What do I need for a new puppy?

[Hobbes]

As everyone has said really, I just took Archie out endlessly and gave him a treat every time he went outside. After every meal, every hour, first and last thing, and look for the signs of them starting to sniff in corners or round in circles.

Obviously depends on house layout, but we made sure we only took him out of the same door for the toilet, so now he knows to stand by that door if he wants to go out.

[Texaco Shirley]

I’m reassured we’re doing the right things, thank you.

[Duophonic]

Obviously depends on house layout, but we made sure we only took him out of the same door for the toilet, so now he knows to stand by that door if he wants to go out.

Innes will nudge the door key (always kept in the lock) when he's desperate to go out but even though he can hold on for a while I still have him on a schedule as he now won't go to the toilet in the garden. A pee if he's desperate but that's it.

[olive]

I’ve had a re-read of this thread to reassure myself that Bruno’s biting is (hopefully) normal. He is relentless mainly in the evenings. He jumps, snaps and lunges to bite constantly. I thought we were seeing an improvement but the last 3 nights have been especially bad. He seems massively over stimulated but also won’t go in the crate unless it’s bedtime.

We do have a pen we put him in if it gets too much. It’s especially bad with M (aged 9) and it’s frustrating for the boys as they can’t play with him.

He’s now 12 weeks and in some respects is doing really well - he’s mostly sleeping through the night in his crate (he’ll probably stop now that I’ve posted) and is really good at barking at the door if he needs to go out for a wee or poo.

But the incessant biting is driving me mad. We redirect, have a million chew toys and try to head it off with a stuffed kong in his crate when he’s starting to get bitey.

[Luna]

Oh god, the bitey stage. This goes on until they’ve lost their baby teeth - 5/6 months. It’s so annoying but mercifully short lived.

[Estrella]

I was going to say the same as Luna - teething might be kicking in. We lost a whole set of wooden outdoor furniture to our first boys going through that stage!

[Cosmopolitan]

It's infuriating! Have you tried a lickee mat with some frozen peanut butter / frozen cream cheese. And a frozen long. Just to stop the tooth pain?

[Hobbes]

Definitely normal, I expected a puppy to chew, but didn’t realise he would spend a lot of time chewing us!

Really frustrating and painful, but mercifully short lived. I think we were over the worst of it by four months.You are doing the right things, we were told to stand up, turn around and ignore briefly every time he started biting, to make it clear that we didn’t want to play that way.
Don’t tell him off for mouthing without biting, and eventually that mostly goes too.

Archie is the loveliest, gentlest boy now at nearly 10 months. Whenever he goes to greet anyone he gets very excited, but he hunts around for a soft toy first before greeting, because he always had one stuffed in there as a puppy to stop him biting.

[Hobbes]

Meant to say, for teething a frozen carrot is good too.

[Luna]

Yes, carrots or more disgustingly a pizzle stick. It was the only thing that kept her busy!

[olive]

Sorry, I meant to come back to say thank you! The last few nights have been so hard. He’s just been such a massive bellend in the evenings.

[Texaco Shirley]

Daisy is 8 months and still bitey but less so. It’s not aggressive and she only really does it to us when she really needs something (food, water, a wee, someone to throw a ball). She also grabs a soft toy to stop herself biting us over excitedly in greeting.

Like this:

[Little My]

Don't get the pizzle sticks.

We still love the filled kong, and when she was super chewy/teething we bought large rawhides from Costco. I know they are controversial, but they never did her any harm and they were brilliant. We stopped buying them when she could finish one in under an hour because then it felt a bit less safe in terms of cracking shards off rather than chewing the thing as a whole. But they saved my sanity for a couple of months.

I feel sorry for the boys, as that was the worst thing about Gilda being aggressive and bitey - the kids just stopped wanting to be around her at all. They can snuggle now though. She is actually quite a big sweetie and sleeps a lot.

[Texaco Shirley]

Split antlers and yak milk chews are both popular here.

[olive]

Daisy.

Someone gave us a bully stick but I can’t bring myself to give it to him. I probably need to get over my meat aversion though.

He loves the frozen kong and a frozen washcloths and the boys soccer cones. We also got him a little doggy football which he absolutely loves. It has the benefit of tiring him out as he chases it around the house.

He’s still chasing and biting M. :sad:

I feel sorry for the boys, as that was the worst thing about Gilda being aggressive and bitey - the kids just stopped wanting to be around her at all. They can snuggle now though. She is actually quite a big sweetie and sleeps a lot.

Ok, this gives me hope. Did she calm down over time or did you train it out? Bruno is ok with T but it’s M he really goes for which is hard.

[sally maclennane]

Is the biting a pack thing? They're trying to establish themselves and are picking on what they perceive to be the weakest one in the pack? My friend had this with her dog and her youngest, when they got the dog. They did a few things like getting the child to feed the dog so that the dog saw him as having more power. It might not be the case but worth looking at?

[Little My]

I feel sorry for the boys, as that was the worst thing about Gilda being aggressive and bitey - the kids just stopped wanting to be around her at all. They can snuggle now though. She is actually quite a big sweetie and sleeps a lot.

Ok, this gives me hope. Did she calm down over time or did you train it out? Bruno is ok with T but it’s M he really goes for which is hard.

B was definitely the biggest target, but I think it's mostly because he is high energy and was trying so hard to play with her all the time. It was frustrating because it was really hard to get him to understand he needed to tone his words and actions down so the dog didn't immediately get overexcited.

We just continued with the good behaviour reinforcement, correction, and tried to reduce triggers. It obviously helped, but I think the biggest factor was that she calmed down with maturity. There was certainly a big improvement after she was spayed, which may or may not be a coincidence.

Mr LM and I were genuinely concerned that she would always be aggressive; that it was something in her nature we couldn't change. Thankfully that wasn't the case!

[Texaco Shirley]

A was the biggest target here and also the quickest moving and highest pitched

[Duophonic]

I had a threadbare towel with a knot tied at the end so that it was long enough for Innes to grab without accidentally getting me. I remember playing with Innes and he was play growling and barking. Mr D who's never had a dog in his life was shouting that I was making him aggressive.

I personally think rather than pack-related (I was reading that the pack theory is now old-fashioned) it is who will be the more fun to be with. For Innes that was me.

[sally maclennane]

A was the biggest target here and also the quickest moving and highest pitched

This was what happened with my friend's son, the dog thought it was a game, but also that apparently to him,(the dog) it meant her son was the weakest in the pack and could be displaced. There's something about not having a dog before your youngest child is 6, due to the pitch of their voice being too high for a dog to see them as any kind of authority :vague: