[Jackie]

Hi everyone. I am a proud owner to a 10 month old husky *blu* and a 9 week old staffy named bella.
Im looking for advice regarding my staffy, shes an adorable little thing but we have run into a few problems with her that i really would like to get sorted out asap. The first problem is her *nipping* now i have never had a puppy that nips so much.. it is not like the nipping a puppy will do when they are teething or playing... she is growling then lunging at us, she will go for our feet, lunge for our face, clothes etc.. she acts aggressive when she is behaving this way. She drew blood on my hand yesterday, she got hold of my hand and tried to shake it like a peice of cloth . I have 3 children.. a 11 yr old, a 5 yr old and a 1 year old so i really need to knock this on the head right away.
The 2nd thing i need advice for is crate training.. we have her crate in the kitchen, and just behind her crate she has a tray with newspaper in it for her to go to the bathroom, she does use that but this last few days she has decided she is going to poop and pee in her bed then she just lies on top of it? I have tried putting her on her paper when shes caught in the act, iv tried sprinkiling food in her bed, iv cleaned it thouroghly when she has an accident.. i just dont know what to do. I have read soooo much and all the advice iv read is either conflicting or just doesnt work. Our husky blu is really good we had him house broken in less than 3 weeks but nothing we do for bella is working. xx
Thankyou for any advice in advance

[lange]

Hi. I'd have to guess your pup is only playing, just rougher. Different breeds, different traits.. The one good thing, which you might not think so, is that she is biting..which means she is giving you lots of chances to teach her bite inhibition. Pups that don't bite are the one's who make teaching bite inhibition more difficult.

The reason you're getting mixed opinions is because people raise dogs their own way, just like advice on child rearing. We can only tell you what we believe and what we would do.

With that said.......this is what I would do and have done...

I would first teach your pup bite inhibition. Which means you want your pup to bite but to bite you softly! At the same time, you do not want your dog to bite your kids because they can't teach bite inhibition correctly just yet. I don't allow any kids to over excite the puppy. That means no excited play ever! If either the pup or kid is getting overly excited, I correct either and separate them. Then I take over each and every time. This will teach the pup that kids are not fellow pups and are not to be played with like that. Why? Because soon the little puppy will be bigger and treat your kids like toys which will cause many problems in the future. The kids also have to learn how to handle dogs correctly. All the while you will be the one rough playing or causing excitement and also teaching the dog when & how to stop excitement. If your pup starts going after your kids pant legs or whatever; you tell the kids to 'freeze', have them ignore, (not talk or look at the puppy), then you correct the puppy with one verbal word and redirect the puppy to something else, like a toy or treat, ect...

After you teach your dog how to control her bite force and she starts biting & mouthing softly & reliably, you then teach your dog not to bite at all. The reason for doing the first step is so that if your dog ever in it's lifetime bites someone, it should more than likely not bite as hard and cause the person (or dog) serious damage because it has better control over it's force. You can read on how to do this here: Teaching Bite Inhibition | Dog Star Daily And.... Puppy Biting: Teaching Your Puppy Bite Inhibition

As far as potty training...Did you crate train your husky the same way you crate train your new pup? Personally, I feel that the purpose of a crate is for the dog to not eliminate in it's own personal space ever. If you allow it to poop in the crate then you are actually working against a dogs natural instinct to keep it's sleeping area clean & you cause more problems by confusing the dog.

If your goal is to house train the dog completely (eliminate outside only) then the easiest thing to do is start off doing just that. Instead of making it have no choice BUT to eliminate in it's own sleeping area. You are actually causing the problem for the dog right now.