Am i doing things right?

Hello everyone hope you've all been out enjoying the sun with the doggies! :-)

Vinnie is 11 weeks on thursday so weve almost had him two weeks(on fri)
He is pretty much toilet trained now 1 or 2 accidents here and there but he's doing great!
One thing though is he seems to be getting worse on the behaviour side so i wondered if im doing things right.. we had a presa canario in our family however we got him when he was 3-4 and was already well-behaved and trained.

Vinnie bites and chews the sofa, and bites when he's excited ( i think/hope ) thats what it is anyway.
When i see him do something he's not allowed, i clap my hands behind his head and shout a really strong firm no, it stops him, and then he calms down. However 20mins later he does it again, and so on.. he knows hes being wrong but he still keeps doing it - im always giving him praise when hes being good too - do i just carry on doing what im doing? i suppose hes just being a naughty little baby? Oh and i also give him his toys after ive told him off that he can chew on or give them a couple of squeeks so he runs over to them.

Any tips or advice would be great thanks alot!

Carry on as u are correcting any unwanted behaviour, he will get it sooner or later, it's early days still.
Try a stagbar from puredog.com they are great for chewing desire satisfaction ! Kongs are great too.
Above all, it take consistency and repetition.

X

x0gawjus0x wrote:Vinnie bites and chews the sofa, and bites when he's excited ( i think/hope ) thats what it is anyway. When i see him do something he's not allowed, i clap my hands behind his head and shout a really strong firm no, it stops him, and then he calms down. However 20mins later he does it again, and so on.. he knows hes being wrong but he still keeps doing it - im always giving him praise when hes being good too - do i just carry on doing what im doing? i suppose hes just being a naughty little baby? Oh and i also give him his toys after ive told him off that he can chew on or give them a couple of squeeks so he runs over to them.

Any tips or advice would be great thanks alot!

Personally, I wouldn't clap my hands behind him, that'll only make him jump which could introduce a nervous response.

If he nips you, just a firm "No!" and then turn away, stop all interraction immediately. If he carries on, then put him out of the room for a couple of minutes to calm down. If he's chewing something he shouldn't, then a firm "No" and distract him with a toy or a treat. If you use a treat, then make sure you give him a command before you give it so that he doesn't associate the chewing with the treat!

I wouldn't be dealing with it how you are TBH. He's not being naughty, he just doesn't know the rules yet.

It's much better to ignore the bad or redirect him onto something you want him to do rather than punish IMO.

If you can't supervise him, put him somewhere where he can't chew things he shouldn't.

You might want to read http://www.dogstardaily.com/files/downloads/AFTER_You_Get_Your_Puppy.pdf he is a bit dramatic so don't let him get you overly worried but there is some good stuff in there

ETA: Another book you might want to read, although not available free online is Gwen Bailey's The Perfect Puppy.

Excellent advice already given.

Just to elaborate, using aversives with the aim to startle can make the dog nervous like Caryll said and also damage trust.

Another thing with aversives or rather positive punishments (adding something to the dog/environment which the dog dislikes), especially in bold dogs, is they tend to become hardened to them so what once worked stops working which often ends up in the owner escalating the punishment to something harsher for the whole thing to happen again. Before you know it, you'll have a dog that can be pushed, pulled, shouted at etc. but will just carry on regardless.

i wasnt clapping before but someone told me i should so ive been trying that.. will read the article, thnx

Caryll wrote:

x0gawjus0x wrote:Vinnie bites and chews the sofa, and bites when he's excited ( i think/hope ) thats what it is anyway. When i see him do something he's not allowed, i clap my hands behind his head and shout a really strong firm no, it stops him, and then he calms down. However 20mins later he does it again, and so on.. he knows hes being wrong but he still keeps doing it - im always giving him praise when hes being good too - do i just carry on doing what im doing? i suppose hes just being a naughty little baby? Oh and i also give him his toys after ive told him off that he can chew on or give them a couple of squeeks so he runs over to them.

Any tips or advice would be great thanks alot!

Personally, I wouldn't clap my hands behind him, that'll only make him jump which could introduce a nervous response.

If he nips you, just a firm "No!" and then turn away, stop all interraction immediately. If he carries on, then put him out of the room for a couple of minutes to calm down. If he's chewing something he shouldn't, then a firm "No" and distract him with a toy or a treat. If you use a treat, then make sure you give him a command before you give it so that he doesn't associate the chewing with the treat!

I agree and would add that vicks or bitter apple applied to things he isn't supposed to chew will also be of help.