Would like some opinions on a few issues. We have a 14 week old puppy. My wife works out of town and gets home after me. I am the one who comes home during the day, etc. Our puppy seems to be doing great with me. Obeys commands pretty well (watch, come, sit, down, etc) and doesn't really jump up much on me and never really bites me. With my wife, when she gets home, he is always jumping up and biting her, very excited, and basically lasts all night (always biting and jumping, putting holes in clothing, etc). She also has a hard time getting him to listen to her while she is working with him on the commands. Any ideas to help? Thanks.

The puppy considers your wife one of its litter mates and not a higher ranking pack member. This is why your puppy bites and jumps on her. Your puppy is behaving exactly how the puppy behaved when it was still in its litter. It is trying to find its rank in its new pack the only way it knows how - by pushing and biting. In the litter, the puppy that bites and pushes the hardest becomes the dominant puppy. Since biting and pushing works so well in the litter to establish this rank structure, there is no reason why your puppy would (or should) behave any differently with your wife. It simply doesn't know any better.

You, apparently, have somehow established yourself as the pack leader since your puppy does not bite or jump on you. Hopefully, you have read Ed's article on "Establishing Pack Structure" and you are following the program. There is also a free podcast on the same topic you can download and listen to from this website. Ed's DVD on pack structure is excellent as well.

Your wife needs to establish herself as a higher ranking pack member. That means that your wife needs to assert herself the same way you have successfully managed to do - by showing the puppy that biting and pushing are inappropriate behaviors that will not be tolerated. My guess is that your wife encourages this behavior by coming home and gushing over the new puppy without asserting leadership in a firm, aloof manner like pack leaders should. There is plenty of time for showing your puppy love - but AFTER the puppy has EARNED it by behaving in accordance with YOUR pack rules.

Read the article, listen to the podcast, and watch the DVD for more. Good luck!

Sounds like a puppy.

I'll take him off your hands, if you want.



Redirection is your friend. So are crates.

I would try to have a kong or other toy to keep him busy ready for when she gets home.

I had a real problem with Loki jumping all over me when I got home, so I started keeping a papersack with small treats in it that was folded over and taped shut ready in the car. The second I walked in the door I would toss the sack over to the side of the room. this gave him something to do for a minute or two so that I could get in the door. This is a 75 lb male hound dog that is as tall as me when he is stretched out and he would knock me down or back against the door. So getting him to move away across the door long enough to get in the house was a very helpful thing!

When I walk in the house now I don't ackowledge the dogs for several minutes. I walk past them and their happy dancing and straight to the back door to let them outside, without even looking at them.

If they jump on me or at me I simply turn my back to them and keep going. (sometimes this means I turn in circles) any time they get to wound up or out of control I either do some simple OB work like putting them in a sit or a down or I just turn my back.

What they want most is attention and by cutting it off when they act like idiots they learn pretty quickly it won't get them anywhere.