# Puppy with bad temper



## brookiee (Nov 5, 2009)

So I have a baby cockapoo. She is 5 months old and her name is Lexi. When ever I tell her "No" when she does something wrong she just barks at me and wont stop and won't come near me and just barks from a distance. Is there any way to get her to stop this? Or sometimes she'll just bark for no reason at me and when I move she runs and starts barking again. I need help because it is driving my parents nuts! Other than that she is really good and does her business outside and she bites a little bit but she's teething right now haha. I'm sure you all know how that is. But if you could help on this barking situation that would be really helpful. Thank you.


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## Dave (May 25, 2009)

To me, it sounds like she wants to play (at least when she barks for no reason). 



Benny will often start barking for no reason. There are several reasons why he'll bark:

He wants to play.
He wants to sit with you, but can't get up or there's not enough room for him. (This one is very funny.)
He has to go to the bathroom.
He's hungry and wants to eat.
His toy is stuck under a chair or something and needs help getting it out.
We've learned these after several years. It just take time to get to know why they're barking. We can usually figure out what it is with Benny. He's very predictable.

As for her barking when you say no, I seem to recall our trainer saying they do this when they think they're alpha dog. Not sure if this is the same for females, but I _think_ this is what's going on. If this is true, you'll need to show your dominance. Make sure she knows you're boss, not her. Hopefully someone with more experience/expertise can offer their advice here.


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## omoore02 (Feb 4, 2010)

I just got my little guy, "Copper" and he literally does the exact thing that your Lexi does to you. I'm starting to think that the *** may not matter, they're just both trying to be the dominant one in the home.
I just don't know what else to do with Copper to show him that I'm the boss. I've tried so many things, but he just keeps fighting back, and eventually can turn pretty agressive towards me and at times my 2 year old as well, but rarely gets aggressive towards husband (even though he's hardly ever around during training our puppy). Whats up with that. 
I've been reading so many things about training a puppy, but at this point need the advice of other cockapoo puppy owners. Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.


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## franksmommy (Jan 4, 2010)

I am by no means an expert on this or any training. Frank still needs quite a bit of work! However, I can pass on some advice that I have been given. I have been told to ignore the bad behavior...telling them "no" is still giving them attention, so just look the other way and do not give in to whatever they are wanting until they show the correct behavior on their own. Also, I have heard of spraying them with a water bottle each time they bark (although I tried this and it did not work for us and wasn't really practical). Good Luck!!


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## AmandanKirby (Jul 19, 2010)

*Talking back*

My puppy is 4months old and does the same thing. We are participating in puppy classes right now and have discussed this with the trainer. She recommended using a gentle leader and keep the leash on him while we are at home. When he starts to talk back you take the leash and gently pull upward, the strap that goes around his snout will tighten and he will stop barking or biting. From here he usually will also lay down and calm down. Now it took some time to get used to the gentle leader (it took us a week of putting it on taking it off letting him wear it without hooking it up, etc.). Eventually most dogs will become calm submissive as soon as you put the gentle leader on, this is starting to happen with our puppy. It really helps on walks too, as it teaches them they cannot pass you to get in front. If he does it pulls the snout lightly backwards so he is looking at you and then he will slow down until he is in a heel position. I don't know if this helps, but it worked well for us. He still acts up every now and then, but it's always when he is not wearing the gentle leader.


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## Jerseypoo527 (Jun 25, 2010)

Iv'e found that when Jersey barks at me like that or ignores me and continues to do whatever he's doing that I want stopped, I go over to him and clap right in his face. THis sort of snaps him out of itand he usually doesn't go back to doing it. Spray bottles work too but my Jersey tends to ignore it.


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