Quote:
Originally Posted by gracielove  One of the first words they need to learn is "no!" When playing gets too rough they need to lean to listen to you when you tell them no. Otherwise you will have an all out free for all going most of the time and someone could get hurt. Of course if he attempts to chew on your hands that is a big "no, no!" Always replace your hand with something else he likes to chew on. Ordinarily he would be starting to learn this with his litter mates but you and your other pup are his mates now. |
100% Correct, IMHO
My experiences have led me to believe that it is
NEVER okay to play with tiny/very young puppies or kittens with your hands, allowing them to claw, bite, or chew on your hands
UNTIL after bite (and claw, especially with kittens)
inhibition is firmly established. If you do,
they may
never quite understand the
WHY of why they are not allowed to bite, which they will consider
play...and
YOU will be in pain and often, and possibly to the point where it can be difficult to hold, pet, and groom them.
This is very important when they will
NOT be learning bite inhibition from Mom and siblings/littermates. Always play with an 'extension (or 'pull') toy' between you and them...use your hands for holding, petting, feeding, grooming, etc., until they learn this
well. Seriously, it is much easier to let them stay with Mom to learn a lot of things (if you are not dealing with a human-fearing feral Mom...lol), but sometimes you just end up with a tiny rescue baby and have to fill in for their missing Mom. Again, this is just from my experiences...