Post by melonie on Aug 14, 2010 1:04:03 GMT -5
We have let Rhett and Diesel 'settle' in to their new life before we started any serious training. This week was the beginning of training for them.
So many things are new to them both and are still huge distractions.
Rhett is a wild boy right now. All he wants in life right now is out of his kennel and outside. However he doesn't want to be alone. He wants play time with other dogs, and often prefers this to attention from humans. I attribute this in part to being stuck in a shelter with only limited human interaction, and no dog interaction for the last 3 months before he came to us. If he doesn't see a potential canine playmate he is more than happy to play with people, but he can get too rough.
The problem I have with him is calming him down.... for play time or training time.. He's a bit hump happy right now as well... he gets fixed next week. *yay* So hopefully that will take an edge off.
Aside from walking him to wear him out so that he can focus later, what else can I do? Am I expecting too much from a 5-6 month old puppy with his background?
When he gets nippy during play, I yell ouch and I turn or walk away from him. Then I go back. over and over and over. If he had his way I'd never stop playing with him. I feel like this nippiness should be dealt with before we do anything else. (he will nip your shoes, pantleg, fingers, whatever is within his reach at that moment. I do use a toy during play.) I think he thinks any human attention is play time. He doesn't chill out for a belly rub for too long.
He has a lot of catching up to do, and not really sure which way to go with him. I've never been around a dog with so much energy and such a lack of social skills.
One good thing, the other shelter said he had issues with guarding his toys/food/people. We have yet to really see this behavior. Ollie stole a toy from him and he didn't even care. He has never tried to guard his food and toys from me, or anyone else. He does get barkey when I'm in another kennel with another dog. But then all the dogs act that way.
Anyways, hope this makes sense.. sort of rambling!
Any insight would be appreciated!
So many things are new to them both and are still huge distractions.
Rhett is a wild boy right now. All he wants in life right now is out of his kennel and outside. However he doesn't want to be alone. He wants play time with other dogs, and often prefers this to attention from humans. I attribute this in part to being stuck in a shelter with only limited human interaction, and no dog interaction for the last 3 months before he came to us. If he doesn't see a potential canine playmate he is more than happy to play with people, but he can get too rough.
The problem I have with him is calming him down.... for play time or training time.. He's a bit hump happy right now as well... he gets fixed next week. *yay* So hopefully that will take an edge off.
Aside from walking him to wear him out so that he can focus later, what else can I do? Am I expecting too much from a 5-6 month old puppy with his background?
When he gets nippy during play, I yell ouch and I turn or walk away from him. Then I go back. over and over and over. If he had his way I'd never stop playing with him. I feel like this nippiness should be dealt with before we do anything else. (he will nip your shoes, pantleg, fingers, whatever is within his reach at that moment. I do use a toy during play.) I think he thinks any human attention is play time. He doesn't chill out for a belly rub for too long.
He has a lot of catching up to do, and not really sure which way to go with him. I've never been around a dog with so much energy and such a lack of social skills.
One good thing, the other shelter said he had issues with guarding his toys/food/people. We have yet to really see this behavior. Ollie stole a toy from him and he didn't even care. He has never tried to guard his food and toys from me, or anyone else. He does get barkey when I'm in another kennel with another dog. But then all the dogs act that way.
Anyways, hope this makes sense.. sort of rambling!
Any insight would be appreciated!
I look forward to learning much here