Seeking Advice on Our 4Th "Child", Our New Puppy

We got our puppy last year.I read tons of books before she came to our house,because I was completely clueless about training dogs.
I learned to make a loud yippy sound,just like when they are babies and play and hurt each other...it helps.She always stopped right away,it gets their attention.
But they also have to learn to bite the right way,like a soft bite.So when they do get provoked,they would never bite down hard.
So I let her nibble on my arm very softly at times,
and if she got to rough, I'd give her the high, pitched yippy sound.
She is a little bit over one and doing great.
And like the other posts said,lots of chew toys.......

Puppies nip like this because they are teething. It's not good to reprimand them for it as they are just doing what comes naturally, just like when babies put everything in their mouths or use a pacifier. Your puppy is working on new teeth and chewing helps soothe her gums. I would give her things to chew, but don't reprimand her and please don't spray things in her mouth. Just move your hands away and try to get her interested in a little chew toy or something. This is just what puppies do -- chew. And that includes on your hands if they're close by.

I don't know about sprays to help her smell better, but you are bathing her way too much. It can make her skin dry and destroy the natural oils, which if left alone might actually help her to smell better. Once a month is all you need for bathing, and my dogs don't even get that and they don't smell. I think puppies in general just smell like puppies. Hopefully she'll outgrow it.

I know when our dog was that young, we told our pup "don't bite" or "no teeth" and we would hold her snout as we said it (nothing firm, rough or abusive). The "no teeth" was used, especially when we were playing with her or giving her food and by saying that, she learned to move her lips (are they called "lips"???) over her teeth so the teeth wouldn't hit our hand. I never wanted a child to think that my dog snapped at them, if they ever fed her a snack. Eventually your dog will pick up on the repetitiveness of the command and will learn not to do it. I don't see how that is a terrible reprimand, especially if you have young children - you wouldn't want them in charge of "spraying" anything at a dog but you do need to give them some authority to train the dog. I've never used a spray, as your one post described. I think the worst thing people do is to not work together, as a family, and train a dog. Everyone should be responsible for training the dog in a consistent manner. We also provided A LOT of chew toys, bones, etc... and every now and then would find one of those 'baby" teeth, when they fell out.

As far as the time period, for us, it seemed to last for at least 8-9 months or longer ( I don't quite remember). The baby teeth bites and snips were painful - it was nice when she was out of that phase.

As far as bathing, I did give our puppy a bath more frequently - sometimes once a week, usually every two weeks. However, it is so important to brush them, daily, and this could help keep her coat clean. Also, in this season, she could be rolling in things outside that is causing her fur to smell doggy. I don't have a yorkie. My pup's about 55 lbs. I currently have switched to an oatmeal bath-type shampoo that seems to be milder and soothing on my dog's skin. It is also helping with any environmental allergies that she may be having, as I am not seeing her chew/scratch on her front paws as much.

What a great dog (I hope YOU still think so!). I have a friend with a tea-cup yorkie and she is awesome! Very fun and playful - quite the little character!

N., I don't know the answer to the stink but about the mouthing, I can't say enough good things about the book "How to be the Leader of your Pack" it's a very short book that looks at dog behavior in the pack & helps you to understand your dogs's behavior and what it means. It is EXCELLENT. I think all dog owners should read it, it's like 80 pages and can be found online at the usual book sites. My dog's breeder believes in it so much he included it in the dog's book!! I also had a professional dog trainer tell me to read it. Now I tell everyone to read it. It changed my understanding about doggy behavior and little dogs usually get away with more that big dogs don't, so they get spoiled & start thinking they are the alpha dog, so really & truly read this and understand pack behavior before she gets too set in her ways. :)

D., happy mom of a Vizsla named Zoomy

There is puppy cologne you can use. A mist you can spray on them in between baths to help refresh their fur. They actually have products fashioned after popular human fragrances but they also have types that smell like baby powder too. Also, I can’t remember what it’s called but they have this spray you can use to help train with the nipping. Every time she nips, you spray her in the mouth with this stuff and they hate it. It’s completely safe, just very bitter. Now that I think of it, I think that’s what it is, bitter apple spray. Dogs are not fans of the stuff and it’s used in any kind of behavior training – jumping, barking, biting, etc. You try to correct them verbally first and when that doesn’t work, you go to the spray and every single time she nips, she gets a shot of the stuff. Should take just a couple of days and it’ll get to the point where all you have to do is show her the bottle and she’ll quit. It’s commonly used in dog training.