new em puppy issues

[jstr180]

I have a 3 month old EM. His name is Chief. I got him about a week ago. Today while sitting on the floor with him he got behind me and tried to hump me. I quickly said no and put him in his crate. Is there anything else I should do? I want him to know I am the boss. Also I am having trouble getting him to walk on the leash. I pull and say come and he just lays there. I know they are lazy dogs but he has to learn. I am going to the vet this week to get him up to date on his shots then I plan on taking to obedience training. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[stephanieb]

Hi;

We have a 15 week EM that we brought home 6 weeks ago. He is actually really good on the leash at this point (although he has his moments, he is still a baby). When we first brought him home he wasn't really interested in the leash either. He didn't fight, but like you say was just as likely to lay down and refuse to go. Time and patience have worked wonders. But.... the one thing that REALLY works well when he lies down and doesn't want to move now... we pull the leash taught (but not pulling) and turn our back on him. Sometimes it takes a while, but he is getting the point that if he stops he gets ignored, which he hates so the incidents of laying down and refusing to move are getting fewer and fewer.

As for the humping... mostly he limits it to "Bad Teddy" but there was once when he tried for my husbands arm. He got pushed off and told "NO". Others who have had EM's longer (this is our first EM, our past has been with dobermans, labs, and mixed breeds) please correct me if I am wrong, but I think this is a natural puppy thing and not necessarily anything to do with dominence, as there is no doubt in our house that my husband is the Alpha.

Hope this helps a little.

 

[moose]

Humping at that age is natural, If they try it I usually say no and ignore. For the leash , could be a fear stage, do u try any motivation? I think its great your taking him to a class.

 

[dsaw247]

I have a 7 month old EM puppy, and we also went through the same leash problems at 3 months when we brought him home. As stephanieb said, we would keep the leash taut and turn our backs on him. At first, he would still lay there for a long time, but he eventually learned that the behavior was unacceptable. We also incorporated treats. When he did get up and started walking properly, we gave him a treat. I don't know about other people, but turning our backs and ignoring him also helped stop the puppy biting. As for the humping, we said "no" and then put him in time out. Time out for us is our mudroom, just a small room where we leave our shoes that doesn't have any toys. He stays there to calm down for a few minutes, we let him out, and play with him.

He is still a puppy though and has his days where he's a complete booger Good luck!

 

[PuppyPaws]

Everyone has given you some pretty sound advice... One thing you might to also try is....
Getting short leash or just about 1 ft or 1.5 ft of rope and tie it to his collar. Let him get used to dragging a leash around in the house (when supervised of course). It won't take long and he won't even notice that he has it on. It will also be helpful in giving you something to grab onto when you need a way to get his attention or redirect his attention.

Good luck!

 

[dmouse66]

Before I even thought of leash training my boy, he was taught the basics of obedience. Not until he mastered that did I put him on a leash. His first lesson was No... he needed to learn just what the word meant. Then slowly sit and come. Once he learned sit & come he was leash trained. I did need to keep him on a leash for safety before trained, but I didn't expect much.
I also invested in an Easy Walk harness - best thing I could have done. The leash attaches in front of his chest and when he pulls forward or tries to run, it forces him to pull sideways. No choking, to prong collar and I have a young man who know proper behavior on a walk.

edit: when he gets stubborn, I give the Come command with a finger snap and pointing down... it always works... sometimes slowly, but it works. And he's only 5 months old