# Training my little girl



## Bambi (May 1, 2005)

Good news guys







...apparently something shady was going on with the breeder in Iowa cuz they called my boyfriend and told him that they made a mistake and they don't have the maltese we wanted...so he bought a maltese from this couple who had a few puppies...
anyhow,
my little girl is home







...and she is the just the most precious thing in the world...but we have a major problem... she bites and she bites HARD. I know she is teething and she doesn't mean to hurt anyone but she starts to growl and breaks skin sometimes but again her tail wags so I assume she is just playing. How can I get her to stop...I have firmly said no and even tried giving her all sorts of chew toys but she seems to enjoy a finger or even my ankle. Will she grow out of this?
Also...I have been pretty cosistent with the pad training...I have figured out what she does when she wants to go potty so I take her straight to the pad and she does her business...but sometimes she has accidents. I feel like if I don't take her to the pad she won't know to go...will she learn on her own or will she constantly have to be led to the pad? She was born March 19, 2005 so she is about 9 weeks or so. 
She is a great little girl...but she just has a few puppy problems that I am hoping she will grow out of.


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## Holliberry (Feb 5, 2005)

Congrats on the new puppy! She is a doll









What seems to work for the biting is if I say "ouch" really loud and then get up off the floor and ignore her for a couple of minutes. You have to be consistent though. I noticed that I was not thinking clearly and letting her nibble on my fingers here and there (because it was cute and felt good







), so when I realized my mistake I had to do this again. She remembered after one time so I just need to reinforce it.

As far as the potty- and boy do I know potty problems... Phoebe did not go to the pad herself until she was 4 months old. I had a hard time training her but what ended up working was BIGGER and BETTER treats! I had been giving her a normal treat for like a sit command or whatever, but when I switched to big, she immediately "got it" and has been pretty much accident free ever since. There is a big thread called "potty training progress" that deals with a bunch of our frustrations







if you're interested









I hope that made sense. Good luck!


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

Your puppy is still very young so you will need to teach it about biting. This is something the mother would have taught it. When it bites hard say OUCH and get up and stop the playing for a minute or so. You need to do this everytime. The puppy should learn that when it bites play time ends. This will take awhile though so be patient.

As for the potty training, I've never pee pad trained so can't help much. All I can say is your puppy is very young and you need to give it time to learn. At that age most puppies are still with their mothers so you are going to have to be patient with it. Potty training is a very long process. Lexi at 16 months old is about 90-95% trained.


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

One of the important lessons a puppy learns from her mom and littermates is bite inhibition. Since puppies are neccesarily oral for their own survival for the first 6 weeks, they can't start to learn this behavior until after that. That's why it is best not to get a Maltese puppy until she is 12 weeks old so she learns this and other important lessons before joining her human family.

Since your puppy is only 9 weeks, you'll have to teach her bite inhibition just like her mother and littermates would have. You basically have to act like a dog yourself, yelping when she bites too hard and then ignoring her.

http://www.phsspca.org/training/puppy_biting.htm

http://www.doggonesafe.com/stop%20puppy%20from%20biting.htm


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

I agree with the guidance on biting (yelp, ignore). 

You need to take her to the wee wee pads every time and praise/reward her for going in the right spot. If she has an accident, it is your fault. That means you left her unsupervised or you did not get her to the pad in time. A schedule for eating, play time, nap time, etc. can really help with potty training. 

A playing puppy may need to go every 10-15 minutes. A sleeping puppy can hold their urine for 1 hour more than the number of months of their age. So, your 2 month old pup should go no more than 3 hours when confined. 

A crate or playpen is the best way to confine your puppy.


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## sunnydays (Apr 18, 2005)

Coco had the same problem with the biting. But she doesn't bite so hard that it broke skin. It actually feels like a massage. Nevertheless, I give her nylabones or toys to distract her and say "YOWCH!" to shock her. Then she goes away... for a while and plays with. It's like a never ending cycle. Hopefully sooner or later she'll get the point. The first couple of times I yelped, she got mad at me and did like 4 laps around the living room.







It was amusing. 

As for the potty training, you really have to watch their butt, literally. When I see Coco sniffing around and about to crouch down, I run her to pee pad right away. Then when she finishes, I praise her and give her a small piece of treat. She got the poop down though. She goes on her own with the poop, but still has a lot of pee accidents.









In relation to *LadysMom*'s post though, I was wondering something:

For those of you who got your puppies at 12 or older weeks, did your babies bite / nip at you a lot?

and 

For those of you who got your puppies younger than 12 weeks, did your babies bite / nip at you a lot? If so, when did they stop?

Just wondering.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

I got one at 12 weeks, one at 16 weeks, and one at 5 months. All had decent bite inhibition when I got them and within a week or so were fine with the biting. It was never really bad, mostly just pant legs and the occasional finger nip. I definately attribute it to longer time with mom and siblings.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

> _Originally posted by scrappy_@May 25 2005, 10:03 PM
> *Congratulations on your new little one
> 
> 
> ...


[/QUOTE]

How about a young adult rescue or a retired breeding dog? Adult dogs are great additions! Often they're already housebroken and have some basic manners.


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## mee (Jul 17, 2004)

> _Originally posted by sunnydays_@May 25 2005, 09:53 PM
> *For those of you who got your puppies at 12 or older weeks, did your babies bite / nip at you a lot?
> 
> and
> ...


[/QUOTE]

when i was living with my parents, we got my moms malt at 8weeks old at a petstore, she NEVER bites coz we trained her not to right away..she is 4 yrs and a half old

I got my Jong-ee at 12weeks, but literally at 4 months coz jongee went back to my breeder for 3 weeks while i was moving house and getting settled down..Jongee is 1yr and a half but she still nips and bites coz i wasnt consistent, which is my fault

although i agree with the "bringing home at 12 wks rule" for better behavior reasons, i still think its a matter of how well and consistent ur Training is as well


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

sprite and ellie were at around 10 weeks old when we gotthem (at diff times). and they both nipped until they were around 8 or 9 months old. 

gruffi mouths still, he npped up until he was around 8 months also. just keep telling them "get a toy" and push a toy in their mouths.


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## puppylucy (Jan 8, 2005)

is the new little girl still named bambi? she's adorable







congratulations!

looks like you've gotten some pretty good advice, so good luck


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## Sylphide and Shrek's Mom (Dec 4, 2004)

Congratulations!









Your baby is a very young one who'll need a lot of gentle loving patient training.

We got Sylphide at 12 weeks, and she was a nipper and hard play biter. It took a while to break her from the habit --she was an ankle chaser for a few months. She eventually learned how to play gentle, though.

We got Shrek at 13 1/2 weeks. There's already a huge difference in maturity at that age. He has never nipped or been a play biter/ankle chaser--but then, he has a very mellow personality, unlike Sylphide, who was a very challenging, hyperactive, bossy puppy. With gentle guidance and lots of training Sylphide has grown in to an obedient young adult - but is still quite intense.


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## msmagnolia (Sep 8, 2004)

Congrats to you. Your baby is precious. Good luck with the training. It isn't easy, but consistency and patience will make it all pay off in the end.

We got Sadie at 14 weeks and Sassy at nearly 6 months. Neither has ever nipped one time, not even when I'm combing. They play with each other, sometimes pretty roughly, and seemed to have learned that whole soft mouth thing. Sassy sometimes licks our toes, but that's about it.


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## elliesmomie (Apr 9, 2005)

i got l.e. at 9 weeks and she was basically potty trained at 12 weeks. i started out with about 5 potty pads around my tiny apartment so that when i caught her having an accident, i didn't have far to run. within a couple times of me telling her "NO" when she would start to pee on the floor, and praise when she continued on the potty pad, she started to get it on her own. i noticed that she tended to use the potty pads by the doors a lot more than the others. within a couple weeks we were down to just 2 potty pads in my apartment. now at 5 months, i have moved her potty pads into more convenient and inconspicous places for me to keep them and she goes straight to 'em. she even will go potty on command sometimes. i ask her to "go potty" before we go to bed every night so that she doesn't have an accident in my bed. she will go most of the time, but sometimes it takes a couple minutes.

as for the biting, i'm still working on it. i have found that the most effective way is to tell her "ouch" and then ignore her for a couple of minutes. she gets the idea, but it's still a work in progress. i've found that if i make a big deal about it and exagerate my response to her bad behavior, she does it less often.

good luck and congrats on your new baby!


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