Hi all,
Ellie is five months old now and such an incredible doll. We are having a wonderful time with her and are love her to pieces. We are having two behavioral problems though and advise would be greatly appreciated.
First one: She loves to be loved and petted, however, she does not know how to express her joy without biting or mouthing. You can tell when you are petting her or rubbing her belly that she absolutely loves it (she wiggles and makes happy noises and is NOT aggressive in ANY way). We do not get her all wound up--we aren't squealing or doing anything to get her excited. We talk to her in very quiet normal tones and pet her gently. When we tell her "no" when she bites she stops immediately biting US, but then she bites herself! On her legs, or tail or anything she can grab. How can we help her with this? Is this just normal puppy stuff she will eventually get better about?
Second: She jumps up and down NEXT to us. Like a Jack Russell or something. She doesn't jump ON us (she knows she's not supposed to) but when she gets excited (food time, when I come home from work, etc.) she jumps up and down in the air and wiggles. She also does the same thing when we are outside playing frisbee and the next door neighbor dogs start barking. She immediately starts barking back and starts jumping up and down next to the fence (again, she KNOWS she is not supposed to jump ON the fence).
I have had numerous serious health problems lately and we have not been able to go for our long walks in about 6 weeks. Richard has been sick the last 2 weeks, so he hasn't been able to take her on walks either. This may be part of the problem. We do play frisbee with her every day and get her exercise that way, but it is not structured like a walk. Could this have something to do with her problems?
