Training Advice

[Inna Mashkovich]

Help! Jumping and Biting Problem! Help to find a solution!

[Inna Mashkovich]

Is anyone have problem about jumping? Especially when people coming in to a house – she just toooo happy. My plan is to keep her on leash when someone is coming and when I drive home, I call my family to put Amber on leash and wait for me. Is anyone had some problem? Is it anything else to do here?
I was reading a book – “Ignore your dog until she stops jumping and get calm” But it’s hard to ignore her. I am trying to turn my back to her, but she would go around and keep jumping.
Most what bother me here – it’s kids. My daughter was scratched by puppy more then once and couple days ago she said that she wish we didn’t have this dog. I was very upset. Need to do something fast. The problem probably is when they playing, Amber gets too excited and start biting hard and jumping a lot. Katrina was scratched bed, bleeding more then once. And she is just 6 (almost 7). Still she ask me for puppy that tiny and looks like a toy – more then a dog. I still love Irish Setters the more and never can imagine to have any other dog in my family.
So two biggest problems – jumping and biting. Help!

[kim kleinschmidt]

Hi Inna -
The puppy may need to burn off some energy. Taking her for a walk may help. Also, when people come to my house - I always crate my dogs. That way the dogs can hear their voice first and get used to them . They tend not to jump as much.
The last thing you want to do is have the puppy upset your little girl, but Irish Setters are VERY exuberant dogs. I always say you have to have a sense of humor to live with them. They are smarter then we are. If you put her on a leash - step on it so she can't jump up that may help. Consistency is the key. If you don't want her to jump then you have to take the jump away from her - never ask her to give you hugs or kisses while on her hind legs. When you come home - while you are sitting down - etc. I am sure Pam will have other ideas. For the biting - we just give Kibby lots of bully sticks - some rawhide - BUT only when we are with him - as they can choke on it and tons of toys. They do outgrow that :)

We took Kibby to his first confirmation training session last night - and well - that is a whole nother story - BUT the trainer said in her lifetime she had maybe known 2 dogs as smart as or smarter then Kibby. She said if we reward him for bad behavior he will own us for LIFE! So, training is going to be key for him.

[Inna Mashkovich]

Thank you, Kim very much. Do I understood right that you have 5 dogs at home now?
We did start with Amber puppy class. Already went to 3 or 4 classes. I guess my problem is - we need to be outside more. I just wish so much for a fenced yard. We were doing landscaping in fall and were late to put new fence on. Material already bought. Just can't wait for snow to melt, so we can put fence back up. My working schedule been crazy lately and we have no park in a walking distance. Need to drive my kid with a dog. I wish I can let her off leash and see her run. Do you recommend Doggy Park? I've heard they not a best place to be.

[kim kleinschmidt]

One other suggestion - when she jumps give a knee solidly between her front legs to knock her off balance. You don't want to hurt her - but you want to startle her so she goes back on her four feet. As soon as they are on all 4 feet pet her and praise her.

Of course - Kibby has learned to wrap his front legs around my leg and go for a ride. So this may or may not work. It certainly did with our Carigan.

Just remember that these puppies love us unconditionally and we are responsible in the end for their behaviors.
She also may need to be challeneged mentally - so a puppy class or pre beginners obedience may be a good thing ;)

[Inna Mashkovich]

I am really afraid to knee her. What if one of us accidently hit her too hard, or while I knee her - she would jump forward and I'll hurt her? You wouldn't recommend putting her on a leash. The idea of keeping them in a crate is different. May be when you have more then one dog. I try to crate her as less as possible. When I come home - she wants to say hello. So natural. May be she will learn one day?

[kim kleinschmidt]

I was always afraid to knee also Inna - but a firm knee will not hurt her -
She may yap the first couple of times - but it does teach them not to jump.

I do recommend the leash and have your husband stand on it so she is close to him and can not jump up
They will learn this way also. But they do not always have a leash on and that is when a well placed knee can help. :)

[Inna Mashkovich]

Today when I went to work I left her collar on, so my husband can attach leash easily when grandparents come 9they come to watch kids every morning).
When I come home and she jumps on me and soooo happy to see me and I am happy to see her - it's hard to be upset and punish her for jumping. I'll try my best of course.
is it a good practice to leave a leash on hanging in a the evening when everybody coming home one by one?

[kim kleinschmidt]

Inna you are caught in the same situation as most of us are. I LOVE my kids jumping on me with all that joy and love. BUT not everyone appreciates that the same as we do. So, what to do???
I try to teach them "4 feet on the floor" and once that is learned - then I allow them to jump up and kiss me.
My girls get away with more jumping because they are smaller and can't hurt me as much as my big boys- we trained Carigan not to jump but Sage still does :)
- but you have small children in the house - so Amber needs to learn that she should keep all her feet on the floor all the time. Then - later you can sneak in those hugs :)

Consistency is the key. I don't like having leashes on for extended periods of time - but, in my situation there is just Tim and me. So you can try it for a few days and see how things are going.
Good luck and remember that the whole family has to be doing the same thing with her. She is VERY smart ;)

[Katie Rogers]

Great advice Kim!! I haven't started puppy class yet with GiGi but have without question noticed how INCREDIBLY intelligent she is. Even for a Setter who I have always found to be highly intelligent dogs as a breed. She learned in one day to sit to get her leash on to go outside and in very few training sessions is doing several commands very well. Being the leader is KEY with any dog but especially a smart one. Exercise is super important with these young pups so make sure she is getting enough time to burn off her energy and don't ever let her even play by putting her mouth on you. If it's okay to do to you it's okay to do to anybody. I have been very strict with GiGi about this from day one and she doesn't nip or bite at my kids hardly at all. Especially considering she is a almost 4 month old puppy. When she gets really wound up she occasionally nips at an ankle but it is very rare. I've had to be strict with my husband of no rough housing with the puppy because if she does it with him she'll have the kids on the floor wrestling with them too!! The jumping hasn't been much of an issue with us thankfully. She does it really only when asked to. I think with that you have to go either one way or the other. Either never allow them to jump or teach them a command for it with a corresponding "down" that you can use in situations when they get overly excited. She does get excited and do some jumping when my husband gets home from work but I tell him he's a big boy and can take care of himself when he yells for me to "call your dog" ;) I have started some clicker training with GiGi especially during stacking and she's learning to stand still longer and longer to get that click and as soon as she hears it she spins around to face me for her treat. Clicker training may be something that could help you with the jumping when you come home at night, keep some treats in the car that you can bring in in your pocket, ignore her until she settles down and has all four on the floor or is sitting and then click and treat. That's an exercise you could do with her over and over again even within 15 minutes and I bet she'll get it pretty quickly. If she sees someone coming through the door as a mentally stimulating exercise where she has to think about what she should be doing it may help control some of her exuberance. Personally I prefer to do as much of my training off leash as possible as some dogs then think they only have to listen when they are on a leash and you can make them. It might be harder at first but they will learn more in the end. At least that has been my experience.

I also use the gentle but firm knee to the chest and she learned very fast not to jump. She has quickly learned what is expected of her and what is off limits and usually does the bad behavior when she's wanting me to stop what I'm doing and come play with her. She has also developed the wonderful Setter trait of know just how far away I have to be to physically correct a behavior and waits until I'm at that point to follow the command given!! I think it must be genetic as every Setter I've had has done that. Or maybe it's just me!! ;) As with a lot of these puppy stages time and patience and consistency with get you through just about any of it as long as they are getting plenty of exercise and mental stimulation as well. GiGi gets a training session at least once a day in the evening after kids are in bed and dinner is cleaned up so I can focus 100 percent on her and she on me. Don't know if any of this actually helped or made sense. I guess I've kinda rambled on a bit now ;)

[Autumn Brock]

Hello Everyone ~

Joss is getting a LOT of no jumping work too - we do the knee and it's not been an issue as he does understand he is not to jump up. But happiness gets the better of him when he first comes into a room or when he meets a stranger. He is quickly corrected for 4 on the floor also should he get the exhuberant hello going and if he is on a leash he is brought back to a very short lead righ away. Its taken a few weeks but he is getting better. He also likes to try and leap for a treat but we are working on that the same way.

I have to watch James like a hawk because he and the pup do like to wrestle. What is it with men and puppy wrestling??? James knows its super important not to let Joss gnaw or chew or bite at him so I'm working with both of them to be consistent - man and puppy. Joss has a very good bite control already so he doesnt bite hard, I like to think of it as 'tasting'. He will mouth a hand very often and I stop whatever attention he is recieving at that moment and give James the evil eye if I catch him letting the pup cheat too. Joss knows that he is not supposed to go after hands, which is the only thing he really likes to bite at when given the chance. If he tries at any time, play or just luvs to go after a hand he's corrected and I've noticed he's not so interested in tasting during quiet times anymore - heres to keeping that up so he's good about it even at play times.

Autumn

[Pam Gale]

Hi All,

You guys are giving such excellent advice - I am learning too! Inna - I bet that if you get Amber a little more exercise she will calm down a bit. Having 5-6 irish setters at a time I have had to learn how to manage all of their energy (as I know you have too Kim!). I find that exercise is the key. I walk my dogs out in my big yard every morning and every night. I can't walk them as much in the winter because it is so dark when I get home but I still try. They are different dogs when they get their exercise. Even my husband now says "better get them outside or they will be wound up tonight". I can tell if they get exercise even late at night. They all sleep better and had MUCH better manners when they are tired. Walking on the leash is fine - especially at this age. Even if you can walk her outside for 1 block in the morning on the night I bet it will help a ton. I know you guys have followed Ceaser Millan - his first point when training dogs is get them exercise. Hope that helps as I know Amber is a rambunctious puppy!!

Pam

[Katie Rogers]

Yes, a TON of what I know comes from reading Cesar Millan's books and watching his show. Kirk laughs at me because when I'm taking her out on her leash I will physically straighten up my shoulders and take a deep breath to relax myself and get in my pack leader mode. It sounds silly and looks funny but it works!! At least for me it does. It is relaxing to shrug off everything else and just focus on me and my dog and take that time to just enjoy her.