Margot the Destroyer Strikes Again....and Again....



Why the long face, Margot?



After the incident that I wrote about last time of waking up to find that Margot had chewed up shoes, a table leg, etc., things thankfully settled down for a while, and she went back to chewing on her own toys.   She was pretty good for a couple of weeks, but then last week I woke up to find that she had chewed up my glasses case, an emery board, and even the handle of a knife that I had used the night before to slice cheese!  So, I started making sure that nothing tempting was left on the coffee table at night before we went to bed. 

Margot then discovered that if she got up on the back of the loveseat, she could reach everything that was left on the sofa table that rests against the back of the sofa.  So, I come home one day to find several piles of shredded mail, and one of my favorite bracelets that I wear to work was destroyed.  I was in a rush that day and only had time to change clothes before heading over to my photography studio, but I was at least able to clean up the mess before heading out again.  I knew Justin would be home from work in about twenty minutes, so I did not put Margot in her crate.  Well, that turned out to be a mistake, because when Justin came home from work, he found more piles of shredded mail (I had cleaned up the mess, but forgot to put up the rest of the mail that was still on the sofa table), and Margot had completely destroyed one of his favorite ball caps. 

What's left of my black flats.

So, we no longer keep anything that we don’t want destroyed on the coffee table OR sofa table, but that still hasn’t stopped Margot the Destroyer.  Tuesday morning, I woke up to find that she had completely destroyed my pair of black flats that I wear to work at least 3-4 days a week.  Luckily, I own the same exact pair of shoes in brown, so I’m wearing those today, and I plan to run up to the mall after work to buy a new pair of black shoes.  Yes, I was extremely irritated when I discovered my chewed up shoes this morning, but I have actually been wanting to buy a new pair of black flats for a while now because the lining of those had come loose and were starting to be uncomfortable to wear.  Not that this makes it “okay” for Margot to put my shoes out of their misery, I’m just saying that it wasn’t the end of the world.

The thing is, every time I’ve found a pile of something that Margot has destroyed, I’m more angry at myself than at Margot because I’m the one who should have prevented it from happening.  I know better than to leave anything of value on the coffee table at night, and yet when I see Margot sound asleep as I’m getting ready to go to bed, I think, “Oh, she’s so zonked out that she’ll probably sleep through the rest of the night.  It’ll be fine if I wait until tomorrow to put these things away.”  Wrong!  I also recently purchased a shoe organizer for my foyer so that Justin and I would stop kicking off our shoes and creating a big pile of temptation for Margot by the front door, and we’ve both been very diligent about putting our shoes into their little “lockers” every evening.  However, yesterday I was pretty worn out from a long day at work, followed by a two-hour meeting with my photography partner at the studio, and I simply forgot to put my shoes away after I kicked them off.  So, when I woke up this morning to find that my shoes had become Margot’s latest victim, I really blamed myself more than Margot.

Of course, I am obviously still holding Margot accountable for her actions, and I’m very disappointed that her destructive behavior seems to be getting worse.   I also HATE that we’re going to start crating her again, but we really have no choice at this point.  My biggest fear is that she’s going to start destroying her crate, which doesn’t even belong to us.  Justin and I borrowed it from our friend, Brett, when we first brought Margot home, and I was hoping to be able to return it to him soon.  Unfortunately, it looks like we may need to keep it for a little while longer.  Even though I’ve read some things online about this “Doberteens” phase and was sort of prepared for Margot to start misbehaving, I still can’t help but feel like we’re taking a big step back by having to crate her at night again, especially since we haven’t crated her for several months.  I guess you just do what you’ve got to do, though.  I’d rather go back to crating her at night than keep waking up to piles of carnage each morning.

While reading about what to expect during a dog’s puberty stage, I have also read a few stories from Doberman owners who said that their dogs seemed to regress with their housebreaking at this stage, as well.  Margot still has a few accidents here and there, but lately it’s always been whenever Justin and I weren’t home to let her out.  I felt that this was normal and didn’t really consider it to be “Doberteens” behavior.  A few nights ago, however, Margot was playing in the living room while Justin and I were both sitting on the sofa with our laptops.  Suddenly, I thought I heard water hitting the carpet, so I looked up and found Margot peeing right in front of us on the living room rug!  I was so shocked that I yelled, “Margot’s peeing!” which startled her and made her stop.  I immediately got up and yelled, “No!” and then lead her towards the back door while saying, “Margot, go pee!”  She was very confused by my angry tone, which she really doesn’t hear very often, so she was reluctant to follow me to the back door.  Justin, who was also using a rarely-heard angry tone, nudged her from behind until she finally went outside.  We closed the door behind her, and Justin kept an eye on her through the window while I cleaned up her mess.



She's sorry.



We were both so disappointed and also confused about why Margot hadn’t given any indication that she needed to go out before she decided to just pee on the rug, but when Justin reported that Margot had just finished doing #2 in the yard, I told him that we HAD to praise her when we let her back inside, despite how angry we were at the moment.   I wanted Margot to understand that peeing in the house resulted in an angry reaction from her parents, but using the bathroom outside makes Mom and Dad VERY happy.  So, we praised her like crazy, saying, “Good girl!  Margot go pee!  Good girl!” and even gave her a treat when she came back inside.  Even though we didn’t yell at her anymore after that for peeing on the carpet, and despite the fact that we had just praised her for using the bathroom outside, Margot seemed a little shaken up by the whole experience.  I know that sounds kind of silly, but I swear it’s true.  Usually, whenever Justin and I praise her, she gets really excited and wound up, but this time all she wanted to do was cuddle.  She even sat next to Justin on the couch, bowed her head, rested it against his, and stayed like that for a very long time.  Of course, I HAD to take a picture of this moment because it was just so pitiful.  I mean, seriously, how can you stay mad at a puppy when they’re so obviously sorry for what they’ve done?

Anyway, I plan to start doing more to help Margot release some of her crazy puppy energy, which I know will really help curb her bad behaviors.  This puppy needs EXERCISE, and, let’s be honest, so do her parents.  It’s been bitterly cold here for the last week or so, but for the past couple of mornings it has been much nicer.  So, I think I’m going to start checking the weather each night before I go to bed and try to set my alarm accordingly.  I think that a brisk, 30-minute walk each morning might help keep her calm during the day, and then hopefully another walk after I get home from work in the evening will make her sleep better through the night.  The problem is that my schedule is a little all over the place, and I almost always have a bunch of editing and photography work to do when I get home in the evenings.  So, I’m not always going to have time to walk her after work, and Justin doesn’t get home until almost 7:00 p.m. after the sun has already gone down.   This is why Justin and I are both counting down the days until daylight savings time begins again in March, because then I can start taking Margot back to the dog park after work (schedule permitting) and she’ll be able to run and play for HOURS before the sun goes down.   Oh, how we miss those days!

Margot’s aunt, Kristy, has been very anxious to make Margot her new running partner on the weekends, which I wrote about in my last blog; however, Kristy recently did some research about running with Dobermans and discovered that it’s actually not recommended until after the Doberman is around 18 months-old.  The reason is because constant running on hard surfaces, like sidewalks, at a young age could have a long-term effect on the dog’s skeletal development and cause joint problems.   Therefore, Kristy has decided that she may start taking Margot for long walks, instead, as part of Kristy’s warm-up before a long run.  Then, after Margot’s a little older and her growth plates are fully developed, they will start running together.

In the meantime, another thing I plan to do in the very near future is sign Margot up for obedience classes.  I know I’ve been saying that for a looooong time, but I haven’t had extra money lately because I’ve been purchasing things for my photography business.  Now that I’m at the point where I don’t think I need to buy much else for my business for a while, I’ve still got to wait until after I’ve shot a few photo sessions before I’ll be able to afford the obedience classes.  The classes aren’t THAT expensive, though, so I doubt I’ll have to wait much longer.  The reason why I’m so anxious for Margot to start obedience training is because it’s just as important to exercise a puppy’s mind as it is to exercise his/her body.   It’s like Cesar Millan always says, first exercise, then discipline, and THEN affection.  That is apparently the key to a happy, well-behaved pup.  We’ve definitely got the affection part down, so now we just need to work on the exercise and discipline, and then put it all in the correct order. 

Margot the Destroyer (6-Month Progress Report)

It’s hard to believe my little Margot turned 6 months-old last week!  This morning, she came into the bathroom with me for the first time since she was a tiny puppy and I used to keep her in the bathroom with me while I got ready for work.  I couldn’t resist taking a photo of her sitting on the bathroom floor like I used to back then, but when I compared her 6 week-old photo to today’s 6 month-old photo, my heart broke a little.  She’s gotten so big! 



6 weeks vs. 6 months

I know that people like to say that they wish they could keep their dogs as puppies forever, and I do agree with that sentiment somewhat, but I have to say that I also love watching Margot grow up.  I’m just so proud of her for being such a sweet and relatively behaved girl (you know, for a puppy).  The only non-toy thing she has ever chewed and/or destroyed in my house since we first brought her home was the cord to my disco ball, and she just did that within the last month.  I wasn’t paying attention because I was busy stringing some Christmas lights.  I thought Margot was chewing on one of her toys on the floor beside me, but it turned out she had gotten hold of the cord to my beloved disco ball, which I always use during my annual Christmas parties each year.  I was disappointed in her for chewing through the cord because, like I said, she’s never done that before, but of all the things she could have destroyed at least the disco ball wasn’t a huge loss.   I’m still not sure what made her decide to try chewing on a cord instead of her usual toys, though, because she has always been perfectly happy destroying her own stuff.  People may think Justin and I spoil Margot by constantly buying her chew toys and stuffed animals, but I honestly believe that’s the main reason why she’s never chewed on our shoes, furniture, or anything else in the house….besides that one darn cord. 



I will say, though, that lately Margot has been more focused on purposefully destroying her toys, especially stuffed animals and balls, rather than playing with them.  It’s like tearing apart every new toy she gets as quickly as she can is her #1 main goal.  If you give her a tennis ball, the first thing she wants to do is pull all of the fuzz off the ball with her teeth.  Then, she will work on chewing the ball with her very back teeth until she finally punctures it.  Finally, she will use her paws to hold the ball while she rips the rubber into pieces with her teeth.  She will even pick up the pieces of rubber and chew on them like they’re chewing gum, but I try to throw them all away before she starts doing that because I don’t want her to actually eat the ball or choke. 

With stuffed animals, the first thing she wants to do is find the squeaker and remove it, which is funny because she always seems so disappointed when her toy won’t squeak anymore.  Once the squeaker is removed, then it’s time to remove all of the stuffing.  When the animal is no longer stuffed, no longer squeaks, and is merely a limp piece of cloth, you’d think she’d be done, but oh no!  Not Margot the Destroyer!  At that point, she will hold the cloth between her paws and pull it apart with her teeth until my floor is covered in hundreds of little threads.  It’s a mess to clean up, and every time I pick up the carnage that was once one of Margot’s toys, she always looks at me like, “Hey!  That’s mine!” 

I recently discovered a baseball while I was getting my house ready for our Christmas party, so I decided to give it to Margot to see if she’d like it.  I thought, no way could she destroy a real baseball as quickly as she destroys her dog toys, and if nothing else it would give her something to work on for a few days.  Within just about an hour, though, Margot came running up to me with a completely bald baseball in her mouth!  I could not believe that she managed to remove the stitched leather from around the baseball’s core in such a short amount of time!



I love Margot's yawns.



As far as actually playing ball in the house goes, Margot does like for us to throw the ball for her, but she’s not very good at giving it back.  In fact, she’s pretty awful at it.  She will bring the ball back to us after we’ve thrown it, but she always stops right in front of me or Justin and just stares at us with the ball in her mouth.  If we reach for it, she backs away, as if she wants us to try and take it from her.  If we ignore her, she will bring the ball closer and sometimes even put it in our laps or touch our hands with it, but she never actually releases the ball.  As soon as we try to grab it, she turns and runs away.  If we REALLY ignore her attempts to get our attention with the ball, she will eventually release the ball either right beside us or on our laps.  However, again, if we try to grab it, she will attempt to snatch it away from us first. 

The funniest thing is whenever we are able to get the ball from Margot and throw it into another room, if the ball rolls underneath the Christmas tree, under a table or chair, or into an area that is surrounded by other things, Margot will not even try to get the ball.  Even if it is easily accessible, she will look right at it and whine, then stare at us until one of us gets the ball for her.  Sometimes it’s really funny, but sometimes it’s very frustrating, especially when we’re busy and there’s no good reason why she can’t get the ball herself.  It’s like she’s afraid to even try, which neither of us understand.



As for the Christmas party I have mentioned a few times already, we had a great time this year, as always, and Margot was a big hit with my guests.  She was very well behaved, especially around the food, although she and Sam did have to be told to stay away from the food table once or twice.  After a couple of hours of mingling with all my friends, Margot and Sam decided to just curl up on the couch together like it was a regular night at home, which melted everyone’s hearts.   In fact, at the end of the night, we all voted for partygoer superlatives, and I was tickled when one of the ballots for Cutest Couple was filled out for Sam and Margot. 



Family Portrait



Justin and I tried to get a family picture taken with the girls earlier in the evening, and while it isn’t technically the best photo (bad focus is one of my major pet peeves), I still think it’s pretty cute.  My friends were obviously holding treats behind the camera to get Margot and Sam’s attention.  Oh, and please note that Margot is now officially taller than Sam.

*sigh*  Seriously, where has the time gone?!?!



A Weekend of Positives and One Big Negative

Well, I can say with certainty that Margot's play-biting has improved, but I really don’t know if credit should be given to the bean bottle or the fact that she’s just learning on her own that no means no.  Since that first night of the “bean bottle experiment,” when I shook the bean-filled bottle while saying, “No bite!” several times, I honestly haven’t had to use it much more.  That experience seemed to have been enough to at least help Margot understand the whole “no bite” concept.  She will still mouth and bite people, but her bites are more inhibited now, and she is much more willing to redirect and chew on one of her toys instead.  In fact, she seems to have discovered that it is much more fun to chew on her Nylabone if someone else holds it for her while she’s chewing it, and she will gladly do this for a really long time without getting bored. 

Housebreaking, on the other hand, is apparently not going as well as I thought.  Margot has always understood that going outside means that she is supposed to use the bathroom.  She also knows that when I ask, “You gotta go pee?” that means we are going to go outside.  However, I don’t believe that Margot understands that A) she’s not supposed to or allowed to use the bathroom indoors, and B) she needs to ask to be let outside if she needs to use the bathroom.   

The perfect example of this happened on Saturday evening.  Two different times, as soon as Margot awoke from a nap, I immediately asked if she had to go pee.  I then got up, opened the back door, and waited to hear Margot come running, which she usually does.  However, on both occasions, she did not immediately come running, and when I walked back into the living room, I found her peeing on her doggy bed.  I told her, “NO!  Margot go pee outside!” then immediately took her outside and sat her in the grass while saying, “Margot, go pee.”  On the second occasion, after I sat her in the grass, I left her in the yard for a couple of minutes while I went back inside to clean up her mess.  After I let her back in, she played for about a minute, but then I just happened to catch her mid-poop in the foyer when I got up to go into the kitchen!  At least this time I was able to get her outside in time for her to actually finish using the bathroom in the yard so I could praise her like crazy for finishing outdoors, but I still just do not understand why she chose to poop in the house instead of while she was outside just minutes earlier. 

It’s very disheartening because, like I said, now I feel like she’s really not getting the whole housebreaking concept at all.  And I know that some of you are going to say that I need to watch for “signs” that Margot needs to use the bathroom, but it is very difficult because she walks around with her nose to the ground most of the time anyway, whether she has to use the bathroom or not.  She also doesn’t spin in circles or seem to be trying to find a spot when she has to go, nor does she have a preferred spot in the house where she usually has her accidents.  One second she’s playing, and literally the next second there’s an accident, which happens so quickly that by the time you catch her, she’s already finished.  I’m not really sure if it’s just a matter of her still not being old enough to figure out how to ask to be let outside, or if I’m missing a step and not training her properly.  My gut has been telling me that she’ll figure it out eventually, as she is still only 9.5 weeks-old and it is rather rare that she has an accident indoors, but after those two incidents on Saturday night, I couldn’t help but wonder if there’s something else I should be doing to help her understand. 

In other, more positive news, Margot had another great check-up at the vet with Dr. Ellis this weekend.  She weighed in at a whopping 15 lbs., although Justin and I had predicted she’d weigh over 20 lbs. simply because she seems to have doubled in size over the past two weeks.  I love this comparison photo of her 7-week and 9-week check-ups.  Look how long she’s gotten!  Not just her limbs, but her little snout has also lengthened.  As sad as it is watching her grow out of puppyhood, it’s also really interesting to watch her transformation.  She’s already a pretty girl, but I think Margot is going to be a beautiful adult Doberman someday. 

  

Also in more positive news, Sam tolerated Margot napping with/on her several more times this weekend, and Margot finally performed “lay down” on command for the first time yesterday!  It’s not perfect yet, but she’s getting there.  Sometimes, she will just lower her upper body and forearms to the floor, but leave her butt up on the air, which is so cute I can hardly stand it.  I always press down on her butt to make her lay completely down on the ground before I reward her, of course, but Kristy suggested I train Margot to do this butt-in-the-air pose under the command “downward dog,” which is a yoga pose.

By the way, speaking of my brother’s girlfriend, you guys should really check out Kristy’s blog.  She’s amazing.  She completely transformed her lifestyle about 7 years ago and has managed to lose and keep off about 70 pounds!  At some point in our lives, we’ve all heard about how important it is to live a healthier lifestyle, but for many people that just doesn’t seem possible or even realistic.  What I love about Kristy’s blog is the fact that she doesn’t just preach health and fitness or regurgitate a bunch of exercise and diet tips that she’s learned over the years.  She simply talks about her own everyday life, which also happens to include a lot of nutrition and health (including “financial health”) information because those things are a part of her life now.  In other words, by sharing with the world her day-to-day routines, Kristy is actually leading by example.  Like I said, she’s pretty amazing, and I highly encourage you all to check out “Kristy’s Health Revolution.”

9 Weeks Progress Report and the Bean Bottle Experiment

Margot is 9 weeks-old today!  She’s growing like a weed, too.  She’s got another vet appointment this Saturday, and Justin and I are predicting that she has at least doubled her weight since her last check-up when she weighed 10.2 lbs.  Everybody says that “they grow up too fast, “and now I know exactly what they mean. 

Speaking of growing up, I tend to hold Margot to some pretty high standards in terms of discipline and training, which is why I get so frustrated and discouraged sometimes if I don’t feel like she’s “getting it” fast enough.  However, last night Justin and I were talking about Margot’s progress and all that she’s accomplished so far, and he mentioned that we’ve only had her for 2.5 weeks, which blew my mind!  It feels like we’ve had her for at least a month!  Not only that, but Justin also pointed out that Margot is JUST NOW at the age where most puppies are allowed to leave their mother and the rest of their litter to go home with their new owners.  That really put things in perspective for me.  Think about it; at the age of only 6 weeks-old, not only was Margot completely crate-trained and understood that “You gotta go pee?” means it’s time to go outside to use the bathroom , but she also mastered the “sit” command almost effortlessly by the age of 8 weeks!   I mean, come on.  That’s not bad for such a little pup, right?  Granted, she’s still not completely housebroken, but it is pretty impressive that she has only had a handful of accidents since we’ve brought her home, and she is still only 9 weeks-old.

I can’t say that this little revelation made me want to lower the bar for Margot, but it did help me appreciate the fact that she IS learning very quickly and actually doing quite well.  It’s easy for me to lose site of that when I’m busy pulling my hair out over the fact that Margot continues to play-bite, despite our consistent corrections since Day One.

The little Landshark when she was only 6 weeks old.

However, I may have some good news to report in that department.  At my wit’s end yesterday, I literally Googled “puppy biting nothing works,” and it pulled up an old post to the DobermanTalk.com Puppy Corner forum.  A frustrated puppy owner had posted a story that sounded extremely similar to our situation with Margot.  This owner had tried EVERY method for correcting play-biting, but yelping /putting on a dramatic show each time the puppy bit only excited the puppy and made it want to bite/play more, turning his/her back on the puppy or leaving the room only made the puppy find something else to bite, such as furniture, giving a stern, “NO!” whenever the puppy bit barely deterred the biting, and redirecting the puppy’s attention to a chew toy would only distract the puppy for a few minutes before it eventually tried to bite the owner’s hand again.   Then, this owner read an article online that suggested shaking a bottle full of beans each time the puppy tries to bite while also giving a stern, “No bite!”  The owner was amazed by how effective this method was after trying it with his/her puppy and highly recommended that other puppy owners give it a try. 

So, last night, I did just that.  I filled an empty 20 oz. soda bottle with a handful of pinto beans (courtesy of Kristy) and kept the bottle beside me on the coffee table as I sat cross-legged on the floor playing with Margot.   As soon as she bit my hand, I said, “No!  No bite!” and put her Nylabone in her mouth.  She gnawed on it, for which I praised her, but seconds later she tried to bite my hand again.  Since she was choosing my hand over her Nylabone at that point, I decided this warranted a shake of the bean bottle and another stern, “No bite!” 

Well, THAT got her attention!  She immediately stopped biting and jumped off my lap.  I handed her the Nylabone again, which she gladly took and climbed back into my lap.  I praised her, but once again, after only about a minute, Margot decided she’d rather bite my hand than her chew toy.  As she started to go for my hand, I said, “Noooo…..”, but when she didn’t heed my warning, I gave her another shake of the bottle with a stern, “No bite!” and she immediately stopped.  This time, however, she decided to test me by immediately biting my arm instead of my hand, and when that also received a shake of the bean bottle, she then tried biting my foot.  When she received a shake of the bottle each time, no matter where she bit me, she finally gave up and starting playing with her Wubba instead, for which she received LOTS of praise.  Hooray for small victories!!!

To be clear, I’m not ready to declare that the bean bottle method truly works yet because I only used it last night and once this morning, but I can say that so far, so good.  The keys are to keep the bottle out of sight so that it surprises her when I shake it, to not shake it EVERY time she bites because I don’t want her to get used to it, and to always give a stern, “No bite!” as I’m shaking the bottle because I want her to associate that phrase with the scary sound.   (The goal is to not have to shake the bottle each time I say, “No bite!”)  Again, it’s too soon to say for certain that this method is working, but after I shook the bottle at Margot several times last night, I did see an improvement in her willingness to redirect after simply telling her, “No bite!”   

So, my plan is to first try to redirect Margot and praise her for chewing on a toy instead of my hand, but if she ignores the redirection or doesn’t chew on her toy for very long before trying to bite me again, she will receive a shake of the bean bottle.  After another night of trying this method, tomorrow I should be able to say with more certainty whether or not I feel that this technique is effective for Margot.  Keep your fingers crossed!

6-8 Weeks: Crating, Housebreaking, and Play-Biting

Margot is 8 weeks-old today!  I can’t believe how quickly the last two weeks have flown by and how much she’s already grown!  I’ve never adopted a puppy as young as Margot before.  I estimate that each of my other girls were probably close to a year-old when I adopted them, give or take a few months.  I really didn’t think that raising a 6 week-old puppy would be that different from raising Jocie, Sam, or Lexie, but I’m learning that there is definitely a little bit of extra work involved.   Here’s what we’ve accomplished so far:

As far as crate-training and housebreaking go, Margot has done so well that I’ve declared she is a Puppy Genius to several of my friends and family.  For the first two nights, Justin and I slept on our futon mattress in the living room in front of Margot’s crate, and I woke up at 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. to take her outside (puppy bladders can only “hold it” for 2-3 hours).   Margot completely surprised us by how well she did and, I kid you not, by the third night our little 6 week-old puppy was completely crate-trained!   

I also consider Margot to be a Puppy Genius in the housebreaking department, although she is not yet fully housebroken.  She is able to hold it for several hours while she’s in her crate, she has learned that the purpose of going into the back yard is to use the bathroom, and she will use the bathroom almost every single time we take her out, which is quite often.  However, she will still occasionally have an accident in the house if we’re not watching her carefully because she hasn’t yet figured out that she needs to tell us when she has to use the bathroom, although I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how few accidents she’s had.

Last night, I had Margot over at my brother, Zach, and his girlfriend, Kristy’s, apartment, and I noticed she was starting to sniff around a little.  Then, to my surprise, Margot actually walked into the kitchen and towards their back door.  I immediately asked, “Margot, you gotta go pee?” and then praised her BIG TIME when she took another step towards the door.  Hopefully that was an indication that she’s beginning to understand that if she communicates her needs, we will respond appropriately.  

Our biggest challenge with Margot, so far, has been with play-biting.  For starters, I’ve learned that, even though Margot and her siblings were able to eat hard puppy food and were mostly weaned from their mother, many experts still consider 6 weeks of age to be too young for a puppy to be adopted.   Many articles say that it’s important for the puppy to stay with her litter and her mother for a full 8 weeks.  If the puppy is adopted before 8 weeks, she hasn’t experienced enough discipline in terms of play-biting or establishing dominance from her mother or her other siblings.  For example, as the mother weans her litter, she teaches the puppies that “no means no” and establishes herself as their leader by growling and/or walking away from them when they try to latch.  (We actually saw Margot’s mother doing this to her litter the day we adopted Margot.) Also, when a puppy wrestles and plays with a sibling, she learns that if her sibling yelps and stops playing with her, she’s bitten him/her too hard. 

However, because we brought Margot home before she had a chance to fully learn those lessons, she basically viewed me, Justin, and others as simply other members of her litter.  As a result, there has been a lot of play-biting and, while I know that this is typical playful puppy behavior, I’ve explained to Justin and all our friends that it is very important we discourage Margot from biting at all times.  It is also very important that we establish ourselves as her leader right from the start if we want her to become a well-behaved, obedient Doberman.

It turns out that this is much easier said than done, especially at such a young age, but I’ve been trying to combine a few techniques I’ve heard about online and from my friends.  First, I try to correct Margot’s behavior when she play-bites by telling her “No! No bite!” and then I redirect her attention to one of her toys.  If that doesn’t work and she bites me again, I immediately give a high-pitched yelp, but without pulling away (immediately pulling your hand away makes your puppy think you want to keep playing).  Then, I give her a VERY sad look right in her eyes and say, “OOOowwww!  Margot hurt me,” and then I slowly turn my back to her and pretend to cry.  It’s all very melodramatic and quite hilarious, but I think it’s actually starting to work.    She will usually just sit there and look confused for a second while I “cry”, but then she will eventually try to cuddle up next to me.   If she does this and remains calm for several seconds, I then gently pet her and say, “Good girl, Margot.  No bite.  Good girl.” 

Of course, a lot of times after I’ve “made up” with Margot, she will immediately try to play-bite me again, which can be frustrating to say the least.  However, I knew going into this that training a puppy requires TONS of patience, perseverance, and consistency, so I just simply repeat the whole routine if she bites me again.  If she does it a third time, however, I don’t just turn my back to her, I actually stand up and walk away for a little while in order to really get the message across that biting = no more playtime. 

As I said, we’ve been trying this method for two weeks now without seeing much improvement, but last night I thought I saw some signs that Margot is finally starting to “get it” because I didn’t have to repeat the corrections as many times before she stopped biting.  I’m not trying to kid myself, though.  Margot may be a Puppy Genius, but she is still only 8 weeks-old, and I’d be a fool to expect her to completely stop biting and chewing anytime soon.  After all, I’m pretty sure she’s not even teething yet.

Overall, though, I’m pretty proud of Justin and myself for our puppy-parenting thus far.   I think we’re doing a pretty good job of establishing our role as the “pack leaders,” as well as laying the ground rules for what is and is not considered to be acceptable behavior.   It can be difficult, though, because right now it feels like all we do is tell Margot “No!” when all we really want to do is just cuddle and love on her, but I know from my experience with raising Lexie that all of this discipline will pay off in spades in the long run.  In the meantime, despite our occasional frustration and exhaustion, Justin and I are definitely enjoying Margot’s crazy puppy antics, because we also know the day will soon come when we will actually say that we miss her rambunctious puppy phase.