One thing I will add, back to the subject line... You still have teething to get through!

I have a school of Rummynose Tetras, the eldest of which have been with me since the year after Katrina (2006). I am DOWN to 5 tanks (including quarantine and nursery tanks).

Will teething make him bite more with less pressure, maybe? Hoping. He seems to have a thing for sweet potatoes so I'm going to slice/dehydrate/freeze a bunch for when it starts to kick in - teething with the human wasn't that awful long ago so I should be able to figure out some things to help, at least

Also: awesome on the rummynoses - glad someone out there is still feeding back into the aquarium business! Hoping personally that nothing ever breeds in my house again. Period.

Kristin...

To answer you question: most pups get even MORE mouthy when teething. You need to have a plan.

Some things that I use with teething pups...keep them busy & just like babies soothes their sore gums:

Wet & wring out a tightly knit wash cloth or dish towel & roll it up & freeze it. You can give it to the pup & let him chew on it. You must have the pup near you to keep an eye that he doesn't chew off a piece & swallow it. After it thaws & is no longer doing the trick...rinse & refreeze. I have done this with 3 pups & never had one chew it up. But I am right there keeping any eye.

I take a large raw carrot & freeze it & give it to the pup to knaw on. Again you need to be close to see that he doesn't chew off a piece & choke on it. I have never had that happen, again watching closely. Have to have BIG fat carrot. Often the ones that you buy in the 10lb bags at Costco or one of the warehouse stores tend to be larger sized one. I used to get these for my horse & share them with the puppies.

A EXTREME(black) Kong filled with peanutbutter or creamcheese & freeze. This can get tossed into the crate with the puppy as they should not be able to chew it. But still keep an eye. They will take a while to lick out the frozen filling. Great for adult dogs too.keeps them busy for a while when crated.

Bully sticks are also wonderful for pups & 1 will keep young pups busy for days. Several hours or more for an older pup. Adults will go thur the 12 one in 15 min. Not cost effective at all, as they are a bit pricey these days. Again keep an eye as it gets down to the small size. I usally take it away (trading for another treat) when they get small enough to swallow & give it to one of the adult dogs.

Just some thoughts. Puppies with their mouths kept busy won't be biting you.

 Quote: Duane Hull

See Kristin... s'all good. Right, Teresa?

Funny you say that, people ask me my name and I pronounce it Tressa their reply is one of the following: "Teresa? Thresa, Treasa, Theresa?"

Weekend updates...

Things that do not bother Duke at all:
9mm handguns firing at close range (dispatching an injured squirrel)
Table saws firing up
Electric drills
Hair clippers

I am guessing we can probably dremel his nails pretty easily.

This weekend's casualties:
1 pair of dress jeans
1 pair athletic shorts
1 woman's upper leg (in the tender bits dammit)
4 hands
2 forearms

Duke loves his dried sweet potatoes warm and still chewy, does not like them crunchy and cooled off.

Marker training seems to be going pretty well, he's still kicking up a fuss and 'going gator' on me at the back door about once a day. I am trying to get him in the back door without using leash pressure and offering treats/toys to motivate him in that direction, but sometimes he just gets all riled up and growls and lunges at me. I'm going to try taking him around to the other door into the kitchen from now on as he has never had a bad reaction going in there. Happy to hear any suggestions on this.

Having the ex-pen has also helped a lot - when he gets so worked up or so tired out that nothing we do is stopping the biting, he gets to go to his 'place' and get a nice treat - this is usually followed by a crash nap. Normally he's pretty much easy to handle until about an hour and a half of out/play time.

I admit my frustration levels aren't getting much better when he gets bitey, but I pretty much put him up asap as gently as possible and get out of the room to cry it out in lieu of finding a place to hang a punching bag in the porch, it's probably the best option all around, but it's confusing the crap out of my husband.

The oddest thing too - my hands/arms can be getting the crap torn out of them and he'll reach up and give me a fat doggy kiss on the chin. Sigh. That's happened twice now.

On the positive side, I feel like I have been given permission some how to be goofy and playful with him. Before, I didn't feel like I could do that, like somehow I was giving him permission to misbehave if I was being soft with him. I am enjoying him a lot more, even though I still feel like a doggy pincushion and I'm probably going to need to start buying Levi's instead of fashion jeans.

 Quote: Kristin Muntz

I admit my frustration levels aren't getting much better when he gets bitey, but I pretty much put him up asap as gently as possible and get out of the room to cry it out in lieu of finding a place to hang a punching bag in the porch, it's probably the best option all around, but it's confusing the crap out of my husband.

The oddest thing too - my hands/arms can be getting the crap torn out of them and he'll reach up and give me a fat doggy kiss on the chin. Sigh. That's happened twice now.

On the positive side, I feel like I have been given permission some how to be goofy and playful with him. Before, I didn't feel like I could do that, like somehow I was giving him permission to misbehave if I was being soft with him. I am enjoying him a lot more, even though I still feel like a doggy pincushion and I'm probably going to need to start buying Levi's instead of fashion jeans.

There are signs of progress here. The kiss is acknowledging your rank, and appreciation of your time with him. He just doesn't understand proper interaction yet. Keep putting him away, and he will learn to follow the rules if he wants family time.
The punching bag is a great idea!
Does your husband get bit when he interacts? If not, observe, and practice what you see.

Happy belated Mother's Day!

If he was tethered to you.....how was he able to get to the jeans & shorts without your preventing it???

Gunfiring "at close range" to a young puppy is foolish!!! <SIGH>

My dogs are solid around gunfire..but I didn't do that near them as young pups.

He was tethered to me, and obviously was too fast for me both times. I also don't expect the gunfire incident to occur again any time soon as its the first discharge that I know of since we bought that property 2.5 years ago. I had been unable to Dispatch the poor squirrel with a bb gun and begged my hubby to finish it off, I was walking away with the dog at the time.

My husband does get bitten, yes. He has a higher pain tolerance than I, and thanks for the well wishes Duane - we'll keep on learning.

 Quote: Kristin Muntz

Weekend updates...

T but sometimes he just gets all riled up and growls and lunges at me.

This is cause for concern..I'm going to assume he is still in drive/play mode when you decide it's time to go inside. So before you just drag him into the house all riled up, I'd tell him, 'we're done', and then I would begin practicing a protocol to settle down/relax (do some OB (sit/down) and I'd probably use food) before entering the home. Once he's calm then proceed to go inside. Hopefully this well help. Keep us posted!

Last week was a lonnnng week. Duke had a runny butt for a few days so we cut out all treats and he was only getting kibble for marker training - still, it went really well. He was up more at night due to his upset belly. His alligator attacks are winding down quite a bit especially since putting him back in a simple harness - still had one episode yesterday evening where I could not get him calmed down and my pyjama pants paid the price for it. Overall pretty good. I am generally better about calmly getting him to relax and getting him back into the house so we can both have a bit of a time-out - food definitely helps here if I can interrupt the lunging. I predict more sleep for both of us will lead to a better week. Other than that, pretty non-eventful.

We are using the 'negative correction' - praise/affection/treat when he obeys the 'down' command instead of correction/punishment for jumping on us, on the sides of the ex-pen, on the couch - am I understanding that correctly? (Could I be more vague in my phrasing here?) The jumping/front paws up on us is getting to be his favorite thing, I turned my back at lunch the other day and he had his face in my lunch bowl while it was still on the table amazing how tall he's getting so fast!