New puppy.....ahhhhhhhh!

[Rachel Hires]

Luke is 10 weeks old and we've had him 4 days. He's very sweet but has two very distinctive moods. He is laid back sleepy Luke and jumpy, biting, chewing Luke. We are determined to establish good habits but it's so hard to do everything right! We both (my husband and I) have cuts on our hands from the biting and nothing is working. He's tearing the cords out of sockets and seems to like Bitter Apple. I love our puppy and 90% of the time he's a sweet little doodle but the other 10% have us worried we are doing something right. Help!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Take a deep breath...things are going to get better. Luke is soooo young. Peri was that way at 10 weeks also (she is 8 months as of yesterday).
For the nipping, my husband and I screamed and pretended like we were crying when she nipped at us. Those puppy teeth hurt and you need her to know that behavior is unacceptable. When we let out a yelp, it really startled her and she got the point fairly quickly. This is also a warning sign that dogs give each other - saying "hey, back off". There are tons of discussions on this - I think within this group, so I will try to find some for you. Others have used different approaches. Our issue with nipping wasn't so serious though.

Also, just walking away if he is jumping or exhibiting any type of behavior you don't like. You give them more attention, they want to repeat that act that gets the attention.

Start teaching obedience at home. He is too young to be in a puppy class (needs vaccinations - but ask your vet their opinion). We taught sit, down, shake, stay, LEAVE IT (great one for when they are going to tear something up), etc...before ever setting foot into a formal class. Luke will catch on that you are in charge if you start doing this.

To teach Leave it: 1) start with a treat in your hand that is barely exposed between fingers. 2) put it out in front of Luke. 3) when he approaches say LEAVE IT - he will get frustrated because he cannot get it out of your fingers. 4) the second he looks up at you or away from it (because he is giving up), say YES in a high-pitched voice or click using a clicker and give him another treat. Not the one in your hand - give a new treat. You can eventually say "TAKE IT" and let him have the one you were keeping from him, but wait until he has successfully LEFT IT 2-3 times in the beginning.
You can then work up to dropping it in between their paws and saying leave it. You can cover it with your foot to keep Luke from retrieving. You have to build up to this command. Sorry for the looong response, but after working on this for many months, Peri physically backs up or turns around if she is approaching something I don't want her to and I say "LEAVE IT".

Bitter apple did not work for us. We resorted to keeping her in the same room with us at all times for the first 3 months. Yes, 3 months - had to use baby gates. Instead of letting her have the chance to even think about doing something wrong, one of us was always with her to keep her from getting into things. Set Luke up for success by keeping a close eye on him and keeping him restricted. It is a pain but it will totally pay off.

[Rachel Hires]

You are so wonderful! Thanks for the advice! My husband is home with Luke and while we intially introduced Luke to the entire house, he's done much better when confined to one room. He's been great and while is still "bitey" had found little to get in trouble with. Thank you thank you thank you!

[Julie B.]

I responded to this on another topic but my advice is to have a huge toybox in the room where you play and when your pup tries to bite you or your hand have a nice toy available to put in their mouth after saying "no bite". If I find my pup Sydney chewing a toy on her own I will make a point of stopping to pet her profusely while she is doing it. I never play with my hands. My philosophy in training from the beginning is that hands are for petting and never for play. My pup's favorite thing to do is to climb in my lap and chew her nylabone while I hold it for her. The no bite training is going very well! Good luck!

[Lori]

Casper was very nippy too at first...I used a spray bottle with water in it & every time he would bite me or the kids I would get it WHILE he was biting & spray him & say "NO BITE!!!" in a loud voice. It worked WONDERS!!! I still have to use it from time to time, but it really helped A LOT : )
Also, I found that having something for him to chew on was imperative - the bully sticks seem to keep his mind off of all the things in the house that he could be chewing on. GOOD LUCK!!!! He's adorable!!

[Tracy O]

Oh, I understand! We have an 11 week old labradoodle named Archie. He's our first puppy and we are amazed (and completely frustrated) when he gets into the biting/insane mood (we like the sleepy, relaxed mood better). Tonight, I had a huge success though. While he was biting all of us, I engaged him in a game of fetch/retrieve, which he did successfully (for the first time) 4 times. He then saw his bully stick (bone) and got distracted and started chewing on that...and ignored me for about 20 minutes until it was time to bring the kids up for bed!!!

So maybe try engaging him in a game that he likes (I started by having him sit...that always distracts him for a minute), and then have a chew toy or bully stick ready. :) Good luck! I am right here with you on this issue!

[Linda and Molly]

Congrats......
Try to keep your sense of humor and remember, the first 6 months have the most challenge.
As your first responder advised, we also had better success keeping Molly 'on lease' in the house 24/7 (unless she was in a safe gated room). When we watched TV, molly was leased - 8ft leash, at our feet, with her toys, bed, chew within her reach.
She learned to Chill without our constant interaction.
The chewing/mouthing is tougher - mouthing is how a puppy experiences things - we substituted a toy (puppy tug rope) and later - as she got older , I would tell her no, and give her a fast "finger neck bite" - watch Caesar Millan -Dog Whisperer - or buy his book.
Molly also liked Bitter Apple (maybe this is a Poddle thing?) - She did not like Hot Tabasco sauce (our Vet suggested this).
We found a young puppy has a short attention span.. as far as your initial training sessions, keep them short and fun.
Before you know it, your puppy will be house trained, conditioned to your pace and style, and 60 lbs of love.

[Chelsea and her doodle Piper]

Rachel,
Our Piper is now almost just under 4 months old. It is amazing to think how much better he has gotten and sounded a lot like Luke. If he wasn't sleeping he was biting and attacking. And NOTHING would phase him...definitely wanted to be alpha! I did not know if I could make it through those first few weeks, and didn't know this was common for doodles. I felt like crazy dog lady and thought it was way harder than having a baby! Anyway, it gets easier every week! Now at 4 months (I never thought we would make it here!) He is doing awesome! He was actually made a big turn around at 12 weeks. We LOVE him now! And I have to say I was wondering if I had made a mistake at first. But he is the BEST dog, and I can't wait to see him grow up even more. We couldn't be happier with getting a doodle. Hang in there! It will get better soon!

[Karen P]

Chewie was the same way. He has definitely gotten better but he does backslide occasionally with his behavior. Hang in there things will improve it just takes lots of patience and consistency. Has Luke made progess over the last few weeks?

[Lori]

I agree with Allyson. Basically you need to YELP just like another puppy would do when your puppy bites. Leo is now six months and still mouthy, but nothing like he was. Now I push down on his tongue/lower jaw with my thumb when he has my hand in his mouth. If the yelp doesn't work then turn and walk away. It's tiring but worth the effort. And when you yelp, be LOUD!!

The "leave it" command is invaluable! We use it for everything including jumping. It's the one thing Leo "gets" - at least he usually gets it!

Confine your puppy to a manageable area. We had an X-pen that we used, and now we just close off all the rooms except the main living area when Leo is not in his crate.

Bitter Apple didn't work for us either, nor did really hot chile sauce! But "leave it!" works - as long as he is caught in the act. Now if I could just get him to stop counter surfing!!! ''

The one other thing that we've done with Leo that has really helped him a lot (at least I think it has!) is he has a regular bedtime. He was going through the "zooomies" every night and making me nuts. He still does it but for a much shorter duration. Anyway, I finally realized that he's just like a little kid and at about 8 or 8:30 each night he was done. He was overtired and started zooming and being super obnoxious. His bedtime has gotten a little later as he has gotten older but I can still tell when he needs to go to bed...he is truly just like a kid in that respect!

Luke will outgrow a lot of this before you know it. Check with your vet and find out when you can send him to puppy class. We were not allowed to take Leo on walks but we were allowed to take him to puppy class as all the dogs were in the same boat as far as their shots went. The other great thing about the classes is that the mental stimulation tires the pups out so they go right to bed afterwards if the class is at night!

You'll survive. My daughter is 10 and the other day she asked me "How long is Leo considered a puppy?" I told her until he is two and she groaned and said, "OH NO!! I don't know if I cant take it!"
This is a great site and this group in particular is full of great ideas and advice. Stick close by and you'll be fine.