 biting and acting up
Hi,
I'm pretty new here. I just got my puppy last week. And so far everything has gone fairly well. Except that in the last couple of days he seems to want to start biting fingers. He wasn't doing it before, and I'm worried.
I think it may be because my 7 yr old stepson is visiting. I won't let him play with Dexter unsupervised, but sometimes my husband really doesn't watch their play when I'm not around. I'm worried that's the cause. I've tried explaining this to him, but he assures me that he watches him at all times. But he is just sitting in the same room, not really monitoring how Dexter's being handled. I've seen my stepson try to hold Dexter him down, and how distressed he gets.
Of course I don't know if its the stress additionally of getting used to our house, learning to go potty outside, or being on a leash. I hate using it, but I'm so afraid he's going to run out into the street and get hurt.
How do I fix this biting problem? I'm trying the reward system by trading out toys, for fingers, and praising him when he gets it right, but everytime that kid is in the vicinity Dexter starts going crazy, and running everywhere. How do I keep him calm while my stepson is still is still around? |