Hyper Puppy!!

[Michael C.]

About 9:00 pm every night our 10 week little girl gets really hyper. She nip, growls and barks. When she nips and I correct her she thinks I am playing. I have been raising my voice at her yelling "NO!!" but this seems to only make her more hyper! My question is: Is it wrong for me to raise my voice? Well, actually its more like yelling at her. It's really hard not to. She runs full speed and dives in the air at you while at the same time trying to nip at you. It just seems grabbing her mouth and saying "No Bite" has no effect on her. If I hold her down and growl at her it seems to work better. Yelling at her is wrong? Should I just be using a firm "no" instead of a scraming "no" ?

Thanks

Mike

[Trish]

Sounds like a young child not wanting to go to bed.. doesnt it..?
Never yell at the dog, try hard not to. I know its hard and frustrating, but by yelling you can actually 'undo' all the good you have already tried. It does not show her your are 'Alpha' just shows that you are letting her get to you and that you are out of control. Like you said, restraining her and growling at her is best and she is responding best to this. Another thing:
Have you started crate training her?
At nite when its time for bed put her in her crate, that is her den, her sleeping place, her safe haven. And she might cry at first when you put her in the crate but she will calm down fast and go to sleep, also crate training is wonderful for house breaking.
Remember to get her a crate that is only large enough for her to lie down and turn around in, if you get a crate that is too big, she will soil it. You ought to see how many crates I have now, Schatzie's baby crate still holds a place in my heart. The crate she has now is HUGE. Funny how fast they grow up.

Good Luck
Trish

[L Johnson]

Has she had a chance earlier in the evening for a nice brisk walk or game of fetch? Try to offer her a positive outlet for her energy. Yelling works with dogs much like children. They become desensitized to it and you must yell louder and louder to get their attention. In either case, it doesn't provide for a very loving relationship. Another problem with portraying too much dominance over this female is she may become much more submissive to men as time wears on if you were to continue this form of correction because she will associate men with "being in trouble". A firmly spoken NO should act as a shock to abruptly stop her behavior. Once she behaves calmly immediately praise and pet her. The public library has a great wealth of dog training books I used before going to a class. It is very helpful to start working on basics and also learn how to teach your dog to fetch. This is a great activity to release their energy and bond the two of you. In a nutshell, reinforce positive behaviors with a lot of praise and small treats and give as little attention as possible to the negative behavior. Like children, they don't necessarily care that your attention is negative (ie. yelling) as long as they have your attention. Accentuate the positive, they say!!

[Michael C.]

Thanks for the advice. We have been crate tarining her since day 1 (August 8th). She does wimper at first (It sonds so sad). Speaking of growing up fast, she has put on about 5 pounds since August 8th. She definately doesn't care if the attention is negative or not, as long as she has it. She seems to enjoy it.

Thanks

MIke

[CarolineS]

Mike,

When you yell at a dog, of any age, with a note of frustration, excitment (or even a bit of hysteria http://www.rottweiler.net/rottie/smile.gif), all the dog thinks is, oh boy, something really interesting is going on here. A young puppy, especially one who doesn't fully understand the word no, just thinks you're excited, and, as you're part of her "pack", that spurs her on to further excitement. That is why quiet and firm is the key.

Her behavior around 9 every evening sounds like "puppy fits" to me. http://www.rottweiler.net/rottie/smile.gif Puppy fits aren't really fits, just periods of frenetic behavior that seem to regularily strike young dogs once or twice a day. Nothing much seems to get through to them then and a lot of people just take the puppy outside and let it run itself silly until it calms down. They do outgrow these! Just another fun part of owning a puppy (of any kind!).

I have said this to many people before, treat your dog as a dog first, a Rottweiler second. Relax and don't think that if you do one little thing wrong, the pup is going to turn into a raving maniac as an adult. If the good breeding and temperament are there, just keep on doing what you're doing and the pup will grow up to be a great dog, in spite of being a Rottie (just kidding, we all know they're the greatest dogs on earth http://www.rottweiler.net/rottie/smile.gif).

[Michael C.]

Thanks Caroline,

To be honest with you, I have been treating her as a Rottweiler first and a dog second. I guess I didn't realize it unitl I read your post. Good breeding and temperament are definately there. She wasn't the alph in her litter but I am pretty sure she second behing the alpha.

Thanks again

Mike

[kaypeltier]

Hi! Boy that hyper pup at bedtime sounds familiar, the more I corrected, the more she thought I was "playing" She seemed to get "hyper" when she was ultra tired. Trying to play with her seemed to make her worse, as she was tired - I sort of compared it to the "fusses" my children had as babies, getting crabby right before they went to sleep. I use a product called "bitter apple" to stop the nipping. It doesn't hurt them and its non-violent, and one shot does it, aim directly for the mouth! What helped me the most was some "puppy obedience" with food, if she was watching me and I would work on stays and comes with the food, seemed to help slow her down into bedtime and the "crate". Not too much food, don't want to get up sixteen times a night! Take heart, she still is the most "up" in the evening, and again I take advantage of that to work obedience, but she is a great girl, with NO nips, just licks at 19 months. Kay

[judy v]

There's been great advice here, and I'd like to add some things I hope you'll find helpful. While you are at a time when you can create new habits, think about this one. When you are forced to say "no," try to be specific. For example, "no bite, no kitty," etc. The same thing holds for praise: "good stay, good heel." General no's don't tend to teach anything. I, too, try not to yell. When I do have to yell, and it will happen, I get results! It is also very important to be consistant, and this is not always easy, especially if you're tired. If you let something slide, even once, you go back to zero. What you can train yourself to do now will pay off royally in the future. Good luck. jv




[This message has been edited by judy v (edited August 25, 1999).]