20 week old puppy barking and nipping

[FURIOSMOM]

Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Beginning of story- several months ago we lost our beloved male boxer Brutus to cancer. We miss him greatly. However we wanted to love another boxer- enter Furio. Furio is a beautiful male boxer- now 20 weeks old. We got Furio when he was 10 weeks old and everything seemed to be progressing great. However in the last few weeks he has started to bark at us and tries to nip. He barks when we are having dinner or play time is over, etc. I do not want to have him become an agressive dog. I am at a loss for what to do. Also I feel guilty because Brutus had a loving and calm temperment and I hate to feel I am comparing Furio to him. Should I have him neutered? He does spend a couple of hours every day in his crate and does sleep there all night. Any suggestions ?

[myrocky]

He's not aggressive he is just trying to get your attention directed back towards him and it sounds like it is working Honestly the best thing to do is ignore him when he does this not even making any eye contact with him. After play time is over and he starts just get up and walk away from him totally ignoring him and just go about your business. It will take him a little while but he will get the picture that play time is over because you say so.

Of course get him neutered! If you are not showing him or have no intentions of completeing all the health tests in order to breed him then there is no reason why he should not be neutered. It is much much better for his health and in his best intrest to have him neutered

Please use the search function on both neutering and the above behavior and you will find lots of threads with information and tips. Good luck and enjoy your puppy

[Tulsa-Dan]

I would agree totally with myrocky. You need to ignore the dog's attention seeking behaviors. This is not aggressive behavior, but merely the way young dogs get attention they crave.

To assist even more, I suggest getting a copy of "The Dog Listener" by Jan Fennell. This book will be invaluable to you in gaining the trust and respect of your dog and help you to communicate with your dog in a language the DOG understands (he doesn't understand English, or French or Canadian ) It will help you establish the proper relationship between your dog and the family members.

Good luck.