!!!! Warning !!!!!
Raising a puppy is HARD WORK
Puppies bite, bite, chew, bite, chew. It is all fun and games to bite! Puppies explore their world with their mouth. Just like how babies put everything in their mouth, puppies put everything in their mouth. Puppies bite hair, clothes, children, fingers, toes, your kid’s shirt when he runs…. puppies bite.
You’ll get your puppy at 8 weeks of age. The puppy will take a minimum of 2 months of training to be mostly potty trained and not biting too much. At 4 months of age he will only be partially trained. A 2-4 month old puppy is very immature like a 1-2 year old human child. Puppies from 2-4 months of age must be managed just like managing a human baby. The use of baby gates and puppy proofing the house must happen! Puppies have to be trained how to bite toys & not humans. Not biting is SO very hard for a baby puppy to understand.
Us humans have to keep our biting puppy away from small children at all times unless we are ready & able to train the puppy. That means, puppy on a leash, toy in hand, and a method to follow. When we aren’t actively training the puppy, he MUST stay in a play pen. The puppy & the human small child can NOT co-exist freely in the home. The puppy needs months of training and mental maturity before some freedom can be allowed.
From age 4-6 months of age the puppy can become more responsible for his behavior and by 6 months can be considered mostly trained in potty & manners & obedience. At 4-6 months of age a puppy who is actively being trained/managed by an adult can have some supervised free time around children.
From age 4-12 months the puppy will be destructive and wild. He will want to chew up anything he sees, jump up on people he greets, dig in the yard, run around a lot, play fetch/tug a lot. His requirements for exercise will be high during this time. He would do well going to a dog daycare each day. If not, he will need to be allowed to run/play/fetch/tug/exercise for 20-40 minutes, 4-6 times per day.
Your puppy will need to be kept in a pen when a person isn’t actively supervising him until he is 12 months old…. what happens if he is left unsupervised before 12 months of age?????? Distruction of your valuable property!!!
If you are getting a puppy, or have a puppy, you need a good trainer to help you out. Do not think you are getting a free pass because you chose the most laid back puppy in the litter. ALL puppies are wild biting wrestling fun-difficult animals. If you want easy, get a Build-A-Bear.