my puppy

Question
QUESTION: Hello. i just got a new puppy about 2 weeks ago, he's now about 4 or 5 weeks old, and he bites A LOT. sometimes it seems  like he attacks us. when we try to pet him, he turns his head around and tries to bite, and it really hurts. also he's starting to show aggression when he's eating. How can we train him not to bite us? Is it puppy playing or pure aggression?

ANSWER: I'm hoping you don't mean that someone gave you a two week old puppy! Were his eyes even open yet? Did you bottle feed him? The thing about puppies is that if they go into new homes before 7 or 8 weeks, they miss out on a great deal of the socialization they would get with mom and the littermates. They don't learn to interact with other puppies, and they miss discipline when they bite too hard. So they frequently may be clueless about social rules and don't learn proper bite inhibition (how hard they can use their jaws without causing harm. You can help teach him that by allowing gentle mouthing, but giving him a time out when you feel his teeth. As he gets better at that, you can allow less and less mouth on hands contact. Puppies who bite hands when being petted or played with are pretty common, and it's usually just rough play. The best thing to do is not make quick movements hear the pup's face, stop playing (to the point of getting up and leaving for a few seconds everytime he bites) when he bites and substituting a toy for your body parts in his mouth. The aggression with food is something you need to start working on right now. I would get with a good, positive trainer to come up with a plan. I think you may be in a little over your head on this one. A good booklet on biting and teaching bite inhibition is simply called Biting by Ian Dunbar, and a good book on resource guarding (dogs who get aggressive around their food, etc.) is Mine by Jean Donaldson. You may need to look at a dog specific store for the Dunbar - try www.dogwise.com or www.sitstay.com Sandy Case MEd CPDT www.positivelycanine.com

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QUESTION: yes actually, because it's mother died. that makes me feel better. And how many times a day should i feed him? He doesn't really drink water from a bowl, he seems really scared. How can i teach him to drink from a bowl?

Answer
I'm sure that was a lot of work. And while the reason you took him so young is admirable, there are still going to be issues due to lack of litter socialization. Can you find someone with a good mother dog and appropriate aged (and size) litter that he can socialize with? I'd have a shallow bowl of water available (puppies can fall in buckets and drown) but if you are feeding moistened food he may be getting his fluids that way, and let him figure it out. As to how often to feed him, that's a good question for your vet. If he has a full tummy, you're probably doing fine. Sandy Case MEd CPDT