9 week old ...Too young for a leash????

[MICHMURPH]

My girl Laila is 9 weeks old.
She has three different personalitys
#1 The cutest, loveable, lickable, obediant dog around.
#2 A little snippy with her teeth , some barking and slight growling (Slightly vocal).
#3 We call it DEVIL DOG... alot of growling, almost uncontrollable, even in a submissive position(on her back trying to calm her down ) she is a handfull.
I have been trying to keep my cool when she is like this, but I have three kids and one is somewhat afraid of her when she bites at his feet or his shirt or hands.

I have been walking her every day without a leash. I dont feel safe because she may run in the street. If I put a leash on her she is ok if she is in charge. Goes where and when she wants to. She wants to stop at every piece of trash, or tree, or whatever.
I have tried to let her know that Im in charge. Some times it works, other times she gets herself so worked up (biting the leash, pulling the other direction, growling and sometimes laying down. When I call her, she will sit there and look at me, and when she is ready she comes.
I know she needs excersise but I am getting frustrated . I really want this to work out. I want to have a well mannerd adult dog. I just dont know if I am expecting too much .....too soon
Any advice would be awsome.
Thanks. Murph

 

[gmacleod]

At 9 weeks, she doesn't need exercising via leash walks. She should get all her exercise needs met simply by playing - inside your home, and in your yard (if you have one).

Leash walks are for (a) teaching her how to walk on a leash, and (b) for socialisation purposes. Any walking on leash shouldn't exceed 5 minutes continuously. Thus, I would suggest you concentrate on training her properly how to walk on leash (it is seriously worth your while to train this properly from the outset - rather than trying to untrain bad habits later), and don't worry about her exercise needs via these walks. Getting her out and about really is about exposure to experiences, not exercise.

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

At 9 weeks, she doesn't need exercising via leash walks. She should get all her exercise needs met simply by playing - inside your home, and in your yard (if you have one).

Leash walks are for (a) teaching her how to walk on a leash, and (b) for socialisation purposes. Any walking on leash shouldn't exceed 5 minutes continuously. Thus, I would suggest you concentrate on training her properly how to walk on leash (it is seriously worth your while to train this properly from the outset - rather than trying to untrain bad habits later), and don't worry about her exercise needs via these walks. Getting her out and about really is about exposure to experiences, not exercise.

Ditto that. At that age, giving her a tennis ball and rolling it in the house for 20 minutes, giving her a stuffed kong to mess around with, getting a tire biter for her to chew on, a soccer ball to run after, for small spurts is really all she needs. At 9 weeks my puppy was awake for 30 minutes and slept for 2 hours, it wasn't until he got bigger that he really needed more intense and longer periods of exercise. And personally my puppy wasn't really interested in doing well on the leash until he was 3-4 months old. I know that's only another 3-7 weeks, but you'd be surprised at how fast they grow and mature and what isn't working this week very well may in another 2-3. What you describe is a 200% normal puppy and 200% normal puppy behaviour. Heck, even at 11 months WITH training my pup can still have a split personality where one minute he's happily letting me pet him being calm and happy and 5 minutes later he's barking at my feet wanting to play. Just don't expect so much out of her at such an early age, enjoy the moments they go by VERY quickly. And think about it as in how much did you expect from your human children when they were 1 year old? Because your 9 weeks puppy is like a 1 year old human child, so try not to expect and push too much at this age. Once they start hitting 5+ months you can start to expect a little bit more.

 

[MICHMURPH]

Ditto that. At that age, giving her a tennis ball and rolling it in the house for 20 minutes, giving her a stuffed kong to mess around with, getting a tire biter for her to chew on, a soccer ball to run after, for small spurts is really all she needs. At 9 weeks my puppy was awake for 30 minutes and slept for 2 hours, it wasn't until he got bigger that he really needed more intense and longer periods of exercise. And personally my puppy wasn't really interested in doing well on the leash until he was 3-4 months old. I know that's only another 3-7 weeks, but you'd be surprised at how fast they grow and mature and what isn't working this week very well may in another 2-3. What you describe is a 200% normal puppy and 200% normal puppy behaviour. Heck, even at 11 months WITH training my pup can still have a split personality where one minute he's happily letting me pet him being calm and happy and 5 minutes later he's barking at my feet wanting to play. Just don't expect so much out of her at such an early age, enjoy the moments they go by VERY quickly. And think about it as in how much did you expect from your human children when they were 1 year old? Because your 9 weeks puppy is like a 1 year old human child, so try not to expect and push too much at this age. Once they start hitting 5+ months you can start to expect a little bit more.

Thanks for the information. I really want to do things the RIGHT way, and at the RIGHT time.
Im glad there are people who have been there and done that before me.