[nicolamag]

Our 6 month old dog is a stray that we took in about 3 months ago. I've tried to read up on dog behaviour but there are still so many things I'm unsure about. Firstly, I recently read that you shouldn't call your dog if you want it to come for an unpleasant reason eg:giving it a bath, or taking her into the garden so you can leave, but there was no explanation of how to get her from A to B without calling.
Secondly, and most importantly, there are problems when we are sitting on the sofa. When she wants our attention and we ignore her she starts by jumping up on us or the sofa. We try not to make a fuss and firmly push her off, say "down" and then try not reinforce her behaviour by ignoring her or showing her one of her toys. A few seconds later she jumps on us again, and again, until she gets annoyed and then tries the tactic of nipping at our feet or snapping the air. How should we handle her when she gets like this? I've read that one idea is to leave the room when she does this but with 5-6 of us watching TV this is a bit impractical so I was hoping for some other possible ideas. The problem with the sofa is really tiring and I'm afraid that the habit of nipping and snapping, which she does at other times when she is told "No", will only get worse.
Please help!!
Many thanks

[lange]

I feel when people physically move, push or 'make' a dog do something the dog can either resent it or make a game of it.

There's a couple things you can try with the sofa situation..

1-But first, my question to you is does she actually know what "off/down/whatever" means? If she doesn't you need to teach her by doing real training sessions at an appropriate time. Incorporate the sofa as part of her training to teach her "up" and "off".

2-If you had already trained her the meaning of "off/down/whatever" & you're sure she knows it then it's something different...She either thinks it's a game or she doesn't take you seriously.

With puppies, the less you make it a game the better. In my experience, anytime you push a dog away it will instinctually real around and come right back at you. I see dogs play w/each other like this as well. The nipping & coming at you proves she's not taking you serious & is having fun with it all.

If she's just plain acting obnoxious through no part of your own (even unintentionally-like pushing) leash her to you. That way any time she jumps on the sofa you alone can walk out of the room with her following. Then once she settles down you can give her her freedom again. Just be persistent. Raising a well behaved pup is not always easy or fun but if your persistent you'll reap the rewards as she matures.

I also want to add, be sure your puppy is getting her energy worked because a restless pup can bug anyone. lol
6 months - approx a year is always fun!! (not!) Since yours is 6 months training should be a big priority now.

Also, remember that you shouldn't just tell a dog "no" when it does something wrong, but instead show it what you WANT it to do instead.
Hope that helps.

[nicolamag]

Thanks for the reply. I've never had a dog before and didn't really know everything that was involved, but this one sort of found us. I'm keen to teach it how to adjust to living with us but I'm a bit worried that I'll teach it things in the wrong way and then have more trouble than I bargained for. We live in a smallish town in Greece and there is nothing in the way of puppy classes, training groups, dog parks etc. so she already barks at other dogs because of lack of dog socialisation.
Anyway, I thought about teaching her 'up' and 'off' to help with the sofa problem, but she doesn't actually jump up onto the sofa. She jumps up with her front legs on and her back legs still on the floor. So since she doesn't jump right on, and I don't want her to, I thought it would be a bit like tempting fate to teach her 'up' and 'off' for the sofa. I don't have anything else to use for her to jump on and off for practice either. But isn't it possible just to point to a place eg: the floor, her bed, inside off the car, and use a general word like 'here', and then click and treat when she moves to the place. Would this be possible?

[lange]

Yes, you're right. If you never want her on your sofa there's no point in teaching her on & off of it. You can definitely teach her to go to a certain spot. Some people use 'place' or 'go to bed'. The word doesn't matter as long as it doesn't clash with another command. You can start by using her bed or a little towel or rug to get her to start with. You'll work in bits and peices; first treating her as long as she is touching the item, then gradually getting her to get all fours on it. Since you say there are no dog training classes in your area you should scourge the web. There are a lot of videos all over which can demonstrate some basic training commands, including 'place - bed'. There are also many good books out there which can help. Good luck!

(here's one I found right off the bat. ‪Basic Dog Training : Dog Training: Go to Place Command‬‏ - YouTube )