18 week whippet puppy

[whippet223]

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Hello we have a lovely 18 week old whippet puppy who has lots of the typical whippet traits but is also a lot more challenging and boisterous , we adore him but need to navigate some of these issues and any help would be much appreciated , we attend puppy classes and do training his sit , lie , wait and recall are coming along great he's lead walked with off lead in afield when secure his toileting , sleep are great he's doing so well but there are 2 things I'd love advice on
1: when he arrived 10 weeks old he was a complete savage at certain times biting clothes hands anything in sight we've worked on this and apart from the odd occasion where he is over stimulated he's great with all family apart from my 12 year old son who for some reason he gets hyper stimulated at the sight of and goes into jumping / play bites mode I know my son doesn't help by flailing hands ect when I can catch it we are fine as can set him up to being calm ect- I know a lot of it is because he spends more time out of the home in activities ect but I can't realistically ask a 12 year old to do more than he is - well maybe listen to the training advice a bit
2 reactivity to other dogs when on walks wants to greet them all he's always on a lead I've started now not letting. Him meet dogs and people and practice calm is this the right approach?

 

[JudyN]

It sounds like you are doing everything right with the jumping/biting, but we have a couple of posts that might help:

Puppy biting

I'm posting this as part of a series of helpful articles for common problems. If you have more information to add (or disagree with anything in this post) please do so in this thread, but if you have a specific question relating to your dog, please start a new thread. Puppy biting, aka Land...

dogforum.co.uk

Jumping up/getting overexcited on walks

I think this may largely be about training your son. He needs to learn to turn himself into a statue, or walk calmly away, as an instant reaction rather than the flailing (and probably vocalising in an excited/agitated way. Of course, it's not easy, even for an adult, but it can be done! I wonder if you could actually model the behaviour for him - get him to pretend to be an excited bitey puppy with you, and you calmly turning away, and then reverse roles? It might then be easier for him to do this when confronted with a sharp-toothed pup!

 

[JoanneF]

I've started now not letting. Him meet dogs and people and practice calm is this the right approach?

Pretty much, yes. Especially when he reaches adolescence, you will find it a lot easier if his focus is on you, and not letting him be attracted to other dogs is an important part of that. Most of us aim for a dog that is dog-neutral; neither afraid of, or magnetised to other dogs. Many people allow a 3 second or 5 second meet, greet and move on.

 

[RGC]

Congratulations, you’ve got a wonderful companion who, in time, will be a very gentle chap. I echo previous comments - you seem to have it taped with regard to over accommodating zealous play biting and jumping. It’s more to do with bringing others into the training zone. It’s not the dog - however, I must admit that I am ultra heavily biased towards whippets and sighthounds in general. Any photos?