Dog bitting, nipping, etc.

Hello

He bites you at every chance? Can you explain a little bit more of what you mean? Does he just run in the room and bite you for instance?
When you say he is looking for a treat is this because you have started training him with food rewards, so therefore he is looking for the treat all the time?

What do you feed him on and how many times a day? Lots of questions but it may help me understand more and will give someone who can help you a little more a bit more knowledge of your problem.

Kaiser (my boxer) went off his food at 9 weeks then again at about 15 weeks until i started feeding him a better quality food and dropped him to two feeds a day. Im sure someone will be able to give you more info soon.

Whats his name?

Hello falcon102!

You puppy must be very cute but it will be even cuter if he stops biting you, won't it?

Since you said he is your fist dog, I am going to write about very basics so please ignore if you already knew about those.

First of all I am glad that you have started training your dog. However, there is more important things than sit, stay, etc. that your dog needs to learn - it is a socialization with people and other dogs. It is a very critical period now for the socialization because if he doesn't get enough of it now, he may develop some unfavorable behaviors when he gets older, such as being afraid of people, other dogs, new sounds, smells, car rides, vacuum cleaners, etc.

Please make occasions that your puppy can meet with as many people, including kids, and let him play with other puppies too. Since your dog is only 6 weeks old, he might not have finished all the course of vaccinations so you can't really take him to parks, etc. 6 weeks seems to me a bit young to be separated from his mother and siblings but it can't be helped now.

You said your puppy is nipping and biting but I think he is just playing with you. Puppies' teeth are tiny and sharp so I know they hurt you. He would probably not hurt dogs because they don't have bare skin like us. However he needs to learn that he shouldn't hurt people. What you can do is to make a loud noise like "OUCH!" as you look into his eyes when it hurts you and stop playing with him for a while. You will have to repeat this so that he will learn that he gets to play only when he does not put his teeth on your skin.

As for the treats, please make sure you cut up treats into very very tiny pieces. I cut my treats smaller than my pinky finger nail. Don't hold treats in your hand but put them in a training pouch or put them on a kitchen counter so that he can not get to them. This will help with his sniffing the treats and getting distracted. Those are rewards so he will get to eat when he does things right.

When you actually give a piece of treat to him, put it in your fist and extend in front of him with a little opening between fingers as you say "Gentle". If he tries to get it by biting your fingers, don't give it to him. If he tries to take it with his tongue, release it. It might take a while for him to learn it but he will get there.

Puppies are changing everyday so don't get discouraged if he gets better and then goes back where he was before. It is a long way but I am sure he will grow to be very nice obedient dog if you keep working on him.

Good luck and let us know his progress