# So my puppy today....



## Chris Keister (Jun 28, 2008)

So my puppy today with the dead puppy teeth and muzzle infection just tore up his horse stall mat I bought for him last week. 

It was only the 1/2 inch one not the 5/8 but still. The damn things are made for horses!

Guess his teeth don't hurt that bad huh? Not going to be fun 4-6 weeks waiting for his teeth to come in!!!


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## brad robert (Nov 26, 2008)

Is that your way of saying you know better then anyone else including a vet ??? Or am i not following?? I have just gone thru what you are now with your dog and yes my pups teeth(all dead) eventually fell out with no harm done but her brother was not so lucky and had to have an operation to get it fixed.

Why wouldnt it be fun for the next few weeks heaps of retrieve games and stuff not everything has to revolve around tug i mean the dog has it or it doesnt and it sounds like it does so why not do something constructive with this time he has his whole life to tug?


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## Brian McQuain (Oct 21, 2009)

Ahh...puppies.


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## Chris Keister (Jun 28, 2008)

No Brad I'm not saying I know more than a vet or anyone else. Quite frankly I am boasting about the quality of pup I have. I am quite pleased with him and am bragging a little regarding his character. 

So why is it not going to be the most fun moth or so? I am guessing you are not to familiar with this type of pup. So I will ask you to help me. 

What do you do with a highly driven mouth obsessed puppy? What do you do with a pup that looks at a thrown ball then runs over and bites you? The type of puppy with a superior level of pain tolerance and resiliency? Do you beat him into bite inhibition?

He does retrieve some items but then possesses them. When I ignore to teach him to engage in play his idea of engaging in play is to bite me. How much forced physical activity do you do with a 4 month old? 

Do OB you say? Sure I do that and tracking. Both last about 5 to 10 minutes max. How much food should I feed my 4 month old puppy? 8 cups a day?

What do you do with a puppy who eats everything, placing them at a high risk for intestinal blockage. I have a large yard with lots of trees bushes etc. unsupervised free time in the yard is a no no unless I want a fat vet bill.


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## Chris Keister (Jun 28, 2008)

How much house time do you give the 4 month old puppy? The one that can now jump the baby gates? The one that discovered their is goodies in the garbage can. The one that thinks its great fun to bite your couch like it is a bite pillow (when he's not biting you that is ) 

Now add that this same puppy is the type that gets frustrated and loads considerably from that frustration. Should I squash him with the hard type of compultion it would take to extinguish these behaviors? 

Redirect him with food? Wait he already gets his three meals a day through tracking and OB? Maybe I should increase his food intake and increas potential joint problems.

Take him to the river you say? Yep do that 2x a week. Again how long should these extended trips be at the river 5 miles? 10 miles? This includes swimming. These trips keep him satisfied for about 4 hrs tops. 

So yes this age till about 10 months is not the "most fun" with a puppy like this. Its still rewarding but very challenging. This age is the most challenging with all pups I think but especially this type. He's not an evil being that wants to hurt me maliciously but his is quite a handful. 

As for the broken teeth i have had a lot of high drive pups. Some have broken teeth. I have never had one that broke 6 Or so and still obsessivly bite and chew anything and everything. Never had one with the obsessive drive to bite and very low ball drive at this point. Breeder says it will come but we don't have it yet.

So I'm all ears. What do I do with this type of pup? Pleas tell me and better yet post some video of how you have handled your pups that have come from known lines of hardness, resiliency, and obsessive mouth orientation. 

I need the help


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## brad robert (Nov 26, 2008)

firstly a dog like that i house them properly so they cant destroy everything in sight and dont have free access to stuff as everything good comes thru me and supervised play and training then i put them up.

You are not robinson crusoe mate!!! I think most here would have had a high drive pup:roll:

hey and im sure a soft tug is fine i have a couple here that a very soft but doesnt mean you have to have full blown games of tug plenty of time for that but you could encourage the dog winning the bite or getting a deep bite then just giving it to him and encourage him when he is calm with the bite and if he comes and bites you then just divert to another toy have 6 or more toys on you as its a pet peeve of mine for a dog to only like one toy i hate it.

Also i never beat a pup or any dog period.In saying that i ahd a dog that was like yours and after about 6mths of this dog biting the shit out of me i showed him i had had enough and it was more fun to bite his tug or toy :wink: doesnt a mother dog do the same to her pups when she has had enough and no thats not a great anology but you get the gist of it sometimes enough is enough but i always try first.

Mate all im saying is you dont have to have big tug sessions to build or maintain drive some might say just the opposite its only for 2mths and its nothing in the scheme of things and now would be a good time to teach a positive retrieve or play two or 3 ball to burn some energy or go swimming etc and like i said if your dog has the genetics it wont matter much at the end of the day.


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## brad robert (Nov 26, 2008)

If he is a pain in the ass in the house either teach the dog some manners or crate it really easy:-\"

My latest pup didnt have much ball drive either but it came in truckloads.

Your being very defensive or attacking either way i dont give a crap but since these probs are new to you im guessing you have not had a hard or strong driven dog or this would be old news ????

As people who enjoy training isnt it fun to find these dogs and work with them to channel there drives into what we want from them??Enjoy that you have some decent sounding dogs and start laying the foundation(by the sounds of it you are)and working the pups.The dogs need a safe place thats quiet just as you do after working so i provide it and teach them crate time or kennel time is rest etc and when there out there on fire.


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## Chris Keister (Jun 28, 2008)

No bud not getting defensive. The smart Alec comment about me knowing more than the vet ticked me off a little. 

So I should go ahead and play some tug with 6 broken teeth and a mouth infection? 

You gave some suggestions but really didn't tell me anything.

"teach him some manners" tell me how to do that. Better yet show me how to that. I want a four month old malinios puppy that behaves in the house for more than 5 minutes. You may be right there. I'm not a good enough trainer to pull that off.

Crating him is a fabulous idea. Maybe he can break all his teeth or pull them out from biting the door?
He has a lot of down time in his kennel. At least 12 hrs a day while I'm at work.

This is probably the second best pup I have had. The one that was ahead of him was a big goofy slow maturing GSD that had no desire to bite people at this age. He was quite content with a tug in his mouth and sleeping most of the day. Quite a different creature. Plenty of high drive pups have lived at my house. 

Did you miss the fact the dog has no interest in a ball at this point?

This isn't my first rodeo cowboy. With pups or with dog board trainers.

I'm always open to learning new things show me the way.


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## brad robert (Nov 26, 2008)

You might think it was a smart alec comment champ but it was a straight question. Im sure you know the way especially if its not "your first rodeo" all dogs are different no dog is perfect and yes if your dog is allowed inside he should start to learn how to behave if he is a asshat and cant well i work em and crate/kennel them i just dont think some dogs are meant to be house dogs so treat them accordingly.

So if he has no ball drive find what is his button??? But i just dont get this whole bite me shit that goes on i mean yeah we all go thru it but why be worried about squashing drive especially if the pup is in driving biting you do you think a correction from you will turn him into a shitter if so get another dog.Or maybe once he has worked out biting you isnt much fun he might just start to obsess about biting other things???:-|.My dog after 6mths was told squarely that this had gone on long enough and guess what nothing wrong with that dog.

Mate im a nobody like most here but it seems things are pretty obvious and your making it harder then it is and i strongly believe in KISS.


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## julie allen (Dec 24, 2010)

Teaching the pup manners isn't going to kill his drive. Now is a good time to teach a solid out. If he does have drive, when his teeth come in, go right back to tugging, he will be even more possessive and hard on it. 

He has no ball drive, so throw the tug and teach a retrieve. You can only do so much obedience with a brief attention span, work on other stuff like climbing and agility Crap for good footing, hiding his tug to build his hunt, and tracking if you plan on him working or doing sport.

Bored puppies will destroy everything, their teeth included lol.


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## Chris Keister (Jun 28, 2008)

Good suggestions Julie!


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