puppy demands undivided attention

J

jerros

Forums Enthusiast
Vash has developed a new behavior I am uncertian what to do about.

I'll start with an example of what happened today...a salesman stopped by my house today, I normally would have sent him away but I thought it would be good experiance for vash so I let the salesman do his thing.

Meanwhile vash is trying to greet the salesman, and I am body blocking him because he is not on his leash. After a few moments vash starts barking, and forces me to put him in his pen as he becomes more and more excited and starts nipping at me.

This isn't the first time he's done something like this, I've talked to neighbors in their cars while on walks and he will do similar things.

If the person I meet has a dog he is usually preoccupied with playing so me talking to them isn't an issue.

It just seems like he's either demanding my attention, or that of the person I am talking to. And I am not totally sure how to deal with the problem
 
jerros said:
Vash has developed a new behavior I am uncertian what to do about.

I'll start with an example of what happened today...a salesman stopped by my house today, I normally would have sent him away but I thought it would be good experiance for vash so I let the salesman do his thing.

Meanwhile vash is trying to greet the salesman, and I am body blocking him because he is not on his leash. After a few moments vash starts barking, and forces me to put him in his pen as he becomes more and more excited and starts nipping at me.

This isn't the first time he's done something like this, I've talked to neighbors in their cars while on walks and he will do similar things.

If the person I meet has a dog he is usually preoccupied with playing so me talking to them isn't an issue.

It just seems like he's either demanding my attention, or that of the person I am talking to. And I am not totally sure how to deal with the problem
Click to expand...

How old is Vash?
 
thats a sheltie for you, though with Vash it seems a bit exaggerated. I'd ignore him. Set him up with clicker training and then when he's quiet, even for a second he gets a click.
 
Herd4fun said:
thats a sheltie for you, though with Vash it seems a bit exaggerated. I'd ignore him. Set him up with clicker training and then when he's quiet, even for a second he gets a click.
Click to expand...

Exactly if he never gets any attention for it, it will go away. You can speed up the process with clicker training. Also tell the other person to ignore Vash too .SOmetimes other people reinforce behavior like this when they shoudn't.
 
Lahree said:
How old is Vash?
Click to expand...

Vash will be 5 months old on the 15th. I know he's young and this type of thing is to be expected, I just don't want to reinforce the bad behavior. I've had dogs in the past who learned things when young and it seemed like an impossible task to correct the problems once they had matured.

So correcting it while young would be optimal in my opinion.
 
I think ignoring him,would be the best tactic. I think he is trying to be..well a puppy.He's excited,possibly not a shy bone in his body,and he wants in on the conversation as well.

But nipping for your attention,for me is not acceptable(if it were my dog).

I would put him in his crate,or behind a gate.Once he is ignored a few times,and ask the person you are talking to not to make eye contact with him.

When he displays acceptable behavior,reinforce that with a click & treat.
 
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