Puppy troubles please help!
A little over a year ago my mom, grandmother, and I got a bichon frise puppy and the problems we have with her are getting to be too much to handle. Ever since we first adopted her from the pet store she’s been EXTREMELY hyper. She jumps on people constantly, she’ll grab anything she can get a hold of whether its fake plants, paper towels, period pads, tampons, underwear, or little scraps of note pads and tear it to shreds (then eat it), she cries at night and tries to get in our bedrooms and thrusts herself at the gate (we need gates to block her off from certain areas of the house) and she’s still not house trained even though we’ve tried EVERYTHING. We’ve punished her by putting her in a "crate" when she does something wrong, we’ve tried spraying her with a water bottle, we’ve even bought her special puppy training pads and she will not calm down! Even when we yell at her it seems to exite her even more, PLEASE help me!
P.S We’ve taken her to obedience classes and even that didn’t help…and I’m not the one who shouts at her, it’s my grandma. Me and my mom have told her she can’t do that but she won’t listen…getting rid of her is definitely out of the question though, even though she’s a pain in the *** we love her.
12 Comments on “Puppy troubles please help!”
Have you ever tried obedience training? I bet you haven’t. Puppies are hyper unless you train them.
If you are using the crate to punish the dog you can;t use it for crate training too. You should not be punishing the dog anyway. The things it chews up are because they are left where she can get them. Try putting them away. Tampons etc in a closed cupboard, underwear in a laundry basket, paper towels in the garbage once used in a cupboard or on a shelf when not.
Crate training works very well if you put in the effort. I have a 12 week old Chihuahua that is housebroken already because I put in the effort. Do you take the dog out every 1-2 hours and keep it out until it’s eliminated? Does the dog get regular walks when it can use the bathroom and get exercise too?
I’m thinking the dog is bored as well as untrained. It’s finding ways to amuse it’s self with the things that are left lying around because it has nothing else to do.
Puppies are hard work. If you don’t make the effort they do end up like yours. It’s all in your hands.
You need to get this dog into an obedience class. You have let this go on too long
Try hitting her with a rolled up newspaper
It hurts nothing but her pride
And may seem to scare her but is harmless
And it may help her calm down
But not all dogs react to this
I had the same problem with a miniature poodle
We couldn’t take it after a couple years and had to get rid of it…
You need to either find some local training classes or get some books on training. A crate is not supposed to be used as a punishment, it’s a training tool for housebreaking. Yelling is not going to do anything. Proper training is done by positive reinforcement.
shes just being a puppy! Just buy her chew toys and try to train her to chew that instead of your furniture. And as for the training pads; every time she starts to pee take her to the pads until she realises that you’re not going to let her pee in peace until she pees on the pad. she will eventually get it. And when she does something wrong, DONT SHOUT AT HER! She thinks youre just playing with her. Use a calm but stern voice and point and say no. =]
Ok, so the first thing I would recommend is doing some research on puppy training. First of all- you NEVER EVER punish a dog by putting it in a crate. A crate is supposed to be a sanctuary to a dog, where it can be safe and rest and should never be used as a punishment. Secondly, if you bought your puppy from a pet store, your dog is the victim of bad/careless breeding. Your puppy almost certainly came from a puppy mill, and dogs that come from puppy mills are known to have behavioral problems. Since you didn’t know this stuff, I’m just assuming that you have not done your research. I recommend buying and reading a breed specific book, and watching a few educational dvd’s. You will be able to get your puppy trained properly, but you first need to train yourself. Negative training (such as yelling at your dog) hardly ever works. She probably gets more excited because she isn’t understanding what you are trying to tell her. As for house training the pup, your best course of action is to keep a constant eye on her. Follow her around. Note the times when she goes (as in how long after she eats/sleeps/plays) and then try to keep up with her schedule, take her outside often and reward her when she does well. Good luck!
You need to be the Pack Leader. Read books by Cesar Milan or watch his TV show, The Dog Whisperer. http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/
obedience training!. I would also put her on a leash so you can correct issues as the come up. I’ve done that and it helps. Just like with children you have to train and discipline and be consistent otherwise you defeat the purpose. Good Luck
I have a dog and every time she got hyper we had a metal coffee can with pennies in it that we would shake. The loud noise would make her scared and she’d stop. Try rewarding your dog when she’s good so she’ll be good more often. Every time she chews something say bad dog, give her a light smack, and put her in her crate. Every time your dog has an accident, do the same thing put put her outside instead of her crate. If worse comes to worse, they sell shocking collars at some pet stores so when they do something bad, you press a button and it shocks the dog lightly just to get thier attention. I hope I helped!
Never use the crate as punishment. Sounds like your dog is not on any routine and is bored and has no training. First thing, obedience school will not only benefit the dog, but you as well. People need to realize that its an investment for you as well as the training helps you with ANY dog you adopt in the future. Yelling does nothing and never never hit a dog. You need to seriously supervise your dog. Keep the leash on inside the house at all times even. Have tons of toys for your dog to play with. They are active dogs, are you walking it twice a day? Playing fetch with it outside? Dogs crave attention even if its negative, they don’t care. 20 minutes after feeding it, take it outside to help house train it. The crate needs to perhaps be in a bedroom because puppies tend to have separation anxiety. A dog needs to know the basic sit,stay,down,leave it. When your dog has something its not suppose to say "leave it" and take it from the dog and replace it with a toy. For every "No" you say to a dog, you need to follow it with a command they can do. You need help in several areas and I question whether or not any of your family members where informed as to what dog care entailed. I would seriously read websites about the breed of dog, and training to start. Its sad knowing you went to obidience school, I think your expecation was they would train your dog. You need to be the trainer.You must be consistent with the dog, and training it everyday. The dog is mearly a reflection of ownership.
Please don’t ever hit her with a newspaper as one member said to do. You’ll only make things worse for the both of you. If grandma is going to continue to yell at her you’re going to continue with problems.
When she does the right thing…give her TONS of praise. When she goes pee outside give her a treat and TONS of praise right at the time she’s doing it.
When she takes things to play with that aren’t her toys, take them away immediately and with a stern voice say NO. Then give a toy right away and praise her. She’ll get the idea.
When she jumps on people, place her on the floor and tell her to sit. Praise her every time she gets it right.
Positive reinforcement is the way to teach your precious girl. and of course, lots of patience.
I wish you the very best of luck with her.
First there are dogs that are hyper and you might want to talk toyour vet to see if she is overly hyper and ask for evaluation. maybe video tape some of the stuff you are noticing as hyper.
Makw sure she is getting LOTS of excersise. Check my blog for info on cesar toys and I have some books on pack leadership as someone else mentioned but also on training in general.
I woudl suggest the book MY SMART PUPPY by Brian Kilcommons. it has dvd too.
Also in the end run if you set a goal of say 3 months and can’t get some answers or controls it might be better to face the truth that the dog is more thna you all can handle. If she shapees up great but if not seriously reconsider finding a home that is better match for her and adopting a dog that is more suited to your lifestyle. I don’t normally recommend that but sometimes it is better for the dog and the family.