Finnish Spitz playing Catch III Sept 08

Our dogs, Minnie and Tippy, carousing and howling.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• dogs
• Finnish
• Spitz
• Suomen
• pystykorva

[1424austin]

Hi I just got a new puppy (3 weeks) and he is very sweet. However he hates his crate and only barks when he is in it. He actually does not bark when I am around. Are there any suggestions to calm him down. My breeder recommended a shock collar and I was a little surprised.

[CdnFinkieGirl]

@1424austin This is a Finnish Spitz breeder that is recommending this? Unbelievable. Finnish Spitz are companion dogs. They want to be with you. They should not be crated, except in the case of an emergency. I would recommend NOT putting him in the crate, let him be with you and take him out for several short walks a day. They are very smart dogs and don't tend to be destructive. If you are concerned, maybe buy a few baby gates to keep him out of certain rooms when you aren't there.

[CdnFinkieGirl]

@1424austin Also, Finnish Spitz have been bred to bark for thousands of years. It is utterly irresponsible for a breeder to be recommending a shock collar of any kind. Good call on your part to question this. They are active dogs - the best way to deal with this is lots of little walks, and playtime. They are smart - ours play hide and seek! We found the best thing for Tippy was a second dog - they get their energy out through walks with us and playing with each other.

[CdnFinkieGirl]

@1424austin So sorry for spamming you - you can try to teach him the word "quiet" but it will be slow going as he is very young. Must be so gentle and softspoken when training these dogs. If you say "quiet" when the dog is barking and gently place your hands around his mouth, he will start to understand "quiet" has something to do with his mouth. When you take your hands away, if he doesn't bark, say "good quiet!!" and even give a little treat. Will take a long while but he will get it :)

[1424austin]

@CdnFinkieGirl I really really appreciate your advice so please feel free. I have enjoyed watching your videos and hope my little guy is as great as Tippy. I only use the crate so he learns to go potty outside, after that I would ideally enjoy him running around me. you have to tell me how they learn to play hide and seek that sounds great.

Oh and to be honest, my puppy only barks for a total of 1 to 2 hours a day. most of the time he is pretty quiet even with strangers and other dogs.

[CdnFinkieGirl]

@1424austin Glad to hear he is generally quiet - sounds like you have a good boy! I've been promising new videos for a while - so I just posted a video with some house training tips that worked for our doggies. Will post another one later with some general training tips. I'm trying to catch them playing hide and seek but they are getting camera shy - so maybe tomorrow! :)

[CdnFinkieGirl]

@hawker800FO Very, very smart dogs. Not overly interested in training. Impossible to train for off leash in a city area - too many distractions and very dangerous as they have super keen hunting instincts. Can train with bribery to do tricks, etc. (see my other videos) Couldn't see training them out of excitement barking, but you can train to calm down more quickly than if left own their own. Hard to train them to ignore interesting distractions....IMHO not a good dog if 1st time owner...

[hawker800FO]

@CdnFinkieGirl easy to train?

[CdnFinkieGirl]

@rsbro1 Yes, yes and yes :) They like to bark when they are excited, when they see something, when they are awake, when they are happy, when they are not....you get the idea :) They are bad dogs to have if you do not have a good sense of humour about their willingness to bark. It is instinctive. They are bred for it. Their senses of smell and sight and sound are extremely keen and they are very alert and playful but definitely noisy.

[rsbro1]

thinking about getting one...... i heard they bark alot.... do they bark at noise or suspicious stuff?? or just for the hell of it?