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That's a good start!
General confidence building is also going to be great so I've found the best way to go about that is with training and with puzzle toys actually (they learn that they can interact with the environment and control it which is generally something that gives dogs confidence)
Something else that might be great is "station training", so basically teaching your dog to lay down on a mat or bed or similar and have them just chill there.
For some separation distress, I would also start trying to work on that. I have to admit, I haven't read these books in a while, but if I recall I'll Be Home Soon by Patricia McConnell was a good intro (I've gotta get back up to date on the most recent separation anxiety books... I haven't read any since I worked through it with my dog)
Do note that basically anything in separation anxiety is going to really talk about how your dog cannot be left alone, and for the best way to train - they're totally right. But we're human and often have limited funds and resources so a good way to help mitigate some of the issue is to have a "bad place" where you'll leave the dog when you have to leave and the training isn't that long yet and then a "good place" which is the place you eventually want to leave them long-term and only put them in the "good place" when you can work on the separation anxiety training.
Actual source: How to Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safety: And Abstinence, Drugs, Satanism, and Other Dangers That Threaten Their Nine Lives https://www.amazon.com/dp/045149492X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ee0XDb7M2H58A
It’s hard sometimes. They develop physically so quickly that it can be tough to remember they’re just babies.
Try your best to remember that your pup is picking up on everything you do. Tone of voice, body language, etc. Maybe read The Other End of the Leash
Honestly though, keep it together while dealing with your puppy. When you put him to bed or for a nap, have a cry about it, and start again. He’s just doing what his instincts are telling him to do. It can be damn frustrating. Forgive yourself and take it as a lesson to not react like this again.
My puppy bites so hard and draws blood and sometimes, I literally can’t get him to stop. To help him, I stay calm and take that as a cue that he needs to calm down in his crate for a nap. I gently and kindly have him go to the crate with a chicken jerky, and he usually passes out after that. My puppy gets real asshole-ish when he’s tired. It was unbearable until I got him napping whenever he became a land shark. Try putting your puppy for a nap up until class time for the next session. Make sure he’s hungry so he focuses on the treat. You got this!
Ahhh, I’m really sorry to hear this. Unfortunately it’s quite common for cats and owners to have differing political views. Fortunately, there is plenty of literature which can really help you both in learning to live together harmoniously. Firstly, you need to consider whether or not there is a possibility of your car bringing firearms in to the house, should your conservative cat follow party lines. I found this book, how to speak to your cat about gun safety very useful for triggering (no pun intended) a meaningful discussion.
Best of luck!
You’ve gotten some very bad advice here, which you should ignore. Forget about being “alpha of the pack.” And do not flip your dog over on her back and say “no.” Those approaches are going to make things worse. You'll mess up your dog and mess up your relationship with her.
The common dog-jargon term for the behavior you’re describing is “resource guarding.” The best book on the subject is Jean Donaldson’s Mine! You should buy it or get it from your library (or via interlibrary loan). Also check out this blog post by Patricia McConnell.
You're going to need to buy this book if your cat keeps trying to mess with your guns.
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https://www.amazon.com/How-Talk-Your-About-Safety/dp/045149492X
No, she won't grow out of it, and will likely get worse without intervention. I had a terv who did this as a puppy, and I was able to completely fix it.
Here's what NOT to do - don't take her food away, don't stick your hands in her face while she's eating, don't try to mess with her. These things will all increase anxiety and make her not trust you while she's eating. This causes resource guarding to worsen. Those things are all common things suggested to puppy owners, but they're incorrect and potentially dangerous advice.
What you should do is techniques similar to this. That technique will reduce stress in the puppy leading to less guarding. This book is also a great resource on resource guarding.
It's fixable at 13 weeks, but you need to address it correctly. I would definitely advise getting a trainer involved too, as you should be getting professional advice, not just taking training advice from reddit.
if you expose a cat to a lot of weird things as a kitten, they're more used to it as an adult cat. like baths, strangers, car rides. riding on shoulders.
no, the cat doesn't really need lifelong baths, this could maybe even hurt the cat's coat if it happens a lot. But, kittens need to be shown a lot of stuff, there's a small kernel in that joke "all cats have aspergers".
Buy this book. And the answer is yes, but it will take time.
Ecology of the Planted Aquarium: A Practical Manual and Scientific Treatise for the Home Aquarist
$10 amazon
How to Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safety: And Abstinence, Drugs, Satanism, and Other Dangers That Threaten Their Nine Lives https://www.amazon.com/dp/045149492X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_VeqJCb806D6DW
Consider this as a secondary support purchase- How to Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safety:
When you adopt a new dog, it's highly recommended to keep the pup away from stimulation as much as possible. This is a strategy known as the "two week shutdown." Don't go on long walks/hikes, don't introduce new people. Letting someone unfamiliar interact with her while you weren't home could have made her really scared. Just think about how scary it is if you're in a brand new place with people who don't speak your language, you just underwent a big surgery and all of a sudden another brand new person tries to hang out with you. It's a lot happening at once and can make a dog (and people) feel scared!
Basically, I would take it easy for a while. Let her get to know you, and get to know her. Let her settle in and relax before introducing her to other people. When other people come, give them treats to give her, but instruct them to ignore her. Let her come to them and don't pressure her. If she makes the choice to check out a guest, the guest can give her a treat.
Also, I highly recommend reading the book the Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell. It is accessible and will help you interpret your dog's behavior (e.g. defensiveness vs. offensiveness) and will help you teach people how to interact with your dog (e.g. staring into a dog's eyes and approaching them from the front is a sign of aggression from a canine perspective, and yet that's how most people greet dogs).
How to Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safety: And Abstinence, Drugs, Satanism, and Other Dangers That Threaten Their Nine Lives https://www.amazon.com/dp/045149492X/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_navT_g_42S512K8ZJK9M57H3MQ4
If she’s comfortable in her locked crate then it’s definitely localized to you leaving and sounds like a classic case of separation anxiety. Good news is your dog is so young that it’s a good time to train her!
You need to start desensitizing her to the event of you leaving. It’s literal baby steps too, like put her in crate and walk to the door. If no barking then reward. Then move on to you leaving and shutting the door then coming right back and rewarding if no barking. Then you move onto 1 minute, 3 minute, 5 minute, 10 minute etc. It’s a lot of work but the technique works if you’re diligent.
Read this short book of you haven’t, it will take about an hour to read.
I'll be Home Soon: How to Prevent and Treat Separation Anxiety. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1891767054/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_XS5D2MGNBEG2JKE66VTY
>Would it make sense to work with a dog behaviorist?
Yes, a vet behaviorist, because if your dog needs anxiety meds that would be the person who will prescribe them.
In the meantime, this booklet is a great guide on separation anxiety.
Here you go - Digital Version on Amazon
Check out r/puppy101. They have a nice wiki/FAQ page with guides to basic things such as house training. Also consider getting Sophia Yin's Perfect Puppy in 7 Days.
As for walking her outside: Ask your vet for guidance. At 9 weeks, the puppy will not have completed her shots and won't be fully protected, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's unsafe for her to walk. Disease risk varies by geographic location. My current dog went to all kinds of places at 9 weeks of age; we just avoided areas with a lot of random dog traffic. Here is the AVSAB position statement on puppy socialization.
Find a group "puppy kindergarten" class, the kind that meets once a week and gives you homework to practice. In the US, most such classes will allow puppies 9 weeks old with age-appropriate vaccinations.
Good luck with Luna.
Since you have a love of plants, you might enjoy a low-tech, natural planted aquarium. Diana Walstad’s book <em>Ecology of the Planted Aquarium</em> is what got me into the hobby. This method appeals to me because it attempts to replicate the plants’ natural environment and avoids extra equipment, additives, and maintenance. It’s basically potted plants under water. In fact, she keeps some aquariums with plants in terracotta pots.
There’s definitely tradeoffs which Walstad points out in the book. Natural tanks aren’t going to look like pristine, untouched islands. There’s soil and decomposition involved but I think that’s it’s own kind of beauty.
One aspect of planted aquariums I find fascinating is how to deal with algae. Walstad details how to find plants to complement the ones you already have to create a balanced ecosystem that out-competes algae for the limited resources that all plants need. It gets quite nerdy if you want to go deeper. Most of the science and chemistry sections go over my head but it’s fascinating nonetheless. At it’s core, the book is full of practical, specific advice written for people who want to keep aquatic plants successfully.
Good luck! This is a fun hobby. 😄
This is potentially dangerous and you need to work with a professional, not go to reddit for advice. Here is a good link for finding a qualified trainier.
If you're unable to afford a trainer right now, this book also has some great techniques, however you should work with a pro too for safety reasons.
Are you working with a vet, or a vet behaviorist? IME a lot of vets will just prescribe meds without really working on addressing the root causes of the behavior. A vet behaviorist is like a doggie psychologist and can give you the correct medication as well as work with you on a behavior modification program.
You might also want to consider this booklet, it has some good tips for separation anxiety.
This is called resource guarding - at least the behavior you describe sounds like that. It can escalate to a more serious issue, especially if it has not been dealt with and his resources have continued to be taken away. The fact that he has already bitten is very concerning. I suggest you hire a trainer to help you with this.
In the meantime, do not take anything from him without trading him for something better. If he has something he shouldn’t, offer him a cookie for dropping it. Toss the cookie away from you so he can’t bite you when you reach for the item. This book might also be helpful.
Reviewers incorrectly use the "Generic Store or Restaurant" because it has the word "Generic" in it, not because it is a Store or Restaurant.
See the book "Eats, Shoots & Leaves".
https://www.amazon.com/Eats-Shoots-Leaves-Tolerance-Punctuation/dp/1592402038/ref=sr_1_1
Kind of OT, but I own these two children's books:
Most dogs who resource guard, which is what he's doing, have done so for awhile before the humans see it at a level where it's significant.
If he's biting, he means it. And the thing about RG is that it can escalate very quickly.
He's three: have you guys done any real deal serious training? Is he crate trained?
>After a while of trying to get him to move we picked him up and put him in the back manually while he growled and made aggressive noises.
He's going to seriously bite you guys.
The first part of working with a dog who RG's is to not set up situations where he is going to have that as his go-to. If you do, you're basically encouraging him to keep using those behaviors.
The second part is to teach him to trade. Don't grab stuff from him, don't physically move him: you guys are just going to get bitten. And eventually he may not bother to growl, he'll just bite.
This is a good thing to read about dogs like your's.
The reason why RG is hard to fix is that people look for a quick fix and they ignore warning signs. And people don't realize that if you take all of your dog's toys away? No problem: he can happily guard the sofa, the kitchen sink, the doorway, whatever he feels like that day. Oh you dropped a towel in the kitchen? Well that works.
If you have not worked with a trainer you may want to: what I would not not not do is any sort of board and train. You want to work with a person who is going to teach you how to read dog and how to predict when he's going to be a jerk.
This is a mild resource guarding behavior. If you want to work on training, this book is a great resource for learning about resource guarding!
If you haven't already, check out "Mine!" by Jean Donaldson. It's a comprehensive guide on resource guarding and how to address it--the principles and exercises in here can be applied to dog/dog resource guarding. I found it very helpful for my dogs!
I highly recommend the book, Mine!, by Jean Donaldson for resource guarding. It's a quick and easy read that will give you plenty of practical information and even step-by-step guides on how to address exactly what you're experiencing right now.
r/dogtraining recommends This book for resource guarding. I’m sure they have other resources in their wiki for leash reactivity as well.
Among other things, this book has some very insightful chapters on how to talk to your cat about abstinence and online predators.