by Lyn Richards
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Facts about Puppy Teething
There are 3 chewing phases that most dogs go
through: 5 wk. to 5 months, again at 7 months, then
at approx. 15 months. (The 15 month one is an emotional
or growth stage not related to tooth eruption.)
The teething stages that have the most negative effect on
training are the second/third ones. For instance, if you
start the formal retrieve at 4 months or so, you know you
are going to lose at least 3 to 5 days of training when
the canines fall out. A cranky pup behaves just like a
cranky teething human baby & is difficult to train.
Also, a teething 5-6 month old pup is chewing alot due to
mouth discomfort, damages furniture if not crate and bite
inhibit trained. Nipping and biting humans is common at
this stage and must be stopped.
Todays
Teething Lynnie-ism.......
Attitudes of a teething pup:
1. The world is NEW and I want to eat it!
2. The world is FUN and I want to taste it!
3. The world is BORING and I want to chew it up!
STOP the boredom! Keep that pup BUSY with appropriate
chew toys such as Kongs (filled with Peanut Butter and
healthy biscuits), Plantation Rubber toys, and Raw Meaty
Leg Bones! AVOID medical disaster do not give your dog
rawhide and pigs ear products. Cooked bones will
splinter, so those should be eliminated as well.
Types
of Bite Inhibition
1. Bite inhibition learned from Mother:
Mother growls at pup to halt behavior
2. Bite inhibition learned from litter mates:
Litter mates bite and play, if bites get too rough they
growl-bite back
3. Management:
Don't encourage the behavior, stop it
with.........appropriate object replacement. This helps
divert the pup from the biting, nipping behavior with
appropriate, alternative behavior.
The first two items listed above are extremely important.
If the pup is removed from its mother and litter mates
too early, both of those inhibitions will probably not be
present, making nipping a much more serious problem. The
bite inhibition management and object replacement
techniques will help but it will take a LOT longer to
elicit desired behavior.
Bite Inhibition
Tips
This trick works well with puppy biting hands......
I bend a cheap metal spoon handle over my thumb. I hold
the bowl of the spoon in my hand. When the pup or dog
chomps down, they hit metal. I have had luck with bite
inhibiting pups by using bitter apple or Tabasco sauce on
my fingers, so they will pull back. Then I offer to,let
them nibble a treat out of my other hand. If I am using a
clicker to train, I then click and treat. I have
met several pups and dogs who are ever so gentle if
you remember to give the "gentle" cue, but, if
you don't, they seem unchanged. Before going to the spoon
or bitter apple, I usually go back to square one and
train the bite inhibition behavior by presenting a closed
palm, then an open palm in a repeated routine, in areas
of increasing distraction.
Teaching a
Replacement Behavior
Instead of fighting the tooth contact, try teaching the
pup to "kiss" instead of "nip".
When the pup licks, give it a name like
"kisses" and encourage it with high-pitched
praise. If instead, the pups teeth touch you, or the pup
nips, make an abrupt, sharp noise . The pup will be SO
startled, that the pup will stop mouthing, at least for a
second. The minute he stops mouthing, praise as you would
for the licking behavior. Good timing is essential.
This exercise will halt the mouthing/nipping and replace
it with licking. Licking or 'not biting' equals praise,
tooth contact equals a sharp reprimand. When this takes
place between the ages of 6 weeks to 10 weeks, the
process is VERY fast. But, the process will be totally
ineffective if just one person allows biting to occur.
Young children are not able to perform this procedure
very well, so please keep children and pups separate
until the bite inhibiting/or lick training is complete.
Allowing a child, whose timing may be poor or
inconsistent to do this, will simply confuse the dog.
Ear
Taping Tips
Equipment/purchase list:
Tampax Tube Tampons
Johnsons Sports Tape
Dr. Scholl’s Toe Cots
Cotton Batting or Gauze roll
scotch tape
Skin So Soft or Baby Oil
Remove Tape from ears with either of these products:
Skin so Soft by Avon or Baby Oil. Both are messy but they
work.
Apply either liberally to the tapes before removing, let
soak for 5-10 minutes or longer if you can (put him
somewhere he won't make a mess shaking his head!).
It is messy. Remove tapes carefully. Apply more to
the naked ears and let rest for a couple hours before
re-taping. Always do this, it lets the ear breathe and
gives the puppy a break. When re-taping you first must
clean all the oil off the ears, warm soap and water
is effective. Rinse well, dry THOROUGHLY. I use
Tampax Tampon Tubes (the cardboard part). Pull the tube
out to the length of the ear, measure from the bump at
the bottom of the inside ear canal, to the tip.
Scotch tape the place where the top tube meets the
bottom. Wrap the tube in a soft gauze, top to bottom
(make sure to wrap UNDER the bottom of the tube so
it's soft), tape off with sports tape. Get more
Sports Tape, start one full wrap around the bottom of the
tube, then start to wrap that piece backwards, so
that the tape is now "sticky side out". Wrap up
the length of the tube. Finish with a full wrap, the
sticky side down (with a new piece). Place one of
these finished tubes in an ear (oh, pick one!). Wrap the
Top of the ear first, inside around the back to the
inside again. One Wrap, do NOT wrap to tight, or too near
the tip. IMPORTANT! If you cut off circulation to the
ear, the tip falls off!
Start on the inside edge, at the bottom of the ear and
wrap starting at the tube, fold the edge back gently and
wrap loosely back to the outside. Finish on top of the
inside edge. Do this for the other ear. When both ears
are done, tape from one ear to the other, across the top
of the head, wrap a couple of times, keeping the ears
upright. If you must, tape vertically around the middle
of the horizontal tape to pull the ears inwards.
Treating Puppy Acne
To help clear up Puppy Acne (chin pimples) the following
tips will help... Serve food and water from Steel or
Glass (porcelain) dishes only. Clean after EACH use.
Never re-offer moist food which has been left out in room
temp. Make a fresh batch when feeding.
DRY the face thoroughly after each drink and meal.
After washing and drying the chin/face, use gold bond
powder on the chin and sides of nose.
Apply Oxy-5 if it is available or needed, 2 times a day.
Add some apple cider vinegar to the drinking water (a
teaspoon or so) as it is astringent.
These should clear up most staph related puppy acne.
Housebreaking
Issues
If your pup has been well on its way to being
housebroken, and suddenly begins to have frequent
accidents these might be possible reasons to investigate:
DIABETES:
Yes, dogs get it too. The best way to check is to have
your vet run some simple and inexpensive tests. Symptoms
include frequent urination, excessive thirst and urinary
discomfort.
UTI's
(Urinary Tract Infections)
Cystitis, Urethritis and Vaginitis are symptomized by
frequent urination, vaginal/penile discharge and
discomfort. The occurrence of any of these during
housebreaking will cause the pup to have frequent
"mistakes" due to discomfort and lack of
control. Any owner of a dog exhibiting the above symptoms
should:
1. Visit a vet with the dog IMMEDIATELY
2. Not punish the dog for mistakes (even if the problem
is not infection related)
3. Crate the unattended dog while treatment is ongoing
4. Take the dog out frequently and provide LOTS of fluids
5. Put cranberry juice or apple cider vinegar in the
drinking water to improve pH of urine.
6. Find out if a bitch is due for her first heat.
Hormonal changes could be causing this problem. If that
fact is confirmed by a vet, get the bitch spayed, if not
breeding.
Coat Care
Coconut oil and/or Bag Balm are great items to keep on
hand for a quick coat shine and for moistening areas in
the winter, such as nose, pads and elbows. If your dog
has allergies to those items, try a wipe down with witch
hazel, it too will give a nice shine and has the added
benefit of being an antiseptic. (Therefore it has another
use, for storage in your emergency kit.)
We
shampoo our dogs with Murphy's Oil Soap...Really! It
leaves a lovely shine, and no itch, if rinsed well. It
also removes some undesirable odors when needed.
Lyn
Richards
DogLogic Resource Center http://www.doglogic.com
3020 Brown Ave #10, Manchester, NH 03103
Ph/Fax 603-668-8157
Member / DWAA / APDT# 2502S / IACP
Obedience Train Your Dog - FOR LIFE!
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