Biting puppy - Page 1

Hello, there, first post here. We (my girlfriend and I) have a very young puppy in our apartment. It arrived with only 4 1/4 weeks and now he's almost 7 weeks old. We have two main problems: 1. He bites us very hard when he plays. Really hard! And we don't know if it's normal because he's so young or how to stop that behaviour. 2. We have newspaper on the kitchen floor, we can't take him out because he doesn't have all the vaccins. When he's locked he always uses the paper as his bathroom, but every chance he has, he goes to any carpet. How long should we wait until he learns? Are we asking too much for such a young shepherd? Best regards

Wow.

ask jeff oehleson. he can give you a nice cookie cutter BS answer that wont hurt your feelings with honesty.

I read that pups have to stay with their mum and siblings long enough to learn bite inhibition. They need to learn how to bite soft in play i guess. Either way, soft or hard, I wouldnt have my dog biting me.

it's normal----transfer its drive to toys. make sure you have a tug/rag type tug with you at all times. Teach the dog that toy=good and you=bad.

And keep him off of the carpets if you don't want him pottying there. Use a gate to keep him in the kitchen area or wherever you have him on tile/wood/lynolium. If you can't do this put him in a crate with paper at one end and food/water/bed at the other. I wont even ask why you got him at 4.5 weeks old.

Thanks for the answers. I already have a gate on the kitchen and there he is very nice and do his stuff on the papper. But (my fault) it breaks my heart to see him locked for too many time and I took him out to play. But sometimes he scapes and poops or urinate my carpets. Should I keep him in the kitchen for a few weeks before take him out? Which is the best way to teach him (toys=good, my painful hand=bad)? I know it's almost a crime to have a 4 1/2 weeks old puppy away from his mom. He didn't eat well for a few days, now his strong and fine thankfully. The problem was with the breeder, he gave the puppy as a gift to us (he's a national champion son and grandson) and told us that if we didn't take him now, he will sell him. So we decided to take our chances and adopt the mini shepherd with us. As I said, he's strong and healthy now, but as someone said, he didn't had enough times with his mom and his 7 brothers and sisters to learn some stuff :( Thanks again

Keep an eye on his habbits. Feed and water at the same times daily, potty shortly after. After he goes to the bathroom you can play with him a few minutes until he falls asleep again, which I am sure he does allot of sleeping. Knowing when he has and hasn't gone, will help you know if he is sick or something is wrong and help you keep him from making accidents on the carpet. Good luck with your puppy.

Sure seems to me to be the epitome of irresponsibility for any breeder to separate a baby puppy at 4+ weeks from his mother and siblings. Care to share the name of this breeder? Judy

Hi Judy I live outside USA, so the breeder's name won't tell you too much. thanks for your concern.