We are seniors with a 5 1/2 month male Shih Poo - Tucker. We have not had a dog for over 20 years. We brought him home before I read anything about how to raise him. So needless to say he was cuddled, played with, etc. We took him to puppy school and he was head of the class, but he's a little biter and has growled when I tried to remove junk from his mouth. He likes to eat leaves, twigs etc. We now have 3 DVD's. 8 - 8 months, marker training and pack structure. We have kept him in his crate for about a week now. What exactly does Ed mean when he says the dog stays in the crate until he becomes submissive? I know this is going to be more difficult because he has become accustomed to more freedom. Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.

Lilianne

Welcome and kudos to you for recognizing and wanting to change your pup's behavior.

At 5 1/2 months, he's still a pup, so, during this phase, what you are hoping to accomplish is calmness in the crate. He needs to be taught the rules of your pack, and you can't do that if he's in the crate all the time.

Can you outline what the pup's schedule looks like, on a daily basis?

Hi, thanks for responding. For the past week this is what we do. Soon after arising I take him out for potty. He gets a drink of water and I put his food into his crate. After he eats I take him out of the crate on leash and let him stay with us for a short time. He usually goes a little antsy wanting to jump up and mouthing. We give him one chew toy as he is still teething. Then we stay in the room with him until we eat and he goes back into the crate. I walk him in the morning, after lunch and in the evening. He is getting better on his walks. When he pulls I simply stop and he comes back in a few seconds. Sometimes I treat him then and I treat him along the way when he walks loosely. So we take him out of the crate to be with us and play with one toy about 3 times. He walks 3 times and goes potty about 4 or 5 times. He's pretty good about staying in the crate but when he comes out he get's mouthy/bitey and now is jumping up on us.

Start him on a simple NILIF (nothing in life is free) program along with daily basic obedience training using marker training. Keep things positive for the most part at this point, but don't be afraid to correct him if necessary as long as you are absolutely sure he understands that the behavior is unacceptable.

Instead of always crating him, tether him to you sometimes and just go about your business. Basically ignore him while he's tethered to you. He just needs to follow his leader.

As I said, keep the training positive. Also, keep the sessions short and use fun games to help teach the lessons.

The mouthing, etc. is very normal puppy behavior. The best thing to do is correct him (A simple "no" is usually enough at this age) and then re-direct him to an acceptable behavior.

Thanks for the response. I have been tethering him to me or to a kitchen chair. This morning he was tethered to me for over an hour and we did about 10 minutes of sit/down/stand/stay. I also brushed him, while he was "standing". He's very good with all that and will stay for nearly 2 minutes. He even will hold a stay while I leave the room for perhaps 30 - 45 seconds.

Saying "no" and giving him something else to chew on only works for a second. His worst mouthing time is in the morning when we take him out of his crate. He's so happy to see us, he goes wild with the mouthing and not much else will distract him. But it's the other times when we reach down to pet him and the first thing he does is open his mouth to chew. He also chews on pant legs if he is told no to the hand. I hope most of this is just puppiness.

What concerns me more is the growling when removing junk from his mouth. He hasn't done it for a few days as I've been really cautious when taking him potty and on his walks. I take a lot of treats with me and can usually catch him when he picks something up and say "drop it" and treat. He sometimes obeys the "leave it" command, but not always. Should I be correcting him when he doesn't? He needs a fairly strong correction for such a little guy.

Thanks for your help. It's a long haul I guess.

Try giving him a stuffed toy when he opens his mouth to grab @ you. This worked for my Ranger. Then I would praise him to high heck if he kept the toy in his mouth to redirect himself from chewing on my arm.

I think some dogs would become smokers if they were human -- they're so orally fixated!! Having a soft toy takes some of the stress off of them when they first greet you!

I think you are handling the 'drop it' thing well.

If you are sure that he knows the command 'leave it', then you could give him a pop if he continues toward the item in question, after you have said 'leave it!'

The timing is important on that one. You want to make sure that he hears the command, but chooses to continue toward the item anyway. (ie, no popping in advance of the command)

Yes, in the house he will leave it all the time. I don't know for how long as I've only tested him for about 20 seconds. But he usually reacts to my saying "leave it" outside. He has started jumping up to the counter and other areas. Can't reach it of course since he's only little. I gave him a "pop" this aft. when he tried it, so I'll see what happens when he tries it again.

Thanks you

I will try the toy tomorrow and see what happens. Praising him too much usually gets him more excited though, so I'll keep it simple. Thanks

This is a great question, I have a 1 yo lab mix who has gotten a bit dominant over the past several monthes. He is nippy at other dogs that he thinks are too close to me. He was lame for much of his puppy hood and was a bit coddled my bad so now that he is well I take him to stores and to various places. Our new trainor suggested and fit him with a prong collar. I see improvement with commands such as heal sit down etc, however, he is still a butt head when I bring new dogs into the house ( am a foster for a rescue) I muzzle him and usually by day 3 he is better. I am trying to reclaim my leadership status by not allowing him to rule the russe, but I am curious to know when I will know he knows I am in charge. So much data out their is confusing. Is it feasible to think he will ever be so obediant that he will be able to sit next to a strange dog with out being nippy. Also any good trainors in NH I know Scott Dunbar is in Boston but thats still a hike for me. OUr current trainor is at the top of their game in Schuzand but not so great for a family friendly trainor who will teach and not critizie or embarrass the handler. Yes I will be ordering the videos I have read every e-book on this site plus lots of other material.