Advice on diciplining a juvenile?? - Page 1

Ohh my goodness my boy is driving me crazzzzzzzyyyy! He is such a child  and it seemed to happen to him overnight, Im not sure of a good way to dicipline him. Heres what he likes to do. I have a sectional in the living room... he will run from the hall, jump up on the sectional, I tell him to get down, he runs to the end... i go and get him and  he runs to the other end.. this goes on for a good 30-45 seconds back and forth from one end to the other,  and then i tackle him in the middle... Im sure its quite comical to anyone watching. So i get him by the collar and grab his scruff and say no... but he is a repeat offender on this.  And he likes to sneak into the bathroom and grab shoes too... and takes off t hrough the house with them... and there  i go after him again.. then he dodges me...i he would be great on a football field, but im like ahhhhhhh  Its funny... but yet not funny.

He is 5 months today... is this normal behavior, what should I be doing?  Any advice would be greatttttttllly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

What do you do with him everyday? Start there.

You are going to be very busy "playing" with this boy until he is at least a year old.  After that things will probably improve greatly.  Let him know you are the alpha but do not break his spirit.  Better buy lots of nyla bones and tug toys.  Try and distract him with hard rubber toys and nylabones.  Don't leave him to chew anything that could be eaten and harmful to him.  Hard nylabones are pretty safe.  Towels and rags can be eaten and cause intestinal blockage. Place him in a very large wire cage or kennel when you are gone.  Play with him a lot and try to get him to key on his favorite toys. Sounds like your boy has a great sense of humor and likes to play tricks on you, a sure sign of intelligence and craftness/resourcefulness.  Taking him on lots of walks on a good short lead and lots of outdoor play time in a fenced area with you throwing a ball for him could work well to keep him calm.  Good luck.  You are in for a ride.  Sounds like a fun dog and one that may be smarter than average. 

A old breeders trick is to keep your dog on a 6-8 foot lead a lot of the time.  Then when he acts us say "no" firmly and somewhat loudly, and then gently but firmly pull him away from his misbehavior close to you and hand him a nylabone or equivalent.  Then as he learns keep increasing the length of the lead, giving him freedom off the lead at times until he misbehaves.  Be sure of one thing with this boy.  He likes attention and will do whatever he can to get yours and hold it.  Seems to me to be a good dog in the making.  The more you put into him the smarter and better he will become.  This boys probably a trickster at heart, and that will make him a very good dog when he matures.

The first thing you should not do is go after him,  Chasing him is a game to him as Preston says he is getting your attention,

 Put him on a line so he cannot do things you do not want him to do,  and use Strong Commands firm and sharp but not in a loud voice, and a strong correction on the line immediatly he does a wrong thing

Command and Correct the instant he does it

Steve

I will just ask one question why is the puppy running around freely You are the one that should get disciplines not your dog. Put him on leash. Keep him on leash all the time. One trainer gave me very sound advice at one point (PPD trainer) you want your dog to listen, to understand that no means no and come means come? Keep him on the leash that way you can always enforce your comment, you do that for first six month and it will sink in, but if you screw up at least ones you have to do it for another six month :). So yeah put him on the leash, let him no that when you say no it means no and he dose not process your no as "what you going to do about it punk". lol It seems that you might have quite good dog on your hand, braking his spirit by over disciplinesing him would be the worst thing you can do.

Are we laughing as this is going on and you are trying to catch him?  Either way, it's a big game to him.  Like they said, long line is the key.  Strong commands on NO.

Invest in some childgates - they are good at keeping no go zones free from dogs.  Mine soon learn and even when the gate is not there they do not go through them.

One of our favourite phrases is "lack of adult supervision" and this is our way of saying what ever the dog got into is due to an adult not setting boundaries and keeping an open eye.  Another thing is your boy is getting rewarded with your time every time he's bad.  Try and ignore the irritating such as towel stealing, see what happens is you dont respond.  DO respond to anything good and make a huge fuss - he'll soon do good things to get your attention - this also works really well with children!  How often do you only acknowledge their presence when they have gotten up to know good?

 Please enjoy this wonderful funny time!

This time is too fast to end, and those animals adult so fast. This youth time is the most beautiful time with the dog. Plays, rave, learn, play, play, sleep…. It harms that my now adult… I would like this youth time again and again to experience!

He's got you well trained, he knows what you're going to do and you never let him down!  He's clearly bored and yes, it's normal behaviour for a bored puppy.

Have you started any kind of training with him yet?  If not, it's time you did.  Giving him something interesting (training... fun training) to do will alleviate most of your problems.  If formal training isn't your bag, teach him to search for his toys etc. both his body and mind need to be engaged.

Don't despair, he sounds like a real character so try not to shout at him and give negative commands, best to avoid the situation completely!