First time whippet puppy owner

[danwhippetman]

Hi,

After months of research I finally decided to take the plunge and get a whippet puppy in February. Little did I know that only a few weeks later we’d be in lockdown. I can’t lie, these last few months have been incredibly difficult. I knew that a puppy would be hard and I tried to prepare myself for the inevitable frustrations and heartache, but not this. Not one day has passed without some issue or set back. The frustrating thing is that I had booked us on to puppy classes only for them to be cancelled due to lockdown. My main issues at present are:

1. He’s very nippy/bitey particularly with my 12 year old daughter. I’m really struggling to implement a consistent/effective method of dealing with this as his behaviour is quite unpredictable.

2. He’s now taken to waking up at 5:20 am every morning. I’ve tried numerous things in order to get him to stop doing this - ignoring him, going to him and letting him out to the toilet (he doesn’t generally go, I think he just wants the attention). I’ve tried feeding him earlier/later, taking him on long walks before bed but nothing seems to stop him waking at that ungodly hour.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I’m at my wits end.

D

 

[JudyN]

He's darn cute when he's asleep though, isn't he?

OK, puppy biting - it's normal, and it's a pain in the ankles, hands, legs, wherever. Some people find that a high-pitched yelp helps but others don't - it certainly didn't help my land shark. What I suggest is every time he nips, don't say anything, but calmly either remove him from the area, or remove yourself. The easiest way I think is to use a stairgate - if you close a door on him he might get more anxious than if he can see you, and it's not easy to learn when you're anxious.

Leave him there (or stay out there) for just a few seconds - say, 10 - and let him back in. He'll probably go straight to your flesh again, so calmly put him in timeout for another however many seconds. Repeat, absolutely consistently, for as long as it takes, even if it feels like you're spending the whole evening doing it and eventually, he'll realise that biting means the fun stops. Expect him to have relapses for a long time to come because youngesters, and even adults, get overexcited and forget themselves at times.

It's important your daughter and anyone else does this consistently too - and her friends if they are able to meet up.

It can really help to wear clothing you're not worried about getting damaged, as it's not easy to stay calm if pup is hanging off your new t-shirt. Thick jeans can help too - I've even heard of people wearing wellies in the house to protect themselves!

I nearly forgot - sometimes you can pre-empt the attacks by alway carrying a dog toy with you and stuffing it in his mouth before he latches on.

I think it really helps to teach a puppy impulse control, as even when they know what not to do, they sometimes simply don't have the self-control to stop themselves. Check out this video:

It will also get his brain ticking over which may help him relax calmly the rest of the time.

Where does he sleep at night? He might simply be craving company - dogs are social animals after all. He might settle better if he's in with you or your daughter, either on a dog bed, in a crate (if he's used to one) or even on your bed.

I hope some of that helps

 

[Rinkydinkydo]

Nice choice in dogs pal,a pocket rocket in the sighthound world.
Every pup are all about teeth,I'd be more worried if they weren't using them.

 

[Finsky]

Each puppy/dog is different and they learn and show control of their behaviour in different stages. The main thing is, that you understand they all do it and yes, every puppy owner has gone through the pain and frustration that comes with the process.
If you have learned to distract your dog to divert his behaviour from the nipping and scratching, this time next year you'll wonder what ever was the problem!?
Trust me...that nipping will suddenly stop but it ain't happen without your help. I got over that stage with my girls by having endless supply of various kind of lasting natural chews (read; dried body parts). We managed to get away with very few teeth mark damage to any our furniture or belongings with offer of those chews and letting them to rip plenty of cardboard boxes and kitchen roll tubes. Oh and never ending supply of toys to play with. More often than not I had to play with them to keep the puppy busy.
They do soon learn what is allowed and what is not. 'Soon' is not same for us and it is for them....I would it will still take several months.
We did take habit to squeal for the pain too to indicate girls had been too rough with us.
Your pup is still very young so hang on...

 

[danwhippetman]

Many thanks for your advice and the video suggestion. It’s reassuring to know that these problems aren’t uncommon. Sounds like it’s a matter of persevering with a consistent approach.

Re the ludicrous time he wakes up, he’s been sleeping in a crate in the kitchen for the past 4 months but it’s only recently that he’s decided he wants to get up at the crack of dawn. Bizarre. I don’t mind getting up early but I don’t want to commit to getting out of bed every at 5am every day for the foreseeable future.....

 

[lurcherman]

Get used to the 5am alarm call, my whippet x wanted out at the time when he was young and to be honest I was happy to do so, so much more to see and less people about , again training one on one and perseverance in your methods will get you a great dog, so he almost 6 months by now then,

 

[Hemlock]

There may be goings-on outside that are disturbing him. Or the light mornings. This isn't for ever, but it is for now. Drag on a dressing gown and stagger out with him, watch what he does. If he's charging about sniffing, you have had a garden visitor. If he runs to the gate, it's a neighbour or the milkperson. Let him check the place out, go and have a wee, then take him back in and give him a stuffed kong to work on. He may well be hungry. He's a baby still, and if he sleeps the night through, you are doing really well and other people would kill to have such an obliging pup.

Pups ARE hard work. But they grow into sensible, sweet adult dogs. Hang on in there.

 

[Finsky]

Get used to the 5am alarm call, my whippet x wanted out at the time when he was young and to be honest I was happy to do so, so much more to see and less people about , again training one on one and perseverance in your methods will get you a great dog, so he almost 6 months by now then,

LOLOLOL "get used to it" indeed. That is all we can do when you have a'hound' that wants to do its duties in the middle of the night AND/OR very early in the morning. 'YAAAWN'...yep, I had night shift duty last night as my girls were so sure there was something in the garden that should not be there. One day they will decide they cannot be bothered with every little noise and they rather snuggle up in warm bed....one day....

 

[JudyN]

My dog used to want to chase away the 'monsters' (foxes?) at the bottom of the garden in the middle of the night, and then he'd end up so worked up I couldn't get him back in. Eventually I separated off a tiny bit of garden at the side of the house with a dog playpen and let him out of the side door so he could only get there. After a couple of nights' complaining that he couldn't do his duty and chase off the dangerous monsters, he started sleeping through. This is different to waking early just because he thinks it's morning even if we don't, but making your early-morning outings to the garden boring and unrewarding may help. But has been said, he is just a baby and broken sleep is inevitable.

 

[danwhippetman]

I sort of resigned myself to the nights of broken sleep when we got him, and there have been plenty of them already, but this waking up at 5am everyday seems strange as he wasn’t doing it before. I’ve tried ruling out each thing, i.e. him being hungry, needing the toilet, it being too bright etc etc. I guess I’ll just have to get him in a routine where he’ll just have to wait until I’m ready to get out of bed because I’m ok with 6am, just not 5am. I guess he’ll get used to it sooner or later.

Re him getting nippy with people, it’s so difficult to manage because with the best will in the world, I’ve tried to advise the kids what they need to do, but they are kids, and getting them to act exactly how I want them to whenever he starts biting them is easier said than done. I think we’re making a little bit of progress with it, he seems to be doing it less frequently, so I guess we’ll just have keep up with what we are doing. I just worry he’ll do it to visitors once this lockdown/social distancing situation has passed, if it ever does...

 

[JudyN]

I did read of a method where you always made sure it was you waking up the dog and not the other way round, so the dog would get out of the habit of whining first (which from his point of view always works, even if he whines for an hour). So if he's waking at 5am, set your alarm for 4.45am and get him up. Then gradually nudge the time forward...

How likely this is to work I don't know - I never dared try!

 

[Whippylove]

I have 3 whippets and all of mine went through the nippy stage its something they grow out of quickly just be consistent I just gave my boy's something to chew on when they got nippy .
Waking up early is normal and will settle down, I remember Marley getting me up really early every morning and me standing in the garden half asleep with my dressing gown on while he would just stand and look then go in
Remember he's young and will grow.

 

[Finsky]

Re the ludicrous time he wakes up, he’s been sleeping in a crate in the kitchen for the past 4 months but it’s only recently that he’s decided he wants to get up at the crack of dawn. Bizarre.

Well...early this morning.."at the crack of dawn" I thought of your problem as i was standing in the middle of the garden in the dressing gown with umbrella above my head..listening the dawn chorus to come on. The chorus started with few 'chirps' and then the volume was plastered full on all of the sudden there was thousands of chirpers going on with their noises.
It is surprisingly loud for our ears, difficult to imagine what kind of 'rave' is sounds for the dogs ears! So it might well be that you pup is reacting to that noise...and particularly when it tends to constantly start similar time every morning at this time of the year.

 

[danwhippetman]

Yep I did wonder about that as we have a similar situation with birds chirping away just outside the window. There’s things I can control, like making sure it’s nice and dark in the kitchen, but I’m not sure I can stop the birds singing...HOWEVER, this morning he didn’t wake up until 5:45! I suppose I should be thankful for small mercies.

Re the nipping - does anyone have any suggestions for whether I should be intervening every time? My natural reaction is to get involved and get him off my daughter but I’m aware of the fact I can’t be around 100% of the time and I want her to be able to manage the situation herself. It’s hard to stand back and watch him latching onto her but I’m not really teaching him anything if I have to jump in every time

 

[lurcherman]

Me personally dan I would intervene if I’d seen it as I want him to answer to me, but in a family situation you must educate your daughter as soon as possible to do the same as your actions .

 

[JudyN]

I would model the behaviour you want from your daughter each and every time - if she's not doing the 'right' thing I would calmly go up to the pup, pop him in timeout, wait 10 secs and let him back in. The message is simple - teeth on skin means the fun stops and it doesn't matter how the fun stops as long as it's not going to be even more exciting/arousing. Hopefully your daughter will learn to follow suit.

 

[Hemlock]

Also during this phase, it's invaluable to have toys up in every room she has access to, where she can't see them but you can reach them quickly, and shove a toy in her mouth to bite on instead. It can be a bit like fencing at first because of course warm blood-infused flesh is way better than a toy, but keep at it - it works. If any toys have squeaks in, disable these by piercing the squeaker with a skewer or similar. Unfortunately you can't de-squeak your daughter this way, but encourage her to make a deep disappointed noise awwww as she walks off instead.

 

[Rinkydinkydo]

Its a reality that when you have children and dogs,you have to train the children as much as the dog.
Last year I saw some footage a child who looked around six or seven years old. He was working a Springer,it was a sight to be hold. How they were working together,the dog stopping and looking at him for guidance on where to go. The pick up and retrieve,then the joy they both had,wonderful to watch.