Well, I say he is very mouthy but it is mainly at play times. It is VERY hard to distract him from our hands, feed, forearms ,etc. My arms are scared all over and it has only been a week. There are times when this pup is the most loving, adorable puppy on the earth but when he gets fired up, look out!

We got this pup from the pound and he is a pup that survived parvo. He has a VERY strong prey drive, to say the least. We do not want to protection train the pup, but we would like to teach him to play frisbie, etc.

What should I do when his playing gets too rough? Tonight, he got very rough and I picked him up, told him "NO BITE" and put him in his crate. He whined for about 10 min, that's it. When he gets rough, I repeat "NO BITE" and try to divert his attention. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. What would you guys suggest? I don't want to make the crate "punishment" but at the same time, he has to realize that he cannot continue to bite me (hard at times).

HELP! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Check out this article on Leerburg's site.
http://www.leerburg.com/qabiting.htm
Straightforward and helpful!

So, I can use a prong collar on a 12 week old pup?

We bought 8 weeks to 8 months and just received it today. We will be watching it tonight...

Also, I forgot to mention in the first post that when he bites my arm, hand or whatever, I grab him by the scruff of the neck and shake him while saying "NO BITE"...it doesn't seem to matter, he just seems to fire him up more. He even cries when I do it so I can't imagine that I am not doing it hard enough. This is why I think I will need to put him on a prong to correct him.

Puppies bite-that's what they do. We just don't want them biting us. That article and video should have good ways to correct. I think the prong collar is overkill as a punishment for the pup right now, plus he's real young for a prong. There are better easier ways to correct and just transfer his attention from your fun-to-bite hands and arms to the even-better-furry-toy or a moving prey item like a rolled towel or string on end of a stick. Anything may seem irresistable to put in his mouth right now and he'll be teething soon or even right now. When he's super rowdy and won't give the biting a break, a crate time out with his kong for 3-5 min. should help calm him down. Pick-up, put in his crate,and ignore him for a short time. Only after he's calm and not whining can he come out. Just "time-out" for a short time period only. He'll learn real quick if he's obnoxious the fun is over.

Thanks Alison, that's kinda of what I thought (common sense I guess). When he gets too rough and continues to ignore our "NO BITE" command, I sweep him up and put him in the crate until he is not barking again. Funny thing is, at first he may bark for 15 min the crate but by the third time I do it, he doesn't bark at all and then seems to settle down some. My main concern was him viewing the crate as "punishment". He slept for 6.5 hours last night (with no pee or poop) so he seems to except his crate.

Also, I was wondering about the prong...I thought he may be too young as well, that's why I asked. We watched 8 weeks to 8 months last night. Most of the info we knew (learned from this site already) so I am looking forward to watching "Basic Obedience" today and tomorrow.

Thanks for the "crate time-out" advice, it's good to hear that someone else agrees with this and I am not doing something wrong (although I am sure I will and have done things wrong with him!).

Alot of people will tell you that a crate is never to be used for punishment to your pup. I disagree with this beacause 1)dogs are naturally denning animals so they will naturally associate a crate as their homely den. 2)A dog will only associate a crate as a "punishment" area if ONLY punishment happpens in the crate and that is the ONLY reason he goes into it. Most owners also use their crate to feed, for bedtime, and for time-outs so the dog is conditioned that this is his home and not speciflly a punishment area. Plus, like you said, it only takes a few times before he finds out that is no fun when Dad ends the play by a time-out.

I know what Alison recommended:

 Quote:

There are better easier ways to correct and just transfer his attention from your fun-to-bite hands and arms to the even-better-furry-toy or a moving prey item like a rolled towel or string on end of a stick. Anything may seem irresistable to put in his mouth right now and he'll be teething soon or even right now.

is what worked the best for my puppies. Fact is that PUPPIES only know one way to play when we get them. It's how they play with their mom. And their littermates. And it's ALL about biting and using their teeth. Since this truly is about PLAY, and your puppy wanting to love you and invite you to do the best thing ever with it, I tend to not want to be constantly correcting and crating. Good way to knock out some of the fun and enthusiasium of a naturally energetic pup.

That said, ouch ouch ouch with those puppy teeth. I tend to keep tug type toys out all over the house and in every room. So as soon as those pointy teeth come over to sink into me, I grab the toy, entice with the toy, and PLAY with the pup and THE TOY! Pup soon learns that body part = no play. Tug toy = PLAY!!!! and will even start bringing the toys to you.

Even negative attention can be fun for a bored pup. So maybe increasing the general level of outdoor exercise would also give you a break on the playing in the house with the humans.

LOL! That is sooo true. My gsd used to follow me all around the yard and house as a pup with this ugly rubber chicken. Lol! I thought she was suffering from depression when it was finally time to throw it out.

Thanks guys!

We went to Petsmart and bought more toys for him today (to the tune of about $40 worth! LOL). He already really likes a few of them.

One more question...

On the 8 weeks to 8 month video, Ed says that when you are training a pup to live with a cat, you can use lemon/water (a few drops of lemon just in a spray bottle of water) and spray them in the face. Well, it worked.

When we played today, the pup got rough again (he does not respond to the shaking of the scruff, he just thinks you are playing hard with him)..I sprayed him in the face and said "NO BITE". Believe it or not, it worked...or IS working, I should say. I have only had to spray him maybe 4 times in the 4 hours of play time we have had today. Since this morning (when I did that), his play is still pretty aggressive with the toys but when he goes for my hand, arm, legs or shoes, all I have to do is pull the spray bottle out and say "NO BITE" and he backs off.

Is this a bad thing to do, even though it has worked? I just want to make sure I am not doing something that I shouldn't be doing. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I am thinking that now, when I say "NO BITE", he is starting to realize that when I say that, it means a squirt in the face. In face, after the first time of a FULL squirt, I only had to barely let it squirt the other few times.

Thoughts?