# Defiant Puppy at 12 weeks



## HaleyS (Jul 15, 2020)

I got a V puppy, Georgia, at 8 weeks old. I know it is uncharacteristic of the breed, but she seems to be so defiant. The biggest issue we have is with her jumping up on the couch. We are training her not to jump on the couch, but she will jump up there any chance she gets. She knows its wrong- she looks around, but then stands proudly like she knows she's wrong, but she's doing it anyways. We have yelled "NO!!!" and "OFF" and clapped loudly, and then sat her on the ground with a toy distraction. We have a comfy bed for her that she is able to lay in on the ground. She has tons of toys on the ground. 

We catch her every time doing this, and there has never been a time that she has gotten away with it. As soon as we say NO and startle her, she looks at us, and JUMPS UP ON THE COUCH AGAIN!! As soon as we walk a few feet away, she will run up and jump on the couch. This happens a few times a day. She is given tons of treats and toys for good behavior outside of this "game" 

We have tried over and over showing her we are boss. She is crated at night. I'd love some tips on securing our "alpha" spot as well!


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## Sunshinesol (Jul 3, 2020)

The couch is yours. By yelling and saying no you’re creating unnecessary conflict. Had a similar issue at similar age pup had previously (even if once) been allowed on the couch. When we made the rule she would just bark back if we yelled. You have to physically get her off. Don’t just slowly grab/try to pick her up. POP her off with a leash or shove her off. She will be fine. You have to TAKE control of the space. Dogs understand special control very well, just look at how they play and are able to control each other’s movement with their bodies. Similarly how spacial pressure makes them pop into a sit if you are teaching them sit and they offer you a down. I would take a step forward, BOOM sit.

anyways, don’t yell, try quick, sharp correction. TIMING IS EVERYTHING. Stand right by the couch at first, when she goes up to it and within a second of her making the decision to go up onto it, you remove her from the couch. Same goes for most simple unwanted behaviors like counter surfing or getting into your shoes.

good luck! Ease up on the affection, def avoid baby voices for a while or use rarely. Provide more leadership and guidance. She will come around in no time. My pup is close to 7 months and knows all her rules well now! We got her at about 3.5 months


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

She's being a little dirtball for sure, but she is not being "defiant". She is instinctively trying to find her place.
Dogs do not have ability to have forethought of malice, or intent. They don't do "spite work", or "try to get even", and they really "don't know better". Though it does seem that way. Their brains are just not that complex.
They do respond to patterned environmental stimuli, or "conditioning". Training is the word most often associated with this.
We condition our dogs to respond to the same stimuli, in the same manner, to get a predictable and acceptable result. Puppies have the attention span of gnats, which is why we keep having to repeat the same lesson, multiple times per day, per week, until it becomes a patterned response with them.
In Georgia's mind, she is getting a lot of attention for jumping on the couch. there is no real penalty, and it sounds as of some of it is a positive reward. She's playing a game.
Puppies will challenge older dogs unmercifully. Even though the older dog may growl and snap it's teeth at them, chase them off, and bark at them, the puppies keep doing it, until either the older dog yields to the behavior, or there is a very over the top reaction. It's kind of hard to institute "Alpha" with a young puppy. It takes a little time.
Correction, between animals, is threatening, quick, loud, aggressive, and immediate. It lasts for a few seconds at most, and then is over. Georgia will understand this. You have to stop the behavior, before it can begin. It's not always easy.

Oh yeah, the best Vizslas are most definitely "defiant". They do not stop. In order for them to excel at what they were bred for, it's not programmed into them to simply "back away". They have to be forward thinking, and moving.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I wouldn't consider it defiant.
She wants on the couch, and boy does she get a lot of attention when she gets on it. It may not always be the good kind of attention, but it's attention.
Instead try to make it where she can not get on the couch. Tons of praise, and treats for what she is doing good. Sit on the floor with her, so she can still be close to you.

My daughter, and son in law didn't allow their dogs on the sofa. The dogs are now 3, and 5 years old.
Guess who sneaks of the sofa, when they are not home. They only know because they find dog hair on it.


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## PinDave (Jul 1, 2020)

HaleyS said:


> She is given tons of treats and toys for good behavior outside of this "game"


I think you hit the nail on the head here... to her it’s a game. As the others have said, she’s getting a lot of attention from this behaviour.

Our Vizsla is 15-weeks-old, and by instantly pushing Maui off the couch he’s begun to accept that he’s not allowed to be on the couch. He knows that he’s only allowed to climb on to our lap when he’s invited. Watching Maui’s realization of this was interesting, as he complained a lot at first but then resigned himself to his bed.


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## Frida010 (Apr 24, 2020)

My 12 w/o Fred does exactly the same. It’s getting less but when she does not get attention she will jump on the couch or try to bite the plants. When I walk up to her to say ‘No’ and shove her off, I can see her bouncing from excitement. It’s the negative attention she enjoys. She can be a real little brat and look at me and bark if I have her to sit before opening the front door to go inside and outside. You could say she is defiant, but I think she is just a puppy and we can’t expect perfect behavior yet. I like her personality.

If I see her thinking about getting on the couch, and I say ‘no’ she’ll move to her own pillow without a problem. And that is what I like right now.
If she decided to sit calmly in moments outside when she has to wait, then I know that she is learning what I try to teach her.

Don’t be too hard on your pup. The world is SO EXCITING at their age. Everything is so much fun!!!

What I did started doing at this age is sometimes when she is really going beyond my boundaries, for example -she bit my ankles suddenly yesterday, I reclaim my space and have her back up to her pillow and lay down. I do this by stating in a rather angry voice “This behaviour I will never accept” and move towards her while saying that angrily ( not shouting but more like growling). She quietly lays down her pillow and really know that was not fun and not a game.

Another thing we started doing very recently is giving her a 1 minute time-out when she is constantly asking for attention by biting or demolishing the house. She comes out more calm but we need to use this method for at least a few more weeks to start having an effect.


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## Sunshinesol (Jul 3, 2020)

It’ll be best to catch them mid decision yeah, before they even make it onto the couch. I think once they get onto it they’ve already gotten some reward (pretty comfy ain’t it?). And then the yelling/barking to get off adds to the reward. When they are super young you can catch them easier since they can sometimes only get their front paws up. 12 weeks old they can understand what they did and why you corrected them, if your TIMING is paired with their DECISION. They still have short attention spans so just stay consistent in your corrections. It really only takes one time getting on the couch to have set back. They’ll be respectful of your boundaries in no time!


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