Question about my puppy?

Question

Hi i have a 15 week old cavalier king charles ,i was just wondering why he doesnt look me in the eye ,does he think i am threatening him if i do and is it important he learns to do that ,he will look my husband in the eye and i am the one doing all the caring for him !!!also i want to get him castrated when he is 6 months lots of people tell me they put on lots of weight if i get him done ,surely if i dont feed him crap and he gets plenty of exercise that wont happen ?thankyou in advance for any info xxx

Sorry i meant neutering

Answer 1

Neutering your dog is a great idea - and of course you'll still be in charge of how much food and exercise he gets, so just do a rib check every so often to be sure that you're not overfeeding. You should be able to feel your dog's ribs easily when you do this.
And yes, your dog is interpreting your looks into his eyes as confrontational - so don't do that. Build your relationship of trust with your dog by training positively and take a class or 2 so that you can learn to do that effectively.
Have fun with your pup!

Answer 2

Congratulations on your new puppy! To teach the puppy to obey commands you must be consistent. Always use the same phrase or word and always speak in the same tone of voice. Speak in your normal voice. Do not yell. Yelling frightens the puppy and will not teach him/her a thing. You may think that it does, because just as an example say the puppy has done something that he/she isn't supposed to do and you become frustrated with Puppy and you yell "No". The puppy will move away from you and you may think that you have taught him/her something and this won't happen again. Well, you would be half right. You have taught the puppy something by yelling at her/him and that is to be afraid of you because the puppy won't understand why you're yelling. Please speak in a normal voice or a soft voice when you speak to the puppy. In order to teach the puppy the command "No" first decided what the puppy can do and what the puppy isn't supposed to do. Some of this is obvious to you and your family. Some may not be if you have children such as you don't want the puppy on the furniture because it (the furniture) will get dirty and it will get dog hair. After you establish with your family what is O.K. for the puppy to do and what is not O.K., then everyone should use the same word or words to teach the puppy. Puppys learn by repetition. Just keep at it and pretty soon you will have a nice well behaved puppy. Also, please do not hit the puppy--even with a rolled up newspaper. People say that if you do this the puppy or the dog will not associate it with you but this is not true. The puppy can see who is holding that newspaper. If you want to discipline the puppy you should not hit or yell. I had a puppy that I crate trained and when she would not obey me after many times, then I would put her in her crate for what is called a "time out." I would not put her in the crate and then put her in a room by herself--she would have felt abandoned. Instead I put the crate in the room with me and I sat and talked to her until she calmed down and then I immediately let her out. You may try this. As to teaching the puppy not to bite, and not to bark-- puppys bark--this is normal but to teach her to stop barking, just speak in your normal voice and tell her "No" or "Be quite" or "Hush" or something like that. As far as teacher her not to bite, first be sure that the person is not teasing the dog. Biting is one of the ways that dogs and puppys have of defending themselves. If the person had not teased the puppy, just speak in your normal voice to the puppy and tell him/her "No" or "The postman is our friend" or something along these lines. This will take awhile, but dogs are smart. Keep at it as I said earlier and pretty soon you will have a well-mannered puppy. I almost missed the last part of your question. Since the puppy is white some names might be Snowball Frosty (male) Also you should make a list of names that you like and names that suit the puppy. Take a few days and watch the puppy and you will notice the puppy's personality and you may want to make a name from a characteristic that he/she has. For instance, I had a mixed breed terrier. The name she had when I first got her was totally inappropriate. I made a list of names that I liked and I watched the puppy and I noticed that she walked like a lady and held her head just like a lady and so my new puppy became Lady.

Answer 3

You should try to teach the dog the "watch me" command. There is a very easy way to teach this. Take your dogs favorite treat put it in your hadn allow the dog to smell it so it knows what you have. Give the command "watch me" then put the treat in your hand up to your nose when the dog looks at you give him the treat keep this up for a few weeks. Soon the dog will know to look at your face. To advance this when the dog is older take two treats one in each hand show the dog the treats let him smell them so he knows you have the good stuff. put both hands up on either side of yur face no not give a command when the dog looks you in the eye, mark the responce with a happy "Yes" in a happy tone and give the dog the treat continue this in time moveing the hands further from your face (farther apart) remember to mark the responce with a happy "yes". the dog will soon learn that looking you in the eye is a very good Idea because they get a treat and praise when they do. Hope this helped.

Answer 4

You can train him to look you in the eye. Have a treat and show it to him and let him follow it to your face and have him make eye contact with you. As for the Castration, I believe we call it Neutering here. I have a cavalier and it did not gain weight after neutering.

Answer 5

Dogs run in packs and in packs ther are always the ALPHA Male or female which is the leader, if you do all the caring for the puppy maybe it considers you the ALPHA female of your little "pack" by respect dogs NEVER stare straight in the eyes of the whatever is more powerful than them. it is a sign of submission. just make sure you give the animal lots of motherly love and treats when he/she does something good. Just dont spoil it because things will be worse.

Answer 6

My golden does the same thing. If I am laying on the couch, he'll get right in front of my face. When I talk to him, he responds so I know he's paying attention, but he looks at the wall above my head. I sometimes move my hed to meet his eyes, but he'll keep avoiding eye contact, or make it a glimpse. It's a dominance thing. Congratulation, you're the top dog!

Answer 7

I'd have to agree with Vomdietri's answer, a pup that stares you down is probably going to give you problems down the road. Make sure he knows who's the boss early on. Make him earn your respect also, make him sit and wait a short time for his food so he knows who provides for him. I have a 15 week old Lab who has excellent manners but we have worked with her. Give the dog rules, they catch on quicker than you think if your consistent.

He won't put on weight if you cut down on his food after he stops growing, check with your Vet on feeding regimen, and keep up with the exercise.

Answer 8

its usually a good thing if he doesn't look you in the eye. It means he doesn't want to challenge you.

go ahead and castrate him. My pekingese has been castrated for 3 years and he didn't gain weight. He'll be fine and if he does put on weight you can just put him on a special diet

Answer 9

Eye contact is threatening to many dogs. Neutering will not automatically make your dog add weight.

Answer 10

ok, he won't look you in they eye because you are the boss. He looks your husband in the eye because he thinks your husband is an "equal" and will challenge him later. When you get him fixed (which is the best thing, by far) he wll not try to challenge your husband, he will not gain weight (with proper diet and exercise), and he will not get testicular cancer. Get him neutered, its the best thing you can do for him!