Advice Please

[HavaneseSoon]

Dexter was a nippy and very energetic fellow as a puppy. When Dexter was nipping, and I would do the loud shriek and take my hand away and immediately give a toy to chew on. Then say "good boy," always positive stuff. You want to teach what you want them to learn. Keep commands short and simple, they do not know the entire English language.

If I did not have a toy, I would do the loud shriek and turn my head away to ignore. This works wonders because they now have no one to play with.

Keep playtime short, puppies sleep a lot........ He is probably tired of being picked up and just or plain tired. The holidays are stressful and little children are loud. Having a Hav is just like having a new baby in the house, that soon turns to a crazy toddler.

As for humping, Dexter did this too especially to a certain toy, that I took away. I think this behavior is just inbreed into all animals. Take away the stimulus that is causing the behavior and replace with a good play or toy. Praise all independent playing behavior.

The children have to understand that the Hav is not a toy that they can play with whenever. Dogs have moods and get tired just like you and me and we can get cranky when we are tired.

Tone down the environment with some quiet time, praise all good behavior.

And welcome to new way of life, but you...... Congratulations, you now have a young baby and your life will be busy for the next 2 years.

[esther620]

Visited the vet yesterday and Bandit got a clean bill of health. I wanted to make sure nothing health wise was bothering him to cause some of the growling behavior. I also met with a trainer which was great and encouraging. She gave lots of great advise! She advised me not to sign up for puppy classes until he is 16 weeks when he has had all of his shots. She said that she does in home training now and will be doing a group class in the spring. 16 weeks seems like a long way off to do puppy classes doesn't it?? Also, do you think it would be worth the money to do in home training or just keep at it on our own and wait for the puppy classes?? Thank you all for the help!!

[krandall]

Originally Posted by esther620

Visited the vet yesterday and Bandit got a clean bill of health. I wanted to make sure nothing health wise was bothering him to cause some of the growling behavior. I also met with a trainer which was great and encouraging. She gave lots of great advise! She advised me not to sign up for puppy classes until he is 16 weeks when he has had all of his shots. She said that she does in home training now and will be doing a group class in the spring. 16 weeks seems like a long way off to do puppy classes doesn't it?? Also, do you think it would be worth the money to do in home training or just keep at it on our own and wait for the puppy classes?? Thank you all for the help!!

I think a few in-home lessons can be good to help solve specific in-home problems, but puppy kindergarten WITH OTHER PUPPIES, and at a very young age is CRITICAL!!! Sixteen weeks is WAY too late. That is when the impressionable window for socialization is CLOSING. I hope the other things your trainer worked on with you were more up to date, but s/he is way behind the times on this one. Many more dogs die (are put to death) each year because they are poorly socialized and either fight with other dogs or bite people than EVER die of disease. Please get your puppy out and properly socialized now. There is no way to recapture these critical weeks. Don't wait until spring or you could regret it for the rest of his life.