl, Her tail waggles (thankfully) But I am so worried.

Alphy will get there soon, I am sure....

candygirl

Alphy is just acting like a normal puppy, and when Molly growls at him that is only a warning:D:DIf he is tormenting her to death, put them in seperate rooms for a while to calm down.I have two staffs myself, and they were exactly the same when younger;)Molly will always be the boss though;)
BTW they are adorabubble:D:D

Darlyd

candygirl wrote: »

Alphy is just acting like a normal puppy, and when Molly growls at him that is only a warning:D:DIf he is tormenting her to death, put them in seperate rooms for a while to calm down.I have two staffs myself, and they were exactly the same when younger;)Molly will always be the boss though;)
BTW they are adorabubble:D:D

When Alphy gets to much we put him in the kitchen and close the stair gate. The gate is open now, Molly is laying on rug by my feet, Alphy is in her bed in the kitchen, that is where he goes when he wants a nap. OR (and this is hilarious) He tries to jump up on the sofa, so I pick him up, then he trys to grap the throw I fold onto of the sofa, for me to place on the seat for him to sleep (We have a cold leather sofa)..

Cute as anything.

jetta_wales

Even if she does nip at him that again is part of their ways to correct a younger dog that's still learning his boundaries. I think you really need to step back a bit and calm down, he'll learn fast and and it is very unlikely that she actually will hurt him even if she does put him in his place a few times.

Let it play out and just observe for a bit and see how it goes. They need to sort themselves out and you need to let them do that.

Fleago

Midnight/1am to 4am and then 4am to 8 am is likely too long between trips out for a pupster so young. As others have said, it will be much easier to train him if you take him out every couple of hours 24 hours a day. Honestly, it means a few days pain, but the results of doing this are generally a quickly house trained pup.

I also agree with the others, let Molly do her older dog thing, she's going to be the best teacher of pup manners.

Enjoy wee Alphy!

Fire_Fox

darlyd wrote: »

Am always cleaning up the mess from the garden, can't stand it. I just do not want to risk any diseases going to Alphy aswel as Molly of course. I think it's disgusting that fox and cats mess in our garden, Wish there was a repellent to keep the fox's out, they murdered our chickens this year. We been putting off having new ones.

Frightened me yesterday, and I mean my heart was in my throat, Molly was rolling on her back, and Alphy went up to her, And Molly made her angry sound and showed teeth and Alphy run off making sniffing sound, I thought she had him. I was raving! Told her to get in.

But I do praise Alphy good behaviour, when he been outside he gets a pat and a good boy, makes a right fuss of him. And I do to Molly too, always telling her to be nice, and good girl. As soon as Alphy goes to her, i say Molly be nice good girl, Her tail waggles (thankfully) But I am so worried.

Alphy will get there soon, I am sure....

Cats like to poop in bare soil but do not like cocoa shell mulch, looks like a smaller version of bark chips and can be purchased from any decent garden centre. It also keeps the weeds down due to forming a 'mat' once wetted, and helps feed plants as it rots down. :cool: However you will need to make sure the puppy does not eat any. An alternative is a coir fibre mat used as a mulch, covers any bare soil and unpleasant on foxes and cats feet.

How did the fox manage to get to your chickens? Foxes do not 'murder' chickens, there is no premeditation or deliberate cruelty. There is loads of guidance on the internet for how to build a fox-proof daytime run and hen house which they should be secured in each night. In my childhood we kept chickens and bred rabbits, the fox only managed to kill one rabbit and that was through shock. RSPCA factsheet on humanely deterring foxes.

Growling is one aspect a series of warnings, if you try to train out warnings you risk Molly straight out going for the pup. Bear in mind you will be missing a huge amount of subtle body language before and after the snap. If you are so worried about Molly turning I cannot understand why she is around your children or puppy. If she is genuinely a vicious dog then you telling her off won't make a blind bit of difference. If you keep telling Molly off she may start to associate the negative attention from you with the puppy's presence, that will not help their relationship.

HTH.