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I am getting my new Rottweiler puppy January 20 and she will be 8 weeks I understand starting with crate and potty training are top of the training list but I consider those 2 things a "duh!" in where to start along with socialization. very important with all breeds but especially a Rottie. There is so much information and I'm appreciative of the bang for my buck, but also overwhelmed. I realize all puppies are different but shouldn't the obedience be mastered before "tricks"? but then "look at me" is maybe the FIRST thing that should be taught?? I am excited about learning and teaching my new puppy. I don't want to screw this up. It would be helpful for the way may brain works to have a step-by-step basic outline of the basic essentials of obedience with brain training notables to accelerate the particulars. I find myself jumping back and forth from puppy to brain back to obedience to the forums and by then I've forgotten where I am at and what I was reading about to start. Help!! Thanks in advance.

So my dad surprises the family with an 8 week old German Shepherd puppy - 2 actually. Littermates brother and sister. Since I am the one who stays at home the most, I’ve been charged with watching them while everyone else goes to work and disclaimer: I have never raised a puppy. My last dog was about a year and I had her more than 10 years ago. So I had NO idea what I was in for. About two days in, we noticed a lot of fighting between the siblings and when we learned about “Littermate Syndrome,” we decided to return one of the puppies to the breeder. Our remaining puppy, Lucky, is a lot more calm now since his sister usually started the rough play, but he is nipping more than usual. I understand that it’s common for puppies, especially GSD, and that I have to redirect his biting with a toy or chew, OR make a verbal correction and stop playing when he doesn’t listen. This is my problem: I want to be a good owner, but both my parents are “old fashioned,” and they are used to hitting a dog for correction. I told them it could be detrimental and ineffective, so they’ve held back with this puppy, except once. My dad forgot to cover up and Lucky bit his bare ankle, causing him to immediately slap the dog away and give a loud “No”. As awful as this will sound, I am a little jealous because it worked. Since then, Lucky hasn’t but my dad. He still plays with him, goes to him, and seems genuinely okay with my dad. Meanwhile I am out here, with my torn up boots, getting bit and getting frustrated. What can I do to curb his biting without resorting to hitting? I already offer different toys (which he will chew for a bit and then go back to gnawing the zippers of my boots) and leaving (which he just cries and waits until I come back and resumes the behavior)?

Good afternoon! I have a 15 week old bassethound puppy that sometimes won't stop barking. He doesn't seem to bark at anything specific, though it mostly occurs when he's playing by himself or directed at me and the family. The barking doesn't seem aggressive but simply just annoying to listen too. What can I do to help this issue? Any suggestions would be so helpful!

Hello Adrienne and everyone, We (family of 4, 2 daughters ages 10 and 6) brought a German Shepherd female puppy two weeks ago, she is now in her 9th week. She is bonding rather well i would say, she seems to seek me most, cuddling up and gently nibbling on my hand. She has no health issues although she still cannot go on walks until she gets her last vaccine in about 3 weeks time. I have a already thought her to sit and lie down. I am reinforcing these every day, for eg. sitting before feeding her, lie down before i open door to enter the room, etc. I'm aware at this age they have teething problems but I am running out of toys and ideas on how to go about it. She is starting to nip and bite at my daughters heels, and our shoes when we walk. Some questions I have are: 1. Redirecting her to teething toys is no longer alluring for her, and neither rotating them (taking some away for a few days and then give them back). She keeps biting at our heels and hands, although sometimes she reduces the pressure and looks at me as if saying 'is this ok?'. Should I keep buying new toys at this stage to keep her interest in new things to bite? Am i expecting to much in expecting her to quit biting after a week she has been with us? 2. What are some realistic timelines by when she is expected to stop biting, provided that we keep our redirection attempts? 3. Separation anxiety: sometimes i take her in the basement office with me when i work. I keep her in the room next to mine which is separated by a glass door so she can see me, but she still takes some time to settle down despite having a lot of toys and couch. Should i try easing her in for a longer time before i walk out, or should i ignore her? 4. Sometimes she has bursts of energy and when this happens i take her out in the yard to steam off with her toys. How do i calm her down afterwards? is 15 minutes of this enough? 5. Housebreaking seems to work sometimes, we can recognise when she needs to go because she starts sniffing around and we take her out, but there are times where she would leak inside. Again, if we keep consistency from our end, when is it realistic for her to stop leaking inside? 7. We are using a crate only for the night. She whimpers a bit but then she settles after i go next to her and sort of reassure her. Is this ok? Can we avoid crate training during the rest of the day? Thanks in advance for your help. Chris

I am trying to crate train my puppy and I have a few questions that I can't seem to find the answers for. I am a stay-at-home mom and I do have time but I need to put her in the crate sometimes. She is only 10 weeks old though. 1. While you're getting your puppy used to the crate, where should you put the puppy who is not potty trained and cries if she's not right on top of you? 2. She doesn't seem to mind her crate during the day, often going in and out and sleeping in it as long as she knows we're in the room. But at night even though it is right beside us, she cries so much. We have tried to put a fence around her crate right beside her bed, and she just cries through the fence. We have a bathroom attached to her master where we put a baby gate, and she cries the same way. 3. If she sleeps with us for a few weeks, can we get her used to the crate? I don't mind doing this for a few weeks, but I really don't want a dog sleeping in my bed. It feels like a kid, and it really messes with my mind having a kid or a puppy in my bed with my husband 😆😬😜.

We have an approximately 5-month old standard poodle who has just recently become afraid of his reflection during the day and his (and other’s) shadows at night. This new challenge is resulting in difficulty on walks, as he stops to growl, bark and attempt to bite his reflection and often tries to run from his shadow at night. We have read/heard from a couple of sources that this is a “normal” or at least not unusual stage of puppy development. However, we were curious if there is anything we should/should not do to help him navigate this latest phase. Many thanks in advance for your feedback and assistance!

I recently rescued a puppy who is about 7-8 months old. I have noticed that sometimes, he will whine and bite me, I think for attention or to play. However now I am not so sure what he is trying to tell me because I put him in the crate after a particularly bad bout of whining and biting, and he calmed down instantly, no whining or trying to get out. He is the sweetest puppy and very friendly to everyone, but I'm not sure how to deal with this biting behavior which is getting worse. Yelping at his bites did not help to stop him, and so I have started to stand up and walk away. However sometimes he will come up and bite me on the back of the legs, when I turn away to ignore him. Is this a typical attention seeking behavior from an energetic puppy or could he be trying to tell he something else?

My ten week old puppy (Italian Mastiff x Rottweiler x Bouvier) is giving me the work out. She is mostly okay, has learned the tsst! noise means stop whatever you're doing NOW. However, when she's tired and over threshold, she just gets out of control, leaping at me to BITE me, not just nibble. Today, I lost it, and gave her a very harsh correction with the leash (rope around her neck) which made her yelp (mostly with surprise, I'm sure, as I've never corrected her like that). She's now gone into hiding. Was that too harsh? Am I ruining my beautiful pup? PS: I'm somewhat disabled, with MS, so she's got the advantage. Any ideas? Other than this issue, she's very quick to learn, in the less than two weeks here.

I am beyond frustrated! I have a 16 week old lab puppy. The entire 8 weeks have been dreadful, due to her obsession with biting me. Not normal puppy mouthing, but blood drawing, skin ripping biting! Nothing I have tried will stop her. She will gladly do almost anything for a treat, but as soon as I run out of treats, I am bitten. Take her for a walk, guaranteed she will sink her teeth into my legs. Play time always results in me bleeding. My hands, arms, and legs are ripped up and bruised. She is my 8th puppy, and never have I experienced this. I keep a light leash on her in the house, and when she comes near me and bites my leg, she then goes for my hand, arm, or other body parts when I reach for the leash. I am heartbroken over this. What should have been 8 weeks of enjoying my new fur baby, has been exhausting and painful. I started this course tonight. She did well with the pre school basic of “target”, then back to biting. I don’t know whether to scream or cry. Help!