# Help! Need advice again



## redd (May 25, 2014)

My husband and I are into our 3rd week with our little boy- he's 10 weeks now (picked up at 7.5). We are struggling with a few issues that we can't seem to correct:
1) The biting! We have tried "no bite" (still do), bitter apple spray, water spray, shoving a toy in his mouth, yelping and leaving/ignoring, loud can/bell, gently shutting his mouth with "no bite", crating him during sharkies, all without much effect. We are having trouble socializing him because he immediately starts biting others. Any other ideas?
2) He of course wants to be in your lap full-time, so if one of us is in a chair, he will immediately jump up and paw/scratch incessantly, very demanding. We are having no success with the "off" command. We ignore, turn our backs (makes it worse), loud bell, spray, praise and attention the second 4 paws are on the floor, etc. Literally has made no difference in this behavior. I don't mind sitting on the floor but I feel like I'm reinforcing a really bad habit, plus it makes my butt sore )
3) He picks and chooses when he wants to listen. This is probably just puppy. He doesn't have a great attention span for training ( even when walked off leash, lots of play, fully exercised). We try to be very consistent with our training.


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

Good morning Redd.
I think you are trying too hard. You have a very young pup at 10 weeks old. 

Leather gloves help. 

Find a way to not get mad at your dog. He is a dog and has to learn how to live with humans and not dogs. Not an easy task.

He is learning from everything your husband and you do. Calm assertiveness and consistency and you'll get through this.

You have a GOOD Hungarian Vizsla. They are high-powered hunting dogs. They require a higher standard of pack leadership to blossom.

Learn from books. A good one you can download on line is Ian Dunbar's "After you get your puppy."

http://www.dogstardaily.com/free-downloads

You'll survive. I watch my daughters with their small grandchildren and wonder "how the heck did we do that?"

Happy trails.
RBD


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

I agree with every bit of the advice RBD has given you, above.  One thing I'd like to point out with regard to the puppy biting phase is this: Whether you do something, or nothing at all, the puppy will outgrow the biting phase. All you really have to do is survive it!


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

Redd - I'm old school - bite me I pickem up by the scruff of neck with a firm NO - put them in the crate and leave the room 4 15min - come back and try again - I like to have my hand in the food bowl when a pup - bite me same result - quick & consistent is how you train a V !!!!


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

> I'm old school - bite me I pickem up by the scruff of neck with a firm NO - put them in the crate and leave the room 4 15min - come back and try again


REM, perfect. Just so no misunderstanding, you are not mad at the dog, you are just telling the dog in no uncertain (no gray areas to think about) what is acceptable and what is not. You can sound angry without being angry (if that makes sense).

The pup will pick up emotions even if you try to hide them. Just a calm assertive NO as you pick them up by the scruff of the neck. What momma does when she wants them back in the den.

RBD


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## mlg1900 (Jun 12, 2013)

Redd, 
Just wanted to let you know that the puppy biting and jumping lasts for MONTHS not just a few days or weeks. 
They stop teething around 7 to 8 months old. When we were dealing with the puppy phase last year I always had a soft toy or rawhide chewy very handy. So that if she started gnawing on my hands, I immediately exchanged it for a rawhide or toy. But the big thing was that I did not let go of the rawhide or toy. If I would let go she would go back to wanting to chew my hands. Also, time outs are a HUGE behavior modifier! We had such success with them. Bad behavior, time out 2 to 5 minutes. Then when you let the puppy out it is either better or will start again. Then just rinse and repeat. They learn quickly. We had a time out crate in the living room and her bedtime crate in the bedroom. I know alot of people say you shouldn't use the crate for timeouts because it can cause a bad association with the crates but we have not had any issues with this.


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## redd (May 25, 2014)

redbirddog said:


> Good morning Redd.
> I think you are trying too hard. You have a very young pup at 10 weeks old.
> 
> Leather gloves help.
> ...


RBD- just had the realization that we are expecting way too much from this dog. He is sooo smart, and catches on so quickly on most things that I guess I thought he should be perfect in everything! I will work on just letting him be a pup. )
We lost our 11 year old pit-mix in March, we could just look at her and she knew what we wanted. She was amazing but took years of hard work- alpha female. Never liked strangers and never could get her to stop resource gaurding. Luckily it's just me and my husband, and we were just able to work around her. She went everywhere with us. 
Some of my fixations with Redd are him NOT being like our last dog, ie unsocial and dominant. I get worried that the challenging behaviors, staring us in the eyes intently, tripping us, wanting to sit on top of us are dominant behaviors. However, you can turn this guy upside down, rub his belly, tug his ears and tail, etc with no problem! Sage never allowed that. 
I know we will get thru this. 
Anyway, thanks for the advice. )


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## redd (May 25, 2014)

mlg1900 said:


> Redd,
> Just wanted to let you know that the puppy biting and jumping lasts for MONTHS not just a few days or weeks.
> They stop teething around 7 to 8 months old. When we were dealing with the puppy phase last year I always had a soft toy or rawhide chewy very handy. So that if she started gnawing on my hands, I immediately exchanged it for a rawhide or toy. But the big thing was that I did not let go of the rawhide or toy. If I would let go she would go back to wanting to chew my hands. Also, time outs are a HUGE behavior modifier! We had such success with them. Bad behavior, time out 2 to 5 minutes. Then when you let the puppy out it is either better or will start again. Then just rinse and repeat. They learn quickly. We had a time out crate in the living room and her bedtime crate in the bedroom. I know alot of people say you shouldn't use the crate for timeouts because it can cause a bad association with the crates but we have not had any issues with this.


We will try is next!! 
Thanks!!


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

Redd - on correction - I never go 2 something they like - ignore a V - this gets their attention - turn your back - walk away - this breaks their heart !!!!!!!!


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## KB87 (Jan 30, 2012)

I think everyone has given you spot on advice already. I just want to add that by saying "no bite" or "no," it really means nothing until you SHOW him what you don't want him to do. Your first hurdle in training is not the dog, its yourself- once you figure you how you communicate with your dog, then you're able to be off to the races. Developing a method of communication that your pup can learn from is step 1. Then step 2 is communicating what you do and/or don't want them to do. Then step 3 is assigning a command to it during repetition. Attempting to give a command to it first will muddle communication and just lead to further frustration.

Hang in there! This is all part of the vizsla puppy phase. It's almost like an initiation in the wonderful world of Vs. In no time you'll have an amazing dog and be able to look back on this and laugh a bit


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## SuperV (Oct 18, 2011)

Also...don't be so eager to teach you dog not to bite, before you teach your dog how hard it can bite you. You want to show your dog that any amount of pressure on human flesh hurts (even if it doesn't). Your dog should think, that humans are bunch of wimps and I really need to be delicate with them.....When your dog mouths you or bites you, yelp like a littermate would, get up and leave the dog with no harsh language..just yelp and leave..nothing personal here.... You are teaching him that hard bites make you leave. I assure you that your pup isn't biting you to hurt you, they are biting you to play with you. If they learn that hard bites make you leave, they will lighten the pressure. This is exactly what happens with their littermates.

Many dogs are taught not to bite to early and what happens is at sometimes in its life, someone accidentally shuts the dogs tail in the door or a kid trips and falls on the dog and the dog's natural reaction is to bite. Its up to you if you taught the dog how hard it was to bite. Many good dogs are put down because they were never taught how hard is acceptable. They broke the skin on a neighborhood kid and whamo - lawsuit and irrational parents want your dog destroyed...and it wasn't even the dogs fault....

Nate


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## redd (May 25, 2014)

One key mistake we have made is yelping or making loud noises but not leaving. Duh!! Of course he's not going to know what the yelps mean. For all he knows they are playtime sounds. We have corrected that. Ignoring him really does get his attention, 
I swear we are educated people, with even a bit of common sense. Not that it shows, haha.

For an update, we bought Redd a nice plush dog bed. He LOVES it! He has really never loved his crate (but doesn't necessarily fight it) so now he has a special comfy place to go and chill. Like a different dog, way less biting, jumping, and crazies. We also decreased his exercise, and he is much happier. I think we were pushing too hard. Again, smart people with a lot of "a ha" moments.

We will continue to work on bite inhibition, training in small doses, and he does get an off leash walk every morning. We are letting him be a pup!! Lots of antics, much more enjoyable from this end.

Thank you everyone for the great advice. This forum is a lifesaver.


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## number10 (Jun 2, 2014)

Hey Redd - if it helps, I'm one week ahead of you, my wee girl is nearly 11 weeks and it amazes me how many aha moments I have every day, but also, how quickly she changes and how incremental the changes are. I was despairing the other day that she would ever be calm around others, but my sister came in today and was trying to settle pup: get her to sit and not jump up - one "no" from me, and she stopped and sat for my sister to pat & stroke her (momentarily I admit before puppy brain kicked in again). My sister laughed and said that's amazing she's so good for you. Really??!!! And I suppose, considering her age and short attention span, she is. I keep reminding myself that if we are clear and consistent about unwanted behaviour, and over praise the good behaviours, and they seem to be increasing in frequency and duration, then we are moving in the right direction. She is just a little wee pup after all.

And... I suspect pups, like babies, get overstimulated, and need to learn to calm themselves - which is why the time out /separation however you implement it, seems to work.

Also last words: don't under estimate the importance of the soft bed! They are bony little things with a thin coat - they seem to really like the snuggle and comfort of a soft bed. I now put the soft bed in the crate when she is crated, and pull it out during the day. And put a blanket over her when she sleeps. I'm tempted to get a doggie sleeping bag when she is a bit bigger. But then, I quite like my own soft bed, myself


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## stefanessa (May 12, 2013)

Redd- seems like you've figured out some new strategies that have started to work! 

We were fortunate to have read an amazing piece of advice on here before we brought Jax home and we were able to completely avoid the sharkbite stage. 

When Jax gnawed on my hands I would wrap my thumb and first two fingers around his muzzle and gently squeeze in on his sore teeth (from teething) paired with a low firm NO. 

He learned extremely quickly and I literally only had to correct him maybe 3-5 times EVER. 

Some people prefer using only positive reinforcement and distraction, to each their own, I have experience proving this method worked 100% for Jax. Vizslas are very sensitive to tone of voice, I think it was the correction paired with the low (angry sounding) voice that did the trick.


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## Bob Engelhardt (Feb 14, 2012)

stefanessa said:


> ...
> Some people prefer using only positive reinforcement and distraction, to each their own, I have experience proving this method worked 100% for Jax. Vizslas are very sensitive to tone of voice, I think it was the correction paired with the low (angry sounding) voice that did the trick.


Pain is a VERY effective teaching tool - fast and durable! It doesn't have to be extreme (as your use wasn't) and is often the lesser of 2 evils when teaching extinction (i.e., to not do something). Sure, we'd rather not use pain on puppies, but shark attacks hurt, too.

Bob


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## Louise72 (Jun 12, 2014)

Hello all, I'm new to replying although I have read a lot of question and answers on here before having my V and now. Very useful info. Ruby is now 18 weeks and the biting has completely vanished, apart from when she excited to see you then often she just gets a ball now. Also she has got better with being able to sit alone and not on my lap constantly so I think it's a case of time. First Vizsla, and I'm in awe


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## rudywhite (Jul 5, 2014)

I am also having the same chew problems with my just turned today 3 months old Rudy. This is the second V we have had, loosing our 9 year old last fall to cancer. I didn't rember Jackson ever having the behaviors as much as Rudy . I thought I was making progress with training because no mater what he was doing he would come when called and them last night it all changed. I called him and then last night he decided to play the game try and see if you can catch me. Well, he's right as he is fast and I can't . I have tried ignoring him and then he does come to me but was wondering if there was something else I could do???? Today we practices coming and when he did he got lots if praise and treats. It does seem like it is totally when he chooses to and not me controlling him. My last V seemed to kind better younger, but maybe I have forgotten . Rudy can be so sweet and we are totally in love with him, I just want to the be the "boss", not him. Thanks for any advice anyone can give me. Maybe I am expecting too much too and he is a very curious and adventuresome pup.


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