[wickedrodent]

Okay. Here's the deal. We brought home our 8 week old pup on Friday.

When he's good, he's really good. When he's acting up - it's BAD.

He's being crate trained. If I cover the crate, he's fine. I don't want to keep him crate forever, though. I try to let him out as much as possible, but he's driving me crazy with his barking.

If I'm letting him run loose (he's being kept in a doggy proofed portion of my room - it's by far large enough) with his food, water, toys and I'm sitting on my bed he sits there and CRIES at me. It's like, full out YAPPING. I was expecting this when he was being crated, but not while he's loose. It's not that I don't give him attention, but I've had some schoolwork that I needed to do and was trying to get him to play (stuffed a kong) so I could do it. No dice.

The other thing - if I'm sitting on the floor or standing, playing with him all he wants to do is bite on me/my clothes and hump my legs, arms, whatever he can hump.

I guess I wasn't expecting him to be so crazy while he's OUT. >.<

I would really appreciate suggestions on what to do at this point. I don't know how to get him to STOP barking and STOP biting/humping. Like I said - he has tons of toys and distractions. He's not being caged (right now). I could understand if he needed to teethe and didn't have anything - but he has the kong as well as a ton of other stuff. >.<

I tried letting him on the bed, but he ended up peeing (he hadn't messed at ALL) which is not something I can't deal with. I don't normally let animals in my bed because of hair - but with the poodle it's not really a problem. Peeing in the bed means being kicked out ASAP. I kind of have a thing with messes - they gross me out. I can deal with cleaning up messes, but I have to wash up really well after. :-/ In my bed is a different story. I changed the bed and I'm still grossed out to be sleeping in it, to be honest. By that's my crazy, not his. xD

 

[Amaryllis]

An 8 week old puppy is a baby. Human babies scream, cry, wail and make messes you would not believe. You'd think the Second Law of Thermodynamics would prevent the sheer volume of mess a human baby can create, but whatever.

You have a baby. He cries. He doesn't know how to amuse himself. He's scared from being taken away from his family to someplace new. He doesn't have the physical control to not pee everywhere.

All you really need is patience. He will grow out of this eventually. In the meantime, outside every hour or two to pee and when he pees inside, clean it up with an enzymatic cleaner. Do you know how to clicker train? Kikopup has 140 videos on it. You can use clicker training to train a "quiet" command, by clicking and treating (and then slowly withdrawing the treats) every time he is quiet on his own. You can't make a dog entirely silent, but you can cut it down a bit.

Also, I have to say, I'm not normally into rats, but those are some cute rats you have there.

 

[hanksimon]

Ditto - All he's saying is "I have lots of energy and I'm bored, please play with me, like my brothers and sisters did, until I get tired and go to sleep..."

 

[wickedrodent]

Okay. The crying is straightening himself out.

We're only having one real problem - biting. He's getting pretty aggressive with us. He nips a lot, which I've been told is normal. When we correct him (stern NO) he gets really aggressive and pretty much attacks us at that point with full out growling and biting. We've tried crying out like we're in pain, but that doesn't work. It's the worst when he's really hyper and excited, but even when he's tried and we're standing he'll try and attack our feet. He bites HARD. He hasn't broken skin yet, but he's made marks. Do you have any suggestions?

I've been meaning to stop by and see the trainer at Petco - she's exceptionally helpful (I normally do not like Petstore staff but my certain Petco has a great and knowledgeable staff), but she's been gone the couple of times I popped in. Our work hours seem to clash.

Thanks!

 

[hanksimon]

Read the Sticky: The Bite Stops Here in the new owner section.

Some Tweaks to Bite Inhibition (to get him to stop biting when he wants to play):
1. When the pup bites, then yelp. It should sound about like what the pup does when you step on its paw... don't step on his paw for a sample . When you yelp, the pup should startle briefly and stop nipping. Praise and pet. He'll bite.
2. When he bites the second time, Yelp. When he stops, praise and pet. He'll nip again, although it may be a little gentler. ...
3. When he bites a third time, Yelp (see a pattern?). But this time, turn your back for 15 - 30 secs. If he comes around and play bows or barks, then that is an apology. This is important. Accept it, praise and pet... and cringe in expectation of the next nip...
4. When he bites the 4th time, Yelp, then leave the area, placing him in a 2 min. time-out. It is better if you can leave, rather than moving him. Then, return and interact. (He's still hungry...)
5. When he nips the fifth time, yelp, and leave the area, stopping interaction for now.

Pups need to sleep over night in order to learn their lessons. So, keep doing this for 3 days. By the third day, you should notice signficant Bite Inhibition. He may still nip, but it will be softer and he won't draw blood. Keep up the training and make sure that everyone yelps.... Very powerful method. Nipping is a form of play. Don't yell at the dog and don't strike him... He may think that your method of play is to play roughly. Let us know what happens... BTW, follow these instructions carefully, and ask, if you don't understand. Don't improvise.

If you learn the technique, then you can apply the "yelp" to other circumstances, also. I believe that "yelp" is "Please don't do that, I don't like it." in dog communication. I currently use the yelp when my dog plays tug, then runs with the toy, when he fetches and keeps it out of reach or when he takes a treat too quickly....