New here and just saying Hi - Page 2

I feed Taste of the Wild puppy and I add some raw meat and veggies. I would recommend Taste of the Wild or Candidae. Congrats on your new puppy... I just got a puppy myself who will be 3 months old in about a week. 

I actually sprayed Apple Bitter on my children's appendages with that "bitey dog", and my arms, just to give our skin a chance to heal, every now and then. LOL

Thanks Beetree!! I hadn't thought of that.  I could just spray it on my jacket.  I have been working with her on the biting at hands and she is doing much better with it.  If i approach petting her body slowly and very calmly she will stand or sit and let me without trying to get playful.  Apparently she is rather in tune with me and if I am even slightly playful or excited she picks up on it and it gets her excited and playful.  When I walked my kids to the bus this morning I took her with us for the first time and she did really well.  She walked at heel except when i released her to go potty and then when she finished she came right back.  She tried to bolt towards a kid a couple times but for the most part she kept it under control.  She definately has some strong herding instinct in her.  She couldn't stand when they walked behind us but was comfortable with them in front and walking at a calm pace.  One of my sons will usually run out ahead a bit and him running got her wound up so I asked him to just walk with us.  

I did manage to take some decent pics of her a little while ago and I am going to try to post them if i can figure out how.  I am so proud of her!!!  

I think I got this figured out.  If so...Here she is!! (pardon the messy house around her. I have been going through old clothes to send to goodwill and clothes are piled up everywhere)

And here is the photo I added to my profile.  She was being such a good girl to be still long enough for me to take decent photos of her!!!

Adorable pup! Welcome and good luck!

 Hello and welcome

News flash:   She needs to be mouthy..just redirect her to toys and IT takes time...DONOT WORRY

SHE WILL SOON REDIRECT HER INTEREST
You just keep making funny noises with toys in front of her..put them on a rope and drag away from you ...

anything you can think of the get her mind off of your hands or arm...THAT is a normal dog ./puppy trait to go for you...only thing she knows is movement of her keeper..SHe use to bite her mom and all pups do this..

Nothing bad just  you have to redirect and be alpha..no punishment at all...I would not spray anything on anything..why....for her to get a bad karma for spray bottles...???

You have a pup who has prey drive whether you know it or not...she wants something to grab..so take toys and bones and tie a rope on them   tie an old t shirt with a knot in middle and put a rope around it...use it to keep her attention for short periods..SHe will only focus if you make her..then use tiny food rewards when she does focus and keep her busy outside till she soon loves one of her tugs...

Keep toys not in kennel with her but on you when you are around her.  Only reward with food when she does good things...If you need food to get her attention use it...use food to get her to sit in front of you..use food to get her to walk by you...and praise her with pats on side not her head..


I use a small coffee can with dog food in it to shake and make her look at you..Then reward with tiny bit of cheese or meat pieces..YOu can dry meat  in low heat oven and put in bags for you to  carry with you..pr buy the rolls at petsmart for training..very expensive treats though..I always keep my own made and use lots of cheese and chicken treats in tiny pieces..YOu only want to treat them and not spend time for them eating..A treat makes them want more..so make it tiny and they will look to you for that reward only after they do what you ask of them...Use it to encourage them to , and to get their attention..Use commands and push away from you if a pup crowds you for the treat..hold it hidden in hand so they have to sit or do whatever first and then reward them immediatley./
 Kennel if pup gets to bitty before it learns..but not as punishment ..just as a cool down and to protect pup and your kids and home...a rowdy pup takes time to over come his puppi traits..

hope this helps...let her bite all she wants just not you or your shoes and keep house picked up so she cannnot make your things a habit...

She is sitting well if only for minutes,,yeah that is a plus...keep commanding her while she is stilll..keep saying   stay   good stay  use few words..no name  just  sitz  good sitz  if she sits???lol

you will  have fun   it just takes weeks and weeks of the same thing over and over and over..till she gets better..   but make it fun for the pup and make it fun for you....

YR

 added note :

Only work on sit and stay and come for the next month or so..

sit first and come  and then if she does sitz well use the stay and make her stay longer and longer with reward..the minute she gets up ...stop the exercise as puppies have very very short interest time..

YR

Hello Yellowrose!!  Thanks for all of the advice.  I just wanted to clear one thing up though.  I had no intention of spraying Luca with a squirt bottle.  Just spraying the bad tasting stuff on my jacket sleeves to make it so that when she does get one in her mouth it is an unpleasant taste to her with no correction from me.  As for training and working on things; her breeder had already started working with her and she came to me knowing sit, down (a bit sloppy but in the photo she is doing it), lay down (more relaxed than the down), heel and drop it.  When she is in the heel position she also sits immediately if I stop walking without being told to sit.  I taught her to stay back at doorways and let me pass first.  I have just kept her reminded of those and started working on her stay.  I don't work with her for hours at a time...just a 30 second stay and then she is rewarded and play time happens.  When she is out playing I will do this every little while.  Have her sit or down and stay for about 20-30 seconds.  

She stays in her crate usually when I am not ingaged or directly watching her because of how she will chew on anything and everything in a heartbeat.  She is very happy in there and goes in on command.  You say no toys in there with her and I fully understand why on that because she could easily chew it up and choak on a piece or ingest something.  I am wondering though isn't a bone OK to have in there with her?  I have her a very large (14" long and as big around as my arm) rawhide bone that she enjoys chewing on and it seems to have curbed her chewing on inappropriate things.  I tried several different things and the rawhide was the only one she was interested in.  I let her keep it in her crate during the day to satisfy some of her want to chew.  I do not leave it with her if i go somewhere or during the night while i am sleeping.  She isn't a strong chewer as she hasn't even damaged the bone yet and she has had it about a week now...she just kinda mouths all over it and loves it.  It just gives her something to do that isn't destructive.  

Focus is one thing I know I need to work with her on.  She is very erratic and it is very hard for her to focus on me.  I know this is normal puppy behavior and I have been working with her to learn to focus on me and not everything else.  I use treats, balls and squeekers to get her to pay attention to me and it works well.  Maintaining focus is just something that takes plenty of time and patience.  I will definately try tieing up an old t-shirt and attaching it to a rope to get her attention also.  I am sure that would be something she would go nuts over.