ankle biter

[DAHSHOUIN]

Ok, this is gonna be long, but I need some help. Let's start with Shardik, that's the dog. She's 12 weeks old, good natured, although slightly submissive with adult male humans, and seems to be very smart. I don't claim to know a lot about rottweilers, even though I have owned one before. My last one was great. Very loving extremely obedient and extremely smart. I guess I got spoiled because I find myself expecting this one to pick up on things just as fast. We have a number of problems and I know they're all failings on my part due to lack of training but I don't know how to fix them.
My last dog was years ago and I hired a trainer who also trained the police dogs on base. Well he used to the old beat them til they submit approach and so in turn so did I. Which truth be told worked great and I never had a problem with her. but I don't want to do that again. I am having to relearn how to train a dog and am running into a few specific problems that I haven't found here.
For one, the worst, she's an ankle biter. not me, not even around me generally. but I have a 1 year old and 3 year old and my wife. I know she's not biting hard because the only one that complains is my 3 year old who is more scared by this than anything. My 1 year old just sees it as playing, and I know that's what she's doing, but I want it to stop. I've been trying to get her to stop play biting me using her toy in place of my arm if she does but let's be honest the toy doesn't wiggle. She doesn't bite hard but those little puppy razor teeth start to hurt after a while.
My second problem is she's an excited peeer. I don't know how to spell that but you get the picture. and it's not just one time. If I haven't seen her all day she'll go 3 times in 5 minutes. I know she's a puppy and she's excited but I need to find a way to curb this. she's an inside dog but it's hard to keep her inside because every time i come home or my wife comes home there it goes again and it doesn't stop. There's other problems but I think a good obedience class would go a long ways toward fixing them. which does raise another problem. does anyone know a good trainer in the colorado springs area. I won't go with another dog beater. ok long enough. Shardik and I would appreciate any advice anyone has.

[AngelBunny]

DAHSHOUIN:

Good for you realizing the "beat 'em til they give in" school of thought *isn't* the way to train a dog. Positive reinforcement works much better in the long run and is kinder to everyone involved.

Finding a trainer: Call your local humane society; they might offer a series of "Good Rover" type classes, as does our local shelter. If they don't offer classes, ask if they can recommend a trainer. Be sure to tell them you're only interested in a trainer who uses positive reinforcement & methods.

Ask your vet if he or she can recommend a trainer. Look in the yellow pages. The local kennel club that's affiliated with the AKC is likely to hold classes. Maybe the dog officer in your town can offer suggestions?

You're looking for a class where you and your dog attend together because the trainer will train you to train your dog. You absolutely *don't* want to send your dog away for x weeks for the dog to be trained w/o you present.

While your puppy's bites are now annoying, you must get her to stop biting. Have you asked everyone in your house to YELP REALLY LOUDLY when she nips them? Since you have young children, this might be hard for them to remember, but yelping as soon as the puppy puts her mouth on any human can be an effective way to teach Shardik not to bite. This is what puppies in a litter do to each other to teach bite inhibition.

If yelping doesn't work, have you tried getting a spray bottle & filling it with water? Adjust the nozzle for a sharp stream. As soon as Shardik mouths, spray her and say "No bite!" Then give her a toy and praise her for taking the toy. You may have to carry around the spray bottle for awhile, but this can be a way to teach her not to bite.

Since you say Shardik is "slightly submissive with adult male humans," it may be more of a case of submissive urination rather than excitement urination, but there are ways to handle her behavior.

When you return home, greet Shardik outside rather than in the house. Greet her calmly & matter-of-factly--if you've been making a big fuss over her, stop doing this. Maybe taking her for a quick walk for a couple of minutes when you first get home will also help. If she starts peeing, ignore her--don't acknowledge what she's doing in any way.

Our 3 yo old private rescue is terribly bred & has weak nerves. When Tula was young, she also engaged in submissive urination when her dad got home. (We adopted her at abt 5 mo old.)

By calmly greeting her outside, ignorning her when she peed, and keeping things low-keyed, Tula outgrew this behavior.