Quote: connie sutherland

Isn't mouthiness part of a ten-week-old's nature?

I'm not a puppy expert at all; I'm just going by what I've read.

"Stubborn" ? How?

I agree with Connie. Mouthiness IS what a puppy does naturally with litermates, etc. Sure we have to teach them not to mouth us as the pack leader, but corrections is not the way to do it. I use distraction - when the puppy latches onto my flesh, I open it's mouth, take out my hand, and give the pup a toy instead. When he gets a little older you can use a little more discipline, like saying no and giving it a toy. At 10 weeks I wouldn't be thinking therapy dog, I would just be socializing like any normal puppy needs, bonding, and enjoying him. You can't even tell what his temperament is REALLY going to be like as an adult for a while yet! JMO

Well Connie,
Of course they are stubborn. They already know they won't like life in the human world.
Don't you know they all are born with an encyclopedic knowledge of what is expected? They just don't want to follow the rule book is all.

If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy

10-week-olds shouldn't be corrected for anything. It's like trying to correct a 4-month old human baby. They don't get it. At this age, the best you can do is redirect, ignore, and contain. And praise for the accidental good behavior you do get!

 Quote: randy allen

Well Connie,
Of course they are stubborn. They already know they won't like life in the human world.

Something all dog owners should keep foremost in our minds... they didn't ask to be here with us.

The best cure I found for mouthiness was to find my dog a little boyfriend in the neighborhood. There was a Boxer puppy down he street who was only 2 months older than her.

I let her go and bite him!

Just kidding.

I know how frustrating the mouthiness can be. With my dog it was so bad that I contemplated sending her back a few times. I was so covered in bruises that there were days that I was too sore to even play with her!

She sill gets a little too mouthy for my taste sometimes, but at least now she has better control and dull teeth. Plus, now she knows the meaning of NO!

Just redirect, it'll get better.

(It's been ten years sense I've trained a dog/puppy) So, as I recall, I too believe that being mouthy is a ten week old behavior. However, when I got pick of the litter I chose the calmest puppy, most gentle and he is not from working lines - I was told he was a companion dog (which is what I needed for my family and kids, ages 15, 9 and 7) My daughter is 7 1/2 and that's the one that is most interested in the puppy. She wants to train him like me, so I'm trying to help her but he is so mouthy towards her. If I correct him by shaking his mussel, as soon as I let go he barks and does it again (I'm talking 6, 7 eight times) he barks and just does it again. Each morning I work with him to let me groom him because he will most likely be around 100 lbs and I don't want to pay a groomer. So, He sits between my legs and I say "Settle" after a few days he figured out he had to sit there, than I turn his head side to side, check his ears, his teeth, his mouth and once a week (3 weeks now) I clean his ears, and trim nails. I do this usually twice a day and he is awesome during the session (he lays there perfectly still for the session). No struggling. We work on the “watch me” command which is does really well. When he is playing with a toy I can now call “Touch” and he’ll leave the toy and rush to my hand. He knows paws up, sit, platz, come, settle, kennel up, kisses... That’s all I’m going to teach him for awhile because he is so young, so will just keep reinforcing what he knows. However, the two areas I'm having a really hard time with are the Yuk command (you pop his leash when he has something yukky and he does not care) I mean I can't correct him any harder before he is going to yelp and I don't know what to do. If I try to take away what he (like his leash in his mouth or whatever) he just goes right back to it. When biting, I shake his mussel and he barks and tries again.

So, is this just 10 weeks old behavior or does that seem wrong? With my last dog I was using Leerburgs “Bite Training for Puppies”, so biting was never discouraged. I've never punished for biting, I got the methods for stopping the behavior from a friend, (you shake the mussel, stick your finger down his throat) none of this seems to work and I'm left to wonder if it's just what puppies do, or if I'm doing something wrong. And though it appears I’ve made some progress myself (not a lot) I’m not making any with my daughter. Any advice or should I just ride it out and it will go away? Obviously what I’m doing is not working, I’m either not correcting hard enough or I’m doing something wrong.

From watching the Leerburg tapes, Mr. Frawley states you should never correct a puppy for anything and then he states there are a few exceptions. He lists them, and one is for "yuk command" as he say's this can be life threatening to the dog. But, my puppy doesn't act like the puppy in his video for as soft as my puppy appears to be in every area he is extremely stubborn when it comes to the yuk command, I do like Mr. Frawley states (at least I think I'm doing it that way) and he just goes for it again. He is so stubborn. The other correction he lists for the exception my puppy doesn't have problems with so no need for corrections. But, I can't allow him to eat rocks or his lead and he doesn't care. I correct him, he barks and does it again, and again and again.

 Quote:

But, I can't allow him to eat rocks or his lead and he doesn't care. I correct him, he barks and does it again, and again and again.

What do you redirect his attention onto? You need to give him something else to do. You could try working on "leave it" with the rocks, marking and rewarding the desired behavior. With the leash try working on simple obedience with marking and rewarding. Teach him what you want him to do.

I hope you consider this good news, but this is normal puppy behavior. There are endless biting/nipping threads here...check the archives.

The grooming stuff you're doing is very good (don't forget to name the body parts as you touch and examine them).

Try to keep his environment as free of things he can't have as possible (easier inside than out, I know...and difficult altogether with a family with children ). I've found it helpful to have the attitude of, "Oh, look what you found! Cool! Let's trade it for this even cooler thing!" The more you do the "oh no, you can't have that! I want it!" the more you set up confrontations.

Try to pick your battles with care...and when the pup's not responding, into the crate to calm down.

Perhaps your daughter can become more involved with the pup when it's a bit older and some of these behaviors have decreased.

leih

Angelique, in my opinion, the person who told you to shake the puppy's muzzle or stick your finger down his throat is not someone I would take training advice from. You have already seen that it only ramps him up, and I can't blame the little guy. Grab my face and shake it I might wanna bite you instead of just barking...

Falcon was a little hoover vacuum cleaner as a pup and a terror to take on a walk. If it wasn't glued down, he tried to pick it up. This required lots and lots and lots of "yuks" before he learned. THIS IS WHAT PUPPIES DO. You may have selected the calmest pup from a non-working line but you still selected a DOG.

Redirect, redirect, redirect. Keep a small tug, small stuffed toy, ball, dish towel, whatever in your pocket(s) and when he is going for something he shouldn't pop him, say yuk and show him something far more interesting than the rock, leash, etc... It is going to take time because he is programed to put stuff in his mouth at this stage of his life. Teach your daughter the same thing, and definitely don't let her grab his muzzle or try to stick her fingers down his throat.

JMO... this pup is ten weeks old,and assuming you brought him home at 7 or 8 weeks, he has only been with you two or three weeks. In this time he has supposedly learned platz, come, sit, down, kennel, kiss, paws up, touch, etc... My suggestion would be to SLOW down and let this little guy bond with your family. I can't help but wonder if your expectations aren't a little too high for a baby.