By:
Filters
What's new
Mastiff Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • Welcome back!

    We decided to spruce things up and fix some things under the hood. If you notice any issues, feel free to contact us as we're sure there are a few things here or there that we might have missed in our upgrade.

timid 13 week old puppy

J

JoBordeaux

Member
To update everyone after seven days Josephine is no longer timid and is mostly past her frightened ways. She occasionally does shy away from the elevator in my building and is a little scared of the sounds from the city when we go outside but she is really coming along. She has gotten used to the leash but still only goes somewhere when she wants to. Once she is moving I can guide her pretty good but if she doesn't want to move she just sits there and stares at me while I call her. Treats only work so much or when she's hungry and if she's distracted that's out of the question. She is a bit of a biter and I'm working on curbing that. She is only having one or two accidents inside per day now but I know she knows outside is for going to the bathroom. When she does have an accident it is usually a small amount of pee and her excessive sniffing usually gives this away. I know this seems like a lot of complaints but she really is a well mannered dog. She is excellent riding in the car and going to the vet. She is social towards other dogs and rarely barks. She is friendly to people in my building and is very willing to play with my house guests. I would say my major worry is having to pick her up and move her when she doesn't want to be walked or taken outside. I have tried waiting her out but she will just lay down and go to sleep rather than budge when I want her to. She is only about 22 lbs now so I can pick her up easily but I know this will change soon. Does anyone have any advice in this area? Like I said treats only work sometimes and other times she will tell me she has to go out but then refuses once I put her on the leash. I do reinforce good habits and behaviors but they aren't translating to her understanding when I want her to walk. Any advice? Thanks.
 
Kujo

Kujo

Well-Known Member
How long are these walks? Does she know the "come" command? You don't want to resort to picking her up too much, babying a mastiff can lead to bad behavior. Make sure she knows what come means, make a big deal out of it, lots of happy praise when she comes when called. She'll learn that when she comes it makes you insanely happy and that is the key, she will want to please you. Keep the walks short, lots and lots of praise when she walks with you. And lots and lots of praise when she pottys outside. She'll learn what makes you happy and what doesn't. All in good time :)
 
Hank DDB

Hank DDB

Well-Known Member
Kujo said:
How long are these walks? Does she know the "come" command? You don't want to resort to picking her up too much, babying a mastiff can lead to bad behavior. Make sure she knows what come means, make a big deal out of it, lots of happy praise when she comes when called. She'll learn that when she comes it makes you insanely happy and that is the key, she will want to please you. Keep the walks short, lots and lots of praise when she walks with you. And lots and lots of praise when she pottys outside. She'll learn what makes you happy and what doesn't. All in good time :)
Click to expand...

I'm a new DDB owner also (hank is 8 weeks old I've had him for 6 days) animal behaviourist wrote a paper which agrees with the above, also found out walks at that age should be approx 5 mins max. I'm still learning about DDB so I'm no expert.
 
Kujo

Kujo

Well-Known Member
I'm certainly no expert either, most of what I've learned I've learned from this forum :) I think Kujo has been my best teacher though, we've learned together what works for us, and he's only 8 months old!! I'm so excited for our years to come and I can't imagine not having a DDB in my life now :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
J

JoBordeaux

Member
Josephine is coming along very nicely. She is just over 17 weeks now and is very smart. She has adapted to walking on the leash and knows the come command. I had two straight days without an accident inside but today there was a set back. Overall she is doing great, I just have to be more patient.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.