Hello!

I apologize if this is somewhere on the forum & I have missed it ~ however; I have stumbled on a few issues that I am certain are my fault. Therefore, I am in need of good training advice.

I have been tethering Cozi (14 weeks old) since bringing him home at 8 weeks. The house training is going very well, as are other training aspects. I have purchased Ed's DVDs ~ 8 weeks --> 8 Months, 'Pack Structure', & 'Basic Obedience'. I have watched the 1st DVD once & am in the process of watching it again (& again).

Cozi is not mouthy w/me...BUT, as soon as my husband comes home...he is all over his pants...shoes, arms, face, etc. He does draw blood. When we attempt to redirect him w/a ball or another toy...he continues w/the nipping as soon as the ball or other toy gets to my husband, who then attempts to correct him by grabbing him by the sides of his face, lifting him slightly off the ground & telling him, 'No.' This does not work for him...Cozi's behavior escalates & he goes after him w/more fervor. Usually, I have to take him away & put him in his crate for a bit. While I know that puppies are mouthy ~ I am very worried that I have done something wrong or that there is a 'hole' in my training somewhere.

The other issue is w/me...when I lead him outside to potty...often, he stops at the edge of the deck (only one step to the ground). IOW...he will pull back on the lead & refuse to go forward. I either have to pick him up or pull harder or entice him w/a treat to get him to go forward. He does this from time to time when we are in the yard, as well. What in the world am I doing wrong?

I want to raise this pup in the best & most positive manner possible. I need some direction before these issues becomes bigger issues.

Thank you to all in advance.

Dana.

I am no expert, but I've been there! I was the one our pup was mouthy with. Does your husband make any noise, like "OWWWWWWW!" when he's bitten? Bitter apple ended up going a long way with us towards stopping that behavior. We put some on a cotton ball, put it in his mouth and held his mouth closed on it for a minute (per Ed's video advice) and then would put it on my hands and arms when I'd approach our pup and it worked.

Our pup also did the stopping suddenly move, and we just kept moving forward, in effect pulling him along, until he "got" that we were walking to the potty lawn, or wherever. That was a shortlived problem. Good luck!

Sounds like Cozi is overjoyed to see a new "plaything", in the form of your husband.

2 suggestions to try:

Have your husband completely ignore Cozi when he comes home. No eye contact, no talk, no petting. When Cozi is fairly quiet and calm mark and praise that behavior and have your husband approach. If Cozi starts bouncing off the wall, have your husband turn away and ignore him until he is calmer.

Some biting and blood-letting go with the territory but a puppy blitz attack is no fun.

You could also try having Cozi in the crate when your husband arrives home. Give it a good 10-15 minutes to let the newness of his presence wear off before bringing him back out.

You said Cozi is tethered to you and that's good. Having him under leash control will be helpful, so long as you are gentle. Remember, he's just a baby (a painful baby :grin so you don't want to give harsh corrections at this point.

I don't know if this is right, but it's probably what I'd try in the same situation.

It goes away. I love this part of puppyhood!

I use the ignore method with Molly. She will simply maul me sometimes when I get home. I just say, "no" and stop paying attention when she's acting crazy. Once she settles down and sits in front of me I say, "good girl!" and pet her. This sometimes winds her up again so if she gets rowdy I do the, "no" and ignore until she sits in front of me again.

Hi Dana,
we had the same problem with Max, we thought he was going to be crazy psycho forever.
But now he's older - 11 months - he's calmed down a lot.
The thing that helped us the most was teaching him the place command, and everytime someone comes in the house he has to go to his place. Now until he got some patience, and learnt to stay there for longer than a microsecond, it wasn't easy keeping him there. I basically had to stand in his way so he couldn't get to my husband.
But our consistency is starting to pay off and he will now wait on his place until we release him.

He's still really really really excited to get to my husband but the waiting on his place takes out some of the destructiveness of his excitement.

Thank you to all who replied & offered pearls of wisdom & advice regarding this troublesome occurrence! We have found an effective 'husband-nipping deterrent'.

My husband pops a 'Bitter Apple'-soaked cotton ball in his mouth every time he goes for my husband...it IS working. Although I do not really like to do this, I understand the importance & significance. It is rather a difficult task to hold it in his mouth for more than 10-15 seconds, as he ejects it from his mouth like a paint ball from a gun! ;o) I find that we are using this method less & less!

He really IS a good boy & I am quite pleased w/his temperament...he is well-adjusted & intelligent!

I look forward to absorbing more & more of the great advice on this forum!

Thank you!

Dana.

Man, i'd hate to be your puppy. Putting a cotton ball in his mouth constantly and holding it shut for 10 or 15 seconds just might start a real problem down the road for you. A 14 week old puppy is just that, a puppy. How do you determine that he's going to nip your husband versus just happy to see him and jumping up? If he's a smart dog he'll end up viewing hubby as the problem.............

 Quote: Al Curbow

.... How do you determine that he's going to nip your husband versus just happy to see him and jumping up? If he's a smart dog he'll end up viewing hubby as the problem.............

That's how it seems to me too. My gut feeling on this is bad.

I would go with Sarah's suggestions.

Does ED really advocate this bitter apple cotton ball thing??!!!

Sorry, but it's nothing I would ever use..........for anything.


If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy