[aron searle]

I have a jack russell puppy, 9 weeks old, and have had him for 6 days.

Currently it hasn't had all it's jabs so can't go out for walks for another 2 weeks (and we only have a communal garden).

He is generally taking instructions well, he will obey corrections (will stop when we ah-ah him, teaching him boundaries in the flat, sit, stay etc).

But when he gets over-excited he will stop listening to corrections and will chew the sofa. We try not to excite him to much, but he seems to have lot's of energy, should we not play with him at all to stop him getting over-exited? Currently I do some light play (a few throw of some balls and get him to play with his toys), ending with some training. Will this calm down when he is able to go for walks and use up some of his energy? I understand you should ignore him when he gets to exited, but when he does this he chews furniture, which I have to try to correct.

Am I not playing with him enough, leading to over excitement, or playing with him to little, or with to much energy?

How many hours/days/weeks should I expect to be able to"correct" this behaviour.

Am I expecting to much too soon after only 6 days, or is this something I should be able to correct by now.

 

[Abbylynn]

Your little Terrier is a baby. He does not know what "not" playing means. He is exploring his new world ... all the sights and sounds and smells and tastes too! He is just waiting to be molded and his brain right now is a little sponge.

Playing with him is fine. If he gets too excited then end the play session with some training ... like "sit". A sitting pup cannot jump enthusiastically. For eating the furniture ... replace the couch with a safe chew toy ... like a Nylabone made for puppies or a kong filled with frozen treats to keep his little self busy and amused ... this redirects him from chewing on inappropriate objects ... like personal items also.

Keep all your precious items put away or out of reach. I know my terriers "Leap" up onto things way high above their heads! Lol! ... like counters and chairs and kitchen tables! :/ Puppy proof your house so he does not accidentally injure himself or worse yet eat something that could become a blockage or something poisonous which could lead to surgery or even death.

Terriers in general are spunky happy go lucky little creatures ... with endless energy in some instances. My little dogs are Terrier mixes ... and I expect they will be feisty little creatures for many years.

Once your pup has all his jabs ... walking will definitely help his excitement levels some IMO. You might want to look at some agility or "Go To Ground" clubs or something of interest to both of you. I would definitely take him to some obedience classes. He also will need lots of socialization ... very important indeed!!! With proper training he should bring you many years of boundless joy and happiness.

As for the amount of time it takes to train ... it is a lifetime job of training and refreshing their memories when they have a brain cramp ... which happens from time to time ... especially the teen age years ... between 9 months old and a year old usually ... speaking in general of course ... every dog is different.

This is a good site with all sorts of great info and all the articles are printable www.peteducation.com I keep lists on my fridge for reference.

Good luck with your new baby! Don't forget to post pictures!

 

[aron searle]

Good stuff.

I am already following the advice you gave (but it's good to hear it repeated so I know I am on the right track), though I need to get some peanut butter to fill up the kong.

Taking him out in a sling, so he could see the world but stay away from any nasties he is not yet immunised against helped, though I did feel a right pillock!

The problem I have is this is my first dog, my partner has read about 20! books, and various programmes, (I have only read 1 and a few TV shows) so I am somewhat confident as to what we need to do.

I think maybe I need to play with him more, but we have also been told to keep his exercise down to 15 minutes because at his age to much will affect his muscle development.

What I am lacking is real hands on experience, and It's how long it will take is my concern.

I am taking the approach that "it will take as long as it takes", so I am not concerned that it will take time, I am concerned that not having some yardstick will make it difficult to determine if I am doing it correctly. It's funny, but all the training books and programmes don't really go into this.

I am guessing that there is no real "it should take X time".

Taking the sofa as a case in point, I have been trying to stop him by chewing the sofa by giving him a chew toy, I don't expect it to work straight away.

But knowing whether it's a matter of days/weeks/months will help me loosely measure our performance.

 

[aron searle]

I should add.

With the sofa, the breeder let the puppies chew the bottom of their sofa out, and hide in the sofa, so this is something that he has been "trained" to do, which is why it's probably the more difficult issue we are having with him.

 

[Abbylynn]

I should add.

With the sofa, the breeder let the puppies chew the bottom of their sofa out, and hide in the sofa, so this is something that he has been "trained" to do, which is why it's probably the more difficult issue we are having with him.

Wow ... that is sure something! ... letting the pups chew up the couch! :/

Yardstick wise ... counter training seems to take longer than starting with a blank slate just from some of my prior experiences. Hopefully someone will come along with some measurements for you .... this is something I personally cannot give an answer on.

I just cannot get over that a breeder would allow pups to chew up articles that other folks would not want their pup to do or condone ... knowing these pups were going to other folks homes? :/ Odd! *shakes head*

 

[aron searle]

It is odd, because she did everything else splendidly, training, feeding, jabs, letting us visit him before the 9 weeks were up, well, no ones perfect.

 

[Amaryllis]

With a house full of JRTs, maybe she's just taking any peace and quiet she can get!

Puppies are like human babies. You don't expect a 1 year old to be housetrained or a 2 year old to be in control of their emotions or a 3 year old to read, do you? Puppies are the same way. Having a fully trained dog that will 99.9%* obey commands and can be trusted not to chew and destroy takes 2 years, minimum. (adulthood, you see.) Some dogs can never be fully trusted not to chew or eat food they can reach or dash out through doors.

Now that you've had a heart attack, it won't be what you're experiencing now for the next 17 years straight. Most dogs stop the insane levels of chewing after they're done teething, training will be more and more reliable the more you do it and being able to exercise the dog outside will help burn off some of the crazy.

Just don't expect too much too soon. It's not fair to the dog and it's frustrating to you.


*I don't say 100%, because no living being is 100%

 

[hanksimon]

It takes 2 weeks to train a dog, and 2 - 5 years to get them to listen when there are any distractions Work on consistency for now, and don't let anything pass. Anything the dog learns as a pup will last the next 15 years - good or bad.

Here are two more books: http://www.dogstardaily.com/free-downloads

But they are free, and nearly everyone uses the methods that he perfected nearly 30 years ago...