Expert: Delores Beck - 4/9/2011

Question
QUESTION: Dear Delores,

I have written a couple of times for your advice, which has always been really helpful, so thanks for that!
We have a 5 month old male Cocker.  He has attended general obedience classes (and still is) and is fairly good at obeying simple sit, down, wait etc commands.
We have a couple of issues with him now.
One is that sometimes when we correct him or say NO, he will start barking and snapping into the air or towards us or even biting.  An example would be if we play and he starts nipping and we say no, then he will bark and snap...... it seems to me like some sort of frustration.  We have used the method of stopping play and getting up and turning our backs at him but sometimes he will just carry on barking at us and on occasions nip/bite the back of our legs.  
Also, he is now big enough to jump onto the sofa.  Once he gets on, we will try to tell him “off” (get down).  He normally understands “off” for backing down from a cupboard door (if you tell him enough times that is!) but he will NOT move off the sofa.  He will start chewing cushions and when well tell him NO, he will start barking at us.  If we approach him to take him off the sofa, he will try to run to a different area of the sofa and will snap/bite at us.  We tried getting a house lead for him and have it on him during the evening.  As soon as he got onto the sofa, we would pull him gently off by the lead and say off at the same time and offer him a treat when he got onto the floor.  We thought the lack of physical contact by using a lead might be less rewarding for him as lifting him off is like an affectionate touch.  This method would just result in him jumping up and down for hours on end.........
If we left him in the sofa while we sit there, he just crawls all over us, poking and prodding and chewing us and cushions on the sofa.
The only way we can get some peace now is by shutting him in the hall way and wait until his is asleep and then quietly open the door hoping he is too tired to jump up when he wakes up.  My husband believes that he will eventually grow out of this but I am not so sure.  I also find it sad to have him in the hall way as I want a dog to be in the living room with us albeit resting on the floor and not the sofa!
Do you have any advice what to do?

Anette

ANSWER: Let's take this one thing at a time.  First of all, he's 5 months and behaving like a 5 month old male who's trying you on.

Playing & nipping:  Turning your back is too passive.  Get a plastic spray bottle filled with water (make sure it's on "spray/mist" not a hard stream of water.  Have it within reach - or get several.
Now when he begins nipping say NO in a calmly serious voice and spritz him in the face.
Say nothing else. Look/stare into his eyes while saying NO and continue starting in his eyes after you spritz him.  Don't move or speak until he turns away. (Pretend you're Clint Eastwood :)

The message is fast & simple:  You do THAT and THIS happens.  There's no yelling - no scolding - no conversation at all.  The first time he may try and come back - repeat!

The Sofa Issue:  Using a different command than Off - maybe "Down" - teach him that command by using the leash, when he's off - praise & reward.  Make it fun and when you feel he's got it - try the command without the leash.  Praise & reward.

When he's really got that command down cold - and you're 100% sre he does - then have handy an empty pop or beer can filled with about 10-12 pennies - duct tape the top shut.
You command "Down" and he ignores you.  Raise the can in the air and bring it down HARD once after you say "Down"...and go right in his face with this!

Don't shake the can - the object is ONE thundering noise and it'll scare the wits out of him :)
Again - no chat - after he flees off the sofa, ignore him for a few minutes.

And why do I have the feeling this boy may not be getting enough exercise?  How long are his daily walks/runs?  At this age their energy levels are incredibly high and a lot of behavior problems are due to boredom and pent up energy.

Stop shutting him in the hallway - it's punishment that he doesn't understand.  Take him for a run - a tired dog is a good dog :).

And decide now if he's allowed on the sofa or not!

Please do write and let me know how it's going.  Sometimes things need fine tuning.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dear Delores,

Thank you for your advice so far.  You asked me about how much exercise he is getting.  He has two half hour walks each day, I actually has been told by a dog trainer where we attend puppy classes that we walk him too much.  I asked you about this last month and you wrote to us that we are giving him the right amount of walking, so I do not think that is the issue.

We have now been following your advice but I think we have a really persistent puppy!  We have used the lead to get him off the furniture and then also without the lead. If we have a really nice treat at hand,he will jump down but get straight back up.  I have also on a couple of occasions tried to use the can with pennies but this just seem to make him bark loads and get wound up.  He generally speaking starts to bite and nip when he makes it onto the sofa, I am a bit in two minds whether he is actually being aggressive as he has no respect when we tell him no. We are using the spray to reinforce our No when he bites but again, he seems to get really wound up and just get worse! I totally understand that it does not help to have him in the hall way with a babygate separating him from the living room but for our own sanity, we can only bear half an hour each evening of this circus.  I really don't want us to lose our rag with him.
We know of a local dog behaviorist but she tends to use quite physical methods which we are not keen on.  Do you think we need more help or do you have any other advice for us?  We really appreciate your knowledge and experience in handling these dogs.  
Most of the time he is a very loving dog and we love him to bits.  
Thanks again Delores for your help.
Anette

ANSWER: I did ask you "is he allowed on the sofa or NOT?"  For the time being, the answer needs to be No.

Now when you say NO and spritz him...are you keeping your voice calm?  No further chat?  When he tries to get back up, say NO and physically block him.  Keep calm & authoritative.

Your dog trainer is absolutely and totally wrong.  I've never heard of such nonsense.  Is there a fenced in dog park/area where he can be loose and play 'till he's tired?

I'm getting the impression this only happens at night?  When you're on the sofa?  I'd like to know if he does this if you sit on the floor with him?  There's a clue here somewhere as to what's causing this behavior so the more specific & detailed you can be, the better.

And what do you mean this behaviorist uses "quite physical methods"?  Do you mean she hits?

I'll also say he's still a baby and a lot of puppy behavior simply passes with time.  But locking him up and isolating him isn't good.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi again,
We have decided early on that we do NOT want him on the sofa.
When we spritz him, we just say no firmly and sternly and stare him in the eyes.  He will turn his head eventually but all this will happen whilst he is also barking at us, I want to describe this as frustration.  We also try to block him from jumping up again which works until he manages to get a clear run and then gets up.
As part of his walks, we also take him on a field where he runs around as much as desired with a long lead on.  We play fetch and drop with him and just let him sniff around to have a good experience.
This behaviour is very apparent at night but not totally isolated to night time.  Sometimes during the day if I sit and play with him on the floor, he will also start nipping/biting but he is more responsive to the No and the spritz during play inside on the floor.  If the no and spritz is happening on the sofa though, he just will not accept it.  Also, he may start biting when he is in the garden and we tell him off for doing certain things -as an example, if he is eating something he should not and we go to pick him up, he will try to nip us and afterwards run around the garden like a devil possessed.  
Generally speaking during play, training walks 80% of the time he is ok and responds quite well (considering he is a puppy!).  If you get to the floor to cuddle him, he is a VERY loving dog, who wants to crawl onto your lap if he could.  
I am just concerned if this biting will turn out to be a behavioural problem when he gets older and I am therefore keen to sort it out now.  When he was 10 weeks approximately, he also bit a lot.  At this point in time, he had no comprehension of how to inhibit his bite.  We had to spend a lot of time to teach him how to have a softer mouth.  When he was about 15 weeks, we then tried to tell him NO altogether when mouthing but as you can see he is still using his mouth a lot and inappropriately.
The behaviourist we know of strikes the neck of dogs really fast, sort of like a snake would bite.  We don’t feel this should be necessary with dogs.  Also, we know our cocker is very sensitive to our reprimands, so I try to reinforce positive behaviour also by offering alterative toys/activities for him but the biting just seems to be a stumbling point for us.  In the evening, I always try to start by letting him have a stuffed Kong on the living room floor which works for about 10 minutes but he will then try to take the Kong onto the sofa, or a toy onto the sofa.  Before “dealing” with getting him off the sofa, we will remove the toy etc straight away to the floor or his own basket in the living room to encourage him to get it.  We always praise him lots and lots for good behaviour but he now will definitely not get off the sofa unless he can see that we have a treat ready for him.  We can then only pull him down on the lead.
We know with him that his attitude is sort of “if you ask me nicely, I might do it” by this I mean, if we get over the top with telling him off, it will have the opposite effect.  So we know that the way to communicate with him is to be firm but calm otherwise he will start a riot.
When he is in the hall way, he can look through the gate into the living room.  He almost always will fall asleep within 5 minutes of being in the hallway where his crate and other toys also are (this is where he normally sleeps at night).  I want to be with him in the evening as well but once he settles in the hallway, he is ok.  I just also know as you say this is not really the way.

Answer
It's extremely rare for a dog not to "stop" when using the can of pennies or the water bottle
spray.  I am wondering if you're doing this correctly.  And if you've had time to really teach him the OFF command?
What time of day does he get his walks?