- Bottle-sock - rinse and dry a plastic soda or water bottle. Fill partway with dry soup beans. Put the cap on tight, Put the bottle of beans in a sock and knot the sock above the bottle. The toy will rattle, crackle, has a knot to chew on, and the floppy end of the sock to play with.
- Courtesy of Joanne of Jolee Aire Kennels. - Large raw carrot with the end cut off
- Whole apple with the stem removed - even better, cored and frozen, possibly stuffed with something good like peanut butter before being frozen, which helps with teething.
- Raw potato
- Small ball, just the size of the bottom of a paper cup and dropped in. So tricky to get back out again when your best skills are chewing the top of the cup closed or sticking your whole nose into the cup and biting the edge. Keeps Tilly well entertained for quite a while.
Home-made cheap and easy dog treats:
- Cheerios
- Low-salt wheat/oat thins
- popcorn
Training tips:
- When puppies bite your hands, they are trying to communicate and have a connection with you in the only way they know. Blocking and disciplining that will make them frustrated, pulling away is a game. Joanne says it is best to make it very uncomfortable in their mouths to have fingers in there so they decide they'd rather not. We like this idea a lot and it seems very effective. (Uncomfortable means pinching their tongue or putting your finger down their throat as you continue to hold them like you don't know what's going on in there so they don't blame you or themselves. Fingers just don't feel good to chew on.) Some people also recommend yipping and crying like a puppy when you get bit. When she bites anything else, give a small pinch to the back of her neck like mom's bite and say calmly, "no".
- Pick one spot that is the potty spot and take them there first thing in the morning and every 2 hours until bed (more when they're sick). Say the magic word until they go, then as soon as they squat start in on the "Yes! Good puppy!"
- When puppy doesn't want to walk, be gentle and patient, but persistent and firm. When puppy is pulling or stopping, stop and face the puppy, say encouraging things to puppy, and draw puppy towards you. then continue. Teach good walking habits early and always insist on no pulling, and walking at a heel.
- Treats are amazing! If you tell puppy their dog food is actually a treat, they aren't eating so much 'doggy junk food' and you have a whole cup or so of kibble to train with. Meal times are also great times for training. Short sessions of training a few times a day are great, so breakfast lunch and dinner are good reminders to stop and focus on teaching puppy the basics, like sit and stay or come.
- For starting training, only call puppy when you know puppy is going to come to you anyways. When they are looking at you and running towards you, that's a great time to say "here puppy!" and reward them with praise and treats for appearing at your feet. Narrating what puppy is doing is a great way to start introducing commands.
- Be super super specific and consistent. Things like ''come' means sitting at my feet looking at me and waiting for a reward' work better than 'come' meaning 'run around in circles sort of near me but not in reach'. Some people use clickers to have a consistent noise to mark the desired behavior. I use "yes!" because I can't be trusted to keep track of a little plastic thing.
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