Frustrated- Long

[tmschult]

Need advice- Again

Linus is now 4 months old and I sometimes feel that Linus is out of control! - or I do not have Linus in MY control I should say.

It starts from the moment I wake up- as soon as I let him out of his crate he attacks my feet and gets into what I can only call as a trance. Where he seems to be in an over-excited rage almost. He will continue to jump bite my feet until i pick him up (snapping at me while this is happening) and put him in another room. Saying "no" doesn't work- nothing works! Is this how all puppies are?!

I have a large field where I take him daily to try to get him to run some energy off- he is off leash and all he does is chase me when I start to run and jump up to try and bite my arm.

I never feel that it is "aggressive" i know he is playing (I think). But I feel almost that he doesn't respect me if that makes sense? When we come in from the run I think he will tire out. no- I'll sit down on the couch and he'll charge at me and try to bite/mouth getting into one of these trance like states where he will not listen or stop. I've tried the walking away when he gets too rough- he chases after me. I've tried the firm no and eye contact- he charges at me more, i give him a toy to chew on or to try to distract him- he wants nothing to do with it. I then grow frustrated and impatient and raise my voice ( I know is a no no) and this makes it worse. We give him boundaries, exercise him, teach him commands and make him do these before going for a walk or eating, socialize him- but we don't know how to Discipline him.

I've read all of Cesar Milan's books now- and they only make me feel that I do not have the "natural energy" to control Linus. I would like advice on what actions to take when he is behaving in a way I think is disrespectful.

People give advice that say "You can't let your puppy do that" Yes I know this but How do I stop him when he doesn't listen and using force is not an option?!?!

Sigh.. Can anyone give tips on how to discipline a puppy the correct way?

 

[llee]

Bodie was exactly the same way at 4 months and now he's 6 months and way better....we use to say he was possessed...He would get in that like trance like state with a blank stare and just nip and bite especially my wife and daughter...ours got better although I cant say for sure why other than a combination of correction, distraction, training, and just growing out of it ...hang in there...sometimes you just gotta give him some toys and give yourself a time out...we used a gate and my family spent a lot of time locked in their rooms when he was like that....oh yeah, bully sticks where great distractions for about an hour...

 

[Jan]

Rather than picking him up and taking him out of the room, just leave the room yourself and shut the door. Come back after a couple of minutes. If he persists leave again. He will eventually figure it out. He is wanting attention, so don't give him any.

When you are outside and he is biting at you, just fold your arms and look at the sky. Totally ignore him. Attention is what he wants so you don't want to give him any when he is misbehaving.

It takes persistence, but it will work.

Boxer puppies can be very annoying.

Good luck!

 

[Dell]

Kona thinks my husband is her chew toy and has recently started biting at MY feet, legs, pants, etc too. I just completely ignore her and am as rude in "dog language" as I can think of being. It gets zero reaction. I pretend she isn't there and snub her. Then I lay on the praise super thick when she goes to get a toy 'cause I'm just too boring. And I'll actually play with her then. She's starting to figure out this means toys=good, me=not a toy! It's taking longer with my husband, but he still acts like a toy sometimes. Good luck! Let's hope they outgrow some of their silly puppy antics.

 

[allisterlq]

Reading the op.

They get hyper at times in the morning as pups. Never in 20 years found a way to counter that.

1. Do no do the chase and run deal. You are playing their game then. Stand still and try to be strict with commands.

2. If they dont leave you alone dont yell. A stomp of the foot may clue them in. A Im way more powerful than you deal. A loud clap can work too.

 

[Cami]

I feel your pain!
Raine is the most obnoxious pup I have ever had to deal with and I work with animals for a living. All of the traditional training that I knew inside and out just don't work for her so I have had to think outside the box. Sometimes my new version of training works and sometimes it doesn't. Then it is back to frustration and square one.
If there is any glimmer of hope it is that I can see her making progress and know that eventually we will come out the other side. I may have gray hair by that time but since I am in my 40's I guess I won't be able to blame them on her!
Keep plugging along and you too will start to see positive changes.

 

[tmschult]

So Weird!

I feel like I have a completely different dog!!

I brought Linus up to the Poconos PA (Mountains, Lake "country" setting) to my parents house for memorial day weekend. My mom has a somewhat "unstable" poodle.

Linus tried to play with him- he growled and snapped at him numerous times. Linus learned to keep his distance. Still tried to play but backed off when the poodle growled. I didn't like how my moms dog was acting and tried to keep them separated and corrected the poodle everytime it became aggressive But we were staying for the weekend and there wasn't much I could do.

There was a lot of people and commotion all weekend and I felt like Linus was a completely different dog! He was so good! Not once did I have to correct him.

His ears were back the entire weekend head down.. he followed me around the entire time (I mean FOLLOWED- anywhere i walked in the house he would follow and lay at my feet)

I just thought it was so bizarre of how much his behavior changed- why do you think he was like this? I hope he wasn't traumatized by the poodle or scared of him the entire weekend and that's why he as acting this way? Most of the time the dogs were following each other and fine -only when Linus tried to play with the poodle did things get a little out of hand.

We brought him home thinking he woudl go bck to his normal obnoxious disobedient self but no he has been a complete angel.. i know puppies go through stages but i just cant figure this out?!

 

[allisterlq]

I feel like I have a completely different dog!!

I brought Linus up to the Poconos PA (Mountains, Lake "country" setting) to my parents house for memorial day weekend. My mom has a somewhat "unstable" poodle.

Linus tried to play with him- he growled and snapped at him numerous times. Linus learned to keep his distance. Still tried to play but backed off when the poodle growled. I didn't like how my moms dog was acting and tried to keep them separated and corrected the poodle everytime it became aggressive But we were staying for the weekend and there wasn't much I could do.

There was a lot of people and commotion all weekend and I felt like Linus was a completely different dog! He was so good! Not once did I have to correct him.

His ears were back the entire weekend head down.. he followed me around the entire time (I mean FOLLOWED- anywhere i walked in the house he would follow and lay at my feet)

I just thought it was so bizarre of how much his behavior changed- why do you think he was like this? I hope he wasn't traumatized by the poodle or scared of him the entire weekend and that's why he as acting this way? Most of the time the dogs were following each other and fine -only when Linus tried to play with the poodle did things get a little out of hand.

We brought him home thinking he woudl go bck to his normal obnoxious disobedient self but no he has been a complete angel.. i know puppies go through stages but i just cant figure this out?!

You say you corrected the poodle. That makes you top dog in your boxers eyes.Thats enough to make them change they way they act toward you and around you. Its not a bad thing. You are top dog. Sounds like this was actually a plus rather than a negative effect.