Expert: Delores Beck - 9/27/2010

Question
QUESTION: hey,i hav a 4month old female cocker spaniel puppy and she bites a lot.She bites so hard tht our hands or whereever she bites actually bleed.I tried using commands but she doesn't listen.She tries to jump and bite me instead.And another problem is that though we take her for a walk in the mornin after giving her milk and after she is done with her food,she pees and does her potty at home itself.For how much ever time we take her for a walk she just sniffs and comes back.we take her for a walk 5 times a day.Please help me with this because i'm scared tht if this continues she is never gonna pee or do potty outside and thts gonna be a big problem.PLEASE TELL ME WAT I CAN DO 2 STOP THIS
THANKS IN ADVANCE :)

ANSWER: Please stop giving her milk.  Just always have a bowl full of fresh water available.  And what are you feeding her and how often?

Of course she's not listening to a command because she doesn't know what it means.  So the first thing to do is teach her what NO means.

She's biting & chewing a lot because she's teething.  But nonetheless still has to learn to never put her teeth on people.

Yes, I can help but I'd like to know how long you walk her?
And when she does jump and nip, what do you do?
How many people are in your family and who is basically responsible for her?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I am feeding her pedigree small breed.we feed her a total of 170gms of pedigree per day in 4 feedings.We also give her a boiled egg ,75ml of milk in the morning ,75ml of curd in the afternoon and 75grams of carrot per day.
we walk her for 10 to 15min in the morning and afternoon after she has her pedigree.when she jumps and nips we try using the command no but she gets more aggresive and bites even more.please suggest  something so it will stop peeing and doing potty at home.Initially i used 2 take her for a walk 4 times a day for 10min but it wouldnt pee or poop.it wud do tht immediatly after coming home.i tried takin her for a long walk too but she gets too tired .While taking her for a walk she gets distracted by the people walkin on the roads and the on going vehicles.plz help!
thanks again!

Answer
She needs a much longer walk...a good half hour immediately after a nap or food.  You need to pick a command "go potty" or whatever you choose.  When you see her signal she's about to go - give the command and afterwards, praise & reward with a treat. Take her to a park or somewhere quieter than a busy street.

Get a plastic spray bottle filled with water and when she jumps & nips, say NO calmly but firmly and spritz her in the face.
**The spray must be on "mist" - not a hard stream of water**.

Pedigreed is an incredibly awful food.  And the odd carrot is fine but not too many since it's loaded with sugar.