Scott,
Is this going to be a working dog or a pet? I aks that because there would be differnt things to do with a working pup that you would not do with a pet. A pet is kind of required to have more manners , a working dog is required to have a bit less manners at this early stage of its life, so is this a working pup?
Ed says to not do the neck scruff, he says in his OB dvd I think or it is in one of his others that you hold the pup right below the jaw area with both of your hands and look firmly into the pups eyes and tell it No or Phoee..
A working pup should not be overly corrected for nipping and biting on your hands and all,(REDIRECT/REDIRECT) after all one day you want it to BITE and if you bring all biting to a halt at a young age you may be setting up for problems down the line if this si going to eb a working dog.
Ed , Will, Cindy some one slap me if I am stating something wrong here. If that is the case then I surely bleed a lot in Max's early days.... LOL

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Sandy, in his 'basic dog obedience', he pointed out he will never let strangers (human or dogs) to touch or even get closer to his puppy before the puppy is fully ready for that. Check it out. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Maybe you missed that DVD.

Scott, yes, that's one DVD I don't have yet but am planning on getting it in a week or so. I'm tempering myself as I tend to get carried away with the training (my pup is only 11 weeks old today). He has been doing sit from the 3rd day I had him at 8 1/2 weeks old, down from the 6th day I had him, and "sometimes" come. My mistake with the come is I don't always have treats for him when I call him, and he'll lay down and look at me with that "no thanks, I don't think I will, I'd rather stay outside" look in his eyes. Soooo, am now carrying treats at all times.

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Scott,
... Ed says to not do the neck scruff, he says in his OB dvd I think or it is in one of his others that you hold the pup right below the jaw area with both of your hands and look firmly into the pups eyes and tell it No or Phoee..

Oh, seems that I didnt watch the DVD very carefully, I'll try that from now. What I did before is that I hold his jaw by plugging two finger right into the gap between his teeth. That work sometimes. Haha Im happy my puppy is doing better now.

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Scott, yes, that's one DVD I don't have yet but am planning on getting it in a week or so. I'm tempering myself as I tend to get carried away with the training (my pup is only 11 weeks old today). He has been doing sit from the 3rd day I had him at 8 1/2 weeks old, down from the 6th day I had him, and "sometimes" come. My mistake with the come is I don't always have treats for him when I call him, and he'll lay down and look at me with that "no thanks, I don't think I will, I'd rather stay outside" look in his eyes. Soooo, am now carrying treats at all times.

Sandy, treats are really good thing. My puppy is about the same age as yours, like 10 weeks now. He always has problem when taking shower, just like Im putting him to the death row. But last night, I bought one bag of treats, cut those big chunks into small pieces. First I feed him with fingers, then in the palms, then I threw treats into the sink, then fill the sink with more water, there we go, he's not afraid of water any more. Im gonna take him to swim. But not sure if this is a good idea or not. Is our puppy too young to swim?

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Sandy, treats are really good thing. My puppy is about the same age as yours, like 10 weeks now. He always has problem when taking shower, just like Im putting him to the death row. But last night, I bought one bag of treats, cut those big chunks into small pieces. First I feed him with fingers, then in the palms, then I threw treats into the sink, then fill the sink with more water, there we go, he's not afraid of water any more. Im gonna take him to swim. But not sure if this is a good idea or not. Is our puppy too young to swim?

Hi Scott. Good question about the swimming. For me, it would depend on where (pool or lake), the depth of the water, how far from shore and also I would be a little scared (given the pups' age) that if I took him into the water about 5 feet, then let him swim toward shore, that he would not necessarily swim in the direction I pointed him, and not knowing where shore is, he might start swimming out of my reach in another direction. I'm thinking (if you're talking about a lake/pond) is keep him on leash and let him walk and romp in the water that laps the shore, so he gets the feel of the water on his paws and legs. To be honest, I'd be concerned about going any further at this age. With a pool, I'd take him onto the first step and see his reaction, then if he liked it, go out with him a couple of feet from the step (holding him), aim him toward the step and see if his sense of direction takes him back there. A little further each time, by a foot or so. Thing with a pool, you have more control than in a lake. We had lakes around with one of my dogs and that's how I taught her. She loved to swim, but she was older than our pups when I started. Never tried it with a pool.
Great solution to the water problem, by the way! I want my pup to love the water too, so I turn on the hand held little sprayer I have on the hose outside, turn the water on just a little for a small stream and let him have at it. He carries the sprayer around with the water spraying out, tries to bite at the water, lays in the little pool of water that the sprayer makes. He loves it. This after I hosed him off one day after he got into a small paint can that I thought was securely closed, long story how that happened, STUPID mistake on my part, first with the paint, then with hosing his chest off with the water. Got concerned that he would be leary of water forever, so started letting him play with a small spray as mentioned above. Now even when the water is on full force, he likes to chase it around as I water the yard.

Hello Sandy, my first dog was a husky, I wanna tell you something funny. I had him also at the age of 6 weeks. I still clearly remember at his 4 months birthday I took him to a park with a very deep river in the middle. There was a pathway lead to the shore. But almost at the end there's little cliff which is about 1.5 meter above the river. At that time I unleashed him and he was really happy, running crazy to the river. Because the cliff was cover by the bush, he was running so fast and he didnt notice the cliff at all. He couldnt make a stop and suddenly jump off the river. I was really upset and wondering if I should also jump off the river, he never swim before plus he was still a puppy. He actually jumped 'into' the river and diving for like 5 seconds, finally he managed to get his little head above the river and swam back to the shore. Thank God, he was alright. So from this, I might tell swimming is a natural ability of dogs. So I think I will throw him into water directly next time when we get closed to river, but I gotta make sure it's safe <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

That's too funny! Had me laughing this morning. Good visual.
Don't know about throwing the pup in the water though <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I'm sure he can swim, but how about guiding him in, instead <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Scott, please do NOT just heave your poor puppy into any large body of water, especially one that's so deep its feet can't touch the bottom !!! How would you like to have someone do that to YOU ???

Yes, dogs are natural swimmers, but they are not immune to being terrorized at the hands of their owners <:-(

I'm bringing this thread back up in the hope that someone has advice.<p>I've got a 7-1/2 week old pup with a ton of prey drive. He's healthy and gets lots of exercise and play. Often he goes into a frenzy while playing with toys and nothing will stop him from just lunging at me. Grabbing his cheeks won't stop him, scruffing him won't stop him, redirecting him onto a toy doesn't stop him. I'm trying a firm, deep-voiced "no bite" when he's going at me then praise the heck out of him when he stops (I'm beginning to feel like a multiple personality doing this <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /></p><p>He's doing so well with crate training I don't want to make his "house" a place of punishment but he is sometimes so seriously out of control that I feel the only thing I can do is put him away to calm down. Is this the right thing to do when he's just out of control or should I be trying something different? I have Ed's DVD's and have tried everything I could find suggested here. He's a wonderful pup and I don't want to break his spirt...just his grip <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /><p>

Sarah,

Try this...when the pup starts going to town on your hand/arm, slip your thumb or a finger onto its mouth to gag him. Don't yell, get frustrated or angry...remain neutral and do this calmy. When he gags a lets go, have a toy present to re-direct him to.

This teaches the dog that it is not very rewarding to chew on mom/dad, and its much more rewarding to go after something else. This method helps avoid the potential for conflict between you and the dog that can arise from scruffing, growling, yelling etc...

Hope this helps.