new member with biting puppy

[elle26]

Hi all, new member here, first post,

I have a three month old Rott name Bonnie. I got her at eight/nine weeks. I have taught her to sit, stay, fetch, although she does not always do what i ask, i think she is in fact doing great. She does get quite excited after a while and start to nip my legs, feet, hands, i have been saying no and then walking away, only problem is that she hurts and by the time i reach a door to get out of her way i am by now quite sore and sometimes it is difficult not to want to push her away. I live in a hot climate so i wear shorts most of the time. How long does this go on for??? She is outside most of the time and only come`s into the house when supervised by me. She sleeps downstairs in a crate, should i get her a crate for outside ?? she has no trouble going to sleep at night but that is the only time she is in the crate. Just want to know if i am on the right track with what i am doing so far. Any advise welcome

elle

[FilosFolks]

Hello!

I would def keep your pup inside at night. IMO your baby is not old enough to be an outdoor only dog.

Please read all the stickys in Puppy Dev. This is totally normal. The ankle chewing can last awhile if you don't get a handle on it. Stuffed toys are great at this age to create a distraction from the nipping. The key is redirection of all that energy to some appropriate toy. Say "uh uh" or "NO BITE" and stuff that toy in the mouth. Once puppy has locked on to that toy instead of you, give lots of praise and continue on your business.

Honestly, I carried a toy on me if I was doing housework because their attention span is SO VERY short at this age.

Best of luck, keep us posted.
Ailee

[elle26]

Thanks Ailee,

I have been redirecting her loads, sometimes i feel like its getting better then yesterday we were playing fetch with her ball, one time she just did not go for it, then when i went over to pick it up all hell broke lose, she just jumped on my legs from behind and of course i just turned and pushed her away well that just started her off, she was having way too much fun trying to nip my hands, legs and feet, i tried to give the the ball but she would not have any of it, i managed to get away but i had a few scratches on my legs. I will keep trying, i left her for a while, when i went back she was calmer.

I gave her a small lamb bone the other night, her first, she loved it. She moved away from me and started chewing, i took a step near her and she looked at me sideways and growled, she has not done that before. I left her for a while then sat down on the step a little away from her, she came over and put the bone in my hands and chewed, i stroked her everywhere but did not attempt to take the bone, if she dropped it i picked it up for her and she was ok with that. Should i try next time to take the bone?????? not sure what i should be doing here. The growl was serious. Other than that she is lovely and both myself and husband love her to bits.

Thank you so much for the advise.
elle

[FilosFolks]

At this age, when the puppy stops playing so do I. When the shark attacks start, redirect to a toy, get her focused on it, and just step away. A good variety of toys she likes will help. Large, stuffed animals help save the hands!

Also, remember you can always give them a time out too. Sometimes they're just too wound up and need a nap.

Bones are wonderful. This is where things get tricky. If you practice NILIF, and trade with your dog, taking things like bones are much easier. If I give a bone or a meal I don't really pick it up, it's theirs at that point. If I do, I always trade them for it. A chunk of cheese, whatever. It sounds like she wanted to share with you, which is cool! But I do think it is important your dog respectfully knows who is boss, so if you're asking should you be able to take that bone then I'd say yes.
With that growl and stare, I'd say "uh uh" pick it up, and put it up til tomorrow. You give it again, after you ask for a sit, and do not tolerate her stink eye. If she moves off with it I'd let her be alone with it, and convince her that its cool to trade for it and she won't grow up thinking bones get taken away and they need to be guarded.

And if your dog is bein snappy don't stick your hand in its face to get the item, at least pull the head up and away with a free hand and manuever your body or step on the object... Not sayin you did/do Elle but people get bit all the time trying to take things like bones.

[poohbearsmom]

http://www.rottweiler.net/forums/pup...ppy-101-a.html

[FilosFolks]

Thanks Pooh! All the stickies in Puppy will help a lot!

[elle26]

Hi Filosfolks,

Thank you for your reply, i have been working with Bonnie these past few days and she is now quite happy for me to take the bone whenever i like, i just kept stroking her whenever i gave the bone and she understands that i am not there to take it away but if i need to she is now ok with me doing that. She will even come and give it to me. She does have a problem with me putting her leash on, every time i do she just chews it, i have sprayed it with different sprays but it has not put her off at all. Do you know if there is any place on the site that i can look for tips on this. I do keep her in doors at night and have never had any problems with that. She is out side in the day as the climate her is hot all year round and the outside has plenty of shade and is cooler than in doors. Thanks for all your advise, i will check out the stickies.

elle

[webangel2b]

About the leash!

I have a 10 week old! Feel your pain most literaly :)

I don't give her too much trouble about the leash until we walk. I did the same with my last rott. Once we're on our walk, I'm in control. We don't sniff just because she wants to and she does not chew the leash - we're in a different mode if you will.

If there's not a lot of lead slack, it will be less interesting too

[FilosFolks]

Are you asking about her wearing it about the house? If so I'd try distracting her into chasing a ball or chasing you around while you call her name and treat when she reaches you.

If you mean chewing while on walks I don't have much advice to give but if you do a search for leash+biting you may find another thread. Some people have switched to chain leashes for a short time and it seemed to work. Or see if she'll carry a squeaky toy. Try holding the leash so she can't grab hold and def don't just let her do it. Sorry I'm not much help there...

[elle26]

Hi webangel12b, filosfolks, Bonnie has no problem with her collar, but she thinks having the leash attached is all a game she is relentless about having some part of it in her mouth, she wont have a ball or anything in her mouth once the leash is attached, i have tried, she just drops whatever i give her and attacks the leash. If i offer a treat she will drop the leash then but as soon as she has eaten it she is bitting it again. I think i will try a metal one, see what happens then. When i take up the slack she goes mad and rolls around trying to get whatever she can. At this point i usually take the leash of as i dont want her to think its to play with. Many thanks to both for your replies you have been very helpful elle

[baycaligirl1]

Hi::)) happy to see you came to this great site there are many wonderful members on here who will help you out:) My Titan did the same thing..he was horrible with the biting. he's now 10 months old and basically has stopped although once in a while he will do his playful bite.. but it can hurt. What I did was say "ouch" tell him no bite and ignore him for a bit....we'd play and again if he did it over I'd do the same thing. It really seemed to work and as I said he rarely plays bites anymore. You know what they say about Rotts "there sharks outta water." LOL Good luck

[FilosFolks]

Originally Posted by elle26

Hi webangel12b, filosfolks, Bonnie has no problem with her collar, but she thinks having the leash attached is all a game she is relentless about having some part of it in her mouth, she wont have a ball or anything in her mouth once the leash is attached, i have tried, she just drops whatever i give her and attacks the leash. If i offer a treat she will drop the leash then but as soon as she has eaten it she is bitting it again. I think i will try a metal one, see what happens then. When i take up the slack she goes mad and rolls around trying to get whatever she can. At this point i usually take the leash of as i dont want her to think its to play with. Many thanks to both for your replies you have been very helpful elle

Have you tried just leaving the leash on the floor, unattached? Perhaps if she sees it laying on the floor around the house all the time she won't think its a snake or something really fun & she'll get desensitized to it? And then work up to attaching it to the collar for VERY short periods? And eventually dragging it around? I'm just thinking of things I'd try.