First puppy since I was a kid

EarthMonkey

Hi,

My husband and I had a puppy arrive at our house through another neighbor being irresponsible. He is now 10 weeks old (according to our vet). He is a Chow mix. We don't know what the mix is. He looks a lot like pictures of a chow/black lab/golden retriever mix. We don't know when he was seperated from mom. The neighbor thought he was 4 weeks old, I could take one look at him and know he was older than that.

He keeps nipping and trying to attach to our clothes. Do you have any suggestions? He is already learning sit, leave it, down, and stay well. He likes meeting new people. But he has a hard bite. We are yelping and giving him time outs from play; to let him know we don't like it. Is there any other recommendation someone with more experience can give us. He is nipping hard enough to draw blood at times. He has improved in the week he has been with us but is continuing to some extent.

The neighbor also allowed him on their couch. Because we do not know how large he will get we do not want to have him on the couch at this time. I think they played tug of war with him on the couch because he goes wild when we are on our couch. Can you give any suggestions for breaking him of the idea that he will get on our couch. We do not let him on there, occasionally he tries getting up sneakily and we just place him on the ground.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Cracker

Okay, first off good for you for giving this boy a home. It's been a long time since you've dealt with a puppy and there is a lot of info you will need to know about how to understand what he is doing, why and how to change any behaviours you don't want and increase behaviours that you do.

I highly recommend you look at the stickies at the top of this forum, check out the free downloads from Ian Dunbar (you can download the entire book "Before and After Getting your Puppy" for free!) and also check out the sticky "The Bite Stops Here".

I also suggest that you, quickly, enroll in a puppy socialization class. Your pup may have been separated from his litter too soon and this puts him behind the eight ball when it comes to socialization/dog manners/bite inhibition lessons that he would have received from his dam and his littermates. The sooner you do this the easier the bite inhibition etc will be to handle.

As for the couch, continue to remove him and when he IS on the floor, reward him with a treat or a play or a toy. This helps him to learn that being on the floor is a more rewarding/happier place for him to be. Be aware though, that many dogs take a while to relearn something like this that has been allowed before and that it is not his fault, so be patient and consistent. Make sure you spend some time with him down there on the floor so that he also understands that you want to be close to him, like he wants to be close to you.
Also, keep in mind, that many dogs that are not allowed on the couch, still get up there when the owners are not around...so putting the cushions up or placing tables etc up on the couch when you are not around can prevent him from practicing the behaviour...though if you used a crate for confinement when you are not there, this problem wouldn't exist AND you can be sure he won't damage things or hurt himself when he chews.....
So..also look up some info on crate training, there is a good amount of info on how to do this in the before mentioned downloads..crates are both your puppy's friend AND yours. Makes housetraining easier, makes for less damage in your home and keeps everyone safe.
good luck

EarthMonkey

Thanks for your response Cracker!

We have been trying to use the crate method. I have to admit a lot of what I have learned about puppy training has been after instead before getting the dog because we had no plans to get the dog until he was here. There have been a number of times where he has peed inside due to our missing the cues to start with. We (the humans) have gotten better at it though. But he has not had the opportunity to destroy anything.

We have to wait for next month before we can enroll him in a socialization class. His old owner had not even gotten him his shots; we got them for him the day after we got him, even before deciding to try and keep him.

Cracker

Did your friend have the bitch vaccinated? Most of the puppies early immune system comes from the mother...though if he was weaned really early his immunity may not be that good...Many puppy classes will accept you with one set of shots as long as he has a good clean bill of health, check with your locals to see what their requirements are. He is going to be very shortly leaving the window of prime socialization benefits. Other vaccinated puppies should Not be a risk as long as HIS health is good. Parvo and distemper (the two biggies) have a relatively short incubation period so if you've had him for more than a couple of weeks it should be fine. Talk to your vet about it. The risks of socializing in a controlled environment with other healthy puppies may be worth doing since the long term behaviour issues that can arise from improper/lacking socialization can be a higher risk to the dog.

EarthMonkey

I think I may have found a "Puppy STAR" training program that allows puppies under a year old in the area with one vaccination. I am going to have my husband call on Monday and see if we can get him in. The current class started last Friday. Otherwise the first available place we can take him is another SPCA that requires the first two schedualed vaccinations and that is just a "Puppy Headstart". It is a once a week play session so he will be 13 weeks before being able to do that. I have a few friends who have dogs or teenage puppies but no young puppies we can have as visitors.

We have had him a week and a half.

Unfortunately the people we got him from are not friends. They are very reclusive neighbors for the neighborhood so we do not see them often. Their knowledge about the dog also seems very limited. We think he was removed at about 7 weeks, but that is a guess.

Thank you once again!