About Charlotte B Expertise I can answer any question on raising and training dogs,the proper feeding, training, and behavior of animals.What I do not know for certain, I will take the time to research for the correct advise.
Experience My father was a veterinarian and taught me hot to take care of animals, starting at the age of three.
I have raised and trained purebreds, and mixed breeds.I participate in animal rescue groups in my area.
Up until my health made it necessary for me to stop, I have trained dogs.I have trained some dogs that could not be handled by their owners. They would bite their owners, but in 65 over 65 years of handling dogs, I have never been nipped in anger. The only times I have had skin broken was in playing with a little puppy, and they were not yet taught not to nip so hard.
Organizations SPCA of Irving Texas, several rescue groups.
Question Hello,I have a 14 week old AKA German Shepherd puppy. She is a smart,happy puppy. The first problem is she grabs me by my hair,hands,arms, and pulls and bites me. My second problem is, she bites my cats, i have two 5 year old cats, they both weigh about 20 pounds, at first they held thier own, but now my GSD, is 30 pounds, and they can't fend her off. Any advice would be great. Thank you. And God Bless.
Answer Hi Stephanie;
She is just an excited, enthusiastic puppy, full of energy and not yet much sense.
She is big enough to be overwhelming to the cats, but not old enough to have an sense.
She wants to play, and is playing the way puppies do, and doesn't realize she may be hurting them.
they react, and she thinks they are joining in the romp.
When she plays with you, and grabs your hair etc, unhook her from what she is grabbing, and say, "NO!. play nice"
Or "NO! don't bite, be a sweet puppoy".
Say the no in a sharp voice , not a no, no sweety, voice, but sternly.
Id she won't stop biting after being tols 2 or 3 times, stop playing immediatley, and say things like " No! if you bite, I won;t play with you".
When she learns that her biting and being rough gets the playing stopped, she will tone it down. when she plays and doesn't bite hard, be sure to praise her for playing so nicely, "that's a GOOG girl" etc.
she just wants to please, and she is playing the way puppies naturally play with each other.
Their playing is the way they learn to fight, so that is ahy they get a bit rough.
It is like little boys playing soldier or such games.
Make the cats a place they can get out of her reach, and be sure to corrct her for being so rough with them.
Correct her the same way you do when she is rough with you.
She doesn't know how you want her to act until you teach her.
She hasn't lived with you long enough to learn the meanings of the words you say, so you have to show her.
Physically pick her up and remove her from whatever she is doing that is wrong, while you are correcting her.
Check with the Ptsmart or Petco stores in your area about puppy training classes. Also see if there is a Man's Best Frind in your area. They have excllent trainers.
In a group class, the trainer teaches the class, and the owner handles the dog.
That way the owner learns how to give the commands and to get it across to their dog what they want.
She has to learn the same way a child that plays too rough has to learn, that mom makes the rules and the kids mind what they are told.
If you do not get a handle on this now, as she gets older, she can get a little more aggressive, because she has taken over as the Alpha of the family ( pack), and then you could have REAL problems.
Write anytime, I will be glad to help in any way i can.
I saw a set of shelves in a magazine.
The people had cats and dogs, and the cats liked to be above to get out of reach, so they had installed a set of staggered shelves on one walk, and the cats could go up the shelves to the higher one, where they were out of reach and couldn't be bothered. They had placed them on one wall, in a way that enhanced the decor of their room, rather than just sticking shelves on the wall.
In another room, they had a few shelves at graduated heights, and one shelf all the way around the room, so the cats could jump up the shelves and walk around on the top ne, and go all around the room. They had several cats, and the cats played on those shelves a lot.
When we brought my sister's cats here after her death, they were not used to dogs, and we have 4, so my husband got somne of those shelves at Home Depot, that are steel covered with white plastic of some kind, that you use for closets etc, and at the bottom oif the closet in the laundry room, he made a fence with enough of an opening at the top that the cats could go in and out, and the dogs could not get in there.
The cats would go in there, and the dogs would nuzzle tyhem through the grid in the little fence, and the cats were able to get used to the dogs, and feel safe.
They could come and go as they pleased, and in a few days they were coming out of their "house" and roaming around the house. they had learned the dogs wouldn't hurt them. If they had not felt safe in their enclosure, they would not have been able to relax and get to know the dogs through the nuzzling.
Charlotte
