# Need Help!



## Shorty (Jul 6, 2014)

Its been a while since Ive posted about Chopper. Hes about 9 months now, And doing well as far as health goes. But his behavior is out of control. And we need help. We have a baby on the way so we need to get his behavior under control.

As far as basics, his potty training is going well. Hardly any accidents at all. He goes in the fenced yard on his own now. And comes to the door when hes done. We have stopped using the crate. He actually does much better locked in a single room, then the crate. If I put him in the crate over night. He barks to go out multiple times and wets the crate. Locked in the kitchen he has no accidents and sleeps through the night.

Now to the bad behavior. The biggest issue is biting. With a baby due in 6 months. This needs to be taken care of ASAP. He bites at our clothes when we're walking or when we don't give him attention. Not trying to hurt us, But they can hurt sometimes. Saying NO and ouch has no effect. Ignoring him just makes him bark and bite more. Usually after a minute or he might stop. Or just keep barking. Same kind of thing when were sitting on the couch. He will come up with a toy, and start barking at us to play, sometimes play biting. Or even if you're petting him he will go for a play bite. When hes tired, hes the best dog ever, lots of licks and great to be around.

Also his destructive behavior has gotten worse. He has ate half a steps worth of carpet up. Ate a corner of our couch, and even ate through his gate. The couch and steps are seriously a few seconds at a time before we catch him and say NO. Sometimes he even ignores and continues. I have seriously tried every bit of advice I could find on this site and google searches and nothing seems to be working. We love him to death, but a few small behaviors he picked up from his original owners have stuck with him and are now a huge deal. I guess we were spoiled with our previous dog...So we have never dealt with this behavior before.


----------



## SJ1998 (Feb 4, 2013)

There are others here with a lot more experience and I am sure they will see your post and chime in. All I can say is that in my experience, the word "no" does not do much, if anything. When I took my dog to training they told us not to use it and that has been good advice. Of course I use it sometimes without thinking but in general, I try to give him another command, something I want him to do versus something I dont want him to do. Havs are generally people pleasers although at times it may not seem like it. But I have found with mine he will generally do something else if I ask him. Especially if food is involved. Training with high value treats can be your best friend. My dog's behavior improved a lot when I discovered the power of chicken. It works on everything. For example, my dog hates walking in the rain. He will do it, but it is very hard to get him to do the bathroom biz. And he looked miserable. So rather than fight it, I decided that I would give him chicken outside every time it rains. As soon as we step outside and its raining, I give him a piece of chicken. Now in the rain his tail is up and he does the doggie biz. It made a night and day difference.

It sounds like he might need more exercise too. If you're unable to do that, maybe you could hire a dog walker. If the cost is out of the question, a cheap but irritating alternative is the Busy Dog Ball: 
https://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm/product/724/busy-dog-ball-toys.htm


----------



## Shorty (Jul 6, 2014)

Walks have no effect on his behavior. My wife typically takes him with her on walks. Sometimes he acts better, sometimes not. We also have a huge fenced in yard and he goes and plays for 15+ mins at a time unless its cold or raining. As far as toys go, He has his favorites. Sometime he will go 15 mins playing with one. But usually its about 5 mins max, then hes up in your face, barking at you to throw it or play with him with it. For hours on end...


----------



## Naturelover (Nov 30, 2013)

Chopper is so cute! Thanks for the pictures.

My recommendation is to see if you can train incompatible behaviours. Focus on what you want your dog TO do, not what you want them not to do. 
Some quick suggestions: 
- Train Chopper to go to his bed and stay there on cue, using food rewards. If he is doing something you don't like, ask him to go to his bed, and give him some treats or a chew toy there to make being in bed the best thing ever.
- If he is chewing on something inappropriate, give him the correct thing to chew instead.
- If you can't supervise Chopper directly, limit his access to things he can get into trouble with. If you are busy, crate him or place him in an ex-pen or kitchen for example, with a stuffed Kong or bully stick
- If Chopper is nipping, and you can't re-direct to a preferred activity such as chewing or playing with a toy, give him a short "time-out" in his crate or another room. No anger needed; just calmly and quickly isolate him so he knows that behaviour is what ends the fun times. First just try 10-15 seconds, then let him out when he is quiet and calm. If he starts up again, try 20 seconds, repeat. If he is still having trouble, try a longer time. Eventually he should get the picture. Remember that any kind of attention, even if we think it is negative, like "No" is still attention so could be reinforcing to the dog. Every dog is different.

These are just a few ideas to get you started. I'm sure other folks will have some ideas too. 9 months is still pretty young so try to be patient and positive with little Chopper and focus on what you want him to do instead of what you don't want. That is a lot easier for dogs to understand.


----------



## Shorty (Jul 6, 2014)

Naturelover said:


> Chopper is so cute! Thanks for the pictures.
> 
> My recommendation is to see if you can train incompatible behaviours. Focus on what you want your dog TO do, not what you want them not to do.
> Some quick suggestions:
> ...


We have been trying to "Chew on this" method since he was 8 weeks and we brought him home. His previous owners were great, but I think some of the chewing and biting roots from there. I will try the bed thing. Problem being, sometimes he loves his bed. Sometimes he tries to destroy it haha.

As far as the time out goes... When hes nipping out clothes he is in straight play mode. I would probably take 2 of us 5 mins to catch him. Only time he does this is when he is biting our clothes as we walk, when he comes inside and thinks we are going to put him in his crate, or if he has something (like a sock) that he shouldnt. I will focus more on making sure he is getting more exercise.

We were gating him in the kitchen until one day we came home to find him in the living room and a hole chewed in the gate. The last week he has had access to 2 rooms until we can get a new gate. And really has not got into anything while hes alone during the day or at night. Its like hes doing all this just for the attention.

I like the treat idea, just because I know treats worked amazing for his potty training. But for our situation now I dont know how to introduce treats into this. I dont want to confuse him and make him think hes getting praised for being a devil dog :suspicious:


----------



## Naturelover (Nov 30, 2013)

Shorty said:


> We have been trying to "Chew on this" method since he was 8 weeks and we brought him home. His previous owners were great, but I think some of the chewing and biting roots from there. I will try the bed thing. Problem being, sometimes he loves his bed. Sometimes he tries to destroy it haha.


Well I think it is still somewhat normal for pups of this age to be a bit destructive. The trick is to do the training of the incompatible behaviour at a time when he is not being crazy. Train this at a time when he is able to focus, and then when he is crazy you might be able to "get through" to him that "hey... if you do this other thing that we practiced together, there's something more rewarding for you in it than nipping my pant legs!"



Shorty said:


> As far as the time out goes... When hes nipping out clothes he is in straight play mode. I would probably take 2 of us 5 mins to catch him. Only time he does this is when he is biting our clothes as we walk, when he comes inside and thinks we are going to put him in his crate, or if he has something (like a sock) that he shouldnt. I will focus more on making sure he is getting more exercise.


So a couple of options. Exercise is important for sure but exercise alone won't make these behaviours go away- he needs the training as well. You could consider leaving a short leash on him when he is supervised, or during the times he is likely to cause a problem, which it seems you have already identified. If he is nipping while you walk, try pulling over and just having him sit or lie down while you pet him gently and give him treats. I find sometimes this will "hit the reset button" for over-aroused puppies, and get them focusing on you in a more constructive rather than destructive way!

The leash will allow you to catch him if he is being too nuts, but do be careful to only do this at fully supervised times. As for socks- my dog seems to have grown out of this somewhat, but you can practice training "drop it" with other items, then eventually with a sock, when he is controlled and wearing a leash. You just trade them for treats, and eventually, if he has some item he shouldn't have, you can say "drop it" and he will drop it immediately and come over to you to find the treats. Then you can phase out the treats after a while, as sometimes they will go pick things up just to have you tell them to drop it! But it works, I promise.



Shorty said:


> We were gating him in the kitchen until one day we came home to find him in the living room and a hole chewed in the gate. The last week he has had access to 2 rooms until we can get a new gate. And really has not got into anything while hes alone during the day or at night. Its like hes doing all this just for the attention.


How long do you typically leave him alone for? Perhaps short-term confinement (e.g. 2 hrs) in a comfortable wire crate while you are away could mitigate these behaviours. One aspect of good training is management- preventing the dog from practicing the undesirable behaviours (e.g. chewing a hole in the gate) while you are training the good behaviours. That will eventually shift his habits more towards good ones. It's really important to remember to give attention, praise, training opportunities, cuddles, etc, to the dog when they are being quiet and well-behaved. That will increase the likelihood of more quiet and polite behaviour. If we only pay attention to them (again, even if we consider it bad attention like yelling) when they are doing something we consider bad, they still may feel "Ah-ha- it worked! Now they are looking at me."



Shorty said:


> I like the treat idea, just because I know treats worked amazing for his potty training. But for our situation now I dont know how to introduce treats into this. I dont want to confuse him and make him think hes getting praised for being a devil dog :suspicious:


Have a browse through Kikopup's videos on Youtube. Just do a search for Kikopup on there and you will see some amazing examples of how to use food rewards. Again, I don't mean to say that you should bust out the treats when he is being a jerk, but that if you train him to do these other things, like "Go to your bed" when he is more able to learn, then, when he is being obnoxious you can direct him to do that, then offer food rewards and perhaps work on some obedience training. Eventually just try to ignore the bad behaviour and interact with him when he is good. It is a bit of a process to transfer over to that but you can get there. Food rewards are so important for letting our dogs know what behaviours we like. Hope that helps a bit.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Naturelover has given you excellent advice. The only thing I would add to it is that it is very hard to work on the number of issues you have long-distance, via a forum or even YouTube. I STRONGLY suggest especially if you have concerns about a coming baby, that you hire a local POSITIVE based trainer to come into your home and help you learn how to manage him better. I think a lot of the "training" needed is for you to learn the proper tools needed to help him behave the way you want him to! 

And as Naturelover mentioned, he IS at the height of adolescence… a trying time in every puppy's life!


----------



## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

Shorty said:


> Its like hes doing all this just for the attention.


:suspicious: Just out of curiosity, how much is mi amigo Chopper left alone each day? At 9 months, how much direct (hands on, eyes on) supervision does he get from his family? I know I could eat through a wooden gate too, if I wanted to, but it would probably take me at least an hour.

Like Tia Karen says, it sounds like you need some additional outside help from a trainer to focus Choppers high energy level into positive directions. (I think Chopper and I would make great friends!)

besos, Ricky Ricardo


----------



## Naturelover (Nov 30, 2013)

krandall said:


> I STRONGLY suggest especially if you have concerns about a coming baby, that you hire a local POSITIVE based trainer to come into your home and help you learn how to manage him better. I think a lot of the "training" needed is for you to learn the proper tools needed to help him behave the way you want him to!


Yes, I second this- think I was a bit remiss in not suggesting that, but any positive trainer will hopefully have similar suggestions and should be able to guide you on the mechanics and details on how to accomplish this stuff. Rest assured though you can deal with it with the right guidance and mindset! Just make sure if you hire someone that you check what their philosophy is. Two questions that are helpful in determining this are "What happens if my dog gets it right?" and "What happens if my dog gets it wrong?"


----------



## SJ1998 (Feb 4, 2013)

I think a lot of people are nervous about giving their dogs too many treats but I have seen the results with my dog, and I highly recommend it. Of course one doesnt want to make ones dog fat, but that's really not a concern keeping it to small amounts. With my guy I dont have to give him a huge piece of chicken. 

Something else that is important that I have read on other threads is to always remember that it is a dog. A dog does not do things on purpose, or in spite. They are just being dogs. That is why directing behavior to something else (and using treats when you need to) works so well. 

I still recommend the busy dog ball. Unlike other toys it gets the dog to run around and burn off steam. All you do is throw a treat in and go.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

SJ1998 said:


> I think a lot of people are nervous about giving their dogs too many treats but I have seen the results with my dog, and I highly recommend it. Of course one doesnt want to make ones dog fat, but that's really not a concern keeping it to small amounts. With my guy I dont have to give him a huge piece of chicken.
> 
> Something else that is important that I have read on other threads is to always remember that it is a dog. A dog does not do things on purpose, or in spite. They are just being dogs. That is why directing behavior to something else (and using treats when you need to) works so well.
> 
> I still recommend the busy dog ball. Unlike other toys it gets the dog to run around and burn off steam. All you do is throw a treat in and go.


Good points. I just factor in Kodi's training treats as part of his entire caloric intake. And I always try to use good quality food like real, whole, lean meat. That way it is an excellent PART of his diet, not just an "extra".


----------



## Sassy's Mom (Feb 4, 2015)

I'm glad I came across this thread because this was one of the problems I'm having with Sassy. She's also about 9 months old and she loves to grab my pants legs when I walk. I'll try the time out. I'll also try getting her to go to her bed or blanket. I was also worried about giving to many treats but I'll just do what Karen says and figure it into her daily food. Thanks for all the good info.
Nadine


----------



## Hsusa (Dec 21, 2014)

Sheba has similar problems. But I've had puppies before and I think a lot of it is simply puppy behavior. I totally ignore her when she grabs at my pants. She loves attention so she gets he idea that grabbing at pants won't get her picked up or petted. 
I think just knowing that things will get better, and sadly realizing that the delightful fun puppy stuff also dies out, makes me more patient. 
Don't pressure your dog or yourself to be perfect all at once. He's going to get it!


----------



## rt625 (Nov 7, 2013)

We went through the same thing with Kobe. He has torn up all our pajama bottoms, our couches, shoes, socks, even constantly biting us. Although we knew it was his way of playing and trying to get attention he was basically destroying everything around him. 
What I started to do was put him in his crate for a few minutes and when I saw he had calmed down I would take him out. If he started up again, back in his crate. 
I also started taking him for longer walks about 30 minutes and also let him run around the backyard to release some steam. 
kobe is now 16 months and he has definitely calmed down quite a bit. 
He still has a lot of energy, but now he knows what's acceptable and what isn't. It took some patients and constantly reinforcing the rules, but he finally got it.


----------



## Ari214 (Oct 9, 2014)

Only time he does this is when he is biting our clothes as we walk


I'm sorry you're having all these issues and I can't be of much help except for this one. Kipper LOVES to play bite feet, socks and my pajama or yoga pants. If he does this when I walk by, I just continue walking w/o any regards to him being there. I used to tell him no and all kinds of stuff, now I ignore him. Works like a charm! Same with the play biting. If I engage him, he'll do it. It doesn't hurt me at all so it doesn't bother me. But it's weird how as soon as I think, "I'm done" and I no longer play into it in any shape or form, he stops and he just licks my hand and calms down. I know it's cliché but I do think dogs pick up on your feelings a lot and if you're frustrated or creating some kind of "vibe" he might be mistaking that for energy to play or something like that. Good luck!


----------

