Couple questions about my new pup

DeLo727 · Post by **DeLo727** » Sat Nov 28, 2015 1:22 am

A little background on me and the pup to start...
I've had a lot of obedience training experience, including titled show dogs. However, this was with shelties which are notoriously easy to train and it was when I was younger. Point being that I have experience training dogs and the patience to do so. With that said, this is only the second hunting dog I have trained and the first didn't require much, he was a rockstar.
I have a new little French Brittany that I am completely in love with. His name is Louis and he's about 13 weeks right now. I've had him a touch over a month. Louis is a little troublemaker and I've run into some dilemmas with him. Here is what I'm dealing with.

Biting...Understanding that the breed can be a little nippier than some at a young age I am not as concerned with this as Im making it sound. Some days he understands that he can't nip and some days he doesn't care at all. He gets a little flick on the nose and a firm no but I'm not making much ground.
Potty...Louis is definitely understands that house accidents are unacceptable, but he's still having quite a few accidents. Im still learning his body language so Ill take some credit for the accidents but I feel like I'm following a good regiment. I take him outside frequently when I am home and he's crated while I'm working. When he has an accident you can tell he knows he did bad.

These seem like normal problems so far but let me tell you a little bit about Louis. Louis has had it rough from the day I got him home. He went through an airline problem and ended up on the plane for way too long at exactly 8 weeks old. Shortly after getting home we dealt with a case of Giardia and ran a course of antibiotics. Shortly after that we dealt with a bad cough possibly picked up at the vet and he's still on antibiotics for that. Somewhere in between he had to be sedated to deal with some pine needles lodged in his throat that he ate out in the backyard. I take it pretty easy on Louis due to all this stress but I'm not sure how much its fazed him. He is one of the most stubborn pups I have ever seen. Usually tough pups can get some tough love but Louis also happens to be a softy. A raised voice gets a cowering fright response out of him. Just from me, not the wife. He doesn't seem scared of loud noises so thats not it. He just doesn't like to be disciplined.

Im curious to hear any advice on training with this little guy due to the fact that he's stubborn and sheepish at the same time. Heres a couple pics of my new best buddy.

cjhills · Post by **cjhills** » Sat Nov 28, 2015 7:56 am

He is a puppy lighten up and give him a chance.
Stubborn is a human word not a dog word. In spite of how it may seem he does not do things to aggravate you he just has not quite got it yet. Some are just harder and take longer than others. We like the puppy training to just progress naturally without training sessions. Make good behavior easy and bad behavior hard and you will win....................Cj

shags · Post by **shags** » Sat Nov 28, 2015 8:11 am

For house manners, train him just like you would any other pup. There isn't anything "special" about gundog breeds vs other breeds when it comes to having good manners in the house or around people. Some dogs are more headstrong, and it might take more time and/or a firmer hand.
Don't let the airline fiasco or the giardia experience cloud your judgement. It's over and done, and no need to let it interfere with your training. Pity parties will just bring you grief in the long run, because the dog will pick up on and take advantage of your weakness, sympathy, or whatever you want to call it.

Cute little pup, good luck with him.

deseeker · Post by **deseeker** » Sat Nov 28, 2015 10:46 am

Just wanted to say--Nice looking pup

Post by **Sharon** » Sat Nov 28, 2015 12:19 pm

I read nothing in your post that showed he he was "tough,stubborn " - just a normal puppy.

"A raised voice gets a cowering fright response out of him. : quote

This tells me you need to lighten up.

He is soooooooooo cute. Lucky guy.

polmaise · Post by **polmaise** » Sat Nov 28, 2015 2:18 pm

Sharon wrote:I read nothing in your post that showed he he was "tough,stubborn " - just a normal puppy.

"A raised voice gets a cowering fright response out of him. : quote

This tells me you need to lighten up.

He is soooooooooo cute. Lucky guy.

Hmmmmm?
Is the OP Looking for 'Cute looking puppy' ?
Yep..it is ! They all are.

DeLo727 · Post by **DeLo727** » Sat Nov 28, 2015 10:46 pm

I think this may have been taken the wrong way. In the beginning of my post I explained that I have a good amount of training experience. This is not a brag and I hope it isn't taken that way. Its simply stated so that you guys would assume I've seen a bunch of puppies in training so as to take my word that he is stubborn.
Also, I assure you, I am not too hard on him and I don't have high expectations at this point. In fact, the vast majority of our time together is spent playing. We do a single 10 minute training session a day. What I am confused with is how to handle a dog that is resisting training but doesn't handle vocal negative reinforcement well. I can't afford to let him get away with things but based on his demeanor I don't want to scare him or make him afraid of neither me or our training sessions

pooch897 · Post by **pooch897** » Sun Nov 29, 2015 7:00 am

My Brittany pup had trouble with accidents until I got a bell for the door. I ordered it off amazon for under $10. He somehow figured it out within a couple days. Now he just rings the bell and I let him out.

greg jacobs · Post by **greg jacobs** » Sun Nov 29, 2015 11:55 am

Sounds like you have far more experience than me however I feed part of their food by hand during training when they are that young. Similar to clicker training but with out the clicker. That really gets their attention. Makes it a really positive time.
If you go to youtube and check out willow creek kennel you might get some good ideas for a soft pup. Works well for me.

Post by **Sharon** » Sun Nov 29, 2015 4:02 pm

DeLo727 wrote:I think this may have been taken the wrong way. In the beginning of my post I explained that I have a good amount of training experience. This is not a brag and I hope it isn't taken that way. Its simply stated so that you guys would assume I've seen a bunch of puppies in training so as to take my word that he is stubborn.
Also, I assure you, I am not too hard on him and I don't have high expectations at this point. In fact, the vast majority of our time together is spent playing. We do a single 10 minute training session a day. What I am confused with is how to handle a dog that is resisting training but doesn't handle vocal negative reinforcement well. I can't afford to let him get away with things but based on his demeanor I don't want to scare him or make him afraid of neither me or our training sessions

I remember Rick Smith ( Huntsmith ) telling me that he didn't believe there was such a thing as a soft dog. He felt that was a behaviour the dog used to lessen discipline. This was when I told him I thought my dog was soft ; Rick put my dog on the whoa posts and the dog fought like heck. Didn't look too soft. I have a lot of respect for Rick's ( HOF) opinion.

Just something to think about.

DeLo727 · Post by **DeLo727** » Tue Dec 01, 2015 12:10 am

wow thanks guys, these are really awesome responses. Gave me a lot to think about

BarfingCoyote · Post by **BarfingCoyote** » Thu Dec 03, 2015 5:29 pm

This sounds like your first Brittany.
1st you need to learn the breed.
You CAN crush a Britt with your voice, screw up weeks training.
It's part of they're personality trait. Look up some Britt guys and talk to them.
Everything you have said so far just sounds like a normal pup for the breed.
Remember your tone of voice. There is a difference between firm reinforcement
and being loud.

DeLo727 · Post by **DeLo727** » Fri Dec 04, 2015 8:08 pm

This is my fourth, and they are French Brittanies, not an American Brittany. There are significant differences between the two breeds. I've found them to be incomparable. My brother has owned American Britts his whole life and I've found the personality traits and training tolerances to be vastly different.

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