3-month-old puppy driving us mad

When he stops listening and gets too hyper, take him for a walk or let him run around in the garden... it’s perfectly normal that he doesn't understand "no", it's just a human word after all ^^ You can say "no" as many times as you like, but if your whole attitude and body language don't match, you might as well be saying "yes". (Mind you, he doesn't understand the meaning of that word either, but if he hasn't grasped that something isn't allowed, he’ll just think it’s okay to do). When you throw a toy for him, are you actually playing with him, or are you just tossing it and going off to do something else? Because what he really wants is to play with you... he could have all the toys in the world, but they’ll only be interesting if you’re involved too.

I always find it funny reading about a puppy’s first steps in a household that’s presumably never had one before – the little dictator, lol! What I find less funny, though, is the thought that they’ve only got a month to get the work done and it looks like they're off to a bit of a rocky start... Anyway, you're dealing with two things here: voluntary motor control and bite inhibition. Voluntary motor control – what’s that then? It’s basically teaching a pup to stop what they’re doing. It requires firmness and authority, but absolutely no violence or nastiness. You set boundaries for the little guy, simple as that. Bite inhibition? Well, it doesn't really need a definition, but it’s very easy to work on by mimicking how puppies play with their littermates. They scrap and bite each other, sometimes quite hard, and the one being bitten lets out a high-pitched cry, a sharp "OUCH" that signals an end to the hostilities. Well, you do the same: he bites, you let out a high-pitched "OUCH" and you keep doing it until he stops. Don't pull your hand away; he has to be the one to stop. It’ll be a gradual process; he’ll bite less and less hard until he either stops completely or just uses his mouth gently. And yes, you’ll have a few holes in your fingers at first. Next, a few things: your puppy is testing you – where are your limits? Anything you let slide will be taken as a given by him, bear that in mind. Your pup doesn’t have hands; his only way of getting to grips with the world is his mouth (aside from his nose and ears). It’s up to you to provide structure, a hierarchy, and a calm, leading presence, just like his mum did during those first 3 months. Understand that nature has set a deadline. After 4 months, the two things mentioned above and socialisation should be fully ingrained. After 4 months, all those "available" but unused neural pathways in the brain are lost. So, a puppy with no self-control at 4 months won’t be reliable for the rest of his life. It’s the same with socialisation: a pup who’s never seen a horse by the time he’s 4 months old will see it as a potential danger... and the same goes for planes, cats, crutches, pushchairs, fountains, bikes, cars, lorries – basically everything that makes up the human world. In short, you’ve got a month to set the stage for the next 15 years you'll share. If you mess something up, it's not the end of the world; it just means you'll be moving into the territory of behavioural rehab rather than just basic training.