So,
I was searching about this puppy stage and the information I came up with is Finn is going to start testing his wings on who is Alpha and what the general pecking order is.

Already he doesnt respect my husband very much beyond the "ok, your the dude who takes me out when mom is sleeping." So how can I get Finn to respect hubby? How does the picking order get asstablished.

What I am currently doing:
1. leash teathered to me if out of the crate

2. basic clicker commands

3. if jump or bite on kids immeditatly into crate

4. if jump on furniture told off once. if do again crate

any other hints?

thanks mary

"Already he doesnt respect my husband very much"

In what form do you see this?


(I think folks can answer better with examples. )

i'm not a pro ... not even a trainer ... but, when my pup did something, i never crated them as punishment. i wanted them to think of the crate as a happy place. i'm not sure if you feel the same way, just giving you another view of things...

i'm gonna assume you spend more time with your pup than your husband. my girlfriend only feeds my dog. i train her and play with her.... she'll respond to my girlfriend but not with much excitement...

-hope this helps

 Quote: Tyree Johnson

i'm not a pro ... not even a trainer ... but, when my pup did something, i never crated them as punishment. i wanted them to think of the crate as a happy place. i'm not sure if you feel the same way, just giving you another view of things...
-hope this helps

Yes, that's a good point, Tyree.

Mary, at 10 weeks you should consider redirecting when your pup does something like jump up on the furniture. A calm, deep 'No', move the pup off the furniture, and then redirect to a toy, or give a command that you can mark and reward, instead of putting him in the crate. (if you have not actually taught the 'off' command, you can't expect him to know what you are asking for when you say 'off'.)

Re nipping the kids, that will take some management on your part. For the kids, no roughhousing with the pup, and alway encourage calm interaction of the kids with the pup, especially in the house. If he nips/mouths he should be separated from the kids and allowed to calm down.

Sometimes the crate is the best place to do this, but as Tyree mentions, you don't want to have him associate the crate with punishment. A good way to avoid this association is to teach the 'crate' command and reward him with a stuffed chew toy when he enters.

 Quote: connie sutherland

"Already he doesnt respect my husband very much"

In what form do you see this?


(I think folks can answer better with examples. )

He goes after Brads feet. Doesn't do this with anyone else. He jumps all over him, and constantly has body parts in his mouth. He gets really really excited and jumps all over him when he sits on the floor.

Brad on the other hand pets him to greet him and thats about it. Finn is mainly mine. Finn respects the girls alot better. Tethered him while my youngest (one cloest to his level) and they played for over an hour. He even let her take his ball away without jumping, nipping, etc. Very proud of Finn.

That example I gave of Harleigh (my youngest) taking the toy away without getting any reaction from Finn besides ears perked and waiting for her to throw the ball, he doesnt do this with my husband. He goes after my husband like he is an equal.

Are these detailed enough?

Brads commened why I read him your comment Connie was "He doesnt care if I exist." lol. I am hoping to change this. Because in Fall I am back to school in the morning and having Finn able to work with Brad would make life easier. I dont want to expect alot of Finn because he is only 10 weeks. But I want this pecking order down before I head back to school.

Thanks,

mary

 Quote: Mary McKeever

He goes after Brads feet. Doesn't do this with anyone else. He jumps all over him, and constantly has body parts in his mouth. He gets really really excited and jumps all over him when he sits on the floor.

Brad on the other hand pets him to greet him and thats about it. Finn is mainly mine. Finn respects the girls alot better.

He respects the girls better because you are controlling their interactions. You wouldn't let Finn bite the girls' feet, I'm pretty sure.

So, either you need to continue to control Finn's interaction with your husband as you do his interactions with the girls, or your husband needs to also become involved in his training. ie tethered to him, involved in taking out to potty, feeding, marker training etc.

 Quote: Lynne Barrows

 Quote: Tyree Johnson

i'm not a pro ... not even a trainer ... but, when my pup did something, i never crated them as punishment. i wanted them to think of the crate as a happy place. i'm not sure if you feel the same way, just giving you another view of things...
-hope this helps

Yes, that's a good point, Tyree.

Mary, at 10 weeks you should consider redirecting when your pup does something like jump up on the furniture. A calm, deep 'No', move the pup off the furniture, and then redirect to a toy, or give a command that you can mark and reward, instead of putting him in the crate. (if you have not actually taught the 'off' command, you can't expect him to know what you are asking for when you say 'off'.)

Re nipping the kids, that will take some management on your part. For the kids, no roughhousing with the pup, and alway encourage calm interaction of the kids with the pup, especially in the house. If he nips/mouths he should be separated from the kids and allowed to calm down.

Sometimes the crate is the best place to do this, but as Tyree mentions, you don't want to have him associate the crate with punishment. A good way to avoid this association is to teach the 'crate' command and reward him with a stuffed chew toy when he enters.

He gets crated if he gets to excited. Yes he is very happy in his crate. He gets his bully sticks in there and that is his space. He knows this. We keep a rubber nylabone in there at all times and we play games of going in and out with treats. We try to keep it very postitive.

I have only had to put in in 3-4 times for nipping/jumping at the girls. I was also out of the room, and hubby was watching the group of kids. After I got back, he pulled the same stunt infront of me and got a stern NO. That didnt work. So he got crated and went right to sleep. We relized he was over tired and to wound up. My girls went down also. We had 3 hours of quiet lol.

Mary

Sound like you are doing a good job with him.

Mary, I want to add to Lynne's great suggestions.

Prevention of unwanted behavior is what you should aim for. So, rather than scolding him for getting up on the couch, for example, prevent him from getting up there in the first place. Otherwise, you are allowing him to practice unwanted behavior, and you really want to avoid that if you can.

This, of course, means a lot of viglance and supervision .

And, Lynne is dead on about your husband, too. If he doesn't get with the program and handle Finn as you do, he's not going to get the respect you get from Finn.

Also, listen to the pup. Finn is telling your husband that for your husband to get down on the floor with him at this point is just too exciting for the pup. So, either your husband doesn't get down on the floor with him until he's more mature, or when he is down there, Finn's behavior is better managed. I'd opt for not getting down on the floor at this time, if it were me, if it's causing this reaction in Finn. He's only 10 weeks old!

I think you're doing a great job, BTW.

leih

 Quote:

Brad on the other hand pets him to greet him and thats about it. Finn is mainly mine.

Brad's indifference to him may have the puppy trying to just get a reaction. My middle son doesnt even want to pet the dogs. Guess who they want to jump on and lick.