Puppy, how much progress should I expect by 4 months

Hi All. What a great site!

Was hoping someone would be able to offer either a kick up the backside or some encouragement?

We have a 16 week old Wire Haired Vizsala bitch ..Rusty.

Shes lovely, but is just back form the vets after surgery to see if a rag was stuck in her stomach...it wasnt...but we and the vet feel it was right to check...

anyway I got the impression the vet felt our pup was a bit wild....Ill try and sum up the pros and cons of her behavior....

Pros

Good recall most of the time
Pretty much always sits when asked
Will retrieve and give most of the time
Well on the way to lieing down on demand
Will not go up stairs
Does not jump on the couch
Does not bark at night anymore


Cons

Jumps up at everyone at home and on walks (less so with us)
Will try to eat anything and run away with stuff to stop us getting it off her
Occasionally still barks at us for attention
Barks while we crate her when we eat (not all the time)
Barks at objects out of her reach
Barks on walks when we stop
Gets generally pretty hyper in new situations with lots of people

I was just wanting to know if this is pretty normal for 1 16 week pup or if I have a few problems I need to correct ASAP.

Thanks in advance

Chris and Rusty

All normal behaviour for a 16 week old pup to be honest, but all this behaviour will not go away on its own, you have to teach her what's acceptable and what's not.

Looks like you are already implementing some rules and boundaries already, you just need to keep them going, the trouble is he/she is a baby a very exuberant one at that, (which Vizsla are), the barking is attention seeking, a friend has one of those to

Firstly, she is still only 16 weeks old, so still a little bit young to be perfect just yet

TBH, a lot of that sounds like perfectly normal Vizzy behaviour but you really do need to get the jumping under control. Try and make sure that everyone she comes into contact with knows that you are trying to train her not to, ask them to turn their backs to her and keep still until she stops then reward when her bum or all four paws are on the ground.

My Viz went through a very barky stage at this age too and TBH you might just have to keep ignoring it and her until it stops. They are quite persistent at barking at what they want!

Kibo still barks when we stop on a walk, I think that some Viz's just aren't very good at being still they need to be constantly stimulated mentally. If we know that we are going to stop off at a pub when we're on a walk I take a ball or something with me that he can occupy himself with, luckily at home, my boy does have an " off switch "

Be consistent with your training and always, always reward the good behaviour, they're smart dogs and catch on quickly

Thanks for the reply much appreciated....and reassuring......I think your right the jumping is the one to act on ASAP

Jumping up IMHO is easy to correct with the aid of some very high value rewards & a clicker.

Karen Pryor has a well explained way Puppies learn very quickly

Looking forward to seeing photos of Rusty!

Hi and welcome

As has already been agreed your pup is still a baby and she seems to be coming along well with all the commands that she already understands

It is really the barking issue and jumping up that need to be addressed. Always ignore bad behaviour and reward good behaviour. If she is barking ignore her, as soon as she stops you can then reward her and sort out her problem if there is one. I remember only too well what my two litter-mates were like at 16 weeks - I was just about ready to 'throw the towel in' . For my two things suddenly got a lot better around the 6 month mark - it was as though they suddenly understood what I was asking/teaching them to do/or not

Jumping up in the house can be controlled by having a 'house-line' on her which you can physically remind her to stop her jumping up if she attempts to. Immediately reward her if she doesn't. As has been said, get people to turn their backs on her or to bend down to her level to say hello.

Good luck, she sounds a real character and let us know how you get on. It sounds as though you are doing a really good job with her so far.

Thanks all for the replies...tried to attach a pic but im guessing I don't have that privilege yet?

I will take note of all the advice and have a look at the info I was kindly directed to.

oh just another quickie....she eats everything! Twigs, rags..anything...as our recent experienced proved this can be dangerous....we are always with her and shes on the lead when out.....but when we miss it and she gets hold of something....she will run away and not respond to recall which under normal circumstances she does, when we do get hold of her...mouth shuts and she tries to swallow...she will normally respond to give with her toys...but not whn she has something 'bad' in her mouth.

Is this something she will grow out of...of should a properly trained pup being giving the object up when asked?

http://s1338.beta.photobucket.com/us...tml?sort=3&o=1

Not sure if this will work but if it does....a pic of rusty at 8 weeks and one at 15