Dutch Shepherd Forum

So my very young rescue doggo who likely is a Dutchie mixed with something) tends to either go 100 miles an hour, or want to be right on top of me. And I do mean against, on, he'd climb in a shirt pocket if only he could fit... I'm used to doggies who like sleeping against me, Russ wants to sleep *on top of me*. He will settle for against me if I roll on my side so he can't. He's very affectionate (obviously) but is that level of "I want to be against you" average for a Dutchie? Or is he just *really* the world's biggest cuddle-bug??

Also.. he will sometimes nip my chin. Not hard (like at all by any standard) and by doing it back, he started tail wagging wildly and put his butt up into playbow.. I think it's his version of "I wanna play".. with the teens he does a similar "snap" but never touches them. (He'll just do it close).. at first I was worried about the behavior but I don't get a remotely aggressive vibe off of him when he does this...

Since I'm not used to that from any previous dog, I wasn't sure whether it was behavior that was friendly, dominant, playful... and had trouble finding information. We are signed up for puppy classes but they haven't started yet..

By now.. I think the chin nibble is an invitation to play..
Am I interpretation this right though? Does anyone else have a dog who does this? Should I be discouraging him from doing this?

Also.. when he grabs something and I tell him "leave it" he will leave it alone.. (we have been working on but once I go to the bathroom or whatever that is absolutely what he will try to grab. Object permanence, yay.. but how do I get it through his doggy head that he is *still* supposed to leave it alone when I am not there?? Because.. it seems right now "leave it" means "leave it while mom's looking"..

Thanks guys!

I'm not a professional trainer. There are people here who would clarify better than me. Moxie is my first Dutchie.

She's very affectionate, and she starts out licking and makes it generally to my ear if I'm on her level, and then before we both know it, she has a full bite on my arm...she's genuinely surprised about how that got there...it's just her nature.

We have done significant work on that and nowadays that doesn't just happen. Her bite is solid and I don't want to be on the wrong side of it.

We have rules in house, she is not allowed on furniture only crate and place. Unless we are training or playing (which also training). On top of that she hates being man handled. Had to teach her that sitting on my shoulder or be carried like that is okay. And she's still not a fan.

But your dog might be different. They are individuals, and it might just be his thing. You are the one who should establish the boundaries, not the pup.

Issues with leave it. We had similar situation, not with leave it but with other commands. Which we ran by our trainer. The thing is you aren't dealing with an adult dog. You might be surprised by how well and fast he learns, but as pup he has tiny squirrel brain and you need to check your expectations.

We saw Mox show results early on and we were excited, and in our excited state we were expecting much more than a pup is capable of. Especially on things like trusting it to do or not to do something. It comes down to consistency and commitment. Just like you don't expect the dog who just learned how to heel to walk a mile with you showing competition heel all the way. Or the dog that just learned to sit to stay in that state for half an hour without moving. You gradually increase the duration and focus. Over time you build on that and you develop that trust and understand between you and your dog.

So just keep at it, and things that require trust will come. We had people question us about what "tricks" our dogs can do after almost a year of nonstop training with trainers. We just scratch our heads and say she doesn't know much tricks, we are still working foundation and basics.