Help! I got a very dominant puppy. How was you puppy?

[linneageiger]

Hi all ridgeback owners!

Me and my husband got a wonderful RR puppy 7 weeks ago, she is now 15 weeks old. She is so cute and playful but showing many signs of being a very dominant little dog. When your RR was a puppy, did it show signs of being a dominant dog and how did you solve it?

For example,

Nala is biting us pretty hard and when we “yelp” she does not react at all..

She does not respond to corrections, instead they trigger her..

If we do something to her that she does not like, e.g fixing her leash when it is stuck around her legs, she snaps and tries to bite..

She always wants to carry her leash in her mouth.. always biting our caves when walking.

She always put her paws about over feet if we ask her to lay down..

...As you see, she is challenging us on pretty much everything.

We do go to a dog trainer and even left her at a boot camp for a week and sadly we do not see a great amount of change. The dog trainer told us that Nala indeed is very dominant puppy and that her level on aggression and dominance on a scale to 1-10 Nala would be between 6-7. Where 1 is a perfect dog and 10 is a horrible dog.
We really love this little Ridgeback and I feel like I need advice from people that are used to RR puppies. How was your puppy? How did you solve behavioral problems?

Thank you!

[caro]

I am sure we all have gone through this stage with our puppies.  Some are worse than others. Unfortunately boot camp doesn't work.  You need to train with your puppy.  There is a lot of information on the forum about how to deal with the various problems you are having.  The biting is something they all do to differing degrees.  The yelp has to be really loud and accompanied with walking away and ignoring the puppy ("I don't want to play with you anymore"),  If that doesn't work, then you need to step things up and try a spray bottle filled with water and spray her when she starts to nip.  If the water doesn't work (and my puppy thinks the water bottle is a huge game) then graduate to bitter apple, or I believe vinegar can be quite effective.  She probably does this when she is overexcited, so it is better to try to avoid this and when you see the signs of being overexcited, put her in her crate for a time out with her favorite toy.  Let her bite on her favorite toy for a while!  You have to be very firm with these puppies, firm but do not hurt them in the process.  They have to learn to respect you and because your puppy is dominant you are going to have to be very firm in your corrections and make sure that when she does something really good she is rewarded with lots of praise and treats. 
With regard to the leash, you do need to be firm.  They should not be chewing on the leash while going for a walk.  Try coating the leash with hot sauce, but most importantly you need to get her to focus on you rather than the leash by keeping a treat in your hand at waist level and every few feet reward her for not chewing, but make a firm correction when she begins to chew.

Do you have the breeder close by?  Perhaps they can help you locate a trainer familiar with Ridgebacks who will be able to help you.  And you are going to need help from somebody knowledgeable with the breed.

Caroline

[Mo golfer]

Sounds just like my dog. We got Cooper at 8 weeks and he was a biter from day 1. We tried everything, the yelp, turning our back (ripped a couple pants in the process  ), spraying with a bottle (turned out to be a game). The best thing that we found was the bitter apple spray. We would spray it on anything that we wanted to bite. We saw immediate results. It can be really frustrating, but after you get it kicked it seems like a distant memory. Cooper is now 7 months old and still bites, thankfully the baby teeth are gone, but it is not nearly as much or as aggressive. Hang in there and be consistent, it will pay off.

[Michelle]

I can relate to your dilemma... In the 4 months I have had Ringo, I have found that he thrives best on calm gentle words, and slow deliberate movements. Anything that looks panicky or sounds panicky, gets the exact opposite response I want. When I want to clip his nails, we have him sit and gently push him on his side-then immediately reward him with a soft treat. Clip a nail-reward and praise. Look at his teeth, I ask him to come, and then gently lift up his lips on one side and the other, and then reward and praise. Etc..
The Breeder I got him from helped me with alot of this, so maybe you could call them and see if they could guide you.
I am still working on the play biting and jumping issue!!

Hope this gives even the littlest bit of help! Good Luck!

Michelle McMahan

[Matt]

Huckleberry was the same, leash biting, leg biting, "NO" didn't phase him, he was going to be the boss or he was going to die trying.  I tried all the bitter sprays, none worked, he started licking them like a treat.  Everything I tried just got him worked up, when he was little I could win these battles, I could be the boss because I could physically stop him from doing things, this began to change as he grew.  Fighting is NOT the way to go with these guys, they are really good at harassing large animals to death, or near death, and if they get a thing in their head you cannot get it out by a show of force. Cant fight fire with fire, nobody wins that way. 
Some folks hate them, but I got a shock collar.  I set it on VERY tiny shock (level 2 out of 8, not at all painful, I tried it on myself), and let him have it when he picked a fight with the leash, only had to shock him twice and he as hasn't bite the leash in 4 months.  Next I showed him the consquences of attacking my legs.  Again it was a two shock lesson on a very easy setting that worked instantly and I have never had trouble since.  The collar I got has the option of a tone, or a shock.  Before I zapped him I said 'no' then beeped the collar, then zapped him.  Before I did this 'no' didn't have a meaning to him, he didn't care what I said, this has changed.  Now he responds to 'no' and to the tone from the collar, the beep is as effective as the shock.  I haven't shocked him in probably 3 months, even when he was chasing a deer, the beep stopped him.  He isn't scared of it, but he knows that it means the same thing as 'no'. 
I know there is a hot debate over the use of shock collars, and I agree that rotten people can do rotten things with them, but one effective correction is easier on the dog than many, many smaller corrections.  And it allows me to let him have greater freedom, we go off leash all the time, and I am confident that he will respond to verbal commands, and if he is out of voice range (never happened) I know that a beep will get him back to my side fast.  So he gets to run more, get yelled at less, learn faster, and I have a dog that went from a handful to a pleasure (mostly) in about a week. 

[efoley]

I expect each puppy has his/her own stage of rebellion and different techniques can have different results. From our own experience, I can say that the best thing we did was work with a trainer. We are using a prong collar for now but eventually will graduate to a regular collar at some point. Cisko doesn't need much correction now and I will say that the number of corrections dropped dramatically once we moved to the prong. He no longer jumps and I can't remember the last time he was mouthy (he just turned 1 yesterday!!) I think once you start a consistent program with a good trainer you will notice improvement. Good luck and stick with it. You will get good results as long as you are fair and consistent.

Elena

[melissap]

Hi Elena,
I agree working with a good trainer to educate owners and correct bad behaviors early with a keen dog savy person to guide the owners is key.

I bought a prong collar for my 1st RR, who was indeed a challenge. The trainers I worked with (who all had 30 plus years of experience) taught me to use a regular training collar CORRECTLY and once I learned how to handle the lead with a good "pop release" with a verbal command had better success with a regular training collar than a prong, because the response time is lessened with a training collar with small links - and slild more effectively to give the correction at the RIGHT time.

I was skeptical - being smaller and less powerful than my dog. One of my trainers challenged me and put both collars on his arm and had me test both - assuring me the regular non-pronged collar was plently of force to train and control my dog with out any additional "tools"

It was all about proper collar placement and training the trainer to know my dogs signals and react properly.

I have not used an e-collar, but beleive the timing and corrections given explained by the above poster are also right on track.

So many times, it is about guiding the owner on "how to use" than it is about "the tools we choose"

JMHO
Melissa

[Skeet]

Your puppy is not being "dominant." She is just being "a puppy." Children use their hands to grab ahold of thing and use touch, taste, and smell to experience their new world. Puppies don't have 'hands' so they use their mouths to experience their world; and they have boundless energy. What your puppy requires is some teaching lessons to learn what humans expect of her. I have a file with several good articles on helpful ways to modify your pup's behaviors that I can share with you. So I will post them later to this thread. Btw, congrats on your new puppy!

Regards,
Sandy Boyd

[CA in TO]

The dog trainer told us that Nala indeed is very dominant puppy and that her level on aggression and dominance on a scale to 1-10 Nala would be between 6-7. Where 1 is a perfect dog and 10 is a horrible dog.

We really love this little Ridgeback and I feel like I need advice from people that are used to RR puppies. How was your puppy? How did you solve behavioral problems?

I have to agree with Sandy ...Nala is a puppy and is behaving like a puppy.

I would worry about rating her as having an aggressive temperament. When the American Temperament Test Society (ATTS) tests a dog a few things are taken into consideration. First, they do not test until the dog reaches at least 18 months of age. Until then, the pup is still learning to live in a human world. Those skills need to be taught.  Secondly, there is no single best response to any of the subtests. It is very much breed AND experience based. For example, a dog that hunts SHOULD respond differently to a gun shot that one who has never heard a gun fired.

The problems that you are experiencing suggests to me that Nala will have to be taught to calm down and focus on you. She is getting excited when given any stimulus. It takes time and effort. Look to a trainer or puppy school that focuses on positive reinforcement and do not give up.

As hard as it may be to believe, the day will come when you smile thinking back to her boundless puppy energy.

[Skeet]

[snipped from original post] We do go to a dog trainer and even left her at a boot camp for a week and sadly we do not see a great amount of change. The dog trainer told us that Nala indeed is very dominant puppy and that her level on aggression and dominance on a scale to 1-10 Nala would be between 6-7. Where 1 is a perfect dog and 10 is a horrible dog.
We really love this little Ridgeback and I feel like I need advice from people that are used to RR puppies. How was your puppy? How did you solve behavioral problems?

Please excuse me for being blunt, but... that stupid and/or ignorant dog trainer needs to be fired! And *before* she does any serious psychological/emotional/behavioral damage to your pup. Good, humane, knowledgeable dog trainers *do not* use words like "boot camp" and "dominance" when describing a puppy's behavior and appropriate training methods. Frankly, I cringe at the thought of what this 'trainer' may have inflicted on your pup in the name of "training." Btw, often times "aggression" is actually "fear" based behavior. If the trainer was being abusive and/or harsh - it may have scared your puppy so she tried to defend herself. However the ignorant trainer failed to recognize it as "fear" and instead regarded it "aggression." A bit of advice and I'll be blunt again... Never leave your puppy alone with a trainer like this! And never use that trainer again!
 
Please seek an informed/educated/knowledgeable trainer that uses positive, reward-based methods (that are based on animal science). And avoid any trainers that promote outdated, harsh traditional methods like the plague. An animal should not have training *forced* on them. Btw, training becomes *abuse* when an animal is choked, hit, slapped, pinched, kicked, beaten, scruffed, dragged, thrown to the ground, hung by its collar, shocked, yelled at, jerked around, etc. In a nutshell it's basically any action by the trainer that would knowingly cause fear, harm, or pain to the animal. The ways to build a healthy relationship with a dog is by exercising mutual cooperation, understanding, and communication. It's not about forcing an animal against its will, lording over them, and causing fear and pain. True, healthy respect is a *two-way* street that is shared among two beings.
 
Sorry, but I felt I had to speak up about this trainer you mentioned - for the sake of your puppy. Anyway, I'm headed out the door to muck stalls and take care of some rescue horses. When I get a chance I'll post some informative links which I think you'll find helpful. And I'm sure other folks on this forum have plenty of great advice too. 
 
Best regards,
Sandy Boyd

[Skeet]

Oops! Please excuse the icon in my former post. I meant it to be

Regards,
Sandy B.

 I fixed that Sandy. 
CA, your friendly neighbourhood steward

[daveandrachel]

Sandy, thank you for saying what needed to be said.

David

[NalaSA]

My "Nala" is now 5 months old and she pretty much did all of those behaviours you described (leash biting,snapping at our feet and leash if she didn't want to do what we asked, ignored yelps or No Bite when nipping, threw crazy tantrums in her crate) when we got her at 8 weeks.  She absolutely hated to be on the leash and would either refuse to walk or would attack your legs and jump up to nip.  She doesn't do any of these behaviours now.  We did a lot of positive/reward based training with her and she eventually started to learn around 12-14 weeks.  Just lots and lots of practice.  There's no way I would describe my own puppy Nala as dominant or aggressive - she backs down pretty quickly with consistency and firmness (not harshness).  From the sounds of it, your Nala is just being a playful puppy and she's also just challenging you to see how much she can get away with. 

Your trainer with the "good dog/horrible dog" scale sounds a bit off.  I think a lot of trainers who are used to training popular and naturally obedient breeds like Goldens and Collies don't understand Ridgebacks and their nature and therefore get quick to label them.

Keep working basic obedience because it will get better.  Something I found helpful was using the Nothing Is Free principle where my dog had to sit and be calm before she got anything (food, treats, affection, her favourite bed, toys).  I made sure I always went through doors before her.  In short, she had to earn a spot in my household.  That seemed to help establish a level of respect.  Also, bitter apple worked a charm for the nipping and leash biting.  Although there have been (and i'm sure there will be) lots of frustrating moments, it's all worth it.

Keep us posted!

Liv and Nala

[Skeet]

Here are a few informative articles to get you started. I think you will find these useful. I will post some more articles on dog training and psychology soon.

The importance of bonding with your dog
http://www.helium.com/items/1564764-dog-psychology-the-importance-of-bonding-with-your-dog

Common Myths About Dog Training
http://www.apdt.com/petowners/choose/myths.aspx

Dominance and Dog Training
http://www.apdt.com/petowners/choose/dominance.aspx

Best regards,
Sandy Boyd

[Skeet]

Forgot to mention... while you're exploring the links I shared I encourage you check out other dog related articles on their pages too.

Regards,
Sandy B.

[Skeet]

Btw, I'll continue to post more links to articles, training videos, helpful books, websites, etc under the Training/Conditioning/Behavior section of the RR-Forum. So please look there for info if you're interested.

Wishing you all the best...

Regards,
Sandy Boyd