Hi guys, My partner and I are 1st time dog owners and have a now 6 month old Sammy who is fantastic despite a few issues we are struggling to overcome and would appreciate any advise from all you that have experienced these problems, The main one is stopping her from wanting to eat everything on the floor she sees, second is barking and jumping up at people (probably our fault as everyone wants to say hello and it was fine when she was a pup) , other is keeping her constantly entertained but still being able to do do your own thing if needed to like work. But if background, I work from home during the day so she's barely alone for long , she gets regular walks although sometimes not long, has loads of toys to play with and is never made to feel excluded ( sleeps in same room etc) I feel I maybe giving her to much attention and she feels she is dominating although I do a lot of discipline work with her and make her wait for any treat etc. Sorry for long thread but we don't know anyone else with this breed and need reassurance that's all Any more info needed or advise is welcomed Thanks Paul
Discourage her from picking up things she shouldn’t by saying leave, redirect her attention with titbit or toy instead. Praise her when she looks at or picks up titbit /toy. When you see people approaching put her in the sit praise, keep her in the sit position, if she tries to jump up’ move back a bit again put in the sit keep this up until she sits calmly while you talk to the other person, they can then stroke her in the sitting position. When you move off calmly praise also give a titbit if you want, with practice will learn she only gets made a fuss of if she sits. To keep entertained fill a Kong with treats, put knob of peanut butter, in the small end of Kong then get some treats mix with meat paste, peanut butter or cottage cheese, bits of sausage ect: fill the Kong which you can freeze, that way it will last longer. A good game for mental stimulation is Hide and Find, I start off with them in sit stay and hide a tit bit so they can see it and tell them to find, I do this till they get hang of it, then gradually I put them out the room hiding titbits in various places let them in with the word find, they love this game.
I have to say from having an adult adoptee who would inhale floor items. You have to puppy proof just as if you had small human children. Everything off the floor and everything above the level they can reach. We had Callie for a week. Our first dog turned her nose up at most human food so we got lazy. He managed to find a box of mixed chocolates under an end table. Poison control found the brand. Fortunate it was more filling than chocolate and he's big boy. He puked the candy, the wrappers and part of the box, drank a bowl of water and woke the next morning good as new. We were lucky, chocolate and a bunch of other things can be deadly.
Welcome to the forum Mayar. I am sorry to contradict your first post, but the use of some of these methods with a six month puppy do not sit well with me. Yes, pretend dog bite pokes, and rattling cans, will make a puppy submissive, but it will also increase his stress levels, leading to a lack of confidence, and could even lead to more serious behaviour problems emerging in the future. These methods are based on dominance theory, which has now been generally discredited. Most European and US trainers are now using methods which are variations of clicker training, (have a look at the Kikopup videos on YouTube to see just how much gentler these methods can be). However, I do agree with turning your back to stop noisy and excitable behaviour, and my rehomed pack reared dog has responded really well to the use of this method.
Your youngster is only six months old so at the moment the floor hoovering should be managed, ie make sure nothing is on the floor. As she matures, she'll calm and, if she hasn't had chance to make it a habit, you will probably find that this behaviour disappears The method GSDSlave recommends for calm approach is the one I'd use too. Please don't prod and poke your dog. Dogs often take exception to this and show their dislike of it with their teeth which is the very last thing you want
