New puppy owner here. I have had an australian cattle dog now for little over 2 weeks (she is 10 weeks). I took off work the first week she arrived and trucked her around with me. She had still not adjusted to me or her new surroundings, but i took her along anyhow, leaving her in the kennel if i had to dip in the store...or even leaving her in the kennel why i did chores. Anyhow, she has come along fairly nicely. She knows me now. Will come on command (75% of the time) and sit on command (90%) of the time. However she has not warmed up at all to my roommates. I live with another guy and a girl. Though the pup wont run...she will defintily back track...get extremely low and cower...and might scamper a little. She definitly wont come to them if they call. She is like this with new people too....even kinda puppy growling at one person. I am partly concerned because i want her to be trustworthy of the folks she perceives i trust. I dont want her to be anti-social. However i said partly, because i most definitly want her to recognize me as the leader in the house. Any suggestions? I take care of all her maintenance tasks (feeding, potty, kenneling, etc)
While i am on the topic of her. Playtime starts slow, elevates, than hits a cresando it cant come down from. She becomes a little missle. I normally put her in the kennel at this point and time. Is this ok? One time i tried the 'grab by the ears, say knock it off, etc'....she resisted for a while, but finally relaxed...i then wondered if this was too young to do this to. Any suggetions? I just orded two dvds from here so we will see how those are.

Hi Caleb! Nice name! You'll have to be Caleb #2, though, b/c I believe Caleb #1 is taken by that guy on the left in my sig pic. J/K. Welcome!

As far as the pup, I would make sure she is bonded to you enough that she knows YOU will protect her if need be, and she needen't worry about doing it herself. The key is to reassure her without coddling her, if that makes any sense.

Welcome to the board Caleb.

What DVD's did you order?

I would not worry about the roommates...in fact I would not let them interact with your pup at all right now. You need to create a bond with her and help her learn that you are her pack leader and you will not let anything happen to her. If she approaches a roommate, just have them give her a little treat or something just so she gets used to them.

As far as ear grabbing, doesn't sound like this pup really needs anything like that and I would not grab her by the ears anyway.
It will create a dog that does not like their ears touched (they are sensitive body parts) and that will make it rough if you have to clean them or the vet needs to check them out.

Crating the dog is great, but never use it for punishment, discipline or "time outs". You want the dog to love their crate as it is like a den or "haven" to them if they wish to have some quiet time or you need a break.

Treat her when she goes in, comes out and even feed her in there so she learns it is a good place to be.

Redirect her when she is amped up to a toy or other acceptable item you will allow. Lots of short walks and 5 minute training sessions with her. Their little minds are short and so things get old quick. This will lengthen as she grows and starts understanding things you are teaching her.

You want to make all experiences positive for her right now. That will build her confidence up. And if she does get scared, do not try and console her, but rather take her away from what is scaring her and do something positive. You do not have to take her very far, but just far enough away so that she relaxes and will focus on you and some treats. Make sure the treats are her favorite, and I recommend soft chew treats. The hard treats take to long to chew and it is hard to get any training done with a pup sniffing the ground looking for crumbs.

Good luck, keep us posted and we are here anytime to help you when you have questions or concerns.

 Quote: caleb michaud

One time i tried the 'grab by the ears, say knock it off, etc'....she resisted for a while, but finally relaxed...i then wondered if this was too young to do this to.

Welcome Caleb!

Sorry, this doesn't have anything to do with your question, but it relates to your post... Did you really grab her by the ears?? Or was it more of a scruff or cheek or general immobilization? Holding the pup firmly and calmly around the body or by areas of loose skin (like the scruff or cheeks) *can* help calm her down, depending on her temperment and personality - but I personally wouldn't grab the ears - these are sensitive parts and you could actually hurt her or cause her to become head shy... JMO.

Also, you may want to try casually stopping playtime just BEFORE it escalates so far that she becomes a little "missile". It's so much fun to play with puppies - and it's invigorating to watch them get all frenzied and crazy, but you're ultimately putting her in a position where you're going to have to physically calm her down, and she'll likely resist. This kind of struggle in a dominant type pup could lead to dominance issues later on, as she matures. Is she just a pet? Or are you planning to train her in any kind of sport or "work"?

~Natalya

*Carol - you got in there first! Good points!

I suggest these two articles:

Puppy Groundwork

Who pets the puppy

Or, you can listen to the articles as podcasts here:
Podcasts


Welcome to the forum!

Thanks for your responses. This was my first post and i am happy to see its an active forum. The two DVDs i bought were "Puppy 8 weeks to 8 months" and "Basic Obedience".
Let me clarify the whole ear thing. I was listening to leerburg podcasts and he said that one option is to grab the pup by the side of the head (where the ears are), pick her up, look her in the eye, and say knock it off. He left out the whole part about her squirming and squeling like a jackal for about 8 seconds. So no...i didnt pick her up by the actual ears....but more the sides of the face. You can still slap me on the wrists if you like...i am learning here.
Also....i guess when i say kennel i also mean play pen. I only put her in the kennel at night time when its time for bed. If i need a break from her...or if i need to get things done at a speed that doesnt allow an interupption every 15 seconds to trade a chew toy for a christmas ornament...i put her in the play pen. Its in the basement and has some towels and such in it. She will normaly cry for a 5 minutes or so, but i will come back after a half hour and she will either be knocked out or waiting for me to come get her.
All that being said, my general impressions of her so far is that she is going to be a witty dog....plenty of energy...loyal....independent.
I bought her for companionship, but am looking into possible agility training with her (the local club requires 1yr)....or possible herding events (though i have not found any local resources for this...and dont own a farm myself!)

 Quote: caleb michaud

Let me clarify the whole ear thing. I was listening to leerburg podcasts and he said that one option is to grab the pup by the side of the head (where the ears are), pick her up, look her in the eye, and say knock it off. He left out the whole part about her squirming and squeling like a jackal for about 8 seconds. So no...i didnt pick her up by the actual ears....but more the sides of the face. You can still slap me on the wrists if you like...i am learning here.

No wrist slaps here - cheeks/side of the face is fair game.

She sounds like a great little firecracker who should give you lots of fun as she grows!

~Natalya

 Quote: Natalya Zahn

 Quote: caleb michaud

Let me clarify the whole ear thing. I was listening to leerburg podcasts and he said that one option is to grab the pup by the side of the head (where the ears are), pick her up, look her in the eye, and say knock it off. He left out the whole part about her squirming and squeling like a jackal for about 8 seconds. So no...i didnt pick her up by the actual ears....but more the sides of the face. You can still slap me on the wrists if you like...i am learning here.

No wrist slaps here - cheeks/side of the face is fair game.

She sounds like a great little firecracker who should give you lots of fun as she grows!

~Natalya

I second Natalya, no wrist slaps. I would start using the crate more though....it is a good place. Play pens are great as well. But I use crates more.
Great first DVD's. The next one I would recommend is Establishing Pack Structure for the Family Pet. I LOVE that one and I am not even 3/4 of the way through it.

We are doing the same things at our house right now, he isnt our first puppy by any means, but is our most challenging yet in many ways.
I never even thought to use a play pen, puppy might like that better than the kennel when I just need to clean up or do something else for more than a minute or two.

yea the play pen is great. i got mine at a national petshop for around 80 bucks. they can see through it if you happen to be in the same room, they can walk around, easy to put water out, etc. I would suggest setting it up somewhere you dont care about the floor...the model i got, while it cant be tipped over, the "walls" can certaintly be pushed around and made into new geometric shapes by the dog....would quickly scratch hardwood floors.

makes cooking dinner easier!

c