[gypsiqueen]

I know puppies are hyperactive, but I don't know what to do with our puppy. We got him a week ago at 10 weeks. He is half chihuahua, part yorkie, and part sharpei. He weighs 3 lbs. This puppy runs and plays for up to 6 hours straight. I mean that literally. He'll run for hours then sleep for hours. He's taken to play biting and has a very strong jaw. He bites feet, toes, fingers, arms, pretty much any body part he can reach. My arms are black and blue and he drew blood twice today. He doesn't react to any correction at all. The more wound up he gets, the worse the biting is. I have toys and a puppy nylabone that I try to use in place of my fingers. We have a crate for him, and today I got so tired of him biting that I put him in there for about half an hour. He finally calmed down. We have a tiny place and so no room for a gated play area. We are home all the time. Anyone have any suggestions? Should I be crating him more, as a time out kind of thing? Should I find puppy classes for him? I read the pinned thread on biting, but his behavior is different so I don't know how to apply the instructions. Like he doesn't blink when I react to a bite. I've had puppies before, but they never played as aggressively as this puppy does and I'm not sure how to handle it.

 

[parus]

Puppies that age should be sleeping 18+ hours per day. Mine always got wild and out-of-control when he was overtired, but would not voluntarily nap if there was anything interesting happening or he could get attention. You might need to pop him in a crate or playpen to help him settle and get to sleep.

When he is nippy but not overtired, you want to redirect his attention onto a toy. It also helps to get him more mental exercise, like working on basic commands (bear in mind that he has a puppy attention span and can only do this a few minutes at a time) and toys that make him think, like wobblers or puzzles. You can also get him safe chews appropriate to his size and encourage him to settle with a chew.

 

[DaySleepers]

Yeah, I honestly would enforce nap breaks after an hour or so of active play to avoid him getting overtired and teach him to settle and self-soothe. You can give him a safe chew or stuffed food toy like a Kong so he has a calm activity, but aim for helping him sleep 18-20 hours a day. You'll still get some bitey puppy behavior because that's puppies (and redirecting as parus suggested or ending play/interaction when it happens are great strategies), but you should see less of the frantic toddler tantrum behavior.

We still have to remind our 14 month old to nap sometimes, and when he was a puppy we absolutely had to rely on regular enforced naptime in a pen (crate works too) almost daily.

 

[gypsiqueen]

Thank you for your replies! They are extremely helpful. I didn't know they needed to sleep so much. What kind of schedule do you recommend? He got up at 6 and he's sleeping now (10:00). He eats sporadically throghout the day (he's free fed). He poops a lot so I know he's eating enough. He'll sleep for a few hours and then get a spurt of energy. I'll crate him after an hour. He hates it but we don't let him out. We've crate trained all of our dogs so we know that drill. Part of the problem I think is that he wakes up 2-3 times a night to potty. He tries to play but I just put him back in the carrier. I never thought about being over tired. The last time I had a puppy was in 2003 so I am out of practice.

 

[parus]

I'd say start the pup on something like the schedule he's likely to be on with you long-term, around your own family's work/school/activities schedule. Obviously at this age you might need to sneak some extra bathroom and cuddle breaks in there, but dogs can adapt to a wide variety of schedules, and this way you'll be making future transitions easier.

 

[Cathe]

I know puppies are hyperactive, but I don't know what to do with our puppy. We got him a week ago at 10 weeks. He is half chihuahua, part yorkie, and part sharpei. He weighs 3 lbs. This puppy runs and plays for up to 6 hours straight. I mean that literally. He'll run for hours then sleep for hours. He's taken to play biting and has a very strong jaw. He bites feet, toes, fingers, arms, pretty much any body part he can reach. My arms are black and blue and he drew blood twice today. He doesn't react to any correction at all. The more wound up he gets, the worse the biting is. I have toys and a puppy nylabone that I try to use in place of my fingers. We have a crate for him, and today I got so tired of him biting that I put him in there for about half an hour. He finally calmed down. We have a tiny place and so no room for a gated play area. We are home all the time. Anyone have any suggestions? Should I be crating him more, as a time out kind of thing? Should I find puppy classes for him? I read the pinned thread on biting, but his behavior is different so I don't know how to apply the instructions. Like he doesn't blink when I react to a bite. I've had puppies before, but they never played as aggressively as this puppy does and I'm not sure how to handle it.

Thank you for your replies! They are extremely helpful. I didn't know they needed to sleep so much. What kind of schedule do you recommend? He got up at 6 and he's sleeping now (10:00). He eats sporadically throghout the day (he's free fed). He poops a lot so I know he's eating enough. He'll sleep for a few hours and then get a spurt of energy. I'll crate him after an hour. He hates it but we don't let him out. We've crate trained all of our dogs so we know that drill. Part of the problem I think is that he wakes up 2-3 times a night to potty. He tries to play but I just put him back in the carrier. I never thought about being over tired. The last time I had a puppy was in 2003 so I am out of practice.

As a new puppy owner (3 months) I relate, especially being in a small place. He's trained in a 4x4 pen with a door. I put that on a table the same size so I have space underneath and in theory don't loose any space. I have a table by the pen door so I can open the door and that table is against my bed so he can come to me when I'm lounging in bed at night.
This optimized space and he really enjoys being at waist height to look me in the eyes! 🌈