# My 8 week pup thinks I'm littermate...



## LivCoop (May 7, 2011)

My Fiance and I just got a puppy 2 weeks ago, she is now 8 weeks old. Her name is Beatrix, Bea for short, and she's a boxer lab mix.
We have been doing a TON of self-education (along with learning from past mistakes with childhood pets) for example we watch the Dog Whisperer ALOT!
So my problem right now lies with the fact that we believe that our sweet little Bea is treating us like litter-mates. We do not rough house her and only play with her with toys. Obviously we know puppies are very bitey and we are using the OW technique...saying ow loudly when biting gets too intense and drawing away. I was also reading the thread on be a tree and I also try to use that method of ignoring her...which she hates! but sometimes it works.
I'm not expecting miracles because she is still a baby, but her behavior towards me is worse than my fiance. I am with her all day every day, he works, and I even thought I was the strict one. She jumps and lunges at me, and my face, bites my feet and pant legs. The thing that gets me the most is our adult male cat is able to discipline her better than I. None of her behavior is out of anger or fear, that much I know but I am worried about not getting a handle on her behavior and having a possibly large dog that I cannot handle.
Does anyone have any advice?
Or should I just be more patient and put up with this crazy puppy??


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## lisak_87 (Mar 23, 2011)

Well, for one thing, the puppy was taken from its mother and litter far too soon. Those 2 weeks (between 6-8 weeks old) are crucial for a puppy to be with its littermates to learn bite inhibition. Because it missed out on that experience, it is going to be harder to teach the pup not to bite.

Read the Thread under "First Time Dog Owners" called "The Bite Stops Here." The basic jist of it is to do more than just say "ow." You use a very high-pitched "Ow" and then stomp out angrily. I even used to slam the door. Remain there for a few seconds, then come back and play again.

Again, because your pup did not get to learn these things from its littermates and mom, it is going to take a good bit of work and time for it to learn from you. I would also recommend starting puppy classes right away so that the puppy gets to learn some from other puppies. If you have a family member or friend with a patient adult dog who has always been kept up to date on vaccinations, I would also go bring the puppy to spend some time with that adult dog.

Oh, also, I would not use any of the Dog Whisperer techniques. They are outdated and can honestly do more harm than good. Read some of the threads on here to gain more knowledge on positive reinforcement training. A good video to watch if you prefer videos would be "SIRIUS Puppy Training" which you can purchase to watch online on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0022V3KP2


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## lil_fuzzy (Aug 16, 2010)

Please don't watch the dog whisperer. His opinions and training methods are VERY old fashioned, and incorrect. He says if your dog approaches you with his head up and ears up, it's because he thinks he's dominant. Which is just ridiculous, ears up means the dog is relaxed and happy. I would be worried if my dogs approached me with their heads down and ears back. That means they are scared, not "submissive".

Dominance theory is very flawed, and you should pretty much just ignore anyone who tells you your dog is trying to dominate you. She's not. Dogs, and especially baby dogs, are not constantly trying to figure out ways of taking over the household.

Don't try to behave like a dog and 'discipline' her. You're not a dog, and she knows you're not a dog. Dogs have to adapt to human life, not the other way around, so just try to train her using positive methods to show her what you want her to do, not what you don't want her to do (dogs don't understand that lack of a behaviour).


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## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

As much as it is important to not leave puppy behaviours to be "grown out of" and to make sure that the behaviours eventually are altered so that the adult version of your puppy is safe and well mannered, it is also very important to realize that at this stage of development there are reasons the behaviours occur and that training impulse control and bite inhibition (along with all the other 'cued' behaviours) takes HUNDREDS of repetitions, a very large amount of management and prevention and time to mature.

Working on bite inhibition is ongoing, especially with a pup removed from it's littermates so young and it will seem to fade and then come back when the second teething stage occurs. Providing proper and appropriate alternates to chewing on you, teaching him that humans are delicate (compared to puppy fur our skin IS delicate) and teaching play like tug, flirt pole and fetch will help. 

Proper dog socialization and "world" socialization goes a long way. If you know anyone else with puppies or can find an 'early' puppy kindergarten class it would be helpful. 

And yes, the DW is not your best source of dog behaviour and training advice. There are plenty of threads here about that, so I wont' go over the whole thing again...

Best book I've ever read about puppy training is The Puppy Whisperer by Paul Owens.


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## TxRider (Apr 22, 2009)

LivCoop said:


> My Fiance and I just got a puppy 2 weeks ago, she is now 8 weeks old. Her name is Beatrix, Bea for short, and she's a boxer lab mix.
> We have been doing a TON of self-education (along with learning from past mistakes with childhood pets) for example we watch the Dog Whisperer ALOT!
> So my problem right now lies with the fact that we believe that our sweet little Bea is treating us like litter-mates. We do not rough house her and only play with her with toys. Obviously we know puppies are very bitey and we are using the OW technique...saying ow loudly when biting gets too intense and drawing away. I was also reading the thread on be a tree and I also try to use that method of ignoring her...which she hates! but sometimes it works.
> I'm not expecting miracles because she is still a baby, but her behavior towards me is worse than my fiance. I am with her all day every day, he works, and I even thought I was the strict one. She jumps and lunges at me, and my face, bites my feet and pant legs. The thing that gets me the most is our adult male cat is able to discipline her better than I. None of her behavior is out of anger or fear, that much I know but I am worried about not getting a handle on her behavior and having a possibly large dog that I cannot handle.
> ...


Follow the advice of your cat and do what it does... 

Seriously though I think your expecting a lot more out an 8 week old pup than is reasonable. It's not even in good control of itself and it's body yet.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

Ditto to previous posters...
1. You have a Lab-Boxer mix.... Labs bite like a vampire and boxers box for 12 rounds 
2. Withdrawing attention from a Lab or a box is more effective than a 2 x 4 ... plus Labs want to chew the 2 x 4.
3. Bite Inhibition - The Bite Stops Here - works very well with both breeds.

Some fine points:
A. When she nips you, always yelp or say ow! She should startle and stop biting, praise her and pet her. She will bite again.
B. When she nips a second time, yelp or ow! She should startle again and stop, praise and pet.......
C. When she nips a third time, yelp or ow! (See a pattern?) Then turn your back for 15 - 30 seconds. If she comes around and does a play bow or barks, then that is an apology, and she is learning (but may not quite understand). Praise & pet.
D. But she may bite a 4th time, so yelp or ow! And leave the room for 2 min., putting her into a timeout (don't remove her)
E. When you return, she may bite a 5th time, yelp, etc. ... And end the interaction for 10 mins.

It's possible to compress these steps, and that's fine. I break them up for explanation purposes. The main point is to yelp or say Ow! to give her a marker which means "I don't like that. Please stop." similar to what occurred in the litter.

As you go through the steps, you should notice that she startles a little when you yelp, and you may notice that she bites more gently, even though she continues to nip. That's OK, she's learning how softly she has to bite in order to encourage you to play with her. It's a bi-cultural conversation.

She won't get it on the first day. Yelp when ever she bites, but try not to be this rigorous more than twice a day. The lesson will sink in after a good night's sleep. The next morning, she should not be drawing blood anymore  Keep it up, and then on the third morning, teeth shouldn't press skin. Continue the lessons until you are satisfied with how she mouths or nips. You can reduce it so that teeth don't touch skin, so that she only lips you, or that she doesn't even mouth you.

I kinda suggest that you train her to mouth very gently, under your rules, because it is a good form of interaction for her, and you can train when it is appropriate and with who. After you get the nipping under control, you may be able to yelp to reduce the boxing, if necessary. 

Let us know in 3 days - or on Monday - how the progress is going....



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