[shreks0fiona]

hya, i became the proud owner of a collie puppy 5 weeks ago today! she is 13 weeks today and i still need help. she will not under any circumstances poo outside! she will wee as soon as she is let out but even if i sit with her for an hour, she will not poo and then the second we come back inside she does it! help?
also, she keeps trying to "hump" my 2 daughters legs. they are 4 and 10 and whenever they move she's there doing it, but is also very aggressive towards the older daughter. she seems to hate her! poor kid cant walk across the room without being growled at, jumped at, snapped at. help?
she is still very playful which is fine but she keeps trying to bite everyone bar my husband. he is the only one she doesnt, but the rest of us stroke her and after a few mins, she will be trying to bite. i have tried things it says on internet to stop it but they dont work, eg: yelping, turning my back on her, pinching back of her neck and growling (feel silly doing that one) but nothing stops her. help?
she is allowed out for her 1st walk tomorrow so hoping that will help with the pooing situation if we can walk with her, although vet says 3-4 half hour walks for first month or so.
sorry if these points have been covered, i couldnt find them and really need help
thanks for reading

 

[doxiemommy]

Congratulations on the puppy!

For the pooping problem: have you tried to run her around a bit, maybe a quick game of fetch or a quick game of chase? That will often get the bowels working. Also, I wouldn't recommend you staying out with her for an hour in the hopes that she will poop. Puppies her age are very easily distracted by lots of stuff outside, sights, sounds, smells. And, really, after a few minutes, they usually forget all about the fact that they are supposed to go poop. So, by staying out so long, you really aren't emphasizing that you are there to potty. If you're allowing her to sniff around, and explore for an hour, the goal isn't clear to her.
You need to differentiate between potty time outside, and "free" time or play time outside. If you are combining both, in the beginning, it's confusing. So, take her out for five minutes, say the same magic potty words. After 5 minutes, if she hasn't pooped, take her back inside, BUT, not for good, just for 5 minutes, before going back out to try again. During the 5 minutes inside, keep your eyes directly on her, and stay close to her, so if you see her start to sniff or even start to squat, you can interrupt her and rush her out. Basically, alternate, 5 minutes out to try, then 5 minutes inside to wait before trying again.

And, clean up any stain with an enzymatic cleaner.

As for the biting, that's the way puppies play. It is similar to how toddlers have to put everything in their mouth! If you've only had her 5 weeks, but you've tried the yelping, turning your back, pinching the back of the neck (yikes, don't do this any more!), growling, etc, then it seems like you've confused her by trying too many methods without giving any one method the chance to work. Think of it this way: you aren't just trying to get her to stop biting on any ONE occasion, you are trying to teach her a skill for the rest of her life (bite inhibition). And, longterm teaching takes time.

If you stick with this method, and everyone in the house responds in the same way, EVERY time she bites, it should start to gradually get better:
- puppy bites, you make a noise to let her know you didn't like it. Many people recommend yelping, but, for some puppies, that can excite them more, and make them bite more. You might try saying OUCH loudly but not angrily.
- the noise should startle the pup, and get her attention.
- the pup will probably bite again, as it's second nature to her, so make the noise again, but this time leave the room for 20-30 seconds, and do not allow her to follow (helps to go into a room where you can shut the door so she can't follow you.)
- repeat, repeat, repeat. As many times as she bites, do the noise, then the noise + leave the room.

My fiance hated this puppy stage, as it interrupted his tv watching time, with all the getting up and leaving the room, but, it did work! One thing to keep in mind: our first pup took 4 weeks to stop biting, our second took about 1-2 weeks, and our current foster pup took about 3 weeks. So, once you start a method, and stick with it vigilantly, it will take time.

As for the humping: discourage this. It isn't sexual, humping can also be a form of puppy play, and also occurs when a puppy is over excited. So, the walks will help this, too. When she does this, distract her, and get her interested in something else. It helps if you keep a leash on her inside, as you can direct her attention elsewhere pretty easily, and this will help her get used to the leash for walks. The thing is, most dogs will consider unwanted humping to be rude behavior, so you don't want her to get in the habit of doing this!

And, for your older daughter: kids move quickly, often times, and in ways that seem spontaneous or without warning, they also speak in higher pitches, which can be exciting to dogs, and are often louder than adults. What you describe doesn't sound aggressive, towards your daughter, it sounds like she is trying to play with your daughter the way she would with another puppy, as growling, snapping, and jumping are all puppy play behaviors, and it's pretty rare for a puppy that young to truly have aggression issues.
To compound this, a child will usually squeal, or run, or jump around when a puppy jumps at them or snaps or something similar. If this happens, the puppy thinks "cool! game on!" and will keep trying to play.

So, part of it is teaching the children to behave calmly, and walk away, to another room, for a few minutes.
Puppies really love and crave human contact, so losing that contact when they are too hyper can really calm them down quickly.

You can also have "time outs" for the puppy, but I wouldn't recommend using the puppy's crate for this. Maybe a puppy safe room like a bathroom or laundry room where you can shut the door for 30 seconds to a couple minutes.

 

[hanksimon]

Follow Doxie's advice. For nipping, training Bite Inhibition will take about 3 days before the pup begins to understand. You have to use only one method (Yelp), consistently. Don't pinch or growl at the pup, that's mixing methods and it confuses the pup, and she thinks that you're playing roughly... so she does, too.

If you haven't seen it, then read the Sticky: The Bite Stops Here.

 

[shreks0fiona]

hya, thanks for the replies. i have tried that(the going in and out every 5 mins) but it doesnt work either. she will only do it inside. then i read that maybe it wasnt long enough so i started staying out longer. it depends, though sometimes its 5 mins, sometimes 15 etc. my eldest doesnt even have to move, she just has to walk in the room tess is at and she's jumping up at her, or even just sitting watching tv and she's there. took her for her 1st walk this morning, we were out 45 mins and she never weed or pooed but i suppose that just becasue it was all new. need to learn how to get her to heel though as she wouldnt stop at the roads, tried telling her to sit but she was having none of it, even though she does it in the house. lord, its harder than a baby lol. at least if u put baby down they stay where they are, tess follows everywhere

 

[Amaryllis]

After 5 weeks, you're not going to have a reliable sit outside. The problem is, your puppy isn't fully trained on sit inside, and dogs don't generalize, so sit outside certainly isn't happening. See, it takes about 300 successful sits for a dog to truly know sit. But if you always do it in the living room, on the carpet, the dog thinks sit means butt down on the carpet in the living room. So you have to retrain for each new situation- the dining room, the bedroom, the back yard, the front yard, etc. Now, each retraining takes less and less time, but you do have to have patience for this.

As for a heel, that's a bit much to expect from a 13 week old puppy, but what about a nice loose leash walk? That takes time, but it's doable. There's a sticky on that in the training forum.

 

[doxiemommy]

hya, thanks for the replies. i have tried that(the going in and out every 5 mins) but it doesnt work either. she will only do it inside.

Then you aren't watching her carefully enough when you bring her inside to wait, and you're not close enough to her. You need to stay right on top of her when you bring her in for the 5 minute wait, so you can rush her out if she starts to go inside. If you are able to interrupt her, and then rush her outside, you are sending the message "oops, not there, we go outside._

then i read that maybe it wasnt long enough so i started staying out longer. it depends, though sometimes its 5 mins, sometimes 15 etc. my eldest doesnt even have to move, she just has to walk in the room tess is at and she's jumping up at her, or even just sitting watching tv and she's there. took her for her 1st walk this morning, we were out 45 mins and she never weed or pooed but i suppose that just becasue it was all new. need to learn how to get her to heel though as she wouldnt stop at the roads, tried telling her to sit but she was having none of it, even though she does it in the house. lord, its harder than a baby lol. at least if u put baby down they stay where they are, tess follows everywhere

Yep! They are hard. Right now, she is seeing your eldest as a playmate. If your daughter doesn't respond, and walks away, that should help let the puppy know she doesn't want to play in that way, because puppies love attention and contact with their people!

I agree with Amaryllis, heel is a bit much for now, stick with the loose leash walking.

 

[xxxxdogdragoness]

Ahhh the joy of puppies.... That's the reason I adopted an older dog this time around lol, you almost need to be home 24/7 to have a puppy.

 

[FaithFurMom09]

I would keep the puppy on a leash inside. That way you can see if the puppy is about to poo inside and also the dog wont nip/hump your daughter. Keep the dog tethered to you. Maybe try puppy pads by the door? I have never used them.

 

[Nev Allen]

Being consistent and repetative is the way pups learn what is good and what will earn them a reward. Use the pups meal time to teach it that jumping on your daughter and humping are not going to earn a reward. When she sits quietly, your daughter can drop a few kibble biscuits into her bowl. She jumps up your daughter stops the trickle feed. She sits quiet she gets fed.
Using the "nothing in life is free" (nilif) system of training is rewarding for both you and the dog. Read up on it and employ it - consistently. Used along side the click and reward positive training methods will produce fast results.

 

[Crazy Daisy]

My puppy seems to "attack" my oldest, 9, the most as well. Don't think the dog Hatesyour child, just observe their interactions. My kid gets it because of the way she moves her arms and body, and the noises she makes, it just seems to bait the puppy. so they both need to learn. Have your kids rub the dog's chest or belly, often patting on or behind the head will make them nip. at least with my puppy. Also, do you have the pup on a feeding schedule? it is much easier to follow their potty needs that way. I don't know about the humping, but I would say exercise and distraction would probably help, so the dog is thinking about something more positive. keep looking around on the forum and you will figure it out. good luck, I hope it gets better soon.