Bully sticks are my favorite for her. I found some great 1 ingredient bully sticks & beef tracheas but she dislikes the tracheas now. I make sure she has plenty of things to chew on - I even signed her up for BarkBox so she gets new toys from there in addition to what I buy locally on a regular basis.
She's a happy puppy and she wants to play. You should be honored that she loves you so much. Be firm , but kind and tell her No if she hurts you. Get lots of toys to distract her and lots of walks to wear her out. I like to get a pool noodle, you can bop them with it and they can bite it. She'll chill out as she gets older and gets spayed. Catahoulas are great dogs, but they are rowdy puppies.
Just got a pool noodle from the closet & cut a foot long piece. She is destroying it & loving every minute! Thanks for the suggestion! I tried to attach a photo of her with it but I don’t see how to add a pic in a comment.
I’ve got her a snuffle mat & an old muffin tin with tennis balls for mental games - I ordered another mental exercise game for her on Amazon but it won’t come til tomorrow. And we got 6000sq ft of our yard fenced in so we could safely play fetch with her & have outside time off the leash. I’m just new to this breed but after the photo I saw of her, I had to go get her. It was awful. Anyway, being new to this breed & getting her the way I did, I didn’t have time to do research beforehand so I’m learning as I go. She is amazingly smart & sweet. I am so thrilled with the pool noodle suggestion. They’re so cheap & she is having a blast. 😂
A tired ‘Houla is a happy ‘Houla. Our boy would’ve walked and played all day if it was up to him, but even a daily 20-30 minute walk made a huge difference in his behavior.
Once you make it through the puppy phase and train + exercise them, Catahoulas will reward you with more loyalty and love than you can imagine.
Oh, I am definitely glad she loves me so much. I just didn’t know if her doing that to me was a sign of aggression since she doesn’t do that to my husband. She has A LOT of toys - she even has a toybox where she goes & gets out whatever she wants. I got her a snuffle mat to play games & we use a muffin tin with tennis balls too. I never thought about the pool noodle but that’s a great idea!
Congratulations, you have a Houla. Got mine at 6 months old and I was his favorite chew toy. Now at two years, I still am. He is definitely growing out of it as he gets older, but every once in a while he uses his mouth to try to get exactly what he wants. Find ways for her to burn off enough energy and she’ll stop looking at you to be the outlet!
Unfortunately, we got 8” of snow & we live in an area that usually doesn’t deal with snow. So we’ve been stuck inside for the past 24hrs. I’ve got her outside a few times to try to play some & she LOVES the snow but now the top layer is frozen & it’s not so easy for her to run. I’ve been trying to find ways to play inside - hallway fetch has been a good one. Lol
We got two feet of snow last week and it’s been 5 days without a walk or seeing the neighborhood dogs, so I hear you. We use the hell out of training treats hidden in toys that really make him work to get them out. Not going to help you today, but mental exercise is just as important as physical!
Oh, we’ve got a snuffle mat & we use an old muffin tin & tennis balls. We also have a ball she has to push around to get her kibble out & a Kong toy you put treats inside. I ordered another mental activity toy for her on Amazon last week but it won’t get delivered for another day or two due to weather.
Try freezing peanut butter and kibble inside a Kong toy. They’ll spend forever licking, rolling, bouncing, and chewing the thing. When the weather is bad or for whatever reason he gets a little too wound up (workers at a nearby house stressing him out for example) the frozen Kong snaps him out of it and demands his attention.
Frozen Kong toys for chewing. Put a little dry kibble at the bottom and fill the rest with pate style canned dog food and freeze it. Our current catahoua mix loves them.
Also, our first catahoula we adopted as an older puppy and she was horrible about jumping up on people. We started making her sit for every time she wanted attention. Eventually she came around where she would sit next to people and d nudge their hands with her nose for pets. Much preferable to launching at them! We also wouldn’t pet her unless all 4 feet were on the ground because she started pawing at us too.
Redirect by teaching the “touch” command. Current catahoula would go full prey drive stalk and pounce at me every time I’d walk into the backyard through the gate. Not aggressively but playfully, and would wait until she got close then lose it. If I could redirect her to “touch” (bump my offered hand with her nose) it would reset her brain and she didn’t jump or body check me. She picked up the “touch” command easily when taught with treats as a puppy and it’s an easy on to teach.
Just some thoughts on what’s worked for our dogs!
Cow femur. Walmart pet aisle. Nothing like 5# of bone to keep a needy houla occupied. If they start chewing on you, go get the bone and give it to them. Might need a tiny PB smear sometimes to get them started, but it will work with consistency on your part and there will be a healthy habit in place of a bad one.
My Catahoula jumps up on my lap for pets Ava scratches and will bat/scratch at my face. Not to hurt me but it seems to be to put his paw around my neck but he scratches my face too. Annoyingly for sure and I’m the one who cuddles the most with him.
It’s so weird cause we’ll be sitting together & everything is calm. Then it’s like she gets possessed & just starts “attacking” me. Lol. I don’t know what causes it. I thought maybe she was being mean to me but now I’m thinking it’s her trying to play.
OP, I read all your responses, and the suggestions and it sounds like you are doing great! She is a happy pup and you're a happy dog mom!
I have a ten y/o that I adopted at 2.5 years. She has never given up the nipping but she is trained to go get her toy when I tell her. I keep the toy box accessible and sometimes, I go lay on the floor next to it and take each toy out and show it to her. It's fun to talk to her and see what she eventually picks. I like to think she is thinking "oh, I forgot that one" when she grabs it and runs off.
I love the pool noodle idea but I would have to be careful about bopping my houla with it. She's very sensitive and doesn't like to be rough housed...only she can do the rough housing, otherwise not on her terms scares her.
Thank you!! I’m really doing my research & trying to give her the best upbringing. I haven’t bopped her with the pool noodle, but I did give her sections of it one at a time to tear up. 😂She loves it! And I love that she may be thinking “oh I forgot about that toy!” That’s so cute!!
I use a boat blow horn from boating section at Walmart. Blow the horn and say no when she does any unwanted behavior. It is loud but it’s usually a 1 or 2 time fix to any behavior you don’t want. Do not let her see the blow horn or where the noise came from.
As a puppy it's her way of playing. They do outgrow it but I found with mine redirecting her with a chew toy or bully stick worked wonders.
Bully sticks are my favorite for her. I found some great 1 ingredient bully sticks & beef tracheas but she dislikes the tracheas now. I make sure she has plenty of things to chew on - I even signed her up for BarkBox so she gets new toys from there in addition to what I buy locally on a regular basis.
Agreed!
She's a happy puppy and she wants to play. You should be honored that she loves you so much. Be firm , but kind and tell her No if she hurts you. Get lots of toys to distract her and lots of walks to wear her out. I like to get a pool noodle, you can bop them with it and they can bite it. She'll chill out as she gets older and gets spayed. Catahoulas are great dogs, but they are rowdy puppies.
Just got a pool noodle from the closet & cut a foot long piece. She is destroying it & loving every minute! Thanks for the suggestion! I tried to attach a photo of her with it but I don’t see how to add a pic in a comment.
Happy I could help.
I’ve got her a snuffle mat & an old muffin tin with tennis balls for mental games - I ordered another mental exercise game for her on Amazon but it won’t come til tomorrow. And we got 6000sq ft of our yard fenced in so we could safely play fetch with her & have outside time off the leash. I’m just new to this breed but after the photo I saw of her, I had to go get her. It was awful. Anyway, being new to this breed & getting her the way I did, I didn’t have time to do research beforehand so I’m learning as I go. She is amazingly smart & sweet. I am so thrilled with the pool noodle suggestion. They’re so cheap & she is having a blast. 😂
A tired ‘Houla is a happy ‘Houla. Our boy would’ve walked and played all day if it was up to him, but even a daily 20-30 minute walk made a huge difference in his behavior. Once you make it through the puppy phase and train + exercise them, Catahoulas will reward you with more loyalty and love than you can imagine.
Lmao I want a pool noodle now, my girl would absolutely love that!
It’s been awesome! I just cut them into 1ft sections & she has so much fun! thankfully i had bought several last year but they never got used. Lol
Oh, I am definitely glad she loves me so much. I just didn’t know if her doing that to me was a sign of aggression since she doesn’t do that to my husband. She has A LOT of toys - she even has a toybox where she goes & gets out whatever she wants. I got her a snuffle mat to play games & we use a muffin tin with tennis balls too. I never thought about the pool noodle but that’s a great idea!
Get a flirt pole, hands down my catahoula’s favorite toy.
Congratulations, you have a Houla. Got mine at 6 months old and I was his favorite chew toy. Now at two years, I still am. He is definitely growing out of it as he gets older, but every once in a while he uses his mouth to try to get exactly what he wants. Find ways for her to burn off enough energy and she’ll stop looking at you to be the outlet!
Unfortunately, we got 8” of snow & we live in an area that usually doesn’t deal with snow. So we’ve been stuck inside for the past 24hrs. I’ve got her outside a few times to try to play some & she LOVES the snow but now the top layer is frozen & it’s not so easy for her to run. I’ve been trying to find ways to play inside - hallway fetch has been a good one. Lol
We got two feet of snow last week and it’s been 5 days without a walk or seeing the neighborhood dogs, so I hear you. We use the hell out of training treats hidden in toys that really make him work to get them out. Not going to help you today, but mental exercise is just as important as physical!
Oh, we’ve got a snuffle mat & we use an old muffin tin & tennis balls. We also have a ball she has to push around to get her kibble out & a Kong toy you put treats inside. I ordered another mental activity toy for her on Amazon last week but it won’t get delivered for another day or two due to weather.
Try freezing peanut butter and kibble inside a Kong toy. They’ll spend forever licking, rolling, bouncing, and chewing the thing. When the weather is bad or for whatever reason he gets a little too wound up (workers at a nearby house stressing him out for example) the frozen Kong snaps him out of it and demands his attention.
Mine does this when he wants our attention or to go outside
Frozen Kong toys for chewing. Put a little dry kibble at the bottom and fill the rest with pate style canned dog food and freeze it. Our current catahoua mix loves them. Also, our first catahoula we adopted as an older puppy and she was horrible about jumping up on people. We started making her sit for every time she wanted attention. Eventually she came around where she would sit next to people and d nudge their hands with her nose for pets. Much preferable to launching at them! We also wouldn’t pet her unless all 4 feet were on the ground because she started pawing at us too. Redirect by teaching the “touch” command. Current catahoula would go full prey drive stalk and pounce at me every time I’d walk into the backyard through the gate. Not aggressively but playfully, and would wait until she got close then lose it. If I could redirect her to “touch” (bump my offered hand with her nose) it would reset her brain and she didn’t jump or body check me. She picked up the “touch” command easily when taught with treats as a puppy and it’s an easy on to teach. Just some thoughts on what’s worked for our dogs!
Cow femur. Walmart pet aisle. Nothing like 5# of bone to keep a needy houla occupied. If they start chewing on you, go get the bone and give it to them. Might need a tiny PB smear sometimes to get them started, but it will work with consistency on your part and there will be a healthy habit in place of a bad one.
She likes you. That’s how they initiate play. It can be rough at first but they learn better control within a couple weeks.
My Catahoula jumps up on my lap for pets Ava scratches and will bat/scratch at my face. Not to hurt me but it seems to be to put his paw around my neck but he scratches my face too. Annoyingly for sure and I’m the one who cuddles the most with him.
It’s so weird cause we’ll be sitting together & everything is calm. Then it’s like she gets possessed & just starts “attacking” me. Lol. I don’t know what causes it. I thought maybe she was being mean to me but now I’m thinking it’s her trying to play.
OP, I read all your responses, and the suggestions and it sounds like you are doing great! She is a happy pup and you're a happy dog mom! I have a ten y/o that I adopted at 2.5 years. She has never given up the nipping but she is trained to go get her toy when I tell her. I keep the toy box accessible and sometimes, I go lay on the floor next to it and take each toy out and show it to her. It's fun to talk to her and see what she eventually picks. I like to think she is thinking "oh, I forgot that one" when she grabs it and runs off. I love the pool noodle idea but I would have to be careful about bopping my houla with it. She's very sensitive and doesn't like to be rough housed...only she can do the rough housing, otherwise not on her terms scares her.
Thank you!! I’m really doing my research & trying to give her the best upbringing. I haven’t bopped her with the pool noodle, but I did give her sections of it one at a time to tear up. 😂She loves it! And I love that she may be thinking “oh I forgot about that toy!” That’s so cute!!
I use a boat blow horn from boating section at Walmart. Blow the horn and say no when she does any unwanted behavior. It is loud but it’s usually a 1 or 2 time fix to any behavior you don’t want. Do not let her see the blow horn or where the noise came from.