A little backgroud first. I've spent most of my life around dogs. I grew-up with English Setters, we moved onto Autralian Shepherds after we moved to smaller confines. I had a wonderful Bull Terrier for 12 years. After marrying, we had a dog purported to be a Jack Russell, but she was more of a Fox Terrier Mix. She passed away about 10 months ago after 9 wonderful years.
My wife never had dogs, and "Bridgette", our JRT mix was her first experience. In all honesty, I took a back seat to her...
In researching a new member of the family, we decided that the Rat Terrier best met our desires and about 3 weeks ago we found a wonderful little 8.5 week old female we named 'Chelsea" after the worlds finest football team (my choice).
While she's been an absolute joy, she has several tendencies that I've not encountered with our other dogs.
1. Incessant chewing on fingers, noses and anything else that is within reach of her mouth
2. She doesn't seem to be able to sleep throught the night (goes to bed around 10.00 and awakes around 03.30) to go to the bathroom, then sleeps again until 06.00.
All of my previous dogs, once asleep at night, slept until 07.00 after going to bed at 10.00ish, even when only 9-10 weeks old.
Several things:. She sleeps in a crate next to our bed, we withhold food and water after 07.00. In regard to nipping, gnawing and attacking the nose- my wife and daughter (13 yrs) both tell her no and substitute a chew toy. I'm from the old school (I guess) and flick her on the snout with my finger, tell her no and growl in a deep voice. She no longer nips me, although she mouths my fingers gently (which I allow).
All of my other dogs (even the extremely stubborn Bully) accepted me as the Alpha Male and the JRT mix accepted my wife as the Alpha Female by accident, but this little girl seems to have a little more attitude. I've tried to convince my wife to establish dominance now as opposed to later, but have been unable to get her to realize that very minor corporal punishment is not a bad thing and that pack animals use very minor amounts of it in establishing their dominance. We never use our hands and "spank" her, but a loud, low growl/bark really gets her attention combined with eye contact and baring teeth. She thinks I'm crazy, but it's always worked with the other dogs I've ben around (6 at this point)....
Are there any good books out there that promote the "pack animal" type of training as opposed to the "New Age" soft approach? I've met dogs trained in this "softer, kinder" manner and even one's that have been through expensive, drawn-out training schools and was not impressed at all. Some of the best trained dogs I've met are those trained by old ranchers doing it the "old-school" way- establish dominance, give the dog a "job" ,praise good behavior and punish bad.
In regard to the sleep issue- I told her NOT to get up and "reward" the puppy when she cries, rather ignore her. She thinks I'm being cruel Any words of advice here? This lack of sleep is a little rough.
Thanks in advance
Chelsea's Dad
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