Dutch Shepherd Forum

Hi, I'm new. We've had our ds Dutch since he was 8 wks he 15 wks now. I love high energy dogs and read up before I purchased him. He's bonded more with my husband then me but he listen quite well to both. We've divided up duties between the both of us. I usually walk him. He love long hikes and jumping in he water and plays well with other dogs. He gets along with my cat Theres a few things that kinda bug me. He always jumping up on me and niping at me more then my husband. (My husband being Dutch is alot taller then me in the first place).
Its a long time since I had a puppy. We tell him no to the nipping and hearding and praise him on good behavour.
Why me so much and not my husband. What do you to stop the nipping and hearding. He's a bossy little guy. I don' t want him to hurt anyone else.

Thank
Heather

I'm certainly not an expert, but I can tell you what has worked for us. My husband is six foot tall and rather imposing, while I'm around five feet or so. First stand your ground. Stand with your hands on your hips and feel like you're ten feet tall. I know it's hard when they're jumping and nipping. Try not to turn your back unless of course he's just doing it for attention. If so turn and just walk away if you can. My darling little pittie would do this on walks all the time so walking away was not an option. More than once i came home with holes in my shirts and bruises all over my arms. I just stepped on her leash, hoped my frustration didn't show too much and tried to outlast her. I spent many walks standing there while people traveled by shaking their heads. We must have been a crazy sight. My darling little DS now jumps and nips at me and not him. Drives me nuts. I sometimes walk around with treats and make her sit when I have her attention. Lay down, leave it, whatever I can think of. It's hard because she's not food motivated when she really wants something. Try putting him on a leash in the house and when he jumps, try to step on it and cut him short. Whatever you do...DO NOT BECOME A SQUEAKY TOY. Always back up what you tell him to do. Do not give a command if you can not back it up. If you have already tried the yelping bit and it's not working, say "no" in a big voice, no yelling, just tell him no and stand your ground. Take a step into him. As far as the herding part goes...I have no idea. I'll let you know when i find something that works other than standing still. If nothing is working, my fail safe answer is a bath and a glass of wine
Watch your husband interact with him. Does he seem calmer than you are? Does he move more slowly and deliberately? Does he barely talk?
I know it seems unfair why he does it to you and not your husband. I've lived through a Jack Russell, an American bulldog, a pitbull and now a beautiful DS. It does get better.

Michelle

One way I deal with jumping is to have them on a leash, and step on it. The ignoring and walking away never worked with Sadie, she HAD to kiss you. I spend may days in town too just having them in a sit while people walked by. The stepping on the leash worked great for me.

Omg Michelle, I love the wine part. Yes ,I'm 5 feet nothing my husband 6'5. So imposing he is. I've heard the kiss thing before how does it work?

I will try the standing on the leash thing. Its been a few years since I had a puppy. You forget things.

Heather.

All I can honestly say is redirect, redirect, redirect. You researched and got a puppy that has been bred for generations to vent their frustration through their mouth. Luckily, your puppy values its interaction with you and therefore tries to interact....in the most natural way. Orally. A leash attached will help with maintenance, but you need to focus that behavior into something that is acceptable to the both of you. Tug games, played on your terms will help tremendously. Check out "Training Without Conflict" by Ivan Balabanov. He sets up a great set of rules for using this drive in your favor. But the goal has to be about channeling it - not squashing it because you did get a mouthy breed.

Christie M wrote:All I can honestly say is redirect, redirect, redirect. You researched and got a puppy that has been bred for generations to vent their frustration through their mouth. Luckily, your puppy values its interaction with you and therefore tries to interact....in the most natural way. Orally. A leash attached will help with maintenance, but you need to focus that behavior into something that is acceptable to the both of you. Tug games, played on your terms will help tremendously. Check out "Training Without Conflict" by Ivan Balabanov. He sets up a great set of rules for using this drive in your favor. But the goal has to be about channeling it - not squashing it because you did get a mouthy breed.

That's an excellent point, you need to keep a dog's true nature in mind always. Don't try to make of them what they are not. I love the terms Christie used, channel don't squash.

Some thing that might work, give him some thing to cary. My boy is still super nippy and very mouthy at 1.5yrs but give him some thing, any thing, to carry while out on a walk and he calms right down and is very content. He will hang on to his item the entire time while he's sniffing, running, investigating. It could be a stick we pick up off the ground, or some times one of his toys, or he can hang on to his leash (which has become his default when nothing else is available, while I like that better then a part of me or my clothes, I'm not crazy about it either so I usually plan to have some thing with us). I do like some thing like a stick that's relatively easy to hang on to (unlike a ball that would mean he has to have his jaw wide open the entire time and that won't be comfortable... unless it's a ball on a string in which case Mr.smarty pants will carry it by the string).

Bring treats with you on walks and reinforce him doing the things you like instead of focusing on what you don't like. You can give him treats for sitting when he comes to you, or just for keeping all 4 paws on the ground. If you call him and he comes flying at you, wait until he's sitting or not jumping (pick one, consistency and clarity is always key with training), no cookies until he does what you want. They're very smart dogs, you'd be surprised how incredibly affective blocking the access to a reward can be as punishment.

Another exercise you can try is this. Have a bowl of treats ready and set aside, grab a handful with one hand, lets say have the handful in our right hand. You will then use your left hand to dispense them only one at a time and on your left side. Have your pup walk with you on your left and quickly dispense those treats with your left hand (from the right) for walking beside you. Then repeat with every thing reversed with the pup on your other side. Next, have some one hold the pup while you walk away (the pup stays behind you) when you are just a couple steps away have the person let go of the pup (you may have to call him, but if he knows you have treats chances are he'll come). Now you have to be super quick and deliver that first cookie to your side for him just as he's getting there before he has a chance to jump up, then give a couple more cookies, and repeat a few times. Then repeat again with the other side. Then repeat again but this time with each repetition have the person release the pup when you are further and further away. When that's working well on both sides and you can do this with the pup running to your side without nipping at you from maybe 15', next step is to have you not walk away but run away. Start this again with less distance so only a few steps away from the pup but this time jog away. That might make the pup want to nip or jump at you more but if you have build a good foundation with the previous steps he should know that his paws need to stay on the ground in order to get his cookie.
If at any point the pup does jump up on you, ignore the pup, without making any fuss take him by the collar or a drag leash (sorry not sure how big your pup is) and hand him back to your helper person to restart the game, move back a couple steps in the game to make things easier and help him be successful again. This is an easy fun game you can play in your living room (unless your pup is too big already). You can also do the above game with toys once he has the concept. Have a toy ready same way as you would the single treat and when the pup gets to you play tug, then you can play tug all the way back to the helper person, out the pup, and restart the game. Before you do that make sure he knows good rules of how to play tug and out.

In a way, it's a good thing that he is nipping at you as it means he's trying to get you to interact with him. He simply needs to learn a more appropriate way to interact with you.

and i always reveled in the jumping up to kiss. it is a mark of respect and a loving greeting for the pack leader that these wonderful, intelligent dogs usually reserve for the humans they love and respect the most. others were not subjected to it with a handful of exceptions over the years, but i always thought it was rude to reject such a ritual display of affection and, in fact, to receive such a gift with anything but thankful joy and enthusiasm.

of course, nipping is another matter and i look forward to getting 'Training w/o conflict' and love Christie's advice and Choochi's fun games!

Just an update I've tried some of the ideas. They seem to work. I still think that he's learning to deal with the both of us and the hearding comes from fustration, but its getting better as we all work.
Thx
Heather

Glad you're making some progress!