14 week old puppy troubles...

[Odinstud]

Just wanted to tell you we are in a relatable situation. Our little guy, Odin, will be sixteen weeks tomorrow. He is wonderful, doing great with commands and on leash, great with my children, but plays too rough with me. I've done the yelping and he stops for the moment, but this doesn't seem to prevent future rough play. I try to stop the play by walking away, he bites my calf and not softly, he bears down pretty hard. At this point I yelp and tell him no but this seems to only encourage him to do it more. I know he is playing because when I can get a toy for him when I'm in the situation he immediately grabs for the toy, but I don't always have a toy handy. I have to say, i'm relieved to read people think this is a puppy behavior and they will grow out of it, but I would sincerely appreciate any advice because i'm worried he will do this to someone other then myself, like my children.

Thanks much!

[Elifaelyn]

Originally Posted by Odinstud

Just wanted to tell you we are in a relatable situation. Our little guy, Odin, will be sixteen weeks tomorrow. He is wonderful, doing great with commands and on leash, great with my children, but plays too rough with me. I've done the yelping and he stops for the moment, but this doesn't seem to prevent future rough play. I try to stop the play by walking away, he bites my calf and not softly, he bears down pretty hard. At this point I yelp and tell him no but this seems to only encourage him to do it more. I know he is playing because when I can get a toy for him when I'm in the situation he immediately grabs for the toy, but I don't always have a toy handy. I have to say, i'm relieved to read people think this is a puppy behavior and they will grow out of it, but I would sincerely appreciate any advice because i'm worried he will do this to someone other then myself, like my children.

Thanks much!

It is so good to know I am not alone in this action, and I agree, it's nice to know it's a puppy thing that he will grow out of.... Mine goes for the ankles and calfs too... It seems the older he gets the more he pushes to see how far he can get. It's like I said though, the more he gets his walks and has his play time the more manageable it is... But unfortunately I can't give him more walk times. Sometimes things just happen that cause the walk to be put off for the day, and usually those days are worse because of it... But I do try to set aside a walking time, and a play time.. I keep them separate too, so that he knows walking is for walking, and playing is for playing.

Originally Posted by TwoDogs

See if the Petsmart offers a free puppy play seminar--or any free seminars for that matter. Most Petco's around me offer a free puppy play session as well.

Thanks for the heads up on that, we do have a petco here, so if the petsmart falls through I'll ask them about it.

Oh good. Group walks with neighborhood dogs and play sessions with appropriately behaved, even-tempered friends' dogs are great ways to socialize your pup to other dogs.

Well we don't have play sessions or group walks.. the dogs here are too old, and much too small to handle my dogs hyper behavior... but we do occassionally run into each other outside, and I use that little bit of time each time to get Beau to try and play nicely. On the positive my neighbor recently got herself a puppy so given time we hope the two will be play buds.

That is great, if he truely wants to greet the people. But if he is at all nervous around the people, making him sit might be causing him stress, increasing the fear, and making the experience unpleasant in his eyes. Watch his reaction and don't make him greet anyone he doesn't want to. Instead, give food just for him looking at that person or sniffing in the direction of that person.

Oh I give him a snack just for trying most times too... Beau seems to be terrified of almost anyone who's adult size, but when it comes to kids he just wants to play... I'm hoping as he gets bigger he'll be less afraid of adults.

You can teach a nose target to your hand. This can be a fun game to play and is a great way to teach pups how to interact with an outstretched hand and can help with greeting people appropriately as well. Just hold out your hand and when your pup touches his nose to it to investigate, tell him "yes" and reward from the other hand.

that's an awesome idea, thank you, we'll definitely be trying that one.

[TwoDogs]

Originally Posted by Elifaelyn

Oh I give him a snack just for trying most times too... Beau seems to be terrified of almost anyone who's adult size, but when it comes to kids he just wants to play... I'm hoping as he gets bigger he'll be less afraid of adults.

If he is terrified of adults, he needs to gain confidence by slowing being introduced to the things that people do. Direct eye contact is a social pressure. Leaning over and reaching toward a dog is a social pressure. We think they are welcoming gestures and use them to show affection, but dogs don't see it that way.

When greeting adults, ask that they don't give him direct eye contact, don't speak to him, and don't reach out to him. This can be hard for people to do so you'll need to remind them alot. Let Beau sniff their leg if he wants and then call him back a few steps and reward him highly with praise and some great food treat.

If he is more interested and wants to investigate more, have the person squat down (not lean over him) with the side of their body facing Beau and let him come in for another sniff. Again, call him back a few steps and reward him highly. Through all this, the person isn't looking at him, speaking to him, or touching him.

If you feel that he is getting more comfortable with them, you can let Beau approach again and let the person touch him on the chest (not the top of the head) or speak lightly to him. Only allow it to last a couple of seconds before you call Beau back a few steps to reward him highly. You don't want the interaction to last too long and have him get overwhelmed, so make sure you give him an opportunity to end the interaction if he wants.

Once he's regularly getting to the point where he will comfortably go in to most adults for brief contact in the above manner, then you can slowly start having the greetings resemble a more typical greeting--face to face, person upright, speaking directly to dog, outstretched hand to head, etc.

If you have practiced a nice nose-to-hand target, you can start cueing Beau to nose target or "touch" other people's outstretched hand at this point too. Very often the predictability of performing a highly rewarded known behavior gives the dog great confidence in what is otherwise an unpredictable interaction.

The goal of all of this is to build Beau's confidence and comfort around new people. Don't move too fast. If he doesn't want to sniff them or greet them, then don't. It is no good if he is enduring or merely tolerating the interactions--he needs to learn new people are actually fun and to truely enjoy the interactions with them.

[Elifaelyn]

I'll definitely take that into consideration, most times I do give it a try but I never force it. Really burns me though when someone calls my dog a chicken because he doesn't want to be petted by them. Some people have no patience for any dog that doesn't just instantly love them.

I like the having them squat down, never thought to tell them to do that... Wasn't something I took notice of but the moment I read what you posted it clicked in my head that no most people don't squat. I'm certain that when we get better at the hand touch game he'll be able to do that a bit more too.

Sometimes though Beau isn't scared, he's happy, and wants to great them but when they pull in close to him he jumps back, his little stub still wagging the whole time... I'll have to remember to tell them to let him approach.