Hi Roxanne,
Your methods have been such a great help! I do have some additional questions....
1. How do I handle JoJo when she gets overly excited and bites at our children? She is doing this out of play and not in viciousness.
2. We walk her down to the bus stop in the morning. She tends to tug at the leash. What recommendations do you have?
3. She did growl/bite at Gracie and Dougie once. She had a chew bone that she was enjoying. I think it was annoyance .... she wanted to enjoy her bone. However, this is not something that I want to allow. In response, I kenneled her and took the bone away.
Thanks for your help!
Pam
Pam,
ReplyDeleteHow old is Jo-Jo now? The Puppy training material is applicable to a puppy, a dog from 7 weeks old through 16-18 weeks old only. Once the puppy enters the preteen stage, at approximately 16-20 weeks, things noticeably change. At six months, the dreaded teenage stage, everything shifts and the puppy material is no longer applicable. So, how old is Jo-Jo now?
Walking on a leash? Jo-Jo should still be on a dragging check cord attached to the ring on a flat buckle collar as described and outlined in 'The Walk' in the PuppyTime Beginnings Blog. You did the right thing by kenneling Jo-Jo and removing the bone. You are the giver and taker away of everything in Jo-Jo's life. However, were you THE DRAGON when Jo-Jo growled and you kenneled her? She needs to know THE DRAGON CAN and WILL SUDDENLY show up in her life when she does inappropriate or wrong behavior. Growling at Gracie should warrant THE DRAGON becoming loud and stern as THE DRAGON also raises her voice to a "Phooey!", the bone is gone, and her kennel then becomes THE Jail. Jo-Jo's behavior, left uncorrectect, will become resource guarding of HER things and then snapping/biting follows. Not allowed, excused or tolerated - for ANY reason.
Easier to stop it now than later. Make sense?
Roxanne