Help a new acd owner

[iampassionate]

Hello,

Sorry for all the errors and bad use of phrasing, English is my second language.

my partner and I got a acd puppy (9 weeks old). She is great but a handful. We wanted to ask for advice regarding her and our behavior.

She bites a lot and It’s hard to know if she need sleep or is bored. It’s so hard to know if we do enough or to much.

There are many posts here about biting and a million answers that often are contradicting. Not enough sleep. To much sleep not enough activity. To much Training. Not enough training. Ignoring here when she bites. Pushing here away when she bites. Going away when she bites. Isolation when she bites.

Ignoring and going away doesn’t work as she follows us and continues to attack the feet. When closing the door she cry’s and doesn’t stop. Pushing here away just makes her more „angry“. Saying no makes here „angry“. Putting her in her crate doesn’t really make it better after she gets out again.

I also think that she doesn’t really care about beeing pet. So petting here is not really a reward.

How do we figure out what really helps? How long do we need to try until there are signs that it helps? Is she to young to understand? Is it possible that we already screwed up and she is not comfortable with us?

I really want to be a good owner and don’t want to „traumatize“ her. Don’t want here to become the „she had a bad home“ dog.

I want her to be happy and comfortable.

Sorry for the millionth post about biting. Please ask about things we do so maybe you find something that is „wrong“.

PS: she weighs 5.2 kg and gets 360 g raw food.

Thank you.

 

[slaveofgodreturns]

@iampassionate One of the worst parts about the biting was that I thought it would go on forever - but it won’t. Someone in this sub posted this YouTube video and I found it really helpful. Also letting the puppy socialize once she got all her vaccinations helped too. Good luck!

 

[yandia]

@slaveofgodreturns Yeah, playtime with other pups helped our guy figure it out. I guess my wife and I just can’t make the right puppy “yip” noise

 

[iampassionate]

@slaveofgodreturns Thank you for the encouragement! Although It’s really hard to believe that, as you can imagine. How old was your dog when you started?

Thank you for the video. I really hope we can learn from it.

 

[slaveofgodreturns]

@iampassionate She was 8 weeks old when I got her. My hands had so many cuts from her little needle teeth! You could at the pet store for puppy safe things to chew on (eg when it was dinner time we’d give her a pig’s ear or a fish skin bone to chew on to keep her busy and happy

 

[hopeforme]

@iampassionate Puppyhood isn't all sunshine and rainbows - a lot of puppy behavior just must be tolerated until maturity. Crate training is ESSENTIAL. Do no let the dog out when it is crying - you are training it to cry. Your patience will be be rewarded with a well-trained dog. Keep up the good work!

 

[iampassionate]

@hopeforme Yeah we do crate training. And yes it’s no sunshine at all ..

Thanks for the encouragement!

 

[hopeforme]

@iampassionate The next 12+ years will be so worth it! Best wishes and keep us posted (with pics too).

 

[078956]

@iampassionate Your pup is learning her boundaries. When she bites you, make a sharp yipping noise to try and tell her it hurts. Patience is necessary. If you can make it through these stages the bond with an ACD is amazing.

 

[iampassionate]

@078956 The loud yipping noise unfortunately doesn’t work at all. She gets more exited. It’s seems like this works for some but not all. Thank you though!

 

[078956]

@iampassionate I'm sorry. This may have been suggested already, but another option could be to get an empty water bottle and put some coins and noisy things inside and shake the bottle when they do the thing you want to discourage them from doing. That sometimes works with my little monster.

 

[lee102]

@iampassionate Recoil from the bite the same way a littermate would if they were hurt. Yelp when you get bit, but make it an academy award winning performance. Pull your arm or leg away from the bite and yelp like you mean it.

It’s natural for these dogs to bite. They don’t want to hurt their human, they don’t know it hurts unless you make it very clear.

If you’re yelping correctly, the puppy should fold their ears backwards and the puppy should snuff to see if you’re very hurt.

 

[iampassionate]

@lee102 Hey thanks. We tried but seems to fire her up more. But maybe we do it not correct. Maybe we figure it out. Hope soon

 

[lee102]

@iampassionate Okay, try yelling the word "owe". These dogs don't like to be yelled at.

 

[lululala]

@lee102 I wish that was true for ours haha

 

[lululala]

@iampassionate Do as much as you can with her training/activities/adventures taking into regard her vaccination status, just don’t run her too hard till she’s a bit older. After that you can pretty much run her for 12hours a day haha. They do bite, have a google of bite inhibition training & see which method fits you guys. Ours is super gentle but still bites when over excited

 

[iampassionate]

@lululala Thanks. The „don’t run her to hard“ part is kinda hard to figure out (I’m mean the right amount of activities).
I read many posts here bevor asking. Problem is there are many many different opinions and you don’t really see results very quick so you don’t know if you need to keep doing it.
But we try our best. It’s my first dog and I want her to be happy.

 

[lululala]

@iampassionate Yeah it’s just that their joints are still growing and their bones are soft so extremely repetitive impacts (long runs) aren’t great over the longer term. You just have to try everything and see what works for you and your dog. It’s easy for people to say do this or do that but each dog is different so it may or may not work for them

 

[iampassionate]

@lululala Yea, that’s what i got reading about that topic. A lot of different opinions and approaches. What helps is that everyone says it will get better. We will try our best

 

[oblivionxx]

@iampassionate You’ve just gotta get through it. As a new puppy owner I was absolutely distraught, was convinced she was a biter for life, and I tried literally EVERYTHING. the only thing that helped was using the crate to my advantage - make sure the pup gets used to the crate and accepts it (this can be a challenge on its own) and then use the crate to make the puppy have structured, regular naps. They don’t need as much activity as you think they do at that age. Our trainer sent us something that basically said a puppy at 8 weeks needs like 18 hours of sleep a day! The other way crate training helps - possibly the even more important way - it gives you a BREAK. In my experience, you just gotta get through it, and giving yourself a break makes sure you get there without losing your damn mind.

Once they get older, I find that the best nip deterrent is immediately ending contact/fun once the teeth come out. (I have a much older puppy now, and this very rarely happens - small nips when she’s jazzed up to PLAY). But when they are as small as yours? They are just a brainless ball of bite. It’s not you, it’s not the pup - don’t lose hope!