Huckleberry turned 3 months old this weekend! He is getting so big--he actually grew out of his puppy collar this weekend too :( ...my baby is growing up too fast! {Sigh}.
But training a puppy is no easy task! This little guy has me wrapped around his tail {so to speak} and he's quickly forming bad habits that need to be nipped in the butt before they become ingrained in his little puppy brain.
Bad habit number 1: Nipping. Huck doesn't know how to "play easy." He means no harm, but when he becomes over excited he nips at you--and when those teeth meet skin...OUCH! Puppy teeth are razor sharp! I have tried everything the "doggie experts" suggest, but to no avail. I am quickly becoming his favorite chew toy.
Bad habit number 2: Inappropriate sniffing. My dog will not be a rude crotch sniffer! I hate when people's dogs do that. Who cares if they are saying hello! It is rude and embarrassing. And I apologize to anyone who Huck has violated in such a way. {He is just a pup}
Bad habit number 3: Sleeping on the bed. {Steven if you are reading this..please stop now.} Ok, so Huck is still too small to jump on my bed on his own--so, I admit this might be a bad habit of mine more so than a bad habit of his--but when he cries in his crate at 3am and I'm not ready to get up and play with him, I just put him on the bed and he's out like a light in no time. He is such a sweet cuddly thing and I think he just likes being close. I don't want him to get in the habit of sleeping on my bed all the time though {simply because Steven hates the idea and may refuse to marry me. Ha!} but I love cuddling with that little fur ball.
But hey, these are pretty normal puppy problems, right? Still...
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| Cell phone quality picture. |
any advice you can give me is much appreciated. {Except on number 3...}
Isn't he getting so BIG?!?
5 comments:
oh i understand all the bad pup habits, especially number 1! my 4 month old pom spitz also attempts to nip on me when he gets waay too playful. plus he chews on EVERYTHING -- my sheets, slippers, clothes, etc. so i gave him his own stuffed toy to chew on. so far, he nips less on other things. :-)
Don't worry...he'll get better. I'm about 3 months ahead of you in this game. ;) Our golden is getting less nippy and already has all her big girl teeth. She lost them all by 5 months and it happened fast! If he nips you, quickly him a toy to chew and then praise him a lot. If he keeps nipping you, walk away and don't give him attention.
My best advice...take Huck to pet training if at all possible...if not, watch YouTube videos (choose carefully! There are some weeeeeirdos. Ha!). Our Sasha has just finished intermediate level and it is worth it. We take her to our local Petsmart and they are great.
I blog about Sasha, too. She seems to think she can have my breakfast when I'm not looking...a little too often. She is a rascal. She makes us laugh as I'm sure Huck does to you. (Goldens are the best. We can say that. ;)
keep a small spray bottle at hand...if he nips you, spray him water in the face. its unpleasant enough to make him startle and stop, without hurting him in the least. it works! (most of the time ;) )
So cute!! Our golden is about 8.5 months and no longer nips. :) When she would try to nip us, we would give her a toy to chew on immediately (so always keep one around!) and then praise her for chewing on the toy. It worked so well that she doesn't even chew on anything that isn't one of her toys, which is kind of remarkable for a golden!
We took her to training classes to meet other dogs and she loooooved it. And she learned how to sit for strangers so that's what she does now instead of sniffing them in inappropriate places. ;)
Your puppy is so so cute!!
i'm reading back through your puppy posts! did you ever find something that helped with his nipping? or did he just grow out of it? our puppy is the same...he bites a LOT..i know he's playing, but he's either ripping pants or breaking skin! we have tried everything too, with not much luck!
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