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Dog behavior towards "his" puppy

1K views 14 replies 9 participants last post by  Msutt 
#1 ·
Hi! I have a 1 year old male and a 5.5 month old female. I got the female when my male was about 9 months old. He absolutely loves other dogs and he loves her too. My problem is that he loves her too much. He refuses to leave her alone. Which I think is causing a negative effect on her. He just wants to play all the time. Just recently he went to the vet where he met 2 other dogs and a cat. After the initial excitement and hello he went on with his business and just acknowledged they were there. So why does he not just do the same for this new puppy in our household?? We have had her for a little over 3 months. They do great together. It just seems like they never stop. It has been extremely hard and if I could do it over I would probably have waited a little longer. It seems my female has picked up that it's ok to be rambunctious all the time. She doesn't like to be touched it seems. She just jumps all over and licks/nips at you. Not in a mean way. I've never seen her show aggression. Also, she's CONSTANTLY chasing her tail. And that's not an exaggeration. It may be boredom because she doesn't get all the one on one time she needs. Once it starts warming up I think that will help with weekend hiking trips and more outdoors time. I just wanted to know if there was ANY way I could go through a day without having to tell them to stop every 5 minutes. Thanks!!
 
#2 ·
everyone is going to tell you the same time, put a crate in your living room. Then crate and rotate. When we brought our pup home we had her crated in the living room with us other wise we would have had non stop wrestling. She is nearly 8 months old now and can keep up with our two year old better. And she is learning some impulse control too, so she is now free in living room and kitchen most of the time. They can play rowdy in the front yard and that helps them chill out a bit better indoors.

We also taught what we wanted. I had two dog pillows on the floor in front of me and while I watched a show, they both lay on a pillow and I fed them treats every minute or two. It showed them what "pillow" means in our house. That is our Place command. If I get back talk when I tell them to go get on their pillows, a calm quick return to the crate follows.
 
#4 ·
Agree with both of the above^^^^Crates and baby gates are your friends!Two young dogs are an incredible amount of work,rotating and training separately,teaching no wrestling in the house,etc.It can be done of course,if you put in the effort.
Try to stop the tail chasing before it becomes obsessive compulsive behavior.Interrupt it and give her something else to do.
 
#6 ·
If I were at this clinic with my dog , who is not dog aggressive , and you
" Just recently he went to the vet where he met 2 other dogs and a cat. After the initial excitement and hello he went on with his business and just acknowledged they were there"
I would correct you in public.
Are you sure you should continue owning both of these dogs?
Mayhem in the house. Having dogs is supposed to be a pleasure.


"She just jumps all over and licks/nips at you. Not in a mean way. I've never seen her show aggression. Also, she's CONSTANTLY chasing her tail. And that's not an exaggeration."


Two young dogs with no manners , treating you like another one of "them" -- female with
issues (obsessive tail chasing) and female pup is over-attached to the male , that is the pack , you are the zookeeper feeder .
You have a pet for the pet .
He will fade you out , the female never got you into her focus.


Can you re-home the female , re-set with just the male , then in a few years , go on out and
get the second pup.


By the way , you have two young virile dogs of the opposite sex --- Watch out -- that first season can sneak up on you and then you will have another problem to deal with.


Don't breeders ask about the environment of the home that their pup is going to ?
(rhetorical because GOOD breeders DO )


I would have asked about your household - other dog - age etc , and recommended
that you wait. This for the welfare of the pup .
 
#7 ·
^^ you're acting like I have out of control dogs. I most certainly do not. I simply posted this for suggestions on how to reduce the playing. Which is what it is. So I will go with suggestions and crate and rotate. I am not rehoming a dog that I have had for 3 months and just letting her go. I'll continue to work on them. Also, I am not breeding them. But thank you for your input. I understand I should have waited and I just created more work for myself. So I will work harder with each of them separately and go from there!
 
#8 ·
Your dogs are ignoring you during play and they won't stop. That is out of your control. I wouldn't rehome, either, but I would spay the female at 6 months. Normally, I wouldn't but given the situation, you don't want her to go into heat.

Leerburg separates puppies until they are 18 months old so they bond with their owners. That is extreme for most of us but you might want to look at their Xpen videos. My puppy almost immediately knocked over the Xpen and climbed out so it didn't work for me, but if I had been more persistent, maybe. Instead I use two gates and two crates to separate them in rooms. I also use the Xpen opened up to divide a room in two so they each have a play area since it doesn't work for us as a pen

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8X-7e0ilBZc
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IWQLfq7tpVE
 
#9 ·
My 2c is: you just have to be persistent and follow through. Dogs are incredible at picking up on our weak points to get away with something. My pup is now 10 mo ths & I brought him I to a home with a male/female 9 and 10 year old pair. He played more with the male when he was younger, the male has passed now. My female is not correcting him and he is getting too rough for her and will sort of have his way with her if I don't stop him. I can just SEE him persisting, waiting for the moment when I give up and say, "I tried to stop him but it isn't working". Which I did a few times when he was younger and the play not quite so rough and one sided.

Finally I made my mind up that if I can't put a stop to it with my bare hands then he is starting on the e collar. They are offleash most of the time & there are times she is too far away for me to cut him off when he runs and mugs her. We have made some major progress, no e collar (and I am not suggesting an e collar to solve the OP's problem. I think it would work as a recall reinforcer to solve mine). It feels like my mental fortitude is what made the difference. I said to myself, I will do everything I can and if that doesn't work he starts on e collar. Because what he is doing is not fair or even safe for the old gal, and it simply will not continue.

I have had other issues with him, like jumping in my face when I am holding his toy, where I finally got to the point of well if this doesn't work I am going to try a prong correction ect....95 percent of the time I am never having to resort to a tougher correction, it seems to be just my mental decision that I simply will not allow this behavior to continue vs. This behavior annoys me but I am really not willing to do whatever it takes to put a stop to it.

It is almost like I think he is not really paying attenting to me but boy is he ever. He is paying attention to exactly how far he can push it before I put my foot down. In the end I think it matters less how you get the message across and more whether you stick to your guns (except of course when dealing with an age where impulse control is just not there), in which case it's one warning then the crate, but don't give another warning!!! They ARE taking notes :) they don't talk with words so what really stands out to them is what we physically do (or don't do). And I am not suggesting you have to punish your dogs....I am just saying don't let it slide. If you tell them to knock it off and they carry on, get uo and physically put a stop to it--lead one quietly to a crate, put the instigator on a leash, whatever. Do something and do it promptly
 
#10 ·
Also, you said she is not getting the one on one time she needs, and that is an important piece of the puzzle. If the dogs are hyper, frustrated, brimming with energy, they are going to be so much harder to stop from going nuts together because it is the only outlet they have.

I can tell a big difference between how my pup acts when I have had him out for his play & training session with me that day yet and if I haven't. So another thing I did was switched our schedule around so he gets his time with me before he goes for an offleash walk with the older dog. Let some steam off firstl and I channel all that energy into him learning something and playing with ME, not her.

Then I am more consistent with them when out together, and it works. If you let them use each other as their major energy outlet, playmate, ect, they will be working to evade you to get what they want from each other. You want them to get that from you, so they are seeking you out vs trying to evade you to get to each other
 
#11 ·
That is so true. Mine were getting into it early this morning to the point the female screeched at him to stop. I took the puppy out for a short brisk walk. We went only one mile, but I ran through his obedience, Sit Stay Heel, Focus, with a lot of mental energy, and he got home, went to sleep.
 
#12 ·
your dogs aren't out of control?


" He refuses to leave her alone. Which I think is causing a negative effect on her"
--- out of control -- won't get better -- will spoil the young one , change her potential
" he went to the vet where he met 2 other dogs and a cat. After the initial excitement and hello "
--- out of control -- dog is in charge -- that's not even respecting the other owner's and animals , some which may be ill, feeling off , have issues -- I wouldn't want your goofy (meant in a good way) dog in my dog's space no matter what , no manners -- one day
there will be grief , he'll do it to the wrong dog !


"It has been extremely hard and if I could do it over I would probably have waited a little longer"
--- out of control --- the solution is not going to be easy -- excercising and training them , each one as if he/she was the only dog in the house is going to be very demanding -- but it has to be done . Each dog has to have its own identity , its own relationship to YOU .
Can you join a training club , class , and rotate the dogs on separate days?
The more time they spend apart the better .
You need to get on to the program quickly . The female is in her formative learning period .


All family members are going to have to be on the same page .


"She doesn't like to be touched it seems."
Is she jumping out of the way out of avoidance . This doesn't mean out of fear , but knowing that when you put hands on her the fun can stop? Or is she a little people shy , preferring the company of her own kind.
If she were your only dog how do you think she would be ?
Not all dogs are as outgoing or as social .
Her personality has to be taken into consideration .
Can you tie her to your self so that she moves around with you .


"Also, she's CONSTANTLY chasing her tail. And that's not an exaggeration."


Probably not when she is romping around with the male. Is this right?
I am thinking she will chase her tail when there is a down moment in the manic activity and she does this as a distraction to relieve stress (caused by lack of activity) .
Brain chemicals --- review the diet. Include essential fatty acids which benefit brain activity , omega 3 , fish oil's DHA and EPA and LECITHIN, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidlylserine --- sunflower -- egg yolk, --


Dogs should be comfortable in being crated . You can't leave them alone in the house , or in the car behaving like this. You'll come back to shambles . Inmates running the prison.

Looks like this could be a full time job for you.
 
#13 ·
Okay you got the message about crate and separate. Just wanted to emphasize to really look at the needs for this girl. Constant tail chasing is a sign of a very frustrated dog and can become OCD behavior. You want this evaluated and come up with a plan to up her training and exercise I think.
 
#14 ·
Howdy and welcome to the site.

I have bitches that have been together from birth and are now 2 years old, living in the same kennel with their dam. It can work. Most of my dogs are separated from their dam and littermates. Babs and Jenna were together for 18 months, and they are fine. Neither has been ruined by being in with another dog, and they all think I am better than chopped liver.

I have just one puppy who is 7 months old, who is far more interested in running outside and barking at the others, than being inside with me. So I understand that there are these dogs out there. If I found it to be an issue, (it's not for me), I would separate the dogs -- crate/rotate as they suggested. But I would give them some time each day, something fun we do together, a walk together, and some play time in the yard, then I would separate again. I would take each of the puppies to classes separately and work with each one separately.

I think the idea of having more than one dog, though, is to have dogs that are together. What I would be working on individually is making my interaction more important than dog interaction. So I would be working on stuff that is fun and challenging for the dogs, like agility. Or maybe something that uses their natural instincts like herding or tracking. I want getting in the car with Susie to be more important than a host of dogs running around in the back yard. But I still want the dogs to behave in all situations, so working on agility or herding one day a week, working on obedience, 6 days, maybe 3 10 minute sessions a day.

Start the sessions doing something they will be successful with, so you can praise and treat if you are using treats. You want to start a session on and up-beat. Training time should be fun, it is interaction with you that you are doing. I would work on focus exercises, WATCH or LOOK. This is kind of a game where you want the dog to look at you and make eye contact. Look at your face. You start out by giving him the treat when he turns toward you and looks toward your face, then you wait until he makes eye contact, give this some time with each step. days. You aren't in a hurry. Then put the treat in your hands and hold them out parallel to the ground toward either side. Only give him a treat when he looks at your face and makes eye contact. Keep the session short, and end when he wants more. End each session with something fun that he will be successful with so you can praise him. Tug, is something dogs love, and you can then have a quick tug session.

As you progress you want to start weaning treats, and making him work for them, doing more than one thing successfully, or doing something quickest or the most polished to get the treat. Be liberal on praise with treats, and without treats, but after the weaning from treats, you can make him work for the praise too. You want him to see you as the source of all that is wonderful in the world. And the way to do this is NOT to pump him full of praise and treats continually.

After a good exercise session, a quick romp in the yard with the other dog. OK. Then put him up and work with the girl. Same thing.

Teach them to settle. Do it in training sessions at first. Teach them to down, and to settle. Teach them that in the house they must settle. If they start romping in the house, immediately put both dogs in their place and after a little while let one out. Then put that one away and let the other out. It might take a few days for them to understand that if they are inside, and they start romping, the game stops immediately. I don't like using crates or punishment, but continued play in the house is not going to help matters. They need to learn to settle together. Sure they can learn this after they are 18 months apart from each other. By then they are sexually mature, and still somewhat puppyish, but have much more adult temperament showing. They can learn this sooner, and it won't hurt them. It might be easier if they are well-exercised prior. It may help if a set routine is established. Dogs are creatures of habit, and they will enjoy winding down with you every evening together, if we can get them past the constant play.

Good luck.
 
#15 ·
For the people suggesting my male dog was out of control at the vet, I DID NOT let him run in there and jump at every dog. I asked the owner if the dog was dog friendly. Then I let them sniff each other. And that is all that went down. No rough housing. Maybe a little bark from my dog but that was the extent of that. So if that is out of control then I suppose he was. it is a work in progress, and very hard work at that. Of course tonight they're going to make a liar out of me and are being pretty mild. I went through some simple commands with each of them for about 10 minutes. Used a gate to separate them and spent time with them each separately. The tail chasing is going to be tough to break I'm afraid. She whines a lot too. Whines looks at her back side and goes after her tail. Could it have anything to do with her bottom or female parts?? It might be whining due to boredom so hopefully that'll be fixed soon. Now we're all relaxing. I got myself into this mess so it's my job to have happy healthy dogs. Thanks everyone for the input, whether it made me feel like a bad doggy mom or not. I appreciate it all.
 
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