Help Please -14 week puppy -totally unruly

Hi, I have a 14 week old puppy, part Akbash, Lab and Border Collie, he will NOT stop biting and hard even when you pull his leash he just keep struggling to bite. He also jumps very high on people and comes at you like he is on attack. I am really concerned and even thinking i may not be able to keep him. Any advice ?

Anyone choosing to get a young puppy must be prepared to patiently train, socialize and teach manners to them. ALL puppies bite and chew and pee and do all kinds of things no one likes,(some worse than others) but this is part of what you get when you chose to bring a puppy home.

Get your puppy into puppy classes, and then obedience. The Akbash dog is an independant guardian breed who needs LOTS of socialization and the Lab and BC have a lot of energy. Quite a combination you chose.

This mix is going to need a great deal of not only exercise in walking or running, but stimulation like agility or some other activity to engage not only body but mind as well.

Here is a link with all kinds of puppy stuff including links on mouthing and biting. Hope it helps.
http://www.wonderpuppy.net/canwehelp/puppy.htm

Everything you mentioned is displays of dominance. When you leash him, you're restraining him; when he jumps up, he's trying to get closer to your level; when he bites you, he's putting you into your place. You have to learn to be the alpha dog of your household and quickly. If your dog learns what you are afraid of so that he can assert himself to you and WIN, this could be a dangerous dog in the future. With the right training (for both you and the dog), you can get past this.

I have him starting obedience training on Tuesday. I have only had him for a couple of weeks now and he was so laid back but has taken an instant change. I have been reading a book about the training and the Alpha. I guess I will just have to be more dominant myself.

Hi there. Another thing to do is teach the dog that the children are higher in the pack's ranking order than he is. My sister had the same problem with her dog, and here's what worked for her:
1) Feed the dog after you and the children have eaten.
2) Have the children put food in the dog's bowl. Make sure the dog sees them doing this. Until he learns the "wait" command, have him on a leash so he's not pushing them aside to get to the food, and only let him go when the child gives the release word (**you should pick a release word now, as it will become very important during your training**).
You should also consider bringing the children with you to obedience class and have them participate in his training. This will teach the children how to handle him properly, and will teach the dog that he needs to listen to them as well as to you. Good luck! :D

We shy away from the terms 'Alpha' and 'Dominance' for the humans because older training methods often use these terms as an excuse to be violent with the dog. We try to think of it as being a great leader or parent to the pup. You call the shots and that means about everything. Puppies are exploring and challenging the world and this pup seems determined to assertively challenge more than others might, which means you need to be that much more in control of his world.
The more time spent with you the better - even time on the leash in the house. You become the leader and he is the follower. Ask him to do lots of things throughout the day and make him work for his toys, food and love.
I would not leave him in the yard all day or even half of the day to self entertain - his temperament will quickly claim ownership of the yard which can lead to aggressive/protective behavior. He needs to understand that all things (including the house and yard) belong to you.

Our 16 week chow/shepard is giving us similar problems with biting. She bites hard too, not just puppy-mouthing. It seems to be mostly when she wants something and when she`s worked up. I`ve been trying to get everyone to make her sit before she gets anything (the kids forget), it does slow her down, but not stop the biting. She obeys sit well and no for a few things consistantly, but we haven`t found a technique that works to stop her biting consistantly- giving her an appropriate toy to chew or taking her out usually will stop it, but we need her not to bite in the first place. I would love to hear some specific techniques to keep her from biting.

We are starting training May 7th, but I`d like to be able to work on this before then.

Puppies biting too hard can sometimes be because they didn't spend enough time (8-10wks) with the litter and mother learning boundaries before they were split up. If this is the case exposure to a mothering dog could help. Well, exposure to any well-behaved dog will help.

Is it ok for the puppy to be running loose in the yard if someone is with her at least supervising? We`ve probably been letting her out alone too much, but didn`t realize it could cause problems.

I don`t understand why its bad for a dog to show slight aggression to strangers who try to come in the yard. We really don`t want strangers coming in until they`ve been approved by us. Is it ok just to bark, but not display aggression? I know having a dog that barks and looks scary has saved us from being robbed more than once, maybe I`m not getting the distinction.

Thanks

I've trained puppies not to bite by immediately getting up and moving away from them if they bite, at the same time saying "No biting, that hurts". If you don't allow them to continue to bite you, they'll get the message. Also having a toy or a bone nearby to place in their mouth when they want to bite tells them that the bone is OK to bite, while biting you is not. For the jumping while on leash - I would get one of the collars that doesn't allow them to pull up their head which they have to do in order to jump. I agree that it sounds like this pup will take some training to learn what is acceptable behavior (as all dogs do) and that with patience and consistency, he'll learn whatever you want him to.