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"QUICK BITE"
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Your Pouncing Poodle has gotten you to the point of finally taking action. We must not segregate the dog from the family or it will feel punished. Keep it on lead and let it in the house for an hour. Keep increasing the time by half an hour a day. Deal with Jumping by making all friends, relatives and visitors ONLY give it attention when the dog is calm. Make it sit and stay at the front door when people come in and be extremely consistent. Positive reinforcement of good behavior is key. Be CONSISTENT, patient, and your dog will react to the changes in your behavior!
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Pouncing Poodle!
You've got a poodle and all it does when your friends come over is jump all over them and scratch them up. They've gotten so annoyed, they don't want to come to your house bacause your dog is so hyper and nuts. You are finally embarrassed enough, had your leg scratched up so badly, that now you're ready to do something about it. Leaving the dog on the screened in porch just won't cut it anymore. The dog has chewed up your pool furniture and ripped up your screening. Well, it can be fixed!
The first thing we do is to stop segregating the dog from the rest of the family. By leaving the dog on the screened porch, you are making the problem worse. The dog just feels that you are punishing it and don't love it. You deal with this by literally giving the dog time in the house in increments. You keep the dog on lead so you can control it and keep things sane. Start by having the dog sit or lay next to you while you watch TV for an hour. Do this every day and keep gradually increasing the time by a half an hour. Your pouncing poodle needs to feel like the family wants to be around it and have it share time together.
Next, we are must deal with the crazy jumping. Somewhere along the way, you made the dog believe jumping on you won it affection. Most people don't realize that by letting a puppy jump up on them, you inadvertently create positive reinforcement that encourages the bad behavior. We must reverse this by not letting the dog jump on us at all. When friends, relatives and neighbors visit, you must make your pooch sit and stay as they enter the house. The dog is to get NO Attention unless it is totally calm. You must be extremely consistent. As you do this with everyone, the dog will get the point that winning affection and attention will come by being calm.
The thing about dealing with bad behavior is that you must be absolutely consistent. This can't be stressed enough. ALL members of the household must do the same things. You must also remember to positively reinforce the good behavior when your pooch does things properly. Give it time and you'll see how your pouncing poodle will change as you change your reactions to it!
Ken Rodrigues, President
Always There Pet Care
P.O. Box 691427
Orlando, FL 32869
(407) 649-1612 |
