# Advice please!



## calli.h (Aug 29, 2011)

Hi all,
Arthur is 11 weeks old, we've had him just over a week and he has found his feet and settled in really well. He plays really well with all of us (me, hubby & 2 kids aged 5 & 2) he likes to fetch, we play tug of war (where we win and sometimes he wins etc etc). He does the normal puppy growls when he plays and chews his toys. Last night, my husband came home from work and Arthur went to greet him and was really pleased to see him, they were playing with his toys and Arthur just went nuts, trying to bite his nose his fingers (hard) The husband told him to stop and tried to divert the atttention onto something else but he just kept trying so he picked him up and he growled like a proper little gremlin/demon!! Im not worried about him being aggressive as I know its just Arthur testing the boundaries, but was wondering what advice any of you may have as I dont want to crate him as this is his space, but we dont have a' time out' place for him really.


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## Nadhak (Jun 4, 2011)

I think it is just puppy play - you will get lots of advice on here!
My suggestion would be to fold arms stand up and turn your back on Arthur so he realises that when he bites, the fun stops!
He is just playing with your hubby as he would another puppy - Treacle used to play like that with the children but at 5 months she is all grown up and stopped it now! 
I do remember it well - and I like you was concerned but I think on the whole Cockapoos are just playful puppies and aim to please as they get older!
It will pass - promise x


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## Happyad (Oct 5, 2010)

As you have stated hes a pup, thats what they do.
I am a bit old school, particularly with pups......
Basically if they have no qualms about giving you growling, biting and scratching, give it back!
I advise caution as each pup is different, so its not to get into a battle but to stop them in their tracks, if you had other dogs in the house thats what they would do.
One of my older girls is such a sensitive flower she has only ever needed a slightly raised voice where as one of my others gets her self wound up so she gets pushed away harshly and deep angry voice. 
MY VIEW is if its not acceptable, its not acceptable!
I can let you visit both sets of in laws that let their puppies get away with it and you can see how they are! 
Love them dearly but they have no boundaries or respect for people which means they cant go to the pub, days out are a nightmare, lead pulling, barking in the car, jumping up and over everything. 
I am a firm believer on living with your dog how YOU want to, its not for others to tell you. Therefore i would suggest you write out on paper how you would like & need the dog to be part of your family in the future and then work out what you need to do to help your dog being successful.
They need our help to fit into human society life.
Sermon over LOL
Hints, crate is bloody useful for most things. Its their bed not a cage ( and btw the house isnt his space its all your space!!)
A


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## S.Claire (Sep 1, 2011)

Hi Calli.

I have been having similar problems with Nacho who is now 14 weeks old. However he mainly does this if he has a bone or treat and I go near him which I know is natural but we were starting to nickname the fluffy bundle 'satins spawn'... the growling was quite frightening for such a small animal. 

It has got so much better recently. Through advice, I have been moving his bowl around whilst he eats and even taking his bone from him after a few minutes. This has helped establish who is boss. Nacho still occasionally growls and if he does I make a very loud noise to startle him out of it. Seems to be doing the trick!

Next time Arthur growls/bites make a very loud startling noise as if u have been hurt. Also a good idea is to have a bone or a chew toy to give to Arthur to distract away from fingers and hands and completely ignore him and turn your back on him when he gets over excitable. Hopefully this will help!

Good luck x


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## dogtastic (Jun 12, 2011)

Yes, know all about the over enthusiastic play that turns into biting  One of the best pieces of advice we've been given by our dog trainer is always ignore the dog when you leave or enter a room. When anyone comes home she is demented with excitement, jumping up and getting under your feet. A firm No Jumping command, turn our back, get on with what we're doing, then when she's calmed down we ask her to 'chill' which means relax and lie down, then she gets stroked. It sounds hard to ignore her, but she's been much better at not being stressed by people coming and going about their daily life 

Today was first day back at school (my son's first day at high school - aaarrrgh ... stress levels were through the roof) and she had to be put in her crate with the door shut while he had his breakfast, got shoes on and got out of the door. She will just have to get used to this in the mornings as otherwise we can't get the kids sorted out so nothing vital is forgotten and don't want muddy paw prints all over their uniforms!! Best wishes, Karen x


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## cleo (Aug 31, 2011)

We don't play tug of war with Pixel as i find this encourages her to bite at other times as she can't distinguish the difference. It can be hard but we were just consistent and I say 'ugh' loudly and firmly to her which she knows straight away means no. I have put her in her cage or shut her out a few times when she's had a really crazy moment to calm down which has worked.


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## DONNA (Jan 7, 2011)

Sounds like Buddy ,its nice having a very confident puppy but sometimes he gets out of hand,i think i maybe too soft??
Im doing all the advice on here but even though hes gotten better its still happening and even worse because hes bigger hes jumping on the sofa now which is a big no no,Adams advice is spot on but how much is acceptable to show them whos boss?


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## dogtastic (Jun 12, 2011)

DONNA said:


> Sounds like Buddy ,its nice having a very confident puppy but sometimes he gets out of hand,i think i maybe too soft??
> Im doing all the advice on here but even though hes gotten better its still happening and even worse because hes bigger hes jumping on the sofa now which is a big no no,Adams advice is spot on but how much is acceptable to show them whos boss?


Hi Donna,

I know exactly how you feel because Biscuit is a very confident puppy and we got a one-to-one dog trainer round to the house last month to address the specific problems we were having. One of the most annoying was her trying to jump on the sofa whenever we sat down!

She taught us how to use the clicker for training and was surprised at just how persistent Biscuit was at repeatedly jumping up at the sofa. She has never been allowed on there, but wouldn't give in  We have been using her technique and it's going really well. When she jumps we firmly remove her paws and hold her down until she relaxes with a stern NO. We then tell her to go on her blanket and 'chill' which means lie down. When she's done this we click and treat. She has a chew and some toys in the sitting room and it's a battle we're determined to win as we don't want big muddy paws all over us and the sofas.

If it's just one of us in the sitting room she is now great at going onto her blanket, it's more tricky if we are all in there. We all do exactly the same thing and slowly but surely she is understanding what is expected of her. 
These confident puppies are exhausting!!! Best wishes, Karen x


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## DONNA (Jan 7, 2011)

Thanks im going to try that dx


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## ali-s.j. (Jun 6, 2011)

Karen - picking up from a different thread - how was your son's first day at high school?


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## dogtastic (Jun 12, 2011)

ali-s.j. said:


> Karen - picking up from a different thread - how was your son's first day at high school?


Hi Ali

It went really well  Says everybody in his new form is nice and he has one friend from primary school with him so he's not completely on his own. Only did one blood test before lunch, but as long as he does this one before giving insulin and feels ok then I'm fine with that while he settles in. He was full of beans when he got home, but absolutely shattered by 8pm!

Thanks so much for asking, that was really nice of you  Best wishes, Karen xx


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## Laura(L)Izzie (Sep 9, 2011)

Our time out place for Izzie if she is naughty is the kitchen, she does sleep in there, however that does not cause a problem as she doesn't link the two together, but if she is naughty we say sternly... 'Izzie, do you want to go in the kitchen?!' and if she does carry on then we put her in and close the door, she doesn't like to be away from the action and she always likes to follow people in and out of rooms, she has been known to be sleeping on the sofa so my mum will leave the room to do some jobs, and there she is at her feet  so being alone is a punishment for her and he seems to work well and calm her down if needed


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