So well behaved?

[RunningOra]

Ok, I'm getting a little weirded out....(re-reading this, it sounds a little braggy, I'm really honestly not meaning to sound like that...I just would love to hear if others have had a similar experience)

I've had Sasha since she was 11 weeks old....she's now 4 months old and she is SO well behaved...I'm wondering if I'm missing something, or if I'm in for a big surprise in the coming months, or maybe I just lucked out? She listens almost instantly if told to "drop" or "leave", she goes to the toilet on command most of the time, doesn't bark or growl except for if she's trying to play with the cat...sleeps happily in her crate with no fuss or crying...and sleeps under my desk most of the day when I'm working. What's going on!!! Where's the pooping, crying, terrorising, chewing machine I was expecting when I decided to get a puppy!!!!! I'm wondering if she's so well behaved because she's with me ALL the time...she sleeps in a seperate room, but once she's up for the day, she's by my side (she comes to work with me). And if I'm busy or can't have her, she gets "puppy sat" by a colleague or family member. Perhaps this security/attention/plenty of exercise is keeping her less desirable puppy behaviours at bay? Interested on other people's thoughts/opinions on this....or is she about to turn into a terror in the coming months, hehe!

Also...my ONE complaint/worry with her is that while she comes maybe 90% of the time when I call her, sometimes (ie when there's another dog she wants to play with) she won't come when I call. I am very careful to usually only ever call her when a) I know she'll come or b) I can enforce it (ie if she's on a long lead) but she's getting to the size/age now when sometimes she is off lead so I can't enforce, but I need her to come urgently (ie if an unfriendly dog suddenly appears). Any thoughts?

Sorry this got so long!!! Puppy thought venting!!!!

 

[ehayes21]

She's got you fooled! ...it's good to hear she's such a well behaved baby. BUT, just wait a couple of months when she hits those terrible teens - you will find you have a totally different dog.

You are spot on to not call her when you know she won't come to you. Everytime you do and she doesn't come you are reinforcing to her that she doesn't have to listen to you.
Here is a great article for teaching a reliable recall.
http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2002/recall.htm

 

[mancin]

She's got you fooled! ...it's good to hear she's such a well behaved baby. BUT, just wait a couple of months when she hits those terrible teens - you will find you have a totally different dog.

You bet! Every puppy I've ever had has gone through their terrible teens, some worse than others. Hopefully she'll take it easy on you!

 

[bayleighmom]

I agree with the posters above...wait til the teen phase hits! It seemed like Bayleigh woke up one morning and all the training was gone!

Keep up the training though. It may help through the dreaded teen phase!

 

[AbbeyRoad]

Yeah, Abbey was really wonderful too and then she hit her teens...

She never chewed anything that she wasn't supposed to throughout all the teething etc, but then about I think maybe 7 months she ate;the corner of our wood futon, the corners of my 100 year old dresser, a $100 pair of shoes I had worn once, and several attempts on the wood banister...luckily this only lasted a week or so.

Totally stopped listening, but I just took a step back and cracked down on the training again. Trained her like it was the first time and in the long run she is much better behaved/trained now because of it.

 

[ehayes21]

Keep up the training though. It may help through the dreaded teen phase!

I can't emphasize this enough! You most definitely have to keep up the training, because one day, they just snap out of it!
Rowdy was almost two mind you, but he went from hellion one day to a perfectly mannered boy the next.

 

[RunningOra]

Wow...when did the "terrible teens" kick in for you guys?

 

[gmacleod]

Perhaps this security/attention/plenty of exercise is keeping her less desirable puppy behaviours at bay?

That is probably a huge part of it An entertained and tired pup is FAR less likely to be mischeivious than one left home alone all day. Doesn't take a great deal of thinking to figure that one out It's great that you can spend so much time with your pup.

On the recall thing - the one thing I see missing from your post is the times you call her that aren't for any other purpose than for rewarding her for compliance. Dogs aren't the great brains of this world - but it doesn't take great brains to realise quickly that coming to you always means the end of playtime/fun if it always means the end Try making only one in ten times that you call your pup the end of playtime, and you might soon find a more willing puppy.... the other times, all you need to do is reward her for coming with some exciting game or other high-value reward, then send her back off to play some more. by this sort of method, coming to you will remain a joyful experience for the pup, and not the automatic penalty of end-of-play-time she'll come to associate it with if it actually does always (or usually) mean the end of playtime.

 

[Box Boys]

Oh boy...we must have the terrible teens coming to us soon too. Buster is 5 months old and has been good as gold, even good enough to leave in the house by himself while we're at work and school. I do need to leave newspaper in the kitchen by the back door that he uses, but other than that - good as gold. I guess I'll know when the terrible teens hit when I come home one day to find my house literally destroyed? Hopefully it won't be that bad. Curious though...about what age can we expect this?

 

[Hi From NZ]

Zoe I SWEAR our boxers are from the same DNA!!! I almost started a new thread entitled 'When is he going to turn into a REAL boxer?' because so far Bruce is SO chilled, SO mellow, SO well behaved that I have to check the paperwork to make sure I really did get a boxer!!

So it's great (??) to see the reassurance is there that they'll deliver the goods...sounds like there's a few of us on the countdown :eek:

Sounds like you're really enjoying Sasha though - that's so great to read about. My life almost completely revolves around Bruce and I couldn't be happier. I just need to teach him to surf with me and my life would be complete!

So yeah - when are these 'Terrible Teens' due to start? Around 6 months?