confused about how to handle unwanted puppy behaviour & tips please for eye contact

You can say 'no' to a dog (or uh-oh, stop that, or other words of choice) but only after they have learned the rules. Right now she cant distinguish between chewing on a table leg (bad) and chew toy (good). To her, its just a thing to chew, she has no awareness of value. So, when you distract her with play, it's not a reward for her doing what she shouldn't, rather think of it as breaking the act of her doing something you don't want. There's lots of evidence if you want to get involved with the science that (children originally) and dogs learn faster and learn stronger that good things happen for good behaviour. So rewarding what you do want her to do (leave the table leg and chew on this toy instead) rather than punishing her for what you don't want want will be a faster way of training.

Getting her to look at you - I have never heard that spitting cheese can help! Do you have a clicker? Because that would be a great way to teach this. Much as I am a huge Kikopup fan, I haven't seen her methods for this so forgive me if she uses this and I'm repeating what you know (but do tell me because it would be nice to hear if our ideas match ). A clicker is like a snapshot of the exact moment your dog gives the behaviour you are looking for. So in the split second she looks at you, you click. This affirms to the dog that she has given what you want and a reward for doing so is coming. To learn to click, I suggest watching a tv programme and whenever the characters say a certain word, click. That will fine tune your timing. Then charge your clicker with your puppy. Click and simultaneously deliver a tasty reward. Repeat five times. Do this about five times in the day (so 5 × 5) and by then your puppy will have learned that click equals treat. The next day, say her name if she knows it, or make a sound - as her head turns to look at you, click. Then reward. After she is getting this consistently you can drop the click (because a click is always followed by a reward) and reward without the click. And then downgrade the reward to an ear rub, then a "good girl" etc. Because when you are out walking and she is offlead, you will want her to keep checking in on you with a look back but you can't carry a rucksack full of treats every walk!

Finally, remember it's early days. Don't raise your expectations of her, or of yourself, too high. Relax and enjoy her.

Ps - I am doing this on my phone so bear with me if I have got convoluted - it's a teeny screen to see all I've written.

 

My 2 cents - distractions are great, but best is to distract before she does something unwanted.
So, the trick really is to be able to see her getting "that look" before jumping on the counter, or stealing the socks, or whatever it is that's unwanted.
So, keep watching, observing, and soon enough you will be able to predict and distract prior, and it will be magical

Every time she practices unwanted behavior - she gets better at it, and closer to forming a habit.
Every time she is redirected to something else instead - she steps further away from forming a habit.

 

Glad we could help. I suggested a clicker because the sound is consistent every time but any sound will do, a 'yes' in a particular tone will do just as well. I have to say I'm not crazy about Zac George, his body language is too much in my view but he isn't awful. There is a new book that is getting some great reviews - Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy. I read the extract and it seems good, it might be worth a look if you want more reading.

And just to add, we accept payment for advice in the form of puppy photos!

 

Oh, and to add - popping her in a pen isn't a punishment with negative connotations, it's just a 'shhh, let's chill in here for a minute and calm down' thing.

 

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Given that she’s just 8.5-WO, i am also going to jump in & recommend VERY limited access to the house.
She’s obviously not yet housetrained [she won’t have working sphincters hooked up to her bladder & bowel until she’s 12-WO, approx a month from now, AND she still needs to learn what “full” feels like, & build muscle tone & neural fluency].

Stair gates, baby gates, closed doors, etc, can all keep her out of areas U do not want her to roam unsupervised [which is basically anywhere that U are not, & anywhere that is carpeted or absorbent].
Wearing a pup on a waist-leash is great for infant training - give the pup a long-lasting chewie or a stuffed frozen Kong as busywork, whenever U stop for a few minutes [sitting or standing].

As a 2-MO infant, re her voiding, she’s on automatic:
when she’s full, SHE EMPTIES. // This is not under her entire control - she can choose, to a degree, *where* she voids in the moment [e-g, on the absorbent carpet vs on the splashy tile surface...], but when she’s gotta go, SHE CANNOT STOP IT.
So restricting her to a very limited area within the house, which is easy-clean & waterproof, is important - as well as scheduling her for every-Three-Hour potty trips, from getting up in the morning until she [& U all] go to bed, at night.

The rule for toilet trip schedules is that any pup can only wait this long, MAX, between scheduled potty trips:
(Age in months) + 1 = Max # of hours between scheduled potty trips.

Ergo, when she’s 12-WO which is 3-MO, she will be able to wait NO MORE THAN 4 HOURS MAX, between scheduled toilet trips.

The other necessity is “triggered toilet trips”. Triggers include:
- waking from sleep [whether a nap or a night’s rest]
- eating a meal / a large drink of water [pressure from stomach contents]
- after active play
- any exciting event [a visitor arrives, the kids come downstairs for brekkie, a new toy...]

So... if U meet a friendly adult dog while walking Ur pup, & said dog & owner would like to meet her, she *will* probly need to pee immediately after the meet-&-greet. // Allow time for these triggered toilet trips, whether U are at home or abroad - walking a pup thus takes longer than walking a dog, not only cuz their legs are shorter, plus they are distractable, but the need to pee [or even poop] pops up unexpectedly.

Tip:
Always carry multiple baggies when walking a pup [or even a dog] in case of diarrhea, an extra stool provoked by excitement, & so on. Having extras that U don’t need is way preferable to needing JUST ONE MORE, & not having it with U. Oops.

- congratulations on the new arrival,
Terry, waving across the pond.

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And to give to other dog walkers who have, for whatever reason, got caught short. One day, you will be that person!

 

You have had some excellent advice already The only thing I would add is that when you are focusing on trying to reward eye contact... which is a great thing to be teaching right now..... try not to expect anything more than a quick glance for now. Once your puppy responds to her name or a tongue click or squishy noise with a quick look which you mark and reward, you will find that over time you can slow down how quickly you mark the behaviour.... so that she offer a gaze for 2 then 3 then 5seconds etc before you mark and reward.
Your puppy is already looking at you it's just she can not maintain eye contact yet. That will come when she has more understanding of what is being rewarded, that's built simply with reinforcement history and because she will be more able to focus her attention as she develops concentration skills.
Ì am really impressed at how determined you are to learn from previous dogs and not repeat things that you felt were not good for your relationship.
Kikopup, Emily Larlham, is an amazing trainer of dogs but also a very clear teacher of people. Even though it feels like what your copying from her video isn't working.... It maybe simply that your expecting a little too much too soon.
Ì don't know whether you can add video clips to posts (I'm a new member here ) but if you are still struggling with eye contact and you can post a video clip I would be happy to have a look and see if there is anything I or someone else can suggest to help you move forward.
This is a great community. I am so pleased to have found you all!