Desperate for puppy tips for biting and housebreaking

Question:
 ??? I've recently adopted a 4 mth old shih tzu/terrier. His previous owner let him run the house and he was not housetrained. I am trying to crate train him, housetrain him and break him of a nasty habit of biting. He constantly nips while playing and when you are walking he nips at your toes and pant legs. I've done my research and tried yelping like a dog and saying no, I've ignored him, stopped playing with him, tried a water bottle, bitter spray, and with much guilt even tried the old fashioned newspaper method which only made him angry with me. He's only been with for 2 weeks, am I expecting too much too soon? Which method is the best and how long before I get a glimpse of hope? As well, I have gotten him used to going outside but when will he start letting me know he needs to go? Thanks
Answer:
 First, I want you to get hold of these: Http://www.dogwise.com Culture Clash - Jean Donaldson After you get your puppy - Ian Dunbar Now, read about bite inhibition: http://www.crickethollowfarm.com/biteinhib.htm I teach bite inhibition in my classes and it is far better than some of the older ways that can INCREASE the chance of a nip... The page I gave gives loads of great ways to do it. the ket is CONSITENCY and NOT doing anything in the beginning that could ENCOURAGE a pup to think biting is OK. It happens and most biting issues I find are a result of the humangoofing something up. For the housetraining. Here is what I teach, very effective and works for all ages. Use the crate less and leashes and baby gates more during the day to keep pup or adult dog with you. Crates are for when you are not awake or home to monitor pup and keep him safe. If he is right with you, you can stop the undesired behavior as it starts. He also gets a chance to learn to signal you and you get to learn how to read his signals. Signals will vary dog to dog and may range from a simple glance towards a door to circling, sniffing, etc. When a dog starts to act anxious or give what I feel may be a signal, I ask if the dog/pup needs to go out. NOTE: If you work during the day and a young pup is going to be home alone for more than four hours, you need to either adapt your schedule so you can give the pup a midday potty break and walk or hire a dog walker to do this. Long periods without being able to get out and potty will force the pup to either potty in the crate or in the house if he is left confined to a room. The pup learns out of necessity to potty inside and may stop signaling to you when you are out of site when he has to go. Adolescent dogs should be able to hold for up to six hours. An older adolescent or adult dog may be able to hold up to eight hours. And at night, young pups may only be able to hold for three or four hours, adult dogs should be able to hold all night. But ignoring possible signals for having to potty may result in the critter having to potty inside out of necessity. The dog or pup gets taken out ON LEAD and is given five minutes to potty. Give the dog a cue phrase like “Go Potty,” “Get Busy,” “Kennel Up,” that the dog will be taught to associate with the desired behavior – BE CONSISTENT with the cue used. If potty does not happen, you both go back in, lead stays ON and things are boring. If I see potential signaling again, I repeat. Do this until successful potty outside. Once potty outside has happened - LEASH OFF AND PLAY and you may begin your walk! Many dogs will walk and walk until they are ready to potty because we teach them that we will stay out as long as it takes for them to go. So if we set limits, we are back in control and the dog learns that play or walking comes AFTER he does his business. Now the pup starts to learn a sequence: this action inside when I feel like this (remember to watch for body language indicating the pup or dog may have to go) gets this response, I do this, and I get fun. When I do not do this, we go back inside, I get boring. Dogs do not think like we do and they need to learn each section of the sequence of events leading up to pottying outside and that eventual reward they want. We cannot verbally explain it to them; they have to learn by experience as so we when it comes to reading their body language. I never let dogs or pups learning housetraining manners out of my site. They have to learn how to signal me. When they are reliably signaling me and approaching me in that room to let me know they have to potty, and then I will give GRADUAL freedoms and add a second room. I progress gradually as each new level of challenge is mastered. If there is a regression, I regress back to a safer point and restrict house freedom to whatever room or two I am in and then start again. When the dog is good during the day, I will start adding gradual freedoms at night. If the dog is reliably housetrained at night and also not destructive, I start adding gradual house freedoms during the day when I am not home. This will start with one room and for short periods and gradually progress with time and expansion into more of the house as the dog learns. Sample Puppy/New Dog Schedule: Depending on the age of your puppy will depend on how many meals he eats a day. Puppies up to about six months should be getting three meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner. At 5 – 6 months, start to wean him to breakfast and dinner. Feed Puppy at the same time each meal and use a potty schedule that corresponds to eating. Here is an example: 6:30 a.m. - wake up and take Puppy to go potty. 6:45 a.m. - feed Puppy in crate and give him water. 7:15 a.m. - take Puppy to go potty. Young puppies have small bladders and less capacity. They may need to go out every couple of hours during the day. 11:30 a.m. - take Puppy potty 11:45 a.m. - feed Puppy in crate 12:30 p.m. - take Puppy potty Puppies, like children, benefit from naps after play. Put Puppy in his crate with a drink and a few safe toys and let him “go sleepies” for an hour or so. 4:30 p.m. - take Puppy potty 5:00 p.m. - feed Puppy supper in crate 5:30 p.m. - take Puppy potty Evenings, especially in the summer when it is cooler, are a great time to take Puppy for walks and socialize him. Plus, this will help tire him out for the evening. 8:00 p.m. - pick up water for evening 9:00 p.m. - take Puppy potty 9:30 p.m. - put Puppy in crate for bed Note: young puppies cannot be expected to hold all night. It can be months until they have enough bladder control so be patient. If puppy has not pottied and has been asleep for a few hours, he may have to go again. Ignoring whines in a pup or adult dog that needs to go out can result in him learning to tolerate messing in the crate. Once this habit develops, it can be tough to work out. So, do not let it happen in the first place. When the puppy is not in the crate for eating and sleeping, he should be with you and under close supervision. Overuse of the crate can actually delay housetraining or the pup learns only not to potty in the crate and how to signal you from the crate that he has to go out. He does not learn that potty rules apply to very room in the house. If you work all day and pup will be crated for more than 4 hours for a younger pup or six hours for an adolescent, you should either make the time to get home for lunch and exercise the pup or hire a midday dog walker. Should Puppy have an accident in the house, you must catch him in the act for discipline to be effective. Puppies and dogs forget faster and will interpret the discipline not being done because he pottied in the house but for something different. Clean up the spot well and with something that will neutralize the odor. Use one of the commercially made products or white vinegar and water. I am against paper training or using those special pads that “encourage” Puppy to go potty on them (unless there is a physical reason why you cannot get out – like a disability). Paper training teaches Puppy it is fine to potty in the house. Now you want to teach him he cannot do something once OK. It is confusing. The puppy or adult dog may never reliably housetrain or may experience delays in housetraining due to confusion. Refreshing Housetraining in Older Pups and Adult Dogs: It takes time and effort to housetrain a dog reliably. Some will housetrain very fast while others may take months or more. Often, housetraining issues are a direct result of the human. The owner must have reasonable expectations based on age and ability. Younger pups will not and senior dogs may not be able to hold as long as a healthy, adult dog. If you notice accidents starting up in a reliably housetrained dog (one that had gone months or longer and is reliably signaling and holding when in the house), first rule out medical. Bladder infections, urine crystals or bladder stones, being on certain medications, certain diseased that cause an increase in thirst and etc., can all cause accidents to occur in a reliably housetrained dog. Even reliably housetrained dogs may occasionally “slip up” for one reason or another. If there is no medical reason (and you have ruled it out), then you need to get back to basics with housetraining. Regressions often will not go away on their own nor should they be ignored. If you see a non-medical regression starting, address it immediately by treating the dog as if it is not housetrained.