Naughty puppy day

Hi Friends,

OK our new puppy Max has been with us a whole week. The housebreaking is
doing great. He hasn't had any accidents at all in a couple of days, and
he runs around the kitchen when he wants to go outside, so it is going very
well, and we are able to know what he wants, and take him outside where he
does his business right away. I am very heartened by how smart he was about

shore...

My experience has been that dogs that do have some level of
control of their bladder (i.e. not really young puppies)
will be extremely well-behaved in their new environment
while they suss things out. Once they're feeling more
comfortable and understand that this is their new home they
start experimenting with defining new toilet area, often
inside the house, etc. I don't assume things are going well
until either about six weeks have passed without incident or
there's been some backsliding, it's been corrected, and
there haven't been more "mistakes."

Evelyn Ruut...

Hi Melinda,

Thanks for replying. Yes, that has been my experience in the past too.

that. But now there is suddenly a new issue to deal with.

All the first week he was here we would say "No" to him and he would stop
doing anything naughty, but suddenly today he is acting as if he doesn't
care if we tell him "no" and does the naughty thing (whatever it might be)
even more. He seems to be challenging us a little. He is really just
being very playful at this point, but I can see that this is going to get
interesting, because he is a super smart, strong minded, clever puppy.

Everything seems to be a toy, and he is trying to take things off the table,
and grabbing at the plants, and the books in the bookcase, and just about
anything he can reach. "No" doesn't seem to phase him a bit, and he just
does some fancy footwork and makes another pass at the forbidden object or
activity. It seems to be a great game with him.

The answer to that I think will be some structured training with the leash
to get him in the habit of obeying and getting praised for being a good boy.
I certainly don't want to get tough with him about it, since the reason I
bought a dog from this background is because I wanted a smart, strong
minded, puppy. Now I will have to work with it carefully and skillfully to

shore...

Everybody thinks they do, frankly. It's the rare person who
says "I want a dumb, dependent dog." I've got one dog who's

Suja...

I must be especially fond of dumb, independent dogs. True story.

Janet B...

Oh, that is truly sad...... LOL!

Suja...

He was just being really obedient. Or so he says.

The good thing about Khan is that a bad experience with something like this
just doesn't faze him. When I opened the door and asked him to get in, he

shore...

For canine physical comedy, it's hard to top a blind dog.
Whether he's getting into the Land Crusher by trying to jump
into the wheel well or stabbing around in space trying to
find the treat I'm holding out to him (no, I don't move it
around) there are endless hours of dopey merriment. My
mother hasn't figure out "don't leave stuff on the floor"
and we've had head-on collisions with water buckets and all
kinds of other hijinks.

But, like Khan, he's nearly unflappable.

did not hesitate for a second.

I have 2 dogs here that are too smart for their own good (they're both
gold), and 1 who acts before he thinks (the silly black one). Rudy
and Lucy are both incredible problem solvers, while Franklin just uses
brute force to solve things. They never cease to entertain me.

Suja...

Other than being uncomfortable around people, Khan is pretty even tempered.
His 'Whatever' attitude makes for some entertaining moments (like if someone
puts a beach towel over his head, he'll walk a few steps, then plop down
with a 'Hey, who turned off the lights?' until someone turns the lights back
on again for him).

Pan OTOH, is very observant, aware of her surroundings, and unsure of
herself. As a consequence, she is noise sensitive (in a very different way
than Khan was when he first came to us), reactive to flying things (kits and
remote airplanes are especially dangerous), stuff jutting out of water (logs
and rocks must be capable of jumping up and biting her on her nose), etc.

A weekend ago, we went to the National Arboretum. And discoverd that we can
add Koi to the List of Things That Must Be Watched CAREFULLY. Yeah, they're
both entertaining, just in very different ways.

Our normal routine in the evening is for me to let the dogs out for a quick
potty break, put the step stool against the open back door of my car, and
when they come back to the garage, tell them to get in so we can go out. A
few days back, I let them out, put the step stool against the car, realized
that I had forgotten to get water for them, opened the front door to get the
water bottle, and turned to go indoors to fill up. In the process, I left
the front door open and the back door closed, but without realizing it, told
the dogs to get in the car. In the split second it took me to realize that,
Khan had hopped up on to the step stool, and "jumped" into the car, only to
be met with the closed door. He fell off the step stool and on to his
hiney. I swear, that dog still hasn't figured out what the heck happened.
'Hey, I do this every day, and one day, it just didn't work. Wonder why?'
I've taken to calling him Pinky (after Pinky in Pinky and The Brain).

In the meantime, Pan was standing near the open front door, looking into the
car,and looking back at me, like 'I know we're supposed to get in, but you
don't let us use the front door, and that's the one that's open'.

not the smartest dog you're ever going to meet but she just
might be the nicest, and while she doesn't learn as quickly
as the others she's a lot less likely to construct little
learning experiments (ahem), too. Let us praise the sweet,
kindly, not-too-bright dog, because they're just about the
best pets out there (although Cinder also has a terrific
work ethic and is a real anchor for my team).

Evelyn Ruut...

She sounds like a sweetie.

make him happy to do good and to please us.

He is 5 months and 1 week old.

I am really grateful that I have a crate for overnight. He is very
rambunctious!

shore...

I prefer to have the dogs out and about. Part of the
problem you're dealing with is how to exert leadership
without being a bully and how to respond to your dog blowing
you off without letting things escalate. I find that more
interaction allows more constant, small corrections and more
constant, small rewards. I use crates, too, but not to deal
with dogs blowing me off.

Evelyn Ruut...

Yes, I agree with that too. I am not using the crate to deal with him
blowing me off. I never use it as a punishment of any kind.

We keep him loose in the house all the time now, excepting if I have to
leave the house for a while and nobody can watch him, or overnight, since we
both sleep soundly enough that we are afraid just yet to let him loose while
we are asleep.

I got some wonderful advice sent to me privately, about how to distract him
effectively too.

I appreciate your input, Melinda. Thanks much.

Raising a puppy is more difficult when you are older, as I am finding out.
Harder to crawl around on the floor with him, and harder to be active enough
for his energetic puppy self.