Take it from Ed..he's knows what he's talking about. It's just like with kids..you can talk yourself blue in the face and not correct the behavior or you can give them one good physicial correction and correct the problem. My 9 week old female pup was using my head as a prey object. This was not acceptable. It only took one correction by grabing her (per the advice that I received on the board) by the scruff of the neck and giving her a good shake..plus I added a pat on the rear end..saying NO... then giving her an object she can attack..and praised the heck out of her for the acceptable behavior. The problem is solved. I agree..too much correction..a constant nagging or physical for that matter will ultimately back fire and ruin the dog. If my pup grabs something she shouldn't have..I just take it away..say NO..and give her what she is allowed to have. After all..pups will be pups..it doesn't last forever and they eventually do grow up and grow out of it.

bounetteyvette,

If you are going to correct, correct, just make it age appropriate. If possible re-direct the behavior. If you can get the puppy to do something incompatable with what you don't want and reward the heck out of it, you will get rid of the behavior with out using the correction. That is better. Some dogs just won't re-direct and you have to correct. As the puppy gets older then corrections become a better option.

There are a couple of other issues that you should watch for. Keep in mind that anything you let the pup do now it will still do when it is 70 pounds +. Getting in your lap, sleeping in bed, these kinds of things are cute with puppies, they aren't as much fun with a 100 pound adult. Some dogs get overly attached to their owners and that will create the problems I pointed out before. It is really easy to overly baby the baby, and be excited that the puppy only has eyes for you. Left un checked you can get into some real problems with it, I am just suggesting that you watch for it. It is much easier to prevent than to cure.

richard thanks for the advice. i will take and appreciate the good advice...i know i have to correct her when needed and just tell her no at other times....
i just noticed that the 2nd night i had her i had to grab her scruff for not listening when i told her no about 3 times in a row and was not listening at all. when i did she barked at me, like telling me i better back up, and she eventually just sat down but still looked very confident. she is different now with that same correction. i noticed one time she peed and for the most part she will move or trot away with her head down in avoidance. that is what ed says the dog is supposed to do, but i'm just scared that her confidence has or will go down. i want her to grow up a confident adolecent and adult.

bounetteyvette,

This may help. Worry less about doing the wrong thing and more about doing the right things. A confident, solid dog comes more from doing good things than making an occasional mistake. Work on confidence building exercises. Pery work where the puppy wins the prey object, positive obedience so that you can praise and treat and the puppy know that you are happy with it. The book Purley positive is a great start for obedience with a puppy, the video "Bite Training Puppies" is another. The Flinks video is also very good, but it worked better when the puppy was a little older.

Explained well Rich.

Richard:

Was that a joke about the Prozak?

Vince,

Nope. She gets a pill every other night or she starts licking her feet and left long enough with out it will get severe ulcers from worrying about where her moma is.