Raising Neapolitan Puppy... HELP!

[ForeverCanine]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and Neapolitans. I need some general help on raising a Neo puppy, but I have a feeling my Neo might be different based on his environment. His name is Sal and here's whats up!

Background on Sal: Raised in a puppy store since 10 weeks, hes now 10 months. He used to be my bosses dog but just recently he is now mine, however I can't take him home until a few months from now.

My problem with him is he is SOOO mouthy and gets too excited around kids and other dogs. However! He's VERY sweet. He doesn't hurt anyone other then being so big and clumsy. People constantly tell me how sweet he is. He really LOVES everyone. Neo owners says the Neo can be aggressive towards people, kids, and other dogs but i have never seen this in him. Is that due to how he was raised?

What to do about the biting? Its not aggressive, its playing. And it's not hard but he bites at scarves and long sleeves, anything flowing... And that's not acceptable in my eyes even if playing.

Also, training. He knows the basics but some days he refuses to listen. Is he being stubborn or just distracted? There is much to smell and see while at a pet store (where he lives for now). Most of the time he only listens if I use a Deep, angry sounding voice... Which I don't want to have to do all the time in front of people.

Hes never aggressive and I know I'm alpha over him. Even though we both weigh the same... 120lbs. I just don't want to be harsh and angry sounding all the time in order to get him to listen and be obedient. I don't want him to hate me lol but is all this right? All this needed? Is all of this a teenage stage?

Just help! Hes not aggressive but just not listening, what to do? Hes in a public setting (until I get my place 3 months from now) so I can't afford him accidentally play biting someone and they bleed and take me to court or worse try to put him down.

All advice is wonderful, thanks!

 

[cinnamon roll]

First of all Welcome to the forum.

With him being mouthy....we have all been there

When he does bit clothes etc... Do you tell him no? What exactly are you doing or saying? I would suggest a house leash and putting him in a sit until he has calmed down. He could also be entering his teenage stage. Which if he is I would suggest investing in TONS of alcohol. lol

Are you a female? And is he coming from a home where a male was the "boss"?

 

[Hector]

I don't think he is being stubborn or disobedient. I think he doesn't know his commands very well and the owner has not motivated him enough to listen.

 

[ForeverCanine]

I'm not sure how to reply on this forum so please bare with me.

I tell him No, I never hit him because I know mastiffs don't respond to that. He knows his commands because if I say no or leave it then he does, it's when I'm not near him he starts biting, maybe because others he meets allows him to. If he does it again shortly after I said no and calmed him then I put him in this cubical and let him calm down totally in there before letting him back out. It normally works out great and he's fine until hours later it happens again. Is it just a slow process? I'm total it's patience with mastiffs

Only time he doesn't listen to a command is with sit and lay unless I have a treat then he does it automatically so I know he knows them. He'll listen to wait with no problem ever, which is odd cuz I thought that one was harder...

I am a female but I've been the only one in his life teaching him commands. My boss is a male (small like me) but he would let the dog growl and pin him down. He never did commands. To be honest all my bosses dogs do what they want whenever they want, but those dogs are small frenchies unlike the mastiff.

 

[Hector]

Start implementing this in the puppy's routine and for life

The Learn to Earn Program: Developing Leadership in Humans and Impulse Control in Dogs | Animal Behavior and Medicine Blog | Dr. Sophia Yin, DVM, MS

I also suggest you look around her site. I also suggest you sign up for this free e book from Dog Trick Academy - Teach Your Dog Amazing Tricks! look on the right and sign up. It's pretty good especially for new owners.

You're going to have to do these basic commands over and over and over again. Once he nails the commands without the use of treats, then you need to repeat the process outdoors under different levels of distractions (this is called proofing).

For the biting, redirect with lots of different textured toys. When he puts his teeth on you, yell OW really LOUD.

 

[samthebigdog]

I have never heard about agressive Neo Mastiff, they tend to be quite nice to poeple all the time

 

[DennasMom]

When you say he grew up at the pet store - it sounds like he wasn't just locked in a crate, but was more like the store mascot? If that's the case, he probably had lots of happy interactions with all sorts of strangers coming in and out of the store?
Just, no structure with rules and the like?
So... he's hitting his teenage period thinking he can do mostly as he pleases, and since he grew up well socialized with people, that's not really bad, just not really good, right? am I close?

I'd say, just keep doing what you're doing - be consistent with your rules and expectations. Treat/Praise for what you like, ignore and provide the "disapproval noise" (no, uh-uh, or something similar) for what you don't like.

I'd keep a bag of treats on me for now - you can wean off treats later after he really knows his command vocabulary, and understands what you expect.

When you see him starting to go for a grab on something - catch him BEFORE he makes contact and give him the "disapproval noise", then redirect him to a better behavior (sit/come/down/etc.) so he learns to get what he wants in a more polite manner. Since he's good with "Wait", I'd use that one... Denna's also good with that, so I use "sit/wait" a lot around different things - always ending with something good, so she knows she'll get a reward if she waits long enough.

You can also start training a "Place" command (lots of good methods for teaching that on youtube), that comes in handy lots of places, too.

The other one we use is "bring me a toy" - when Denna gets excited, pushy or mouthy, we ask her to "bring me a toy" - which normally is a rope or some other tuggable toy... and her reward is a game of tug. A game of tug with a toy is MUCH preferable to a game of tug with an arm or someone's scarf, so, we find it a good trade.

Good luck with the new guy - can't wait to see some pictures!

 

[Mastinero]

Neos are stubborn and can be dominant. Thats their nature. When he does his love bites say "ow" loud and high pitched. That mimicks what a dog would do when bit. This should teach him to stop

 

[stellafrances]

Hi. It seems to me you have several problems going on at once. The biggest issue is consistency. How soon will you have this puppy in your home? 120Lbs will become 1800-200 pounds in very short order. Our male is 180 and was raised in a horse barn with lots of people and commotion around him. Its great that he is being socialized in a busy store. Whats not great is you dont have real control over him.

Neos are stubborn. Neos are hard headed. Neos tend to follow only one person 100% of the time. our male listens mostly to my husband and our female to me. Sure, they will obey the other person, but if we are both in the room giving commands, they migrate to the person they have bonded to. My husband does not have 100% control over our female. She runs over top of him constantly and he has to really be vocal with commands to get her to maybe listen. With me she doesntdoesn't think twice about not listening. We are not physical with either dog - its pointless

so, what can you do to mend the situation until you can remove him from the lack of structure? You have to give him structure. Force him to focus on you when you are there. Keeping him on a leash at your side at all times is the best way to control his behavior and instill the behaviors you want him to have. When two people with different energies are "controlling" an animal, the animal will gravitate towards the person who gives them the least resistance. In this case, the store owner who expects no rules from the dog.

When he is mouthy, you must tell him in no uncertain terms that he is not allowed to do that behavior even in play. I use an "aaaatttt" sound with my dog. She knows "no" as well, but making the sound will get her attention faster and more consistently. My husband will snap his fingers or make a noise at our male. Dogs ddon't need words. They need consistency and repetition. It doesn't matter what you say as long as its the same every time he is doing an unwanted behavior. Likewise, when you want him to do something, tell him once then show him. Saying sit sit sit sit sit doesn't explain to him what your asking him to do.

Neos are very smart. They are slow and stubborn so people assume they are dumb but they aren't. They will think things through and decide if they want to do something or not. You have to get ahead of his thinking and reinforce that he doesn't get to decide if he wants to behave or not.

As for him being overly excited and playing too rough, isolating him does not teach him to control his behavior. Putting dogs in time out is of no benefit for the dog. You must teach him when you say play time is over then he stops. If he gets too rough or gets mouthy, play time is over. Our dogs like to pull on a tire hanging from a tree. Our male will get very very excited and intense during this activity. Knowing that neos are very powerful and can be dangerous if play gets too physical, my husband has trained both of our dogs to "enough" when they get over stimulated. With this command, they are to stop chewing/playing with whatever and lay down until they are completely calm. Another command is "drop it" both dogs love chasing sticks and balls. Again, neos can have very high energy levels and become mouthy and possessive over toys. This command means I am taking whatever you have, no discussion.

We also have the command "leave it". This is very very useful in all areas. I use it if they find something on the ground they want to eat, another dog is walking by and they are getting fixated on it, and especially with our male when our rabbits are loose. He has a very high prey drive when it comes to rabbits and cows!

BUT all of these commands, all this training takes TIME and CONSISTENCY. Itdoesn't happen over night and if you have the current owner fighting you even indirectly, it will take a long time to instill. You need as much one on one time as you can with this dog. You need him to bond with you and you need to be firm and thorough with your training.

Oh, and screaching every time he gets mouthy will probably do the exact opposite of what you think it will. Neos do have a prey drive. They were and still are used for hunting bears and corralling cattle. Making a squealing noise will more likely than not only incite him to think its a really really fun game. TThat's why they put those annoying squeekers in dog chew toys, to mimmick dying prey like rabbits. Just some food for thought

 

[Slobber]

I dont think this is a breed for anyone who is not experienced with dogs. And i would not recomend harsh training methods on any dogs. That means yelling or hurting the dog in order to get him submessive. You could risc damaging the nerves of even the best dogs out there by doing this. And you dont want a fearfull neo... And another reason is that the dog will grow on penatlies ((Getting used to it)) That means your forced to yell evrytime you want him to listen. Becouse thats what hes used to. The key is to be consisstent and calm. But evryone do alot of fails even on theyr dog maybe evry dog but you will do most fails on your first dog. Typichal harsh training methodes i see go over and over. Anyways its safer for you to damage the nerves on a little dog than a larger one but still its a mean thing to do. The sad truth is that people thinks a big sturdy dogs with good nerves require beating to become obidient and thats all wrong. They might handle abit more before you damage theyr nerves but you can easly get there with any breed.