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Permalink Reply by Beth on June 20, 2011 at 12:04pm

You can teach "wait" but personally I'd wait until she's a little bit older.   She's a tiny bit too young for much impulse control around food,  in my opinion.  Others may disagree. 

 

When she's about 12 weeks old, you can start having her sit, stand between her and the food bowl, put it down and say "Wait".   Make her wait for only a half-second, and you may need to hold a better treat up by your eyes to get her to look at you.  Then say "ok!" in a happy voice and step aside and let her at it. 

 

Over time, increase the "wait" (but still only keep it to a few seconds, like maybe 3 or 4).   Then when she's good, you can stand next to the food dish so you are not blocking her.  Make her "wait" and if she runs to it, step in front of her.  She'll get the point.

 

But at this age, she's probably really really hungry when she's fed, so again I'd not worry much with a puppy that young about rushing the food bowl.  If she's growling, then that's a matter that should be dealt with, but I'd not worry about rushing til she's a bit older and starting to get some impulse control. 

 

In the meantime, hold her back with your hand in front of her chest with one hand and put the bowl down with the other.  OR put her food down in a pen or crate and don't give her access til your hand is out of the way.  Oh, and fill the bowl up high and then put the full bowl on the ground, rather than trying to bring the food to the bowl.

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Permalink Reply by Chelsea on June 20, 2011 at 12:15pm

That's excellent advice, Beth - thanks!  I agree with you - she's probably too young for me to really do much right now (I forget that sometimes - I'm so eager to start training her).  But I'll definitely file that advice away for the future.  

 

She's also in the biting, biting, biting stage right now, so I keep offering her chew toys instead of my fingers.  My yelping helps a little, but she's pretty much immune to it by now.  She loves to lick, so when she does that instead of bite, I praise her with "good girl, kisses!" and she seems to understand (sometimes).

 

I'm having so much fun with her.  She won't stay this age for long - I'm trying to enjoy it (even as daunting as it can sometimes be.  ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Jane on June 20, 2011 at 12:32pm

As Beth said she's pretty young to expect much control at this point. Luke is my food inhaler and he has a slow-feed bowl that does slow him down a bit. Before I give him his food I ask him to sit, then wait, and then I lower the bowl to the ground. If he gets up as I'm setting it down I raise the bowl back up. He caught on very quickly but I don't think I expected much of him until he was maybe 4 months old.

 

As far as the bitting, you may have to work extra hard at this one since you got her so young. They learn a lot of bite inhibition from their mother and littermates. I would continue with the yelp and offering her an appropriate toy, and if she really gets out of hand you coudl try a 5 minute time out in another puppy safe room.

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Permalink Reply by Chelsea on June 20, 2011 at 12:40pm

Thanks, Jane - yep, that's a concern of mine, the biting.  I knew she was VERY young for me to pick up, but the breeder was letting them go that early, etc.  In any case, the biting wasn't bad at first, but I'm really seeing it now.  I'm trying hard to work on her, letting her know the difference between biting toys and biting ME.  It's a challenge, but she seems very intelligent (she's already potty-trained - has only had two accidents in the house, on that first day home, and always cries when she needs to go out).  

I appreciate these tips! 

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