Bruno has turned into Evil Boy

[lauriej57]

Bruno is now 7 weeks old, he's making very good progress with housetraining, as long as we see the signs in time.

However, he thinks he's a big dog, probably because he was the only one in the litter, and he uses his razor teeth like there is no tomorrow. He doesn't have a care as to how hard he bites. The big dogs spend alot of their time on my bed now, since he can't get up there. It is slightly funny seeing 3 big dogs afraid of this little 10 lb pup.

We are working with him, but it's slow going. I thought he gave me a new piercing in my ear yesterday. He's getting small milkbones, which he chomps down in about 3 minutes, he chews on big rawhide bones, hubby got him some smaller ones yesterday, he loves to chew. He is not to be trusted in a room for more than 30 seconds without us there, we've been doing the hide the electrical cords the best we can. We do have a slight problem with giving him chew things when the big dogs around, they are not very good at sharing, and as soon as his cage door closes, if he's not ready for a nap, he whines and cries. He's already gotten his jaw stuck on his cage, that was a trick to free him without harming him.

We have 2 full blooded boxers, and one previous to them, plus the boxer/shepherd mix. Papa Rocky was a bit hyperactive, but Bruno has them all beat. I used to raise labs, I've been around dogs and puppies most of my life, and this one is just nuts. It's a good thing he loves to be outside, even if it's snowing and blowing, because with the weather nice, he is going to be outside alot with us and the others, tiring him out is the only way I can think of to keep him under control at the moment.

He is a typical boxer though, he's funny, he's extremely smart, and he snores like his mama.

Have to get this biting under control though....any suggestions.

[AussieGirl]

Sounds like normal puppy behaviour - you just need to work on his bite inhibition. Normally the pups litter mates and mother start the teaching for you (you need to continue it though) but as he was an only pup he hasn't had any littermates to help him.
When he bites you hard (you need to start with the harddest bites because you want to teach control not stop it altogether) you need to yelp, if he continues yelp again but this time get up and remove yourself from him - if you need to, shut the door as you leave so he gets the message that biting hard = my playmate leaving me (not what he wants). Soon he will be biting softer so you need to do the process again with what is now his hard bite until he bites softer again. Do this over and over until you reach the point that he "mouths" only. Hope I explained it clear enough. Some people also have a toy on hand and will give that to show that the toy is a chew item - not people.

The link for my fav article on bite inhibition no longer works but I did come across these...
Puppy Socialisation and Bite Inhibition
How to teach Bite Inhibition
Bite Inhibition ‐‐ an Essential Part of Socialization