Just got chocolate lab last week he is 7wks?

Question

Forgot to ask vet at his puppy check but does anyone no why he keeps biting his feet is this a medical problem. Also he is quite nippy he has caught my face a couple of times dont want to hit his nose or anything like that but anyone any suggestions how to stop this

Answer 1

puppys are quite nippy anyway.have you got him enough toys? when he nips be cross and stern with him he will soon get to no its wrong,puppys tend to chew feet and nails as they do shed toe nails.imy mums got a collie and we would always find nails around the place.if keeps doing it and your worried or they look sore have him checked over,enjoy your puppy.

Answer 2

It is normal for a puppy to explore it's world with it's mouth. Remember that the very first thing a puppy does in life is eat.
To stop the nipping and teach the puppy to keep it's mouth to it's self wrap your thumb and fingers around the pups muzzle applying only enough pressure to hold it's mouth closed. Tell the puppy "no bite" followed immediately by "here" as you hand the puppy the toy that you remembered to have handy anytime you are playing with the puppy.

I would keep an eye on the foot thing that isn't what I would call normal, but it would be imposable to even venture a guess from here.

QUOTE
"In fact I don't recommend puppy food for puppies, especially for a lab pup. Labs are prone to hip dyspepsia, elbow problems, and other bone and joint disorders. "

I want to correct this statement because it is only partially true.
There is the "illusion" that Labs are prone to HD and elbow problems only because there are three Labs tested for these problems for every one dog of all other breeds combined.

The puppy food statement is correct, puppy foods are just to "hot" for medium and large breed puppy's. It has been proved that 90% of all cases of HD are environmental and NOT hereditary. Fat rolly-polly puppy equals dysplastic adult, it is as simple as that.

Answer 3

The foot licking could be some type of bacterial infection, easily cleared up. Puppys are nippy but training is the answer here, if you don't get a start now it will continue and when he gets big it will really be a problem. A hard chewy, lots of outdoor exercise and obediance training and you will have a great dog.

Answer 4

I'd do a follow up phone call to your vet about the feet. He's bound to be ok if you say you forgot to ask a question. It could be your puppy has some excema or something about the feet. Do you use carpet cleaners or those powder spray things in front of the hoover? He might even be reacting to those chemcials.

To be honest, when we trained our puppy, we did "tap" him on the nose, gently, very gently. Another trick used at the time, but some people may not like that, was to hit a rolled up newspaper on the chair, desk etc, as he didn't like the sound. He associated the action with the bad sound.

Answer 5

My sister has had a lab for 2 months and he has been doing the same, he is a baby, and babies teethe, they will chew or bite anything as a baby would. Although you must stop this or he's gonna think he can do it all the time. Slap his nose or grab around the muzzle and say a firm NO. Otherwise he will carry on doing it

Answer 6

ok, all puppy's like to chew, and the sounds of it your puppy is just a bit hyperactive. if you get him lots of toys to play with he will get used to it. and a tennis ball is useful as he can chase it to.
i know because my friends dog done the same. then soon after his baby or puppy teeth starting to fall out. just like human teeth do. there will be a bit of blood while that happens but not enough to worry about.
then after his new teeth are in he will start chewing again but just as a normal adult dog would do. hope this has helped.

Answer 7

Don't know about the feet question but from experience I know Labs will eat, bite and nip at everything. My granddog, a yellow lab (3 yrs old) is a Mexican jumping bean. She can jump straight up 3 ft higher than the 6 ft privacy fence. So they are very high strung dogs and a lot of energy but they love children and old people. Enjoy your pup!

Answer 8

the feet chewing thing is normal. our lab is 8 months old, and we feed her good quality food. its just a play thing, like them chasing there tails. all these little things add to the puppy's character. and if it was in any way coursing them harm or pain, then they wouldn't be doing it.

Answer 9

First of all, congrats on your new puppy.

I'll start with the nipping. You are right not to want to hit your pup. This will only cause problems. Try these things.

When you are playing with your puppy have a few of his toys handy. If he starts to go for your hand, tell him NO firmly, and then offer a toy. When he takes the toy, praise him lavishly. This will teach him that his teeth only belong on his toys. If you can get the NO in while he's thinking about going for your hand, before he actually gets your hand, that is even better timing on your part. Watch carefully, you'll start to tell when those 'little gears' are going. If he is jumping up and nipping, same thing. If he gets to rowdy, you do what his mom and litter mates would do. Stand up, and put your back to him. You've just ended play. That is exactly what mom and littermates would do with a puppy playing to rougly. Wait a few minutes with your back turned (make sure you can still actually see pup though) then try again.

It'll take time, but the lessons will sink in.

Now onto the feet chewing. You don't say what food you are feeding him, but I'd be willing to bet he's chewing his feet due to a food allergy. I've seen this numerous times.

What I'd recommend is switching over to a high quality food. I'm going to post criteria on finding a high quality food for you, but I'm going to warn you, that alot of high quality foods, don't make puppy formulas. Instead they make All Stages formulas. These can be fed from puppy hood all the way to the senior years.

In fact I don't recommend puppy food for puppies, especially for a lab pup. Labs are prone to hip dysplasia, elbow problems, and other bone and joint disorders.

There is way more protein and calcium in puppy food than needed. This causes rapid growth, rapid growth leads to bone and joint problems down the road. An All Stages food will give a more desired slow growth and help prevent bone and joint problems. Pups should grow up slowly, not spring up like weeds.

Nothing you find at a grocery store is going to be a good food. High quality foods can be found at large pet store chains, or online. A couple of foods I like are Nutro Natural, Innova, Innova Evo and Cannidae.

There are other high quality dog foods. Here's how to spot them:

A high quality food will have little or no fillers such as corn, wheat or soy. These aren't very digestable for dogs, and are common food related allergens. Since you were seeing corn meal in the first few ingredients, those are not high quality foods. Foods list ingredients by content, with the ingredient it contains most of at the top.

A high quality food will not contain BHT, BHA or Ethoxyquin, these are all chemical preservatives that have been linked to cancer.

A high quality food will not contain by-products of any kind. Meat meals are ok as long as the source of the meat is listed, such as Chicken Meal.

A high quality diet should have meat as at least the first ingredient., and be made from human grade ingredients. Foods that don't use human grade ingredients often get their ingredients from less than desirable sources, such as meat from animals that were diseased, or euthanized.

There is another diet option other than dog food. Some people choose to feed a raw diet. This involves feeding the dog raw meaty bones and organ meat. However it is not as simple as throwing a couple chicken bones in a bowl everyday. If you wish to feed this type of diet, do lots and lots of research first. Switching to this diet without knowing what your doing can lead to nutritional problems for your dog. I'll give you some links as a starting point in research if you are interested in this type of diet.

http://www.willowglen.com/barf.htm.........

http://www.bestfrisbeedogs.com/diets.htm...

http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html.....

http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html.....

http://www.rawdogranch.com

What's Really In Pet Food
http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&m...

You'll also find that while high quality foods may be a bit more expensive, you'll often feed much less of it than you would a low quality food. Also your dog will be healthier, which means less trips to the vet.

Good luck with the new pup.

**Forgot to add, do the food switch gradually over the course of at least a week. Slowly add more of the new, while reducing the old, until your pup is eating only the new food. Also it may take a couple weeks to notice the foot chewing going away. The pup's body needs time to "get rid" of all the stuff from the previous food, so any allergens that were in his old food will still affect him for a couple weeks after the switch.

Answer 10

bitin his feet cud be anythin really cud be an allergy or an infection, best get ur vet to check it out if u are worried, as for the nippin thing, when he does it tell him 'ow' in a stern voice shud make him stop cos if he thinks he's hurt you he wont like it and therefore may stop doin it,