Anyone have experience with jumping and mouthing?
Kaiya gets bored on her walks and starts jumping and mouthing for a short period. I’ve tried the sit, tried the knee up, tried to have her on a short leash and ignore her to continue walking...I’m not sure if anything worked. Anyone else had this before or any tips/suggestions on how to stop it?
Thanks,
Helen
Thanks,
Helen
Comments
Here's a similar topic -
http://www.nihonken.org/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/8912/understanding-and-dealing-with-wild-child-behavior-in-my-shikoku/p1
I’ve begun to not allow her on the furniture incase it was a dominant or challenging thing. It hurts my heart, but I think it’s a good option for now, at least until she stops challenging us in general. She didn’t do it today but she may have been miserable due to the rain.
Helen
I'm wondering how much mental stimulation Kaiya is getting? Work on a few tricks before going on walks, feed her out of a puzzle feeder, etc. if you're trying for a calmer dog on walks. Working the brain is as important as working the body! Let her sniff around too - I've seen people with very high strung dogs because the dogs are expected to have perfect focus and consistently be in a heel position while on walks and aren't allowed to sniff, and the dogs end up stressed. In my opinion, walks are for the dog so why not make it something that they enjoy? I'm certainly not out at 6 am in -20C for me, for example haha.
Or as mentioned, make the walks more exciting - we take Koharu around and have her jump on rocks, run around in sand pits (when children aren't around haha), engage in personal play, and now that she's sometimes taking treats outside, we'll play the "get it" game in the grass. From what I remember, Kaiya has always taken treats outside so it might be a good option! When I get to a grassy area that is boring enough that Koharu may take a treat, I'll toss one into the grass and tell her to get it. She then has to find the treat in the grass, which works her brain too, since she has to sniff for it! Keep it simple at first, maybe just toss the treat onto pavement so she gets the game, but it's also been helping Koharu build some focus outside.
Also, if you like having her on furniture, keep letting her on. Don't see it as a challenge - being at odds with your dog and seeing her as an adversary will only sour a relationship.
We do let her on rocks and in sand pits too. She just seems to go from 1 to 100. Sometimes she’s ok and goes crazy on her own while on walks. Sometimes If I engage with her outside she’s fine but other times even just petting while she’s walking, she will come and jump up and mouth for a few minutes.
It seems like she does it when she’s either bored or too excited. I can try the tossing of the treat on the floor, that may distract her. It may also be due to my father who had previously stayed with her since puppyhood and he did not attempt to discourage any of her bad behaviour which doesn’t help... I will keep at the training and giving her commands while walking to see if that curbs anything.
When I stated the challenging/testing/dominant phase it was more in reference to the teenage phase where they are still testing limits and pushing their boundaries.
She has been better though, by not allowing her on the furniture. Unsure if it is a direct cause or not. I was going to try it for a week and see if there’s a positive change.
You could try bringing the toy out and pausing on walks to tug and play, as a reward for when she's walking nicely (i.e. Don't give it when she mouthes, at least ask for a sit) - to teach her appropriate times to play.
Changing your route helps, but changing how you walk the route also helps. Slow down, speed up, sprint some sections, weave around trees, walk back/recall, add in some training sits or other commands to practice. Switch it up a bit
Thanks everyone!
I think @thewalrus actually made a post about this on his blog...