# When you have a demanding puppy??



## fach (Jun 27, 2005)

Lilly is very demanding. If she wants something, she wants it NOW!!!!! She is 8 months now. She will bark continuously and scratch me if possible to get her way. I have tried to ignore her thinking if the behavior gains no response or success she will eventually stop. two examples;

1] I am cooking and she wants me to pick her up. She will bark at me and scratch the heck out of my legs. I don't want to lock her up. I want her to behave.
2] I am working out. She is small and underfoot and I don't want to accidentally step on her so she goes into her pen for a nap. She will bark the entire time. It doesn't matter if I ignore her. She will bark.

Any ideas? Will she eventually just wise up and stop? Am I doing something to contribute to this? When Dixie was young I had the same issue with working out, but she finally got it. Now that she is older she sits on the bed and watches. She is very well behaved in that regard.

Help! Lilly is driving me insane with this behavior. It's all about WHAT LILLY WANTS RIGHT THIS SECOND.


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## MandyMc65 (Jun 14, 2007)

I think at 8 months they kind of hit another testing you phase. But that means you need to be firm.

1. Cooking - If you don't want to lock her up you could teach her to lay on a mat, rug, bed, etc... This will take time to make the mat a good place and a place that she stays. I shaped my dogs going to a mat/place and it is very solid. You could also try giving her something to do. Every time you cook dinner she gets a special toy (kong, busy buddy, tug a jug, bob a lot, etc..). I would use a treat dispensing toy. And if you feed her kibble - there's her dinner or half (see below)! 

2. Put her in the pen and ignore. Do not give her any attention - no eye contact, no verbal, nothing. Do not let her out unless she has been quiet. Again, give her something to do - half her dinner here. 

I have a feeling that when you are cooking she has scored once or twice. You dropped something and she got it, you look down at her and tell her to stop, you pick her up and remove her, etc... If they have been rewarded they will continue. If you don't reward a behavior it will eventually disappear. You can't just expect a dog to behave, you have to teach them what that is.


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## nekkidfish (Aug 25, 2009)

If you crate trained her .... when Poppy does this, I tell him "Time out!" and I go put him in his crate for 5 minutes. I then bring him out and tell him "Good quiet". Some times it takes a few times of doing this before he gets it.

JMM posted about this, and the biggest thing is to give a warning, and then take her to her crate ... you have to be consistent and do it every time.

HUGz! Jules


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## SugarBob62 (Nov 9, 2009)

Nelson does the same stuff. While I work out (in the living room) I have to put him in his crate. Sometimes he lays down, sometimes he barks/cries.

My Andy sometimes though would try and like lick me and stuff. Especially if I was on the floor doing pilates or something. You figure, they have no idea what you are doing, they see you moving around or on the floor and like "oh I wanna play!!!" :HistericalSmiley:

They do say ignoring works, but I have yet to see it work when Nelson is being pushy. He will eventually settle down I think, but it doesn't matter if I keep saying NO or just ignore. I think eventually he just gives up.

What I do sometimes when I'm in the kitchen when Nelson acts up. Like he has a tendency to try and lick the dishes/dishwasher when I'm unloading it. I have actually put his harness on, and put it under a chair leg far enough he can't get to the dishwasher. So he's still in there with me, just contained, but not caged ya know?

But most of the times I try and run him around tire him out before I do stuff like kitchen stuff or working out or sit down to watch TV. Because then he's so tired from running around he won't get into stuff or bark and just naps. A good puppy is a tired puppy! :chili:


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## silverhaven (Sep 6, 2009)

Lola is 9 months right now and a little Madam. I am also hoping it is a phase. Very demanding. Started barking more, especially when she hears we are going out without her. When she wants something off me she also scratches at me or barks at me. Sounds very similar. More mouthy and diggy too. We have moved into rented accommodation for a month so she may be feeling insecure. Move into our new place in our new city next month.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

I like Mandy's idea of teaching go to your mat. You could actually use it for both circumstances.


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## fach (Jun 27, 2005)

It sounds like it partly an age/maturity/puppy stage issue. I will be continue to use her pen while I work out and be extremely diligent about ignoring her when she barks. Eventually she will get the picture. I hope, lol!

As for the kitchen cooking issues. I'm sure she smells the yummy aroma from my cooking and at her age it's overwhelming. I'll try to feed her first so she isn't so hungry and might be less demanding. Thanks all!!


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## Moxie'smom (Dec 16, 2007)

The "Go to matt" really works. Actually my husband and I both cook or bake a lot, so Moxie knows that when we're in the kitchen he has to sit in his bed. When we started to train him to do this, or shape the behavior, he got a treat everytime he 1. sat on his bed and 2. stayed. Now he knows to just go there and stay. Once in a while he'll get a treat, but we no longer have to reward him everytime... although verbally he still gets praise. Training him to do this really helped keep him out from under foot. 

When I do my chocolate work..I keep him in his playpen (chocolate is toxic, so it's safer for him in there.) I put a bunch of his toys in there as well. It also helps to play or walk him before I keep him in there for a while. This way he sleeps.

Just be consistent. It really works.


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