Whens a good time to start training?

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#22
Your puppy is just adorable! So tiny! I think it's most important to remember how young your dog is. Everything should be about play! It's kind of like tricking children into eating nutritious foods by making them taste really good. If your pup is having lots of fun, she can learn lots of things. Teaching tricks is great fun for both of you. Developing a strong bond will go a long way to having a dog that's willing to learn from you. Talk to her all the time. Use words that she will eventually learn. Use her name only for positive things. Leave it out when you are being negative or disciplining.

Here's a page that lays out your pup's first year and things that are important for her to learn: http://loveyourdog.com/firstyear.html

Congratulations on your new pup!
 

tomatoboi

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#24
help guys, this little girl is driving me crazy right now... shes biting me like crazy!! even when i pick her up!! AND she growled at me.. shes never done this before :mad: she looks RAELLy scary rite now.
 

tomatoboi

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#25
anyone?? shes biting the crap outa me! everytime i pick her up or anything..this never happeend before ,
 
T

tiivi

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#26
When she bites you, let out high pitched yelp and ignore her for a moment after it. That's what her littermates would do if she bit them too hard. If she gets really out of control (bites even you yelp and let her know it hurts) try putting her to time out. She should get it quickly that she won't get any of your attention by biting.
 

tomatoboi

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#27
yea h she doesnt care about the yelp or OW :confused: its like.. she does the crounching position(u know the one when theyre playing) and then snaps at anything that goes near her.. my family is getting scared to pet her!
 

Maxy24

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#28
do something she really enjoys, some type of game. Do it in a room with not many interesting things and no toys of hers. Once you get her into the game pet her. If she does not bite then continue the game, stop and pet her a few more times. If she dos fine with this then pick her up for a second and put her down continuing the game. Do that a couple of times and only for a second or two. Slowly increase the amount of time you hold her and make sure if she does not bite then the game continues. If at any point she puts any part of your skin in her mouth, even if it does not really hurt or it seems like an accident say OW! as if you had just...I don't know slammed your finger in the car door or something (well maybe not that loud, but you know kinda startling and sudden) stand up put the toy in your pocket or behind your back and look away from her or turn your back to her. Pay zero attention. After 1 to two minutes of you silently looking away from her go down and play again then go over the steps, don't start from the point she bit you at as she as not yet ready to be held that long and remain calm. Make sure the game always continues if there is no biting.Also it's important that while you are playing the game you don't make any noise be quiet while playing with the toy, that will make your "yelp" more noticeable and don't ever use whatever noise you choose in regular play as she will learn that it is normal for you to make that noise when you are playing with her.Another important thing I must mention is NEVER EVER play with her using your hands. I know a person who would get angry at his dog when he grabbed his hands but then would rough house with the dog using his hands as toys! That teaches him that it's fun to bite your hands. NEVER let your dog get away with biting. When your holding her she may bite because she wants to get down. Chances are after she bites you put her down. By doing this she learns biting works, so you must prove her wrong. When she is biting you, don't put her down just wait for her to stop (don't use "OW" for this as you can't ensure she will actually stop biting during this exercise you don't need to say anything) when she stops biting for 5 seconds grab a treat out of your pocket (oh yes, I forgot to mention you will need a pocket full of yummy treats like sliced hot dog) and give it to her. Don't show her the treat before hand, surprise her with it. Once she eats the treat put her down and play with or pet her (whichever she prefers) for a minute and then hold her again. Make sure she is in a comfortable position when you hold her (if she does not like to be cradled like a baby don't do it for now. You will also need to desensitize her to this way of being held just so she will be easily handled but that is for a different thread.) and make it pleasant, talk to her pet her if she likes that, walk with her or sit with her, whichever she enjoys more just make it pleasant. Each one minute period she goes without biting give her a treat (this is where your other pocket comes in, these treats will not be as yummy as the hot dogs. Try normal biscuits with none of those flavors just regular milk bone biscuits or whatever they are called, break them into smaller pieces for training.) Just so i make sure you are following me you use the hot dog slices if she was biting but stopped for 5 seconds and you use the regular treats for if she has not bitten at all since you picked her up, these are given at one minute intervals. You give them at intervals until she starts biting then you wait for the 5 seconds and give the hot dog wait a second and put her down to play or pet and pick up again. If she goes 5 minutes without biting through the entire thing (that means you did not need to give any hot dog because there were no "incidents") give her a hot dog treat, put her down, play with her for a minute and end the session.

With those sessions you will increase the time of the session and the time you require her to go between biting bouts (the five second time will slowly increase) and also the time intervals that you give the regular treats will increase. These should not start increasing until you notice significant improvement (at least a week) then slowly begin to increase the times. If she has a really hard time with these sessions than you may need to make them shorter. Make the entire session shorter make the time between bites shorter (maybe 2-3 seconds) but don't increase the regular treat intervals. Always end on a positive note like she just went the 5 seconds between biting and got her hot dog treat or she went the whole time without biting and got her hot dog treat. Put her down give her a short game (I say short because I don't want her to think you put her down and then ignore her because she may think she did something wrong but I also don't want her thinking being put down is much better than being held because then she will want to be put down very badly to play). Never end the holding session while she is biting because like I stated she will think it works. I hope this helps and I'm VERY sorry it's so long, I hope I didn't babble and that everything makes sense. If you need me to clarify a certain point I'd be more than happy to I just want to make sure you understand everything so you can do this thing right and have a bite free puppy :D good luck!
 

Maxy24

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#29
she does the crounching position(u know the one when theyre playing) and then snaps at anything that goes near her.. my family is getting scared to pet her!
Oh, and for now when she is in this mode play a very tiring game with her like a vigorous game of tug or a fast paced game of fetch to tire her out (thats what I have to do with the cats when they start attack people who walk by, and climbing the curtains, not the exact same games of course, although one of my cats will fetch in fact it is the only game he will play :D ) when she is like that don't try to pet her that is a set up for failure.
 

tomatoboi

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#30
O WOW :yikes: thanks for ur time to type all that.. ill definitely try that and ill post the results!!
 

tomatoboi

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#31
hey guys, well my puppy is still biting lol ive even asked people.. and they said " its normal..at 7 weeks, she will bite no matter how much u train her" , i think shes starting to show a bit of dominance.... i hope not, but.. she likes to STAND OVER her toys(which consists of a puppy and a frog doll), and when she bites them, she goes crazy and FLINGS them around while biting them!
 

Herschel

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#32
That isn't dominance, it's play!! Please don't buy into all of this Cesar Milan dominance hype.

Yes, at this stage she will bite. However, you want to train her not to so when she grows out of this stage she will have learned some manners. If you don't train, then she will continue to bite forever!
 

tomatoboi

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#33
lol ur so right! that was where i got it from lol. ive been wa tching too much ceasar milan.. i thought he was good..
 

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