A Picture Of Our New Girl Lucy Options

[Norah'sMom]

Hello to everyone. I wanted to post a cute picture of our new baby Lucy but when I tried to attach it it was way too big and now I can't delete this post. But I will try again later.

[QorquisDad]

Hi Jenny,

What a cutie! She looks like such a happy girl too.

I actually let Kali bite on me (sometimes it looks like I've been attacked by a cat), but she's not allowed to do that with anyone else in the house. I'm told that this is bad because she won't be able to understand the difference between what is allowed and what's not, but I've experienced otherwise.

I've read that the best way to teach them not to do something is to mimic the way the mother dog would do it. If a mom dog wants a baby to stop something you'll usually see her snap at the baby and let out a rather nasty sounding snarl/bark. Sometimes they may even grab the pup and even knock them around a bit. But they don't hurt the puppy.

Initially, a sharp, stern, and fairly abrupt "NO!" or "STOP IT!" should get their attention. If they don't react to that, take ahold of the scruff of their neck and give it a shake while saying "STOP IT!". Not so much that it hurts them, you're just trying to get their attention. A third way is to say "STOP IT!" and hold their head so they must look at you, then stare them down until they look away with their eyes. Lastly, you may have to demonstrate whos the alpha. If it gets to that, you'll want to lay them on their back and hold the muzzle closed. When they stop struggling, they've submitted to who's in charge. It usually doesn't take more than a minute or two for this, but on larger dogs it can seem MUCH longer.

Remember, you're not trying to inflict ANY pain. When you shake the scruff it should be enough to get the dogs attention but no more. If you have to hold the muzzle, don't squeeze the airways, they gotta breathe.

Another thing that seems to work, although it takes lots longer for the pup to catch on, is to say "ow, ow, ow" and act like you're crying whenever they start biting on you. Most of the puppies we had when I was a kid were trained not to bite this way by my Mom. When they got older, you could wrestle with them and if they started getting bity simply saying "ow, ow, ow" would get them to lighten up or stop completely.

It's gonna take some time for her to get the idea, especially if she's used to puppy to puppy play. Using a combination of these techniques, mostly the fake crying bit, Kali is already learning that she can play rough with Dad but with everyone else there's no biting allowed.

Tim