I had emailed earlier last week about taking in a 5 week old pup. I thought that we were making great progress until my daughter brought over the pup's sister. This dog looks nothing like mine - she has a great disposition, calm, etc. When the dog needs to go pee or poop - she actually walks to the door. I'm thinking GREAT!! hopefully this will show my pup what to do. My pup has suddenly developed a stubborn streak in which she will not go out of the door to go outside. She will now run. I have been patient, not scolded. Tried food to lure her out - nothing works.
At first I thought that when the pups were playing my pup just wasn't used to playing with another dog. When the sister pup would have her pinned, she would go beserk!! I mean growling, biting - freaking out. She even drew blood. My daughter laughed at me and said not to be a worry wort. But when I had to leave to run an errand last night - she fed them out of the same bowl. My dog went nuts again - even bit my daughter. My daughter agreed. Something is not right. We have begun to wonder what mix is my dog. The mother is black lab - but who is the father?? I've noticed a few things - like after she goes to the bathroom in the yard - she will with each side front & back leg at the same time, rake its paws or claws through the grass pulling up bits and flicking it back. Something that I used to see a neighbors chow do.
I'm worried because I have a 10 month grandson - all boy. I'm worried that the dog might feel cornered by the baby and react as it did when the other pup had it pinned. I realize that it might be that my pup isn't used to other dogs and reacted in fright. But the food thing was definitely territorial. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
I should mention that the sister pup lives on a farm and has an older dog to run & play with.

My female GSD/lab?/chow? mix does that, and I have been told it is a way of spreading the scent of the scat around to establish territory. This might fit in with your pup's territorial behavior. I doubt it is specifically a chow trait. I leave it to others to advise on raising a pup with that level of aggression. I have never had a 5 week pup at all, always got mine several weeks older, this may be part of the problem.

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At first I thought that when the pups were playing my pup just wasn't used to playing with another dog. When the sister pup would have her pinned, she would go beserk!! I mean growling, biting - freaking out. She even drew blood. My daughter laughed at me and said not to be a worry wort. But when I had to leave to run an errand last night - she fed them out of the same bowl. My dog went nuts again - even bit my daughter. My daughter agreed. Something is not right.

The breed of the dog is not at fault. People love to say things like "oh, it's cause it is part chow, GSD, pit bull, etc etc that they do that." No. The fault lies with the dog very clearly not knowing how to interact with conspecifics due to its being taken from its mom too early. The pup very classically now doesn't have much of a concept of play and bite inhibition. I would have the pup play with friendly, healthy adult dogs who don't mind puppies who might also lightly discipline them without terrifying them. Your daughter also made a big mistake feeding them out of the same bowl. Dogs should not share the same bowl.

Btw, the claw raking thing (I call it landscaping) is not a chow thing. All three of my dogs do this and none have a drop of chow in their blood. My Aussie/husky mix, who wouldn't hurt a fly, growls insatiably when he does. Dogs have scent and sweat glands in their paws and this is one of the ways they can spread their scent.

Frankly, I think with the misinformation you're dealing with and the fact that this period of socialization can never be recovered, you need to speak with a behaviorist about every week for the next month or so about how to deal with this, though they'll probably tell you the same thing we already have on the other thread. Socialize the tar out of this dog. Bring it everywhere you possibly can or you'll end up with a sharp dangerous fear biter who is over reactive with dogs and possibly people as well. Every single day at this point is critical.

I wonder if you could teach bite inhibition into the pup? Perhaps you can engage it in some rough play (like puppies would do) that your pup really seems to enjoy and even pin it, try to recreate the scenario, and whenever the pup bites you harder than a gentle mouthing give a sharp yelp like a puppy would do and get up and wordlessly walk away, ending the play. A short time later, repeat. The idea is to teach the pup that a rough bite ends the fun and that if it wants to play more it should watch how hard it bites.

This is just an idea, I've never tried it, maybe more experienced people can chime in and say this works or does not work.

The yelping thing is actually what I tend to advise until the pup hits about 3-4 months. Once they are that old, I no longer want the pup to see me as a litter mate, but as a leader, so then I would scruff the pup, lift its front feet off the ground, and tell it NO in a deep voice while showing teeth and holding eye contact. On one of the other dog forums I am on, a lot of people advise people with similar concerns how to do it, and IMHO, they do the yelp thing when the puppy is too old. One person says she screams in a high pitched voice every time her year old Great Pyrenees does it. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> If that doesn't initiate prey drive screaming like a dying rabbit, I don't know what does!! I'm surprised she hasn't gotten attacked yet by a dog that large.

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I wonder if you could teach bite inhibition into the pup? Perhaps you can engage it in some rough play (like puppies would do) that your pup really seems to enjoy and even pin it, try to recreate the scenario, and whenever the pup bites you harder than a gentle mouthing give a sharp yelp like a puppy would do and get up and wordlessly walk away, ending the play. A short time later, repeat. The idea is to teach the pup that a rough bite ends the fun and that if it wants to play more it should watch how hard it bites.

This is just an idea, I've never tried it, maybe more experienced people can chime in and say this works or does not work.

that's what i've always done with my young puppies, and it has always worked. they seem to learn bite inhibition quickly this way.

Yes, I did mean for it as a "littermate substitute" as the puppy is still so young. Glad you clarified that it should only be used for young puppies!

yup, Pat, you definetly got yourself a fearful, dramatic, very undersocialized poor little girl. You need to socialize her, gain her upmost trust, instill in her you're the always fair and trustful leader, and work on her self esteem as well as obedience. I wasn't too clear though as to how old she is right now. You mentioned you got her at 5wks which is too young for a pup to leave its family, but too late for that.

The difference between your pup and the one your daughter has could be the puppies' initial temperaments were different, ie. her pup was already a more dominant and outgoing dog before leaving the litter/mom. She was also brought into a home with an adult dog, so at least she maintained some level of dog socialization after leaving her mom, your pup didn't. Perhaps they left their mom being of similar character and the fact that the other puppy continued to have the access to an adult dog is what made a difference in her becoming more outgoing and confident. Confident and outgoing puppies are usually easier to train and adjust better to new things then the scared and withdrawn puppies. That could account for their difference in how much they've learned or simply your daughter could have been doing a better job with her pup.

I'm confused?

How old is the puppy NOW? And how long have you had it?

It seems to be still very young, right? 6 weeks old?

Heck, my puppies don't get housebroken (completely) until they are around 5 or 6 months old (obviously they are ALMOST housebroken earlier). So the sister sounds like she is freakishly advanced if she's going to the door already at 6 weeks old. Since puppies aren't even supposed to leave their mom's until 7 or 8 weeks old, there are alot of issues you will be dealing with that you wouldn't have to if they could have remained with their mom.

IF I read your pup's age right, there is alot you can do (though obviously your pup seems to be a bit more fearful as far as personality). You are crate training, right? A pup that young needs a safe haven to get 'down time' to rest and recharge (and help with your housebreaking).

Here's a bunch of sites you need to read and MEMORIZE about 'socialization' and the mental stages all puppies go thru. And how we GUIDE, direct and manage them thru makes a huge difference.

http://www.doberman.org/articles/puppy.htm

http://www.vanerp.net/ilse/GSDINFO/understandyourpuppy.htm

http://www.nwk9.com/early_life_management01.htm

http://www.apbc.org.uk/article5.htm (may be too detailed)

http://home.flash.net/~astroman/primer1.html

I got the pup on June 21 - the owners said that she was 5 weeks old - so I guess she would be at 7 weeks now. The sister pup is an outside dog - but like a mentioned in my earlier post - she was so much calmer. I would almost say mature. My pup is doing pretty good about crate training. She sometimes poops overnight but that hasn't happened in the last 3 nights. I do realize that there will be set backs. It just suprised me on how wacko my pup acted during play and even when they were eating. The next evening I fed the two and they each had their own food & water bowls. Things went smooth. I'm trying the best I can - but can't compete with the sister pup's country home with all kinds of other animals around. Ducks, chickens, grown dogs, cows, other people, etc. My pup seems to be scared of any loud noise. My neighbor's boyfriend loves to scare my pup with his motorcycle. Not chasing her but reving up his Harley to see the pup scamper. I do my best to hold her when he does this - sometimes the pup sees him first and runs & hides until he leaves. I've already asked him to stop it - he won't. I guess by taking her in I thought I was doing the pup a favor - maybe I should have let my daughter take her also.