Puppy Tips: Two Week Quarantine, Stopping Biting and Prevent Chewing Destruction

My husband and I rescued Daisy when she was three months old. She is a purebred Rottweiler with the gold markings on her face, feet and belly. I had wanted a Rottweiler that looks like Daisy, but the cost of a purebred Rottie was more than my husband would pay. Luck would have it, Daisy was abandoned at a PetSmart grooming center and my husband and I happen to be there when she was left.

It was one of our weekly visits to PetSmart to buy food or some dog items that we needed. The dog trainer that taught the puppy class we attended with our two other pups, Zeus (Rottweiler/black Lab mix) and Apollo (Rottweiler/Yellow Lab mix) was there. We stopped to talk to her and she told us about the Rottweiler that was abandoned at the grooming center. When my husband and I walked into PetSmart we saw a little Rottweiler pup prancing around with a grooming attendant. Both of us thought, "What a cute Rottie puppy."

After the dog trainer told us about Daisy, we went to the grooming department to find out about her. They told us some guy dropped her off today and never came back for her. Daisy's name was Sassy and they were going to keep her until Friday to see if the owner would come back to claim her. If the owner did not come back for her, Daisy would be dropped off at the Citizens for Animal Protection (CAP). PetSmart grooming manager was going to call me when she was taking Daisy to CAP and I could talk to CAP about adopting Daisy.

Daisy's owner never claimed her and I was at CAP as Daisy was being checked in. I had to fill out a long application and they said if I still wanted her I could pick her up in three days. They had to hold her that long to make sure she was all right and they had to spay her. It was three long days. I wanted Daisy very much, but wasn't thrilled about raising another puppy. I was still tired from raising Zeus and Apollo, who were nine months old by the time we adopted Daisy. It wasn't until they were six months old that they slept through the night and stopped waking me up several times to pee.

The three day wait made my desire for Daisy stronger and I was ready for the many months of interrupted sleep. I assumed I would be waked up every two to four hours to take her out to the bathroom. The puppy training and several vet visits were not hard, but the sleep deprivation took its toll. There were many days that I fell asleep sitting up on the hard, tile kitchen floor with Zeus and Apollo on my lap as they napped.

But with Daisy, I lucked out and she slept through the night after we brought her home. I thought there might be something wrong with her and the next day at the vet I told them about her not waking up to pee. The vet informed me female dogs potty train a lot faster than male dogs. I was thrilled that I wouldn't have to spend three months sleep deprived.

It was time to pick Daisy up and bring her home. I was so excited and couldn't wait for her to meet her brothers, Zeus and Apollo. She wouldn't be able to play with them for two weeks. I learned the hard way that when you bring a new puppy home they must be kept quarantined for two weeks, in case, they have some infectious virus or worm. Apollo had many worms when we adopted him. He had roundworms, hookworms, tapeworms and whipworms. Poor little guy was very sick and malnourished due to all these worms. I let Apollo and Zeus play before Apollo was clear of one of the worms and Zeus ended up getting the worms.

Daisy ended up with kennel cough from her stay at CAP, which wasn't unusual. Apollo and Zeus caught kennel cough from their stay at the Human Society. I kept Daisy away from her brothers so they wouldn't lick each other and catch kennel cough. However, I still took Daisy on short walks and started training her right away. I would make her sit at the door before we went for our walk and before coming into the house. I would make her sit for her treats.

The sitting she picked up on really fast. Daisy was a very smart girl and eager to please. I started walking the pups as soon as I adopted them so they would know how to walk after they reached well over 70lbs. Daisy liked to walk and she would prance right along beside me. She walked like she was in a dog competition with her head high and a bounce in her step. Daisy was an adorable Rottweiler. However, there were some problems I had with her. She would bite me every time I put her gentle leader on to walk her and she would chew through her gentle leader or leash. If she was given the chance to put either in her mouth, a couple chomps and the material was split in half.

After being bitten several times, I wasn't sure we could keep Daisy. I didn't want to have to give her up, but the biting hurt like heck. She was only three months old, but her teeth were sharp and all I could think about was how much more powerful her jaws were going to get. Instead of a stinging bite and scratching my skin, her teeth were going to leave holes in my arms and hands. All the puppy training books I had bought did not address how to stop your Rottweiler from biting you.

With Zeus and Apollo, when they tried to bite me as pups I just clamped down on their snout until they laid down. It only took a couple times biting their nose and they understood you don't bite and I was in charge. This did not work with Daisy. She would get mad and shake her head so her nose would slip out of my hand then she would bite me again. Daisy did not surrender easily and she didn't think I was the Alpha dog. Her spirit was strong, but I couldn't allow her to be the Alpha dog. It would cause too many problems with a house full of three Rottweilers.

I searched on the internet for a solution to get her to stop biting me. One solution was the only thing that came of the search. A person had written about her experience with her Rottweiler biting her. She heard that if you bit their head with your hand to simulate the mother disciplining her pups this would stop the biting. I was desperate and disappointed that there was only one solution, because what if this did not work. I didn't want to have to take Daisy back to CAP.

Daisy had been shuffled around so much after her abandonment that I know she was traumatized. I took Zeus and Apollo to the PetSmart Daycare in Houston once a week. It was an hour and half drive due to traffic. I took this long drive, because I wanted my dogs to be socialized with other dogs and not have problems with them being around other dogs. Every time I took this long trip, Daisy would bark all the way there. She sat in her cage and barked. I would put my hand in the cage and pet her. It didn't quiet her. I put a chew bone in her cage. It didn't work. As soon as I dropped the boys off at PetSmart and headed home, Daisy would go to sleep and I wouldn't hear a peep out of her. This lasted for two weeks.

I believe the time that had passed and that she was able to play with Zeus and Apollo remedied the barking. Daisy was not able to go to daycare, because she had not completed all her puppy shots and was not old enough. After two weeks and getting acquainted with her brothers, Daisy became secure with having a home and didn't fear she would be left again.

Back to the biting, the next time Daisy bit me, I cupped my hand over her head and squeezed. I didn't squeeze her head hard, but enough to let her know I was biting her head. She rebelled at first, but I didn't let her head go until she lay down. It took some time, about a week; Daisy understood that she was not to bite me whenever she felt like it or when she disagreed with me.

Putting on her Gentle Leader, I used a different tack tick to stop her from biting me. I read in a magazine that was about, "How to Train Your Rottweiler," they responded to treat training really well. Every time, I put the Gentle Leader on Daisy I would praise her and give her a treat. It took a week and Daisy understood that the Gentle Leader led to good things, a treat. After she understood this, she would eagerly come up and stick up her nose to have the Gentle Leader put on.

Getting her to stop chewing the Gentle Leader, I used Bitter Apple spray. I would spray down the Gentle Leader with Bitter Apple before putting it on Daisy. She could smell the spray and didn't even bother to put the Gentle Leader in her mouth. Buying a bottle of Bitter Apple ($7), this was cheaper than buying many Gentle Leaders ($19.99 at Target not all Targets carry them and $26.99 at PetSmart). Bitter Apple and Yuck gel have been great inventions to prevent my dogs from chewing anything and everything they can put in their mouths.

I hope my lessons with my puppies help others, who might be struggling with biting and chewing destruction.