CONFUSING PUPPY TEETHING WITH AGGRESSION

A lot of people when looking to add a puppy to their family don’t always consider all aspects of how big of a commitment it really is, a good is example when their puppy goes through a teething stage. This stage is completely natural and normal for all puppy breeds, your puppy’s ancestors were wolves and you can see the similar natural instincts. It is our job as there owners to educate them how, what and when is appropriate to keep them in check, it’s the same with children we have to make sure they are set on the right path from a early age.

Ross and I as professional breeders know how important it is to only breed off 100% perfect temperament dogs, we have young children ourselves and would never in our wildest dream ever breed from any dog that isn’t 100%. We have many years’ experience in the breeds we specialize in and before breeding we did extensive research before having our first litter, we can reassure you that as long as you being a responsible owner keep on top of your puppy and teach them the right and wrong ways to play during the teething stage we can guarantee there is not a bone of aggression in our puppies, people unfortunately jump to the conclusion if a puppy bites while playing they are aggressive, we can’t stress this enough that this is normal and natural behavior. The teething stage is a particularly important stage, and this must be carefully considered before buying any puppy. Pomskies and Chowski puppies being a husky mix they do tend to teeth a little bit more but this always passes, at around 12 weeks old there puppy teeth start to fall out and permanent teeth start to erupt, normally by 6 months of age all permeant teeth have erupted and puppy teeth have fallen out. Play biting is a way to relieve pain for our furr babies, could you imagine how painful this would be for us?

All puppies will play and sometimes you will hear growing, this is normal and is actually a sign of excitement, this is not a sign of aggression so please don’t panic. As mentioned, when a puppy will play with their new family members the more excited, they get the louder the noises will be, this is how they would interact and play with there siblings from 3 weeks old. Play biting is also common when playing. We have so many families contact us around 2-3 weeks after they collect their new family member saying ‘you’ve sold me a piranha’, ‘my puppy is aggressive’ and we can’t stress enough that this is normal, natural and not aggressive behavior. Some puppies while playing during the high level of excitement can draw blood and this again is very common in puppies, a lot of people will be concerned but the fact of the matter is that this is how puppies interact and while during teething stage this is very normal for a 2-3 month old puppy with sensitive teeth, play biting is not a sign of aggression, as a responsible owner you must teach your puppy to be gentle when playing, this won’t happen overnight but gradually over the next couple of weeks the worse will be over with. It’s also important to mention that not all puppies will go through this stage as some puppies will deal with things differently.

There are 3 steps we can use when your puppy starts to get too excited and starts to bite too hard:

Withdrawing attention

When your puppy starts to bite too hard the first step is to inform him that he or she has hurt you, giving a ‘OUCH’ or ‘AH AH’ and then stopping playing immediately. You must not keep playing or react to your puppy biting you through excitement, some puppies will stop and know that you have given them a warning that this play is too hard while other puppies may find it exciting and keep going, you need to find a word or noise that your puppy will react to as a warning. You do not need to keep playing with your puppy when they start to bite, the more you do this the more over the next couple of weeks your puppy will realize that there not getting any attention from you and the playing stops when they do this.

Redirection

If you can pre-empt when your puppy is likely to get over excited and start to play bite you must redirect their attention to an appropriate toy. End the playing and give them a chew toy to bite down on, frozen carrots, nylon bone, frozen kong stuffed with peanut butter or kong treat stuff paste, lick matt, natural bone or chew for example. If your puppy doesn’t quite get the message you have to put him or her into their crate or play pen with the chew toy so they associate this being unexpectable and the end of playing. Keep this up for a few weeks and you will soon see the results.

Overexcitement

The more over excited your puppy is the more likely they are to bite through playing, maintaining excitement levels is especially important, you must recognize when your puppy is becoming over excited and help calm them down. Pick your puppy up holding them firmly, take them away from anything that’s causing the excitement and gently speak to them in a calm voice, if this doesn’t help place your puppy in their crate to calm down.

Please don’t give up on your puppy just because they go through a bad teething stage as this is expected and a natural behavior for puppies, all responsible dog owners must do research prior to buying a puppy.

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