Nena's Life with Emmy!!! (Photos updated: 17NOV2010))

[4CrazyCanines]

Emmy and Nena - welcome! I am sorry that I did not say anything earlier. Nena is beautiful! Like others have said, dogs' coat color often changes as they grow. Kylie, my fiancé's Aussie puppy, has changed coat and eye color countless times since we first picked her up. It will be exciting to see Nena's changes as she grows up!

[Nena & Me]

Thanks! I wa a bit worried for a minute. I will watch and see what surprises we get

[princelover]

Not to worry. My Prince has changed colors virtually every time he is clipped. He goes from almost snow white to light brown and even has a bit of red tint thrown in at times. They also change as they mature.
It will be beautiful if your pup develops a white collar around her neck.

[Nena & Me]

Nena had a bath today! Unfortunately she had a tough time afterwards... A little more on that in the following post.

But first, her photos!

What? I am going to what!?


Bath time? Ok, while you get the water ready I will steal your shoe! Wooohooooooo!


I can easily carry this around the house now! Kitchen? Why not...


Ok Ok! A bath! Wooohoooooooo! Yeah!


Hello, Daily Puppy!


Look at my new colors along my back! They shine in the water... Very light touch of baby brown


Ok, I'm done! I'm outta here!


Drying off while I play with my toy!


So fresh and so clean clean! Time to relax!

[Nena & Me]

And now her issue after the bath...

Nena was hanging out in the living room with me after her shower. She kept trying to clim on the sofa and I kept telling her 'down'. She got down the first few times, but then started to get more aggressive at trying to climb up. I even tried distracting her with her toys, but no. I had her sit instead but she started to bark really loud.

I then told her outside, which she usually runs off and goes outside. I started to get up in order to make sure she went, but instead of running outside she tried to bite my foot! Not in a playful way. I went to pet her in order to calm her down and she tried to bite my hand. Luckily I pulled it away and she only caught my finger. Her teeth are razor sharp and she gave me a nice scratch with her tooth. Enough to draw blood.

I raised my voice in order to let her know she was doing things wrong and took her outside. First I had her sit again and I slowly hooked her leash on. Took her outside and unleashed her. Closed the door leading outside and she has been quiet since...

First time this has happened with her so I am not completely sure what to think. I sure don't want it to happen again. Any ideas as to what might have went wrong? She never really tries to jump on the sofa. When she does... two or three 'down' gets the thought out of her head.

What should I do?

[4CrazyCanines]

Emmy --- When you say that she was starting to "get more aggressive at trying to climb up", what was she doing? Do you let her get on the couch sometimes or is the couch always off limits?

To me, it sounds like she was trying very hard to get your attention (could be to either go outside to play/potty or get petted) hence her attention-seeking behaviors (such as barking at you and nipping at your foot). You need to teach her that calm/behaved gets her everything and noisy/rude gets her nothing. If Nena demands your attention in any way other than behaving appropriately/desirably, ignore her, even if that means getting up and leaving the room and shutting the door behind you (and her outside of it). Pay attention to Nena only after she stops whatever annoying or rude behavior that she has displayed. Any attempts to appease her (such as how you tried distracting her with toys) can reinforce and strengthen her unwanted behavior.

Have you ever tried clicker-training Nena? A way that I would work with her in this situation is to try sitting on your sofa. Ignore Nena's barking and other undesirable behaviors. Reinforce her desirable behaviors - click and throw treats from your sofa for any behavior other than barking (i.e. standing, sitting, lying down quietly, etc). Click and treat if she goes and retrieves one of her toys. Just keep reinforcing desirable behaviors and ignoring the undesirable ones. If at any time Nena starts to display the undesirable behavior and it gets to be too much, again, get up and leave the room (and even shut the door and leave Nena outside it) if you feel the need to. When she quiets and calms down, you can return to the sofa and start the clicker training session again. The biggest thing is to be sure to reinforce the behavior that you want (such as lying down quietly) and ignoring the behavior that you don't want (such as barking). If Nena demands that you do something, just do something else!

Hope this helps

[kian]

Hi Emmy I am just catching up ...again. The leash carrying is a puppy thing, I wouldn't worry to much about it. Both my current dogs love to carry the leash so I turned it to a positive thing and taught then to fetch thier leash for me for walking time. The leash should always be positive as walking, then again you can always just teach "drop it", that's fun.

The bath pics are really cute! Yes her coat will change over the next year as she blows her puppy coat and starts to get the adult one.

As for the nipping, you have a toddler aged pup with very sharp teeth. Do you have a crate? With the couch, it's just like Merle said you want to ignore. If she makes a attempt to jump on the couch, I would stand up straight with my arms folded and tell her off! Look up at the sky, be very military like! When she gets off that is when you soften and reward. She isn't going to get this right away, it could very well be a ongoing thing until she does. Be patient with her.

Now for the actual biting, pups bite out of fear. You may be to hard on her, soften your approach. It is a common error with new owners who expect a lot out of young pup. She is just learning your rules and cannot comprehend exactly what is expected yet, all this comes with positive reward based training. Clickers are a wonderful resource to use, as dogs work on praise not punishment. I asked earlier if you had a crate, I use puppy time out. Crates are not for punishment, it is more for the owners to get thier patience back. Crates are a happy place to go with toys and treats. That would be better than taking her outside where that should to be a positive and happy place to go. Using the outside for discipline will cause digging, barking and chewing issues. Be patient, soon she will be a happy grown adult dog, this is the hardest time and requires much consistency, good rewards and happy experiences. This time does determine how she will act as a adult, keep your voice stern but not angry with discipline, soften when reward and body language as well. Trust me, this will make a huge difference!

[kian]

The other thing I was going to mention and one very excited Allie just reminded me, (it's walking time) anytime you feel impatient with her and we all get this way, use the word "sweetheart" instead of her name. Try saying it in anger, you can't!
Allie is all over me now and very excited and that reminded me as I called her to wait a moment. I referred to her as "sweetheart" and she calmed down as she is use to that by now. Any typos on this is hers, she is licking my hands and wants to go! Give it a try.

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

Emmy, you have received some excellent, wonderful advice.

I have only one question. Was Nena all wet still from her bath when she wanted to be up on the couch?

If she was, she might simply have wanted to try and dry herself off. If she was not, then just do what Kian and A Merle and Me suggested.



Kian, using "Sweetheart" is an excellent tip. I think it will work on the "human" ones as well

[SookDog]

Deb, you may have read my mind. Sookie ALWAYS tries to jump up on the couch when she's wet. She's allowed up here with us, but she usually has no interest in being on the couch if she's got no one to sit with. When she's all wet, it's another story! She jumps right up and rolls around like CRAZY trying to dry off her fur. Emmy, was Nena rolling around? That could be why she was so frantic to get up there.

Like A Merle & Me and Kian I clicker trained Sookie, and it worked wonders. She responded SO quickly to it. Kian, I love your sweetheart idea. I'm always very careful not to use Sookie's name when I get impatient (which rarely happens these days, but sometimes she forgets that cat food and dog food are not the same ), and then I always feel so guilty about it, but I'm going to try your "sweetheart" trick - I have a feeling it'll work great

Hang in there, Emmy! Introducing brand new things (especially un-fun things like baths) sets young puppies a little off kilter, so it's reasonable to expect some erratic behavior afterwards. Puppies just LOVE routine, and when you change it up it's unsettling for them. She'll get used to it, and so will you! Keep on keepin' on!

[kian]

Great observation Deb and Shari! I didn't catch that, that's why this site is so great, we all work together!

[Nena & Me]

Thank you all for the wonderful advice! It will be applied. Nena was dry to the touch, but I did not verify if she was completely dry. I will keep an eye on that. A bath is something she is use to. She actually loves taking them and loves playing with one of her toys in the water.

I let her back in the house 10 or so minutes later and she was happy again as if nothing had happened. Tail wagging and playing around.

I have never used a clicker, but will definitely give it a shot.

The reason for her not being allowed on the couch is that she goes to do her duty outside, but often times steps in her pee or poop. I'd let her get up there Jen she takes a bath but I don want to confuse her... Her area is my laundry room where ther is a door leading to my back balcony. I have tried cleaning her paws 2 or 3 times a day, nut she quickly goes back outside and gets them dirty again... Dilema

[Nena & Me]

Holy smokes! I have used the ignoring when bad behavior is performed and treats when good behaviors are performed and wala! Nena has stayed off the sofa today... and to my surprise she goes and lays in her bed and waits.

It's funny because she will walk around the living room sniffing at stuck and looking back towards me. If I am not looking at her then she walks over to something else. Eventually she makes her way to her dog bed and lays down. I had not been able to get her to lay down in her bed for more than 10 minutes before. She has been going on her own and just relaxing. She is currently asleep in it

Thank you all for the advice! It has worked today and I will continue it. Now... to search for a clicker in Sicily!

[kian]

Yipee!! Glad to hear Nena is responding, good job! When you find that clicker, do you know the proper way to use it? Of course we can help with that.

She does her duty out on the balcony? That would be hard with you gone to clean up right away and I remember those European balconies are small. As she ages she go a lot less so that will help. There are "potty boxes" that you can find on the internet that have grass and can be easily taught to use. Nena is going to be a big dog, so it would be worth looking into. I have never used one, have heard they work well. Just a thought there.

Keep up the good work and that military stance if needed!

[4CrazyCanines]

Emmy, that's awesome!!! I use that same method with my dogs (especially with Diesel and Kylie who are affectionately called the "bossy Aussies" lol). I am delighted to hear that it is working for you and Nena as well! She will keep getting better and better and so will you as a trainer!