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Jumping and nipping 4 month golden

758 views 8 replies 9 participants last post by  goldenwarn 
#1 ·
Our precious Heidi is 4 months old and just takes a running leap on whomever is sitting on the chair, couch, etc. Can yell OFF till blue in the face, spray with vinegar and she is just as persistent. She also loves to jump up and nip at clothing. She is a sweet baby. She did well at her first round of training and as long as she is on a leash listens pretty well to commands. We just gave up trying to keep her off the couch :doh:

Any suggestions as to how to stop her from the "surprise leap in your lap"?
 
#2 ·
We have Jake 17 yr old and Rayfield a 10 week puppy. It is so tempting to let the lil guy up in my lap and snuggle, it isn't so great when they are much heavier and bigger!

You say she is fairly good at following commands while on the leash so you may want to leave the leash on while she is in the house and use it to teach her that the couch is not hers to do with as she pleases.

Goldens love to please so it shouldn't take long to correct her behavior as long as you are consistent and firm, letting her know that she is not allowed on the couch unless invited.

You will need to start by letting her know what is her space and what is yours. You can work with this by limiting her jumping and nipping at your clothing too. Claim your space while walking, starting with a calm yet firm command when she nips or tugs at your clothing. I use the word MINE and give a signal with my arm pointing to move back from me. At first I had to firmly walk towards Rayfield and say Mine till he associated that with giving me space.

When she jumps on the couch, take the leash, or with firm gentle movement remove her from the couch to about four feet from the couch, stand firm and use your command be it down, mine etc. Wait for her brain to reach a calm state as she will be confused, yet once she realizes that you are not going to back down, she should sit calmly, or lay down with a relaxed body. If you don't wait for her to calm down she may confuse this new instruction as some sort of new game.

Do this each time she jumps on the couch. Try to recognize when she is approaching the couch and give the command let her know she can't come into your space. Try not allowing her on the couch for atleast a week, so she imprints that it is your territory, then you can begin to invite her to lay down on the floor by the couch for petting, then once she comes to the couch without jumping up on it, you can if you want begin inviting her up on the couch to lay next to you. But only when she has learned that the couch is yours not hers.

Goldens are such people pleasers! Yelling doesn't do much for them as I think it tends to shut their brains down ... good luck, if Rayfield can learn it at 10 weeks I'm sure she will do just fine with some patience and persistance.
 
#3 ·
Yep, get her little bottom back in her crate or in her puppy pen when she does that - no words needed except a "eh eh". Get a puppy pen for the room where you have the couch.

Yelling accomplishes nothing but to amp them up. If you do not want her on the couch, do not give her opportunities to get on the couch; the more she is "allowed" to do it the more she will want to do it.
 
#4 ·
You can also try having her drag a short (2-3 foot) leash - just cut off an old leash or make one from nylon cord and a clip. This makes it easy to guide or control her without grabbing her collar. If you don't want her on the couch, you are the adult and you shouldn't give in. Correct her every single time and don't give up.

In your situation, I would restrict her from the living room unless I was playing with her and giving undivided attention. Use an X pen and/or baby gates to keep her where there is no furniture for her to jump on. I don't know what your household is like, but if you are trying to sit on the couch and watch tv in the evenings, she is probably not going to give you a break unless she is sleeping or chewing a bone. A puppy that age is like a toddler, if they are awake and out of their 'play pen' they require almost constant interaction or they will get into trouble. Mamma doesn't get a break while baby is awake.

My other question: "How much exercise is she getting and what is her crate time schedule?" As she gets older she is going to need more exercise that gets her heart rate up. Walking a puppy will usually not do it. Do you have anyone you could schedule puppy playdates with? Try to network, it could be a friend of a friend, but I think you would find that a couple sessions a week on a regular basis would give you a change in her behavior. It is very hard to get a puppy aerobic exercise and it is something they need.
 
#5 ·
Snow was acting like this,moreover he was aggresive when trying to get him off the couch and the trainer suggested to have him on leash also in the house.
When he was on the couch we simply pulled the leash and had him down.
When he`s home alone or when he cannot be supervised be carefull not to have acces at the couch,otherwise he will not get the ideea.
 
#6 ·
Welcome to the forum. Those babies can really be a challenge. They just don't come out of the box knowing the rules or have much impulse control. :) You have gotten some good advice about the use of prevention/management until you can actually have them understand your training/rules.
 
#8 ·
You have been given good advice so far, do you have a crate/ex pen that she can go into? Does she have free roam of the whole house? How much exercise/training do you do with her a day? A lot of mental and physical exercise will drain a lot of unwanted energy and you will experience a completely different puppy sometimes.

Also, don't ever 'GIVE UP', having a puppy takes patience and consistency before you actually see the rewards from it. It took my boy Keisel (who's 14 weeks as well) 2 weeks of repeated no's for him to finally get it. He was also only 9 weeks old at the time but it takes time for puppies to understand OUR language if that makes sense.
 
#9 ·
We have had this problem with our little girl...she was just ignoring everything we tried with her. I had an old collar that was a training collar, hubby took the prongs off the collar and disabled the shick button in the remote so it wouldn't/culdnt shock anymore and use it as a beeper. The beep gets her attention quickly and she has really responded to this!!! A clicker probably would work too but we had this on hand so gave it a try. I tried the whistle app on my cell but she couldn't have cared less. We always give the command and then if necessary the second time give the beep then command and she has earned to come on the first command!!!! For some reason she dislikes that beep and that's it she listens. Our older girl Sadie had an invisible fence collar and learned that same concept from just the beep never once got shocked just knew the beep ,meant stop lol. They are very intelligent and once you find what works for your dog stick with it, our lab/springer responded to the pst noise like the dog whisperer makes lol.


Oh and lots and Los of praise works for the, since they are people pleaders!!!!! To this day though we can't get our old girl to come when the kiddos are around....she is their guardian and will not leave that post for anything lol.
 
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