So this is puppyhood..

Jan 31, 2016

They're so CUTE - right?  Little fur balls with bright eyes and wagging tails.  So much FUN!  And it is.  Somewhat.  But there is definitely another side of puppy-hood that is far more challenging..

Puppies need to pee and poop A LOT.  We take our puppy outside and he happily pees.  Pooping, however, is NOT his favourite.  We can never reward him for pooping because:
1. He will get super anxious and aggressive before he poops.  However, this behaviour looks EXACTLY THE SAME as playful puppy.  The next thing you know, he is squatting and doing his thing in the house.  That's NOT going to get a reward..
2. He seems to be embarrassed about pooping.  When outside, he won't look at you while he does his business.  He will often interrupt himself from pooping and doesn't finish the job.  You can't reward him for the little bit he pooped because he is busy running away..
3. If you try to reward him in any way WHILE he is doing his business, he will STOP doing his business and run off in the opposite direction.  This just means he will poop AGAIN - possibly once he gets in the house!

We've given up trying to reward "good pooping" - it's just not working!

On the other hand, puppy will pee quite happily on demand and loves getting treats for when he is done.  Great - right?  Mostly, it IS great.  However, there are a few pee pitfalls:
1. He doesn't pee everything out.  That means even if he has just peed, he might pee again once he is in the house.
2. For a while, we would take him outside as soon as he peed in the house.  Suddenly, the number of pee accidents increased A LOT.  I'm not sure if he has figured out that when he wants a treat, he pees on the floor, gets taken outside where he can pee again, and then get rewarded with a treat!
3. He seems to have more pee accidents in the evening.  I don't know if it happens because he is tired.  I'm wondering if in the evening, he needs to spend more time in his crate to break this little habit of peeing in the house multiple times every evening..

Puppy LOVES to play.  Fantastic, right?  WRONG!  One moment, you are playing with puppy and the next moment, he BITES you.  NOT FUN!  We've tried lots of things to try to keep him from nipping and biting:
1. Redirecting (giving him a chew toy to bite on) - this works sometimes, but not very reliably.  He might start chewing on the chew toy and suddenly lunge for your hands..
2. Rewarding for settling down - this works a little bit.  He LOVES the clicker and will calm himself quite well while you still have treats.  Then he curls up in your lap and you think - great, I've done it!  Just then, he lunges for your shirt..
3. "NO!" - this is what I've been told not to do.  How can you help yourself, though?  He is nipping, biting, lunging - all with a crazy look in his eyes.  He does seem to know that "NO" means "your current behaviour is unacceptable".  However, a moment later, he goes right back to what he was doing and your shirt (or pants) are right back in his mouth..
4. Ignoring - this NEVER works.  You just end up with holes in your shirt..
5. Time-out (i.e. jumping out of the playpen) - works GREAT!  Every time!  However, the moment you enter the play pen again and re-engage, he goes straight back to the nipping and biting.

AAUURRGGHH!!!

Today, he managed to put his most challenging behaviours together.  He nipped and bit.  I redirected him, I ignored him, I "good dog"ed him when he quit, I played with appropriate toys with him, and yet he STILL decided I (and my clothes) was a way better play-toy than anything else.  Things escalated until he jumped up and bit me in the face.  OUCH!  I wasn't seriously hurt, but it was extremely frightening and DEFINITELY hurt my feelings.  I jumped out of the play pen super-fast.  As soon as my back was turned, he pooped all over the kitchen floor..


...Does anyone want a puppy??