Intro from newbie and a question

Hi there

I was recommended to use this forum and it does look like a great source of information.

I'm living in North Wales with my other half and I work full-time from home. We have a 12-week old pup who we've had since 8 weeks who's a cross between a Neapolitan Mastiff and an English Mastiff ... although on the looks front, the Neo ancestry seems to be winning big time!

I'm new to dog ownership - I grew up with them, but this one is my first. In general he's a fairly well behaved pup. He's had his 2nd vaccination and the vet has said I can take him out in 6 days time - up to this point I've been letting him romp in the garden with me. We plan on taking him to obedience classes as soon as possible.

Now comes the part where I need advice because I really need to seperate what's natural puppy behaviour and what needs to be stopped now (and how to stop it!). He responds to the commands 'sit' and 'give' and when he feels like it 'down'. He definitely has selective hearing syndrome though. We thought we'd got housetraining down pat by me taking him out at 7am, immediately after his 3 meals, immediately after excited play and last thing at night. However in the last week, for some reason, he's sometimes not performed during his outside time (he gets 15-20 minutes on each occasion) and has run back to the door and asked to come back in. However the minute he's got in the house he's run to a corner of the sitting room or kitchen and has done his business there in full sight of us! This has happened about 5 times now in the last week. I've tried taking him to the spots he usually goes the rest of the time rather than letting him play and walk there in his own time. I've also tried putting things on the area in the house he's picking on too.

The other issue which has arisen in the last 2 weeks is that he's getting bitey. We taught him 'no biting' early on during play as he'd sometimes get excited and nip at your hands in a half-hearted way. Now we've noticed that if he's done something naughty (make off with an item of clothing, jump up at the kitchen counter....yes, he's that big....and pull things down when you're not watching or even get up on the dining table), when he's chastised and told to stop he'll go into play mode, do little woofs and play growls and bite any hand that comes within view. I'll stress these are not serious bites, but he's 3 stone of puppy at 12 weeks so even though in play, they hurt! As he started to ignore the 'no biting' command we put some pennies in a tin can and shook that near him when he went to nip whilst saying 'no biting'. Unfortunately he took that to be a game, pinched the can and shredded it. He also shredded a replacement can the moment our backs were turned - the sudden noise didn't give him pause for even a second. Next came a water spray which we sprayed over his face when he went to nip - again, not a blink of a pause. It didn't bother him one bit and he took that to be game, despite the stern 'no biting' voice being used at the same time.

I am a little worried by this - he's going to be a very large dog and he needs to learn to be gentle. I'm not sure if it's me being too strict/worried about his behaviour at 12 weeks old or whether it is a sign of trouble ahead and needs to be nipped in the bud now.

All advice appreciated because, despite these issues, he does have a lovely nature and is at his happiest being cuddled!

Hi and welcome to Dogsey

What a gorgeous puppy you have.. how can you tell off something so cute!?

When he does the bowing and growling and biting (which my 1 yr old Boxer does btw), have you tried to distract him with something nice (e.g. a squeaky toy or a biscuit)?

If I can sense Max getting this way (e.g. when he has been told off for something, or outside when he is over excited) I ask him to sit and offer the treat in exchange for good behaviour.

I try and "ignore" the bad bahaviour and get him to do something "good". Of course this means having a pocketful of treats with you all the time

With the indoor weeing etc...
Have you cleaned the affected areas with biological washing powder? This often gets rid of the associated smell, so he might not go there anymore.

Is there any way you can confine him to a room (e.g. the kitchen) after you've come in from outside. Only for 15 minutes maybe, then he's a) only messing in one area and b) nearer to the back door. He might then get used to "asking to go out"?

Hope this has been of some help to you!

What a wonderful pup.

He's a bonnie lad I don't think it's ever too early to be firm with your rules. There are many posts on those subjects you have mentioned, and many more others too that may be useful to you. And also many people on the forum who have great knowledge & advice to share...

What a stunning pup! It's not really a matter of what is acceptable and what isn't as a puppy. You need to establish the rules now as to what is and what isn't acceptable, those rules will of course be individual and down to you i.e. if you don't want him on the furniture then now is when you start.
Becky

Hi and a very warm welcome. You're puppy is gorgeous


With regrad to the housetraining, it's often best to take the puppy outside to one area only to perform and not use it for play and so on so as he associates it with that only.
Mimihaha has written an excellent article that should be of help to you; http://www.dogsey.com/dog-articles.php?t=8974
Let us know how you get on

Many thanks for all the advice and the lovely welcome.

With the sudden doing his 'stuff' in the house problem, I've been cleaning up the area with pine scented disinfectant as I figured that would disguise the smell for him (and us!). I'll try the washing powder option too though.

I think I'll try the diversion tactics on the nipping question. He obviously doesn't respond well to the 'tough love' recommendations I've picked up in other places so I guess it's time to try good, old-fashioned bribery.

Thanks!

Wow he's fabulous, what a gorgeous boy he is

First thing I'd say is, don't panic. Everything you mention, everything, is totally normal.

Secondly, do you reward him when he goes outside? It's best to go out with them and to reward (if you can ) with a tasty titbit actually as they go or immediately after. If you don't do it and create the habit, or if you reward say as he comes to the house, he will think he is to be rewarded for coming to the house.

Some dogs change when scared by one off events like fireworks - many dogs have housetraining issues related to fireworks scares

Re the nipping - normal, pups are incredibly mouthy at this age so again don't panic. Yes he's big but he is still a dog and whether a poodle or a mastiff they learn in the same way.

The article mentioned is good, also try this one which explains the very important things:

http://www.clickersolutions.com/arti...htm#Adolscence

and why it's so important to train for inhibition when pups bite rather than totally stopping them asap.

Also:

http://www.apdt.co.uk/advice.htm

I'd also suggest puppy socialisation classes - try apdt or else Puppyschool www.puppyschool.co.uk

Wys
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Tough love is all very well, but if a dog responds to treats/bribes etc, then why not use them!

Now we've noticed that if he's done something naughty (make off with an item of clothing, jump up at the kitchen counter....yes, he's that big....and pull things down when you're not watching or even get up on the dining table), when he's chastised and told to stop he'll go into play mode, do little woofs and play growls and bite any hand that comes within view.

Again don't panic, what is happening is that he's probably showing signals of "stress" which are the 4 Fs - fight, flight, freeze or "fiddle about" which can often show as the play mode.

It seems as if they're being even more naughty but it's their way of trying to take control of something they're not sure about and possibly of trying to increase social distance.

Manage the environment to minimise opportunity for problems as he's big -the more fun he gets from realising his height can get him stuff, the more he'll do it. So use childgates, whatever to keep him out of places he shouldn't be and start him off with good habits

Train, train, and reward plenty - if you aren't sure how to do this, enrol in a good class preferably apdt as the trainers should be good at using reward based methods for dogs his size and be able to show you how to use them effectively

A good dog training book is this one:

http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/Tit...g_Training.htm

There are times when you do have to be firm, but this can simply be a firm voice and one lone command - and during adolescence this can simply turn a dog into a nutcase Bless!

If you need to maneouvre, if necessary use a long line rather than get innto battles of strength. In time your training will win through.

Sorry I've gone on long enough ...

Wys
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