[lorlyn]

We purchased an American Eskimo female puppy from a breeder. We never got to see the parents - just the 4 pups. We wanted a female and my mother wanted one that was more quiet and that is what we thought we were getting with this puppy, but she is so not that. She was shy and quiet the first couple of days or so when she came to stay in her new home. We decided on a name and started using it often. She now knows her name, but she often times will not come when she is called in from outside. She acts like she has not heard you and I imagine that is partly due to the fact we have been keeping her in the house since she arrived and she is discovering the outside world, which she will one day live in, but for now until she has had all of her shots or at least the rabies vax she will be kept indoors. There are days when she will come when I call her, but other times she will not. My folks are having a more difficult time getting her to come when they call her and often times ask me to call her in because she comes more for me.

She was just gently biting shortly after she arrived, but now she is quite aggressive and has drawn blood a couple of times on our hands, chewed through shoelaces twice on my tennis shoes, and whatever she can get her hands on to chew. I know this is a puppy trait and understand that, but nothing we have tried is working. Our vet told us to swat her when she does that, but she is a sassy little thing and thinks we are just continuing to play only more aggressively. We were also told to try a squirt bottle of water - into her face when she bites, but I am afraid with as often as it occurs I will be dripping wet by the time we are done and no further ahead because she loves to put her face under the garden hose, so I am guessing the water squirt won't mean anything to her, just more play. I had stopped playing with her and she is aggressive and will come running and fly up into my lap if I am sitting or consistently attempt to try to jump up to where I am. She will attempt to do anything to get a response and it is getting so I don't even want to let her lose and play with her if I have to be a pin cushion or chew toy, so to speak - it increases my stress level and I am certain it does hers as well. It also worries me when company, other than family comes and she bites them.
My mother is at her wits end because during the day when I am working she has to deal with her and she has had issues with her chewing, not coming when called, etc. My mother's first reaction is to swat, but I don't feel it is working for this puppy - she just gets sassy and barks and growls when she does swat her. We don't want to abuse this little puppy and long to have her be a part of our home and family, but frankly we are at our wits end as to what we can try that will help curb her of these bad habits. We have tried treats, but she is such a fussy eater that one day she likes something and the next she doesn't - also another frustration for my mother because some days she won't eat the food she puts in front of her (canned or dried food), so my mother feels she is starving her because she won't eat. Maybe she senses my mother's stress and therefore reacts in kind - I don't know enough about that to know if there is any truth to that, but they sense other things, so maybe she does sense her frustration and anxiety and makes her the same way.
I have read various web sites, read a couple of different books, but have not found the key to breaking this puppy of her bad traits. HELP!
We love her dearly and just want her to play nice, sit or come when we command her to, and be a well-rounded happy pup. We have had this breed before and have never had this kind of trouble - maybe she was adopted too soon - she was 8 weeks old. I have also asked our local vet clinic if they know of a dog trainer to see if I could get help in that way, but she know of no one around rural Iowa. Any advice, help, or direction would be appreciated.

Thanks much!
lorlyn

[reeskujo]

Your puppy is doing everything most puppies do...first off the come command is not something that is instinctive to them...When you tell her to come she has no idea what you are talking about! It has to be taught to her...Make sure you say her name first,and say it in a very happy voice make sure you have a treat or her favorite toy in your hand and when she comes to you reward her by giving her the treat or the toy and a lot of praise...This will take time for her to learn especially since she's young...Secondly as a trainer I can tell you that swatting her when she's mouthy not only won't work but will make her more aggressive!.When she's mouthing or chewing on something she's not supposed to redirect her attention to a toy or something else she likes..She will go through this stage until she's got her adult teeth..

It's also evident by the issues you have with her that she is not getting enough excercise...Puppies have an extreme amount of energy and if it's not burned off they will find away to do it and it's usually a way we don't like...She needs to be taking several walks a day for a minimum of 15 minutes as well as running around the yard...you also need to interact with her and play with her as much as you can...If she starts misbehaving then walk away from her and ignore and do the same if she jumps on you when you're sitting down...She will learn that she gets no attention when she's not being good...

When dogs have to much energy and no way to release it they get very frustrated and can become distructive..They don't do it to be bad because they don't know that it's bad they just do it to release the energy...I'm sure you'll see a change in her behavior when she starts getting the right amount of energy and people interaction..A dog needs not only physical excercise but mental as well...

As for her not eating,dogs will not starve themselves...Eventually will give in and eat her food...

So just understand that puppies or any dog who has not been trained does not automatically know to come,sit.stay and all the other commands...They have to be taught...I would suggest getting into puppy classes..You can try checking out your local Petsmart if you can't find an independent trainer...

Also keep in mind that anytime she's done something you've asked ore she's behaving in an appropriate manner to give her tons of praise so she learns that's the behavior that gets her attention. Finally,never use her name when you are correcting her...Her name is supposed to be something positive and using her name when you correct her will make her associate it with getting in trouble and she will stop responding to it..

[lorlyn]

I have found that swatting her is not working - actually for anything she is swat for, but I cannot get my mother to follow what I am trying to do, which only makes it more difficult. It worked with her last American Eskimo and within a couple of weeks she was minding and doing as she asked, but this one is not like the last 2 we have had and my mother doesn't seem to be open to trying a new path.

She runs her outside every 1.5 hours and yells at the dog to potty. The dog is still not always letting them know she has to go outside and will potty on the floor. My mother comes unglued with this. My folks are obsessed with the pottying thing. She had pottied on the linoleum floor tonight and then right away my Mom rushes her outside and is yelling at her to potty. She would not go and probably did not need to go. She yells at her to get into her bed and yet the dog is doing everything but. My parents are not able to take her for walks, they will let her out the back or front door, but for some reason the puppy will not go too far either direction and stays close to the house. I have been having problems with my knees and am unable to walk very far some days, but try to get her out and walk her at least 2 times a day, but it may not be for 15 minutes at a time as I am pressed for time, but she is always underfoot and so walking with her makes it difficult too and I am afraid I am going to step on her, which I have a few times or she is going to make me fall. She barks at my feet and growls at them as she is racing circles around me and sometimes getting right under my feet. I think she has a stress issue, I could be wrong, but something is different about this puppy.

I praise her greatly when she does something we have asked or she responds in a way we want her to - I have even praised her when she goes potty when I take her out and ask her to go and she does. I have not tried treats, but want to do that, but time for me to do this is an issue and would like to do it when I am not so tired and short on patience. I am not sure with my work and schedule it was a good idea to get a puppy, I don't think it was good for my parents because they cannot get around like they used do, but my mother was insistent that she wanted a puppy like she had before, so here we are.

We used to have a trainer in our town, but no one seems to know about him and so maybe he is not here anymore. I feel we are doing everything wrong and feel like a failure and cannot believe it has been so hard - never had problems with a puppy before until this one.

Tonight I calmly talked to her to settle down in the place we keep her overnight and she kept wimpering and jumping up trying to get out. I covered the area with a towel and calmly told her to lie down and did not give her any further attention other than that and within 5 minutes she had layed down and was quiet. I did not praise her because I feared that would make her start jumping and whining again. I don't know if she stayed that way, as I went upstairs to retire, but hope that she was no further problems for my mother, who is stressed already.

I will once again attempt the things you have spoken of and try to find a little extra time to walk her, but not sure if this is going to be enough to get her less anxious and crazed. Just wish it were easier than it is proving to be.

lorlyn

[Clover0519]

You say you yell at the puppy. I have had the problem with my puppy chewing on things, although it is normal puppy behavior. I found that my tone of voice as I was yelling her to "Stop", "No" or "Hey" was actually frightening her. She would only play nice with my fiance who has been stern, yet more soft spoken with her and would listen more to him. In just one day of me changing my tone of voice I find that she is more responsive and much nicer towards me. She no longer hides with my fiance.

As for swatting I completely agree with reeskujo, it will only encourage the rough play and aggression. We are getting our dog trained at PetSmart starting next week. I have been making frequent stops there with Clover so that she is familiar with the people and the staff and trainers absolutely adore her. They've been quite helpful and pleasant to talk to and they are very affordable, at least in my area compared to private trainers.

As for the chewing and biting, again thanks to reeskujo, I recently used Bitter Apple on the furniture, walls and rugs; My puppy hates the taste and immediately goes for a kong (Which we just bought her today as well!). When she started to bite me I used a quick little squirt in her mouth and she left me alone and went to her toy.

Do you have a fenced in yard? If so you can maybe get some balls and just keep throwing them. I realize your puppy may not know how to retrieve, but if you had a couple handy then you could take your time getting the others. I prefer using balls that squeak with my puppy. Kong AirDog is what we use, it is gentle on the teeth and gums and gets the attention of my puppy.

If you don't, why not hire someone in your neighborhood who has a dog to walk yours as well? You might not even have to pay, I remember with my old dog that this one woman on my street would pass by our house with her dog and then again on the way back. If we didn't have enough time to walk ours then she would swing by and pick her up and drop her off. She loved doing it and our dogs became good pals at the same time.

(Sorry this is so long, almost done I promise!)

There are also puppy training pads that encourage a dog to do their business on them. I'm not sure how open you are to these, but here goes. Our puppy was potty trained in 3 days at 6 weeks old. We bought the training pads and placed one by the back door where the puppy urinated. The next day we moved it to the back deck so that she knew she had to be outside. The next day we moved it onto the grass so that she knew she had to be down in the lawn. She has had 2 slip ups where I didn't get up fast enough in the middle of the night, but other than that she has been wonderful.

Hope there is something in here that is useful and good luck with your puppy. I have a lab/husky mix btw and I have the feeling she's taking after the husky more.

[lorlyn]

We do not have a fenced in yard - we are located out in the country about 8 miles from town on an acerage. We do not have anyone who could walk her for us, we are on our own there. We would like to set her free outside, but she has not had her rabies shots and we have had rabied animals come around during the day once in a blue moon, we are just wanting to avoid her being infected with that. We have taken her out to run and play while we wait outside on a lawn chair, but she is getting so that she won't run and play unless we are walking around and then she will sometimes get a wild hair and take off. I long to take her for longer walks, as I need the exercise too, but as I said before my knees have been giving me fits and I cannot walk as far as I would like.

She has chew toys, 7 different ones to play with - have no idea what a Kong is, but it would have to be lightweight and small for her mouth or she won't touch it. She does not like squeeky toys - drives her crazy. She likes anything with a bell in it - but tends to play more with the quiet toys she has over the noisy makers.

We have not used potty pads, where we live they do not have such things for sale. We have not been to the city to the PetSmart there, but have to be over there for an appointment today - will have to check it out. The city is over an hour drive from us and with limited time in my schedule I would not have time to drive that far for training at PetSmart. She has at times run to the door to let us know she needs out, but that is rare.

I need to get my folks on board to try to follow what I am doing and see if we can get her to change, potty trained, and become more relaxed. I have thought about throwing care to the wind and just letting her run outside during the day and then bring her in at night to kennel for sleeping, but just am not sure we want to throw the money we put into her taking the chance she could encounter a rabied animal wandering around.

We feel it pointless to purchase a fence when one day she will be able to run free on our property and do not want the expense of a fence.

It might sound like we are making excuses here, but living in the country/rural locations we are just not populated with stores and people - often times we have to rough it so to speak and do what we can with what we have to work with and it is no different with the puppy situation. It is frustrating to have such limited resources, but it is what it is. I will check on the "Bitter Apple" today - hope it can be sprayed on human hands and clothing because she likes to bite ours quite a bit - but if it would deter her from that, this would be a help. She is quick and has snagged our clothing, knicked our hands with her sharp little teeth, and likes to chew on shoe laces and shoes - a puppy trait I know, but it is not what we want her to turn out to be like.

Thank you all for your advice - much appreciated and gives me ideas to work with and hopefully will be able to implement.

Lorlyn

[reeskujo]

You can spray the Bitter Apple on your hands just make sure you don't put your hands in your mouth...You can also spray it on your pant legs...I to live in the country and since I rent so we did not want to spend the money fencing the property so we bought a kennel that is approximetly 18ft wide and 6ft high since my puppy will be over 100lbs when he's full grown but it's portable...I can move it or take it down if needed and the size can also be adjusted by taking out or adding panels...i put a kiddie pool in there and filled it with water as well as some toys and Seigi will play out there for a good hour...Then when he comes in he's good and worn out....

As for worrying about the rabies shot as long as your out there to make sure there's no wild animals around she should be ok...As far as shots go you want to make sure they have their first 2 rounds of puppy shots before you let them outside...

[WorriedMom]

I got my first puppy in March at 7 weeks old. He was the shyest and quietest of hte bunch. 3 days after bringin him home I was scared to play with him because of how much he was biting. By 3 months he could draw blood on my legs.

I tried the following: squirt bottle (thought it was a game and only became more aggressive), spanking lightly (misinterpreted it as playtime), pressing down on bottom of mouth (pain for them but he did not respond to it at all just topped for a little and continued biting again), timeout (worked a little here and there... much more useful AFTER he knew that biting was wrong and hurt me), the yelping "OUCH!" technique (i think he kindaaaa got that it hurt and i didnt like it, but didn't really pick it up as quick as I'd hoped).

The thing that worked for me was clicker training (which is usually used for recall), but once he understands that the clicker means he is doing something correctly, you click and treat. I would keep it with me at all times. If he started biting during play, I would yell "OUCH!" and he would stop ... id click and treat. If he licked during play.... id click and treat. He doesn't bite at all now... AND has learned bite inhibition for when i pull on his ears, poke him, bug him just to get a reaction out of him (i want him to be tolerant of kid like behavior) and he doesn't ever bite down... he simply puts his mouth over my hand to let me know he doesnt like it... OR he removes himself from the situation and walks away.

He is only 5 months now!! If you exhaust all other options ... as I thought I had done... try the method..... mix timeouts, clicker training, and the OUCH.
The clicker helped because he would know what I liked and didn't instead of assuming he understood what no and stop meant. I am very firm with him... HEY, NO, GET OUT, GET OFF, GET DOWN... he knows all the commands now. Make sure u introduce the clicker training first... maybe just with a simple sit. I know it's not ideal but it worked for me so I'm throwing it out there as an option....

GOOD LUCK!!!! Let me know if it works if you try it!!!