# I need help with our family puppy



## Nido (Oct 5, 2013)

Hi,

We rescued a 2 months old shih tzu puppy. You may ask "rescue?".
Well, the breeder said they had 5 puppies and this is the only puppy that no one liked because the nose is still pink with some black spots on the nose.

Anyway, It did not take for us to train the puppy on crate training. He likes his warm crate blanket and he takes his toys with him inside the crate. We are proud with that.

But, here it is. He likes to bite. I can understand the teething part. He sometimes growl then followed by the bite. He did hurt my kid once with his fangs. We tried the "ouch" and laying on the back to relax. We are not sure what's triggering it. sometimes he doesn't growl and bite. He will sit beside us while watching tv or he will snug beside one of the kids and even to my kid who he bit.
Can you help on this or give advise? 

And last question. How long does it take for the puppy to learn it's name? what should we do to help the puppy know it's name.


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## kcomstoc (Mar 9, 2013)

puppies nip and they nip hard so it seems like aggressive biting though its NOT...just let me repeat that the puppy is NOT being aggressive. Puppies teeth are sharp and they aren't trying to cause harm. Instead of the "ouch" technique try ending the fun when the puppy bites, so if the puppy bites say "no" (don't scream it just say it) and then get up and leave (go over a baby gate or something so they can't follow) come back in a couple minutes. REPEAT REPEAT REPEAT. Soon the puppy will get that biting ends the play time. Also get a toy and if they bite offer the toy instead, if the they take the toy praise the puppy. If they don't take the toy leave the room. Kids are very fun to bite for puppies because they are excitable, separate the kids and puppy until the puppy can play nice. Teach the children to leave the room if the puppy bites. Also to teach a puppy it's name, then say the puppy's name and if the puppy looks at you give them a small treat....REPEAT and they will associate the name with themselves.


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## Nido (Oct 5, 2013)

kcomstoc said:


> if the puppy looks at you give them a small treat....REPEAT and they will associate the name with themselves.


That's the missing information I need.. when it looks at my eye.
I will try this tomorrow morning. I opened his crate and he walked his self in after 10mins.


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## HollowHeaven (Feb 5, 2012)

Firstly, you bought a dog. You didn't rescue him.


Secondly, stop flipping him over. This will not teach him anything except to be afraid of you, or will cause him to bite you harder.

The growling is likely because he's getting into play and is getting carried away. Offer him a toy when he chews you and is he keeps wanting to chew you, walk away for a few moments. Be consistent, do it every time.


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## Nido (Oct 5, 2013)

HollowHeaven said:


> Secondly, stop flipping him over. This will not teach him anything except to be afraid of you, or will cause him to bite you harder.


I was thinking of that also but I read so many and hear so many that I should try to lay him on his back. Today we bought him a new toy and he likes it. We all saw him putting it back in his crate and came out to play with the kids again. see, we are thinking that growl and bite might be a part of his play time.


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## Claudia27 (Oct 6, 2013)

Dogs growl and nip when they play, or fight for dominance. Seeing as your dog is only a puppy, he probably just wants to play. If your dog whines, or bites you for attention, ignore him. Don't give him a reaction or yell at him. If you do this your giving him what he wants. He'll know to nip you if he wants to play. Try playing with him in the morning and give him walks at least once a day. Run around with him in the yard to tire him out. I hope this helps.


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## Capri142 (Jun 14, 2013)

OK, I agree with the folks here that the pup is not trying to bite but the nip probably feels like one and the growl may even sound menacing but it really is not. However, Giving the dog a treat when it stops nipping at you or another toy, IMO, will not stop the unwanted activity and in fact may reinforce it...."oh goody, i get a treat" You need to let the dog know, in no uncertain terms, that this is not something that you want them to be doing. No you don't hit the dog or scream at the dog but you do need to startle them enough to make them stop the nipping. There are a couple of ways to do this. I like to use and empty soda can that has a handful of coins inside of it with the top taped shut. When the dog starts nipping the first time I use the can, I shake it once, say "No Fido" and throw it....not at the dog but close by. I guarantee you that it will get the dogs attention and the nipping will stop, The next time the dog decides to try the nipping most likely all you will need to do is shake the can and the nipping will stop. You may need to keep this up for awhile but most likely will never need to throw the can again. After the dog has stopped nipping for a few minutes, praise the dog. Another way is to use a 6-10" length of chain the same way. Some people have had success using a spray bottle filled with water but I have found that after awhile it is not very effective.


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## legogirl (Jun 23, 2013)

I would bet a lot of money that the right way to train a puppy is to reward it, not scare it to death. To teach my puppy not to bite, we did what has already been mentioned. Saying ouch wasn't enough from my puppy, so we just got up and walked away. She learned pretty quickly that if she nipped, she wouldn't get to play. Scaring a puppy is no way to train it.


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## HollowHeaven (Feb 5, 2012)

Capri142 said:


> OK, I agree with the folks here that the pup is not trying to bite but the nip probably feels like one and the growl may even sound menacing but it really is not. However, Giving the dog a treat when it stops nipping at you or another toy, IMO, will not stop the unwanted activity and in fact may reinforce it...."oh goody, i get a treat" You need to let the dog know, in no uncertain terms, that this is not something that you want them to be doing. No you don't hit the dog or scream at the dog but you do need to startle them enough to make them stop the nipping. There are a couple of ways to do this. I like to use and empty soda can that has a handful of coins inside of it with the top taped shut. When the dog starts nipping the first time I use the can, I shake it once, say "No Fido" and throw it....not at the dog but close by. I guarantee you that it will get the dogs attention and the nipping will stop, The next time the dog decides to try the nipping most likely all you will need to do is shake the can and the nipping will stop. You may need to keep this up for awhile but most likely will never need to throw the can again. After the dog has stopped nipping for a few minutes, praise the dog. Another way is to use a 6-10" length of chain the same way. Some people have had success using a spray bottle filled with water but I have found that after awhile it is not very effective.


This is an excellent way to turn a puppy into a nervous wreck. Bad advice.

You don't give the dog a treat when they're done biting (but if you did, you would be rewarding the behavior you want -not biting- not rewarding the biting), you offer them a toy instead. This is showing them something appropriate to chew on. It's making chewing on the right things funner than chewing on you.
If it doesn't work, you walk away, thus stopping the game and taking attention away.


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## kcomstoc (Mar 9, 2013)

I agree don't do what Capri said...it'll scare your puppy and make it scared of you


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## BostonBullMama (Apr 20, 2013)

kcomstoc said:


> I agree don't do what Capri said...it'll scare your puppy and make it scared of you


Yup ^ 

I wouldn't roll the puppy, I wouldn't use objects to startle the puppy. 
When my dog was a nippy puppy we did use the spray bottle, but not consistently and it did cause some fear of things that spray water which makes bath time a bit hectic, so I wouldn't recommend that method either (I was a first timer). What I WOULD recommend however, is saying a firm "NO" and then redirecting to a toy or getting up and removing yourself from the room entirely for first a short amount of time (30 seconds) and then an extended amount of time for each nip, that way the dog learns that if it bites you, funs over.


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## Nido (Oct 5, 2013)

I use the toy method and move away. It working well to my kids now. 

I told the kids, don't look at him or run towards the couch because it looks to him its play time again. That method worked and the puppy is calm when they walk in the living room without giving him attention.


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## kcomstoc (Mar 9, 2013)

Nido said:


> I use the toy method and move away. It working well to my kids now.
> 
> I told the kids, don't look at him or run towards the couch because it looks to him its play time again. That method worked and the puppy is calm when they walk in the living room without giving him attention.


 That's awesome  glad it's working so fast


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## Nido (Oct 5, 2013)

Thank you. 

Now we just have to work on jumping if someone gets home or from any guest. when our front door opens and someone comes in the house. He gets excited and runs to the foyer. He jumps up and if they ignore him he starts nibbling on the pants. I just tell my guest to go in the kitchen and don't look back for now or talk to him. 

Anyone have other pointers ?


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## kcomstoc (Mar 9, 2013)

Nido said:


> Thank you.
> 
> Now we just have to work on jumping if someone gets home or from any guest. when our front door opens and someone comes in the house. He gets excited and runs to the foyer. He jumps up and if they ignore him he starts nibbling on the pants. I just tell my guest to go in the kitchen and don't look back for now or talk to him.
> 
> Anyone have other pointers ?


 Just going to remind you he is a puppy and ignoring him is good you don't want to encourage the behavior...I would give him a conflicting command like "sit" (he can't jump if he sits) also train a "wait" command. You'd have to do this before the person comes in, say the doorbell rings (it doesn't matter if you actually have a doorbell it's just an example) and he's all excited...tell him sit and then wait (which you will have to train him to do) and then when the person comes in and ignores the dog and after they relax then you can release the dog and have them greet calmly. To train a wait command you have to work very slowly...you start with just a few seconds and work your way higher and higher. Also try to slowly increase the distance between you and the dog each time. So dog sits and you say "wait" then you back one step away...if the dog doesn't move for a few seconds praise and give a treat...slowly work up the distance and time


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## Nido (Oct 5, 2013)

Thanks. 

I think he gets the "sit" now because we hold his favorite toy and we say "sit". He sits and wait. We tried the treat too. But it works more with his toy lol. We will continue to work on the sit and then work with stay or wait together with sit. 

Thanks again.


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## kcomstoc (Mar 9, 2013)

Nido said:


> Thanks.
> 
> I think he gets the "sit" now because we hold his favorite toy and we say "sit". He sits and wait. We tried the treat too. But it works more with his toy lol. We will continue to work on the sit and then work with stay or wait together with sit.
> 
> Thanks again.


 Some dogs are food motivated others are toy motivated lol use what works I just say treat because most dogs will do anything for a treat  glad to help...also I notice in another thread you use pee pads is there a certain reason why?


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## Nido (Oct 5, 2013)

He only received 1 vaccine and I'm told that he might get sick from other urine from other wild animals. Our backyard and front lawn had some visit from raccoon or skunk on garbage day. These raccoon and skunk started to come in our neighborhood because new houses are being build in the area where the trees were before. we all complained to the city because sometimes at midnight we see red fox walking around maybe looking for the wild rabbits.


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## Nido (Oct 5, 2013)

When and how should we introduce our puppy to the harness ? I have read that I should let the puppy play it.. but if I do he would think its part of a game.


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## kcomstoc (Mar 9, 2013)

Oh I see, just was wondering because it makes potty training more difficult with pee pads but I agree please keep using the pee pads for the puppy's safety. Also don't let the puppy play with the harness then she's going to think it's a toy. Just use the toy to lure her into the harness and then keep her in it for awhile to help her get used to it...play with her while she's in the harness soon she'll just ignore it


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