That mouthy puppy, only a few months old, is out of control to say the least … and you know it! You have had several dogs before, and absolutely never seen something like this. Puppy training seemed so natural before. You put "mommy mode" into your mind, in the form of how you would deal with a human child. You have tried to rationalize with this puppy. You have tried to distract him. You have yelled in frustration, and felt as though you were a bad parent. Why, you even swatted his rear end! … And he just keeps biting, and biting, and biting ….



Instinctively, you know this is out of your league and you need professional help… but you feel a little intimidated for various reasons. You have had several dogs of this breed, and you are afraid somebody might treat you like an amateur when you have a lot of experience… or even that they may say that you are a bad owner.

You stay up part of the night to think about it. In the morning, you gather your courage. You contact a dog obedience trainer well out of the area in an effort to prevent people who know you from finding out. You are surprised at the professional's reaction. She asks you several questions as though she knows the answers before they come out of your mouth.

She says: "Let's get right to the point and fix this problem as soon as possible."

"First, this puppy is not really dominant-aggressive yet. He knows you do not know how to lead a dog with his personality, so he is 'teasing' with his dog dominance behavior. This is dangerous, but much easier to solve than a puppy who is practicing dominance. The puppy is also challenging you because he is physically restless and psychologically unchallenged."

What to do? "Change your routine completely with him. Put a British style slip lead on him, since he pulls like a lunatic on the leash. Pull UP as a correction, not to the side. Do not make any excuses for his attitude. Your feeling sorry for him because you do not know what to do is what is creating this problem. Just snap him out of it, and keep going."

"Now for that mouth. Give up the yelling. I don't have to tell you that he jumps and bites harder when you start that. Raising your voice works with a dog who is trained and has learned to take a loud voice seriously, but certainly not with a challenging pup."

To your amazement, the professional actually sits you down and has you practice saying your correction word over and over, until you have the tone exactly right – calm and firm. She also works with you on the posture that you need to take.

Boy, after that demonstration, you feel like you could take on the world … much less this little pup. You try the correction she has taught you. The dog freezes. Amazed, you tell the trainer: "Hey, that's pretty cool!"

She seems proud, yet very expectant of the results of your new-found puppy training skills. No more puppy bad dog behavior and dog bite … SHUT THAT MOUTH, PUP!