Scarlet O'Terror

[melonie]

The last time I was around a puppy was when I was a teenager.
I don't really even remember taking care of it, so I'm sure my mom had to do it

Anyways...

Scarlet is proving to be a little monster.
I don't know what "normal" is, but this girl is a biter.
She doesn't care if you yelp out in pain, she is not letting go. When she gets bitey, I replace fingers/hair/body parts with a toy.
She tries to pull the carpet out by biting it, and pulling it with all she has. Likes to chew on blankets, clothing, pillows etc.
We can not even begin to think of leaving her unattended around the baby. Even when we are right there Scarlet thinks the baby is a giant chew toy.

When the boys play their bitey face games, she is right there trying to play with them.
Winston has been "teaching" her. Not sure how to explain it. But when she gets too rough he grumbles at her. Rhett plays very well with her. he's in a sort of second heaven with all the play time she likes.
Everyday potty training gets a "bit" better.
The first morning outting is hard. Today I sat her down to hook up the big dogs, and she squatted on the porch. Much better than the carpet. I'm learning her habits and can sometimes tell when she's gotta go.

We've implemented the squirt bottle to help reign her in. When she bites and won't let go, I've started flicking her nose, either I leave, or I go put her somewhere else with a toy. I've called her a few names so far because those teeth are terrible.

So, I am going to surf puppy info / training.
This pup is a she devil!

[emilys]

start clicker training with her! I bet she's a smart little devil and just aching for some mind challenges.

[melonie]

She is pretty smart. I actually just found one of my clickers tonight and thought about hand feeding her meals and using the clicker while doing it. She bolts her food, and she bites like a mad woman. I figured if she ate nice from my hand she'd get a click and her food.
When I take her outside during the day light hours I end up removing her leash because it too easily gets tangled with the others. She follows me everywhere, or she is chasing the big dogs. She responds well and sits nicely at the door waiting to go back inside.

If she has to be crated I will take a bit of her food and scatter it in her crate... hiding it under the pillow, in the blanket. She goes nuts trying to find her goodies. She doesn't notice I'm leaving.

[fureverywhere]

Yup you just have to harness all that happy energy to teach her positive behavior- bet she's a real smarty!
Oy, puppies...that's why when hubby suggested between puppy or grown dog I said I potty trained and raised enough babies heeheehee.
Miss Scarlett will certainly learn from the big guys too...Good luck in the meantime

[tank]

I don't know if this is correct or not but the only way I got Lucy to stop nipping when she was a puppy was to put her own paw in her mouth a few times so she realised that when she was biting at me that it hurt. Yelping didn't work for her at all. She thought it was a game when I did that. I also mostly redirected her to a toy or bone but I really think making her bite herself taught her how hard she really was biting. She has an amazingly soft mouth now. Even when she gets wild and crazy and bites me instead of the toy in my hand she doesn't bite hard. She also realizes she does it right away and feels bad unlike when she was a puppy. also try giving her a time out when she starts getting too bitey. Put her in her crate immediatly and leave the room for 10 min. That might help too. She might realize she doesn't get to play when she acts like that and when she plays appropriatly she gets to play all she wants.

Puppys are hard. As much as it is nice to know a dog their whole lives and train them from their most impressionable age I really hate having puppies. It requires so much energy ALL THE TIME.

[melonie]

I've tried sticking her paw in her mouth, she doesn't care.
I did feed her by hand today and only had one instance of teeth meeting skin. We did sit and lay down while feeding. I also used the clicker.
That may be too much, I dunno. But she did very good through all of it.
She has started to immediately go potty when we get outside. *yay*
If I make her run around she will eventually poop too.
....however.... She can do all that, then come inside and piddle.
She can go all night without an accident, and will leave her crate clean.

I actually have 2 crates for her.. a small one, and then one of the big ones that I use for the bigger dogs. She loves to come and go in that one... napping sometimes, or the goofball will go in, sit and whine until you tell her to come out. (weirdo)
She has begun using that crate as her indoor bathroom of choice. I'm not going to complain because it saves my carpet. But it's weird.

Over all it has been a good day. She is still a monster, but I think all puppies are to some degree?
it's just finding what to do with all her energy.

[tjamison2001]

Our 11 week puppy is beginning to think her name is "No!". I totally feel for you with all the puppy training stuff also.... it's been at least 25 years since I had a puppy. And HOLY HELL I forgot what it was like! She's coming around though. I hung a gold x-mas bell on the back door for her to nose at to let us know she needs to go out. Our big dog doesn't bark, he'll sit and stare you down... so she won't alert me. Seems to be working... down to @ 2 accidents a day. We have already got the sit, stay (wait), shake and down mastered. "Come" while she's outside involves food bribery... she's a little hoover vaccum and VERYYYYY food motivated. We are working on the "wait" command when the food is put down. I will actually get on all 4's (don't laugh please) over her dish and give a low soft growl to back her up. After she calms down I let her at it. I also stick my hands in her food dish while she's eating so she won't get posessive about the food issue. She doesn't seem to mind at all. With the play bitey issue, lifting her off the floor seems to snap her into reality.

[melonie]

I think Scarlet is 11-12 weeks old. She's food motivated as well. I found an old bell while cleaning out my closets a couple weeks ago. I usually use that to play w/ Rhett, but I'm going to go hang it on the door.
It's a heck of a lot of work. I haven't fully decided if I'm going to keep her or not. Rhett really enjoys her, and I've seen a different side of him blossom. Winston still loves her, but he's lazy and doesn't want to play with her all the time.

She is very pig headed!

[suziriot]

Sounds like she's quite a handful. And boy, I do NOT miss the puppy days. They're cute as heck, but what a lot of work! I think lots and lots of training is a very good idea. And it's good that Winnie is correcting her when she pushes too far. I think that having the patient older dogs "train" the younger ones is the best way for a pup to learn. I can't wait to see more pictures, especially of all of them playing together! *hint hint*

[catstina]

I remember those puppy teeth from my mom's lab KC. My arms and legs were covered in scratches even worse then from the cat! I feel for you! Don't have any advice, though. My mom did all the work with KC and Saxon was 5/6 months when we got him!