Puppies are now into their 6th week and they are becoming real biting machines as can been seen in this photo of one puppy biting the leg of another puppy. But this is GOOD! Any puppy that doesn't try to bite, doesn't learn bite inhibition. These are the ones we need to worry about. We actually want these critters to bite us and their littermates and other dogs because that's the only way they will learn to inhibit their bite. Puppies cry out, we humans give loud cries to indicate we are in pain and usually puppies back off when this happens. That's when they learn their bite can hurt and a well-socialized puppy with bite inhibition will learn not to bite. Vizslas often take their owners' wrists into their mouths to lead them but it should be done softly. Miska does this and so do some of her littermates.
On this post's slide show, you will see photos of Mr Black and his Grandma Nova where he jumps up and gives her a little nip & then she turns and growls at him and tells him off. Then he exhibits classic body language of submission much of which I captured in the photos (tongue comes out to lick, ears are pinned back, he rolls over on the ground to expose his belly). POST EDITED: Black is learning an important lesson on discipline. Puppies that are released to their new homes at 6 weeks of age is in danger of not learning bite inhibition and how to submit because they are removed from their littermates and their dams just when they are starting to interact with the world. This is one of several reasons I don't let our puppies go until at least 8 weeks of age.
Summer litters are ideal for making advances in house training. As soon as puppies wake up, I open their crate which is about 18 inches away from the patio door. Outdoors they go and immediately 'do their business'. They are now figuring out that they get 'paid' to pee and poop outside. So we are having fewer and fewer accidents indoors and more stuff happening outside.
The pups are growing bigger and heavier but their weights are getting more difficult to assess as they are too big for our kitchen/postal scales and too small for human scales. We try weighing them by holding them in our arms when we weigh ourselves but this gives us weights rounded to the closest 0.5 pound instead of in ounces or grams. So they are somewhere between 5.5 to 6.5 pounds, give or take 1/2 LB.
Routine is very important for puppies. In fact, dogs thrive on a routine but hopefully these puppies will not be stressed by changes in routine if done positively. Our puppies awake or we wake them up sometime between 5:50 AM and 6:30 AM. They go outdoors immediately to do their business and get clicks/treats for eliminating. Then they may come back indoors or go into the exercise area outside. Then they get their meal. Each puppy is now served his/her own meal in his/her own dish so I know they are getting a full meal. If this is done indoors, after about 5-10 min., it's time to go outside to eliminate again if needed. We play games and do some training for about 60 - 90 minutes and then it's their nap time. They sleep for about another 3 hours and then routine starts again. Feeding times are around 6:30 AM, 11:30 AM - noon; 5:30 - 6 PM & around 10:30 PM. We say our goodnights at around 11 - 11:30 PM and then the same routine starts again the next morning.
Puppies' training now consists of:
Summer litters are ideal for making advances in house training. As soon as puppies wake up, I open their crate which is about 18 inches away from the patio door. Outdoors they go and immediately 'do their business'. They are now figuring out that they get 'paid' to pee and poop outside. So we are having fewer and fewer accidents indoors and more stuff happening outside.
The pups are growing bigger and heavier but their weights are getting more difficult to assess as they are too big for our kitchen/postal scales and too small for human scales. We try weighing them by holding them in our arms when we weigh ourselves but this gives us weights rounded to the closest 0.5 pound instead of in ounces or grams. So they are somewhere between 5.5 to 6.5 pounds, give or take 1/2 LB.
Routine is very important for puppies. In fact, dogs thrive on a routine but hopefully these puppies will not be stressed by changes in routine if done positively. Our puppies awake or we wake them up sometime between 5:50 AM and 6:30 AM. They go outdoors immediately to do their business and get clicks/treats for eliminating. Then they may come back indoors or go into the exercise area outside. Then they get their meal. Each puppy is now served his/her own meal in his/her own dish so I know they are getting a full meal. If this is done indoors, after about 5-10 min., it's time to go outside to eliminate again if needed. We play games and do some training for about 60 - 90 minutes and then it's their nap time. They sleep for about another 3 hours and then routine starts again. Feeding times are around 6:30 AM, 11:30 AM - noon; 5:30 - 6 PM & around 10:30 PM. We say our goodnights at around 11 - 11:30 PM and then the same routine starts again the next morning.
Puppies' training now consists of:
- learning how to 'stack' for the show ring, i.e., stand on all 4's for a second or two with a click/treat
- nose/hand touches (targetting) with a click/treat
- eliminating outdoors with a click/treat
- coming on the 'here' command with a click/treat
- having their lips pulled back to exposure their bite
- having their ears massaged and poked
- doing all the handling we did from day 3
- having nails done
- swimming (or being placed into warm water in a kiddy wading pool
Enjoy the photos and thanks to Corrine Sellars who took a few of them.
Sylvia, you are lucky you are so far away; otherwise I would be at your place everyday.
ReplyDeleteI would play and hug and kiss them all the time! They grow too fast!
Beautiful pictures; and they all look very charming.
I love the ones with Grandma Nova; that’s a good moment you caught on camera!
Poor Mr Black but I guess discipline is important too... :)
Your website is just great. Enjoy seeing your "brood". Haha. Hope you can answer a question for me. We just purchased a Vizsla. She is ten weeks old. Potty training is going great. She eats well....loves her crate. But she is biting us like crazy. We have purchased tug toys, squeaky toys, rawhide chews....and she plays with them....but would rather bite us. We have tried ignoring, we have tried making the high pitch yelp sound like her litter mates. We have tried time out crating for 5-10 minutes. Nothing works. We are going to do obedience training at 16 wks....which is what the trainer told us was his starting age. Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI hope you come back to this Blog post to read my reply. Usually the high pitch yelp should work so it's possible you're not doing it loud enough. When I demo it to clients, they are taken aback at how loud I scream so people usually don't do it loud enough. It should be loud enough to startle the puppy so if she's not startled, make it louder. 16 weeks is the latest I would start a puppy; ideally 12 weeks but some schools won't take them that young, depending on the vaccination protocols. Pls feel free to send me an email so I can give you more help. Good luck!
Delete