11wk old puppy is he hurting himself? am I hurting him?

Question

This dog of mine is SOOOOO stubborn. He does what he wants period and I don't know how to stop it. He bites me all the time REALLY hard I'm talking breaking my skin open, welts, and bruises. I literally have to pry his jaws open so he will release my limbs/skin. Also when he is on the leash outside he is constantly pulling and constantly picking up things to eat that he should NOT eat like mulch, cat p**p(strays), and any other object he can find. So I am either pulling him away from the objects with his harness and saying no or prying his mouth open to get the objects. He never yelps or anything and I have even checked for bruises because of all the pulling and there isn't any. Is it normal to be this rough with a dog. I am trying everything not to be rough with him but when he is holding on to my skin and won't let go and I am starting to bleed I have no choice. Like I said before he has never yelped or anything he just comes back for more after I pull him off me. Should I not worry about it unless he yelps? If I am hurting him he would let me know with some kind of sound right. Any suggestions to stop him from biting me other than Bitter Apple? Anyway to stop him from eating everything outside other then jerking him away from it? Much advice would be appreciated!!!

Answer 1

use  a pinch collar (not a choke collar) to correct your pup after a few sharp corrections the dog will learn.

Answer 2

http://www.scamperingpaws.com/training/s...

here is a site that should help. :)

My puppy was really stubborn. She would chew things she wasn't supposed to and bite and hump peoples legs(if she/he humps you it means he/she is trying to prove dominance over you.).

When your puppy is a little bigger, not too big, wrestle with him a bit. :)

growl and stuff and play bite. Don't worry it doesn't hurt them. Well, it didn't hurt my puppy. He loved to wrestle, but i always won. hahha.

But now she treats me with respect like im the leader dog.

Note: you have to train your when they are a puppy that you're the leader because when they are full grown they are much, MUCH more strong. (at least for labrodors they are.)

P.s.: for walking you dog use a pinch collar. It will help EXTREMELY. when i walked my puppy she would pull me where ever she pleased. When we got the pinch color everytime she pulled she would pinch herself. So now she knows how to heel and everytime i stop i said sit so now when i stop she sits automaticaly.

Me and My dad call it the magic collar. :)

Answer 3

Ok so he's 11 weeks and still trainable.  My suggestion is get into obedience classes right away, you can try PetSmart or you can find a company that does 6 months of obedience for the same price that Petsmart does for only 8 weeks.  He needs to be taught manners, rules and boundaries.  If you are not cabable of teaching these things then go to someone who will show you how to handle him.  If you don't start now you'll have a 1 year old DOG doing these things and it won't be pretty.

Puppies NIP they are not supposed to draw blood, now do not play with your hands play with toys only!! if you are playing tug of war and he nips or bites you, you can yelp really loudly like a puppy, cease all play and leave the room.  OR you can grab his snout hold it tightly closed, and I mean tight say in a low angry voice, NO BITING.  Don't yell say it low and growly, keep his snout tightly closed until he cries then after a few seconds release.  He must associate something unpleasant with biting.

There's tricks you can teach your puppy but he's a little young right now to really grasp the concept that's why puppy obedience school is a must they will teach the puppy manners.

If he's food motivated (likes treats) you can work on simple manners like sit, lie down, stay and leave it.

but I'd start with sit and lie down right now.  It's never too early to start teaching manners.

At this point your not hurting your puppy and you should be concentrating on housebreaking right now and NOT taking him for walks because he hasn't been fully vaccinated and he could pick up parvo or something else, so until he's fully vaccinated - over 15 weeks - don't walk him just work on housebreaking.

Go out and get a book on puppies for dummies or a puppy training book, you need a lot of help right now with this guy, correct him now before he becomes an unmannered uncontrollable dog.  But definately get into obedience classes now.

P.S. stop having your boyfriend tap him on the butt unless you want to make your dog fearful of you and possibly aggressive.

Use positive reinforcement and reward the behavior you want at the moment it happens and ignore the behavior you don't want.

Answer 4

it sounds like your puppy could use obedience classes.  They can teach you techniques for getting your puppy to walk calmly on the leash and not bite.

Answer 5

this worked on my violent dog!!

take a coke can or a can and put  loose change in it

shake it in his face if he does anything

wrong it really works

Answer 6

when you play with him, always have a chew toy in one hand so that you can distract his biting you or eating woodchips (my puppy does that too) with a toy. it works for me, try it out.

Answer 7

This dog needs training. He's walking all over you! This is bad for you and your pup. After you read this I want you to go and look for training classes in your area - even learning simple commands will really help. A simple way to help stop the jumping and nipping is ignoring him when he acts like a dolt.

You are not hurting him when you pry his mouth open. The best thing to do is say "NO!" really loudly and pull him away with all your strength BEFORE he picks it up; you have a harness and those are minimal in damage they can do to a hound if fitted properley.

Oh, yeah, bulldogs are great dogs :P, larger dogs tend to be more docile. I was half expecting a heeler or collie. Im not an experienced with spaniels so I can't tell you too much.

Answer 8

I'd take him to obedience class asap! any breed of dog with this kind of social behavior as a puppy is a very bad thing, he has the potential to be a very aggressive older dog if you don't deal with the problem now!!!

Answer 9

It's pretty normal. Just get him a chew toy. To stop him biting your hand.

Answer 10

This is what works for me.  We have a really good trainer.  We use prong collars.  A high quality prong collar.  I tried it on my neck, doesn't hurt.  Or you can use regular collar.  Keep in mind they should never have prong collar on without your supervision. Put it on in your house. Play bite with her, gently, quickly and firmly jerk the collar to the side and say "no bite".  Do that everytime she bites you.  She'll get after a few times.  It has to be a quick jerk, don't pull and don't hurt her.  Teach her "leave it" and "drop it command".  Put a treat down of the floor, walk her with the collar on around it.  When she goes for it, jerk on the collar and say leave it.  Don't ever use one of her toys for leave it command.  Use socks or treats.  

Have her chew on a bone, say drop it and jerk the collar.  Do it until she drops it.  Don't pull the bone away from her.  She has to actully drop it.  

I use the extream measure with the biting because nothing else worked with her biting problem.  Email me if you have any questions.  

Answer 11

First let me say I  agree with poster, danielle d. She is correct.

Secondly, having raised puppies, all German Shepherds, I can say your 11 weeks old Brittney Spaniel puppy is taking on the traits of his sire and dam. I am not familiar with that breed and my experience is from raising pedigree German Shepherd pups only. They are huge when fully grown. Puppies do bite but to break the skin shows his tendency towards aggressiveness and he is only 11 weeks old. He got that, as I said, from either his mom or pop and it is coming out at a very early age. He does need to be trained while you can still handle him. Dogs are a pack animal and they are most comfortable when there is a leader. Right now your pup is that leader so you must change that.

That fact that your pup does what he wants and doesn't listen to you means he does not consider you the leader of the pack, the Alpha dog. He is Alpha. That will not and cannot be. You have to be the pack leader as I was and I became the Alpha leader the day we brought our pup home at 6 weeks. With a German Shepherd pup they grow overnight and at 6 months weighed around 40-50 lbs. They are not fully grown until they are eighteen months old. So knowing this I became Alpha, pack leader, on Day 1. At 1 year old my pup was over 100 lbs and obeyed my every command and listened to my children but still knew who was in charge (mommy).

Bravo to you for getting him his shots. That is first and foremost. The reason he will listen to your boyfriend and not you is because he thinks your boyfriend is Alpha because of his aggressiveness and the taps on the butt. That is just what I was saying. You are not hurting your pup and you do not want him hurting you either. He is not listening to you at all. Since you are not taking him for training until after he has had all of his shots don't forget the most important one, the rabies shot, usually given around  4 months or so if memory services me correctly. That's when you get the tag to put on his collar so all will know he has had that shot in particular. The rabies injection tends to make the pup sleepy and sore in that spot, poor baby. He may not feel like eating but that's all right. The reason your pup is eating p**p and anything else he can find is because something is lacking in his diet so tell your vet about this and he can give you what you need for the little one.

I hope I have been able to help you a little with your puppy. He needs training as soon as you possibly can. He sounds like he's teething also. That would make him bite so buy him some toys that you put in the freezer. When frozen it feels good on his gums which are hurting him. Do not pick him up or pet him until he learns not to bite. For now that is how you punish him and you are not hurting him.

Here's to you and a healthy and happy puppy. They truly are our best friend.

.

Answer 12

You have a couple of things you need to address sooner rather than later as it will only become more difficult with time...

First, the dog should NEVER bite you in a way that causes you pain.  He needs to learn that NOW.  A couple of things to try:

1.  Yelp loudly yourself when he bites.  This is how dogs communicated to each other that one has pushed the limits of play and puppies are still learning how hard is appropriate to play

2.  Then grab his snout with your hand around his mouth and nose, hold firmly and in a strong, firm tone, say dog's name + "No"

3.  Then grab him by his collar, leash, neck scruff (but not too hard) and give him a "time out" - yes, I am serious.  I have used a half bathroom in our house.  Put the dog in there and close the door.  Give him just a couple of minutes (as dogs don't really understand the concept of time).  When done, open the door and just walk away from him.  Let him come back to you and try to win back you favor.

For the leash behavior, I would strongly suggest a choke collar as it will give you much better control and signal back to your dog.  When the dog pulls, give a quick, hard snap on the leash to tight and then release the choke and be sure again to say dog's name + No.

I would also suggest starting obedience training.  This will teach your dog to better respect you.  Included in that would be the command of "leave it", which tells the dog to drop whatever it is they have in their mouth.

Good Luck!