Tips For a New Dog Owner

Most Recent Answer

By lyonpridej

Use the search bar to search for 'housebreaking a puppy', 'biting puppy',etc. & you'll find lots of good advice from Thrifty Fun readers. We just watched ours really well. As soon as she showed signs she was getting ready to go, we picked her up & rushed her outside to her yard, put her down & told her to 'got potty', if she did, we really praised her.

If she had an accident in the house & we caught her right away, we'd tell her no & take her out anyway - you could do the same thing with the pee pad. This could take several attempts until he figures out what you are wanting from him & does it on his own.

As for play biting the kids & not letting them pet him - biting them is the way a puppy would play with it's litter mates, he just needs to learn not to do it to humans. Teach your kids that when they try to play with him & he starts to bite, firmly & in a loud voice say "no bite!" as they pick him up & put him away from them, they can also yell "ouch!" to let him know it hurts. They will need to do this every time he bites, not just when they don't want him to.

If he still doesn't stop, tell them to get up & stop trying to play with him for a bit, then try again. If he keeps going after them, they can hold him down gently on his side & say "no bite!" or put him in his kennel if you're using one.They may need to do this over & over until he learns that biting is a no-no & if he won't stop, nobody will play with him. Also, he needs some toys he can bite & chew on, when they tell him no & push him away, they can give him his toy instead.

When you say he won't let them pet him, I'll bet that when they try, he's turning around & biting at them - this would probably mean he's taking their attempt to pet him as an invitation to play - see above advice.
If he lets you pet him but not the kids, it's a power thing - he sees them as 'litter mates' (other puppies), instead of dominant. They will have to assert their dominance so he sees they a re not his equal, but are instead his 'pack leader'.

Your puppy is like a little kid & just needs to learn the rules & some manners - & like all kids, he's going to forget sometimes & have to be reminded.The breeds of your puppy tend to be what some call "high strung" & stubborn, they have a lot of energy & are determined to have their way - so it may take a lot of work to get him to pay attention to you & behave. Just be patient.

Our dog is half corgi & half Queensland heeler - she was a very energetic puppy but also very smart. Didn't take her too long to learn the rules, but she had to mature enough to realize she benefited from following them & now she's a really neat little dog. The heeler side of her wanted to 'herd' the kids, so whenever they were running & playing, she'd chase them & nip at their ankles. It took forever to train her to "no bite" in this circumstance because it's such an instinct. But she did eventually learn to overcome it when she figured out they wouldn't play with her because she hurt them, she still herds them (& the grandkids), but she doesn't nip their heels.