# First Time Puppy owner, few general questions.



## BellasMomma (Apr 9, 2009)

To whomever can help, 

I have always wanted a dog, and always particularly LOVED golden retrievers, but could never own one, as I was at my parents house and then in an apartment, but recently my boyfriend and I bought a house with a fenced in yard so I was finally able to get my golden.
We got her from a breeder and brought her home about a week and a half ago, and as of right now she is about 11 weeks old. She is very smart in the way that she has already learned to sit, lie down, roll over, give paw, crawl, play dead, and sometimes sit pretty. She is also about 97% house trained and does not bark at other dogs or jum up on people (yet). But a few of the main problems we cannot seem to get her to break is to stay out of the garden, stop biting (even my face a couple times) come when we call her, or respond to her name . We like to let her be out in the yard whenever she wants but we cannot leave her for a second and she gets in and digs and eats dirt :doh: (which I hope is not harmful because Im sure shes eaten enough of it by now)..we tried getting a fence but she finds a way through it, and we will say NO and take her away but then she thinks it's a game and runs right back.
It is getting VERY frustrating as we would like to allow her out whenever she wants but we cannot trust her, and I am worried also that when the flower beds grow in, that her eating some of the plants might be harmful to her, so I need to stop the behaviour before summer.
As for the biting, we have tried everything form saying OUCH when she bites, stoping playing with her, or giving her a squirt in the mouth of bitter apple, but she will not learn, and her bite is getting much harder.
Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated as I am looking to learn as much as I can.

Thank you very much =)


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Have you been to puppy classes yet? 12 weeks is a great time to start, and it can help her learn those training basics and it can help you learn to communicate well with her. Obviously you've communicated several great skills to her, but she seems unclear about what her responsibilities are in some situations.

With the biting, try a firm but gentle "no" and redirect her to something that is OK to bite. If she's having that mouthy urge, it usually works best to show her what's Ok to chew on so she learns to go straight for a toy instead of for a human.

If she thinks your "no" is a game, that's not the end of the world, but it's an indication that she's not receiving clear signals from you. She's confused about what yelling or angry voices mean. It would probably be best to avoid trying to correct her with your voice for a while and instead leash her so you can supervise her effectively when she's around temptation. Don't yank the leash, though! Learn how to use a leash to communicate at whatever class you take with her.

Keep us posted on how it goes.


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## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

Congratulations on your new puppy! Everything you describe is very normal for a young golden pup. I have found the "come when called" is something that needs a lot of foundation work that really is best deal with in an obedience class when she is old enough. But one of the foundations of that is getting her to respond to her name. Try getting some treats and have her sit right in front of you. Call her name and the second she looks at you, say "yes" or "good" and quickly give her a treat at the same time (timing is important here). Once she is doing that regularly, call her name from a few feet away and she should start to come to you, and again tell her good and give her a treat. 

With regards to the outside issues, in my opinion, I don't think you should let her out unsupervised at such a young age. Goldens love to be with their people, and they like to be entertained by people or another dog. If left to themselves, they get bored and start getting into things they shouldn't (like the garden, flower beds and dirt). I would suggest putting up a fence or somehow blocking off your garden and flower beds so that she is unable to get into them no matter what, because you're right that some of the plants may be harmful. I had to do that for my dog. 

I also had the issue that he would chew sticks, acorns and graze like a cow on the grass. Of course at first I tried the "trade" command and stupidly chased him around trying to get things out of his mouth. Needless to say, the bigger deal I made of it, the more he thought I was playing and the worse it got. Our trainer suggested that when he started eating the grass to stay calm and throw one of his favorite toys (a frisbee) right in front of his nose to distract him. It really works! He gives up the grass and chases the toy. If that doesn't work I just turn my back and ignor what he's doing and by doing that it's no longer a game so he stops on his own. 

With regards to the mouthing...this is a tough thing with goldens...they are very mouthy by nature. What worked for our Brady was what our trainer calls the "respect hand" maneuver. You take several pieces of her kibble in your hand, let her see that you have them (but don't let her get any) and close your hand into a fist. Put your hand in front of her face and she will do whatever she can to get to the food (nip, paw, etc). You just sit there calmly and hold you hand still (if you pull away it becomes a game to attack your hand) and don't let her get any. Eventually, she will stop touching your hand (this will take awhile at first)...when she does, tell her "off" (for not touching you), open your hand and tell her "wait" to teach her she can't dive in and eat everything (you may have to pull your hand back here to prevent her from taking any kibble), then close your hand to cover up all but one piece of kibble and tell her "take it." Repeat until all the kibble is gone. This teaches that she doesn't get any treat until she leaves your hands alone. I think once you break the mouthing of the hands, the rest of the body should follow.

I hope this helps. Good luck and remember to stay calm and be consistent.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

Agree with the above post, and also wanted to add, a tired puppy is a well behaved puppy!!! Make sure you are giving your pup plenty of physical and mental stimulation and exercise!! 

They DO grow out of the landshark phase after teething is over usually.. keep correcting her for biting, and redirecting to toys or things she is allowed to mouth on.. she will get it eventually!


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## SoGolden (Jul 17, 2008)

Welcome to the Forum and congratulations on the adorable little pup. You have already been offered some great advice. I will only add that I think it is important to adjust your expectations to the age of your dog. She is truly a baby. It's going to be quite a long time before she will outgrow the direct supervision she needs right now. There are many threads already posted about the issues you have already experienced and others that are bound to happen. When you have some time, just read through the puppy section. This is a wonderful and exciting time with your pup and it passes all too quickly. Be sure to take lots of pictures--and, please share them with us! Again, welcome.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

You pretty much described my puppy when it comes to the garden part. She will look at me with this face that says, "I'm going to do something naughty now!" and b-lines for the garden and begins digging furiously. Me, well, I run over to her and say "Out!" and she runs out, tears across the yard, and then runs right back in and continues digging. :doh: It's a vicious process, but you are not alone in it.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

If there's one thing puppies love its getting into mischief... and the attention we give them (negative or not!) just feeds into it for them.. Sam would do the same "hey mom look what I have!" look when he had something he wasn't supposed to.. then take off running for me to chase him with it.. it took all I had in me not to, as I knew it was encouraging it!! Oh... puppy hood...


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## lynniex (Apr 6, 2009)

Congratulations on your new puppy, i'm looking for a golden puppy at the moment so will probably be pulling my hair out soon. the above advice is excellent, and as soon as you can take her to classes the better. 
good luck and let us know how your getting on.


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

Welcome to the forum,
Glad you have joined us and there is a ton of information in the puppy section that might help with some of the issues. We have all been thru it and know exactly what you are going thru. It will get better, especially after they stop teething and get their big dog teeth. 
Now, where are our pictures so we can all oohhh and ahhhh over your cutie?


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## BellasMomma (Apr 9, 2009)

First of all thank you all VERY much, my pup and I both appreciate it.
We are hoping to start puppy training classes as soon as we can, as I was told I should probably wait until after she had her shots which she had yesterday.
I was also wondering at what age can we take her out running. Someone told us 6 months, and I was told a year and a half form someone else. My boyfriend and I are mountain bikers and we do not want to take her out for vigorous exercise until we know forsure it won't end up causing problems in the future.
Once again thank you, you have been incredibly helpful.


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## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

From what we were told, you really shouldn't have her doing any extensive walking or running until she's about a year and a half (that's when the bone growth plates close...too extensive exercise before that can damage the joints). I'd hold off on the long distance running and keep it to limited sporadic running around your yard until she's older. As for walking, the rule of thumb we've always used is 5 minutes of walking for every month old she is, until she's done growing.


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## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

Great picture, by the way. She's adorable!!!


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## avincent52 (Jul 23, 2008)

Good advice so far. 
Here's a piece I got here earlier. 
Teach "come," don't test it.

Use a treat or effusive praise to teach your pup to come. When you've got that down, resist the urge to "test" her limits by increasing the distance or the distraction factor or eliminating rewards. You don't want to teach her that not coming is an option. 

Make sure you use the "come" command at a time when you have her attention and you have a treat so you can reward her. Unlike most of the other commands, there's a huge safety issue in having a reliable recall. 

As far as the digging, I would put her on a long lead--10-20 feet, in the yard, you can let her explore, but when she starts digging you can redirect her to a more suitable activity.

best
Allen


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## Noey (Feb 26, 2009)

I was told at least 16-18 months for running. .

I send Noah out in the yard with a toy. When he starts for something and I want to distract, I grab the toy. When he was really little I had a squeaking toy in my pocket so he would hear it and distract instantly away from his joy of terrorizing my yard. Seems to work.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

The running age depends on the surface and whether or not you're leashing the dog. For example, a dog could handle an off leash jog in the woods at a much younger age than he could handle an on-leash jog on pavement. Dogs will naturally sprint and walk while you jog, and when they can handle their own stride and pacing, it's much gentler on their joints, as is the softer surface. Forcing a dog to match your pace at a heel is much harder on them. I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but it's something I'd wait a lot longer to do.


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## Boogaloo (Jun 8, 2009)

*shaker cans and biting*



BellasMomma said:


> As for the biting, we have tried everything form saying OUCH when she bites, stoping playing with her, or giving her a squirt in the mouth of bitter apple, but she will not learn, and her bite is getting much harder.
> Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated as I am looking to learn as much as I can.


Since it hasn't been mentioned, we found that a shaker can (a metal water bottle or soda can with a few coins in it) worked pretty much immediately to keep our puppy from nipping at us. I read about the technique in a book specifically about golden retriever puppies, and it's really made our play time so much more fun! Basically, when she nips/bites, say "no mouth" and at the same time shake the can (just once). It will startle her, and she'll catch on that the nipping will result in a very unpleasant sound.

Now we just say "no mouth" if he starts to mouth us or anything else (like furniture). We're also sure to offer him our palms to lick, and praise him when he does. That way he learns the polite way to use his mouth around people. He's 12 weeks now and it's working really well - even around the neighborhood kids.

Hope that helps!


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