Is your dog only 6 weeks old? Where did you get him? He should not be away from his littermates, I would start doing as much reading as possible on bite inhibition. If your pup is 6 weeks old, he has no clue what he's doing, and biting is normal. This would be something that his littermates and parents would help to stop a bit. You're going to have alot of extra work. Read every article on bite inhibition you can find.

I would stop pushing him off the couch, pushing a puppy is fun! It's a great game, and your pup probably loves the attention. He just wants to be with you, and he's too young to understand that he shouldn't go on the couch. Can you sit on the floor with him for a while, till he gets older and can start to understand you don't want him on the couch?

 

Unfortuantely I purcahsed him from a BYB. I have a couple other threads where I have explained what happened and how I unknowingly bought from a BYB. I now have enough knowledge to understand my mistake and will not make it again. Just wish I would have came across this forum a week ago. I do infact have literature on dobe puppies. My wife and I both have chosen to sit on the floor and rosco seems to appreciate that. We are already spending tons of time with him at the park. Hes been around complete strangers a few times and had other dogs walk up to him and he doesnt even submit or rollover, he sniffs and licks a few times then the owner of the other dog proceeds to walk off.

 

PLEASE this is not a headstrong puppy. He is a baby baby puppy. Please change your thought process. Gentle consistent rules will go a long way with him. He is NOT headstrong (at least from what you say he is doing).

How old is he? What age has he gone to the park? Parks are no-nos at first. You are on the right path in socializing however it must be done very carefully. Avoid high dog traffic areas.

 

Yea, lots of people do this. Glad to see you learned why you shouldn't though. What's done is done, so now you just make the best of your pup. I would just keep researching, because there's going to be a few things you will have to do extra hard. Mainly bite inhibition, and socialization. Your pup missed out on a very crucial learning period with his littermates and mother. If it's not something that is taken care of, you may have big problems down the road. So get yourself very, very familiar with these 2 topics.

Another thing, your pup is far too young to be out and about. You're going to want to wait a few weeks until all of his shots are done. Park should be a big no no, at this age your dog doesn't have a strong immune system and can get something and get very sick, or worse, die. So best to just stick around the house for a few more weeks until all of the shots are finished up. Do you know what has been done by the greeder in terms of vet checks, shots, etc?

I would also like to echo Adara, she is totally right. This is normal behavior for a puppy. He has zero concept of right or wrong, he just wants to do what he wants to do. If he hasn't been taught it's not ok, and shown an exceptable alternative, it's not wrong in his eyes.

Your going to want to be gentle, no muzzle grabbing. When he bites, let out a big scream, and make like it really hurt. Pretend he bit a finger or toe off... He will likely get freaked out. He needs to learn that his teeth are weapons, and they should not be used on humans. Try it a few times, see how that works. Act like he bit your finger off, let out a yelp, walk away, ignore him for a few.

 

These are some of the consequences of taking a pup too early from mom and littermates.

You will have to ride the wave and help him through this. Keep it positive and redirect when he bites. No yelling, no holding his muzzle. Happy voices, all day, all night!

 

OK, then change I will. And he has had a few shots already. I was standing right there when they were administered. We will stick to our yard for outside time for a while also then. Jeese I got screwed hard by BYB.

 

It doesn't matter if he's had a few vaccines already...at his age, he is not fully protected. That's why it's a series....until he's had ALL of his puppy vaccines, he's NOT protected and can still get parvo among other things. PLEASE keep this baby at home. It can easily kill a pupppy that age.

As far as the other things, try to keep everything as positive as possible. He's still very young. Good luck!

 

He sounds typically normal for a 6 week old Doberman puppy.

You'll be more successful and less confused by his behavior if you'll spend the time to review our many threads on Doberman behavior and how to apply positive training techniques.

Please become informed about Parvo. It will help you make better decisions about how you proceed with his socialization activities, without threatening is medical safety.

Better to do these things before you bring your puppy home, but no time like now to catch up.

 

He's had Canine coronavirus, Bordetella Bronchiseptica vaccine, Canine Distemper-Adenovirus Type 2- Parainfluenza-Parvovirus vaccine so far. All these were administered on the 20th. of this month. Worming was done on 8-26-11; 9-5-11; 9-15-11. And I found out that the bitch kicked the puppies off her sometime between the 17th. and the 19th. and the BYB was feeding the pups dry dog food that was soaked in water so it was soft... Why would the mom kick the pups off so early?

 

I would not give corona. It's not really necessary and most good vets don't give it tehse days. And what I'd really do and I should have posted this before is get him to a vet asap and let the vet walk you through what to do. Also he's had 1 SET of shots, not multiple sets. Usually vets recommend 3-4 SETS.

At what age did the dam stop nursing? Puppies get their teet at 3 weeks and it can be uncomfortable for the dam. My singleton puppy had to go live with another litter at 5 weeks and I started weaning at 3 weeks and he was fully weaned by 5. That's on the early side but he's fine. The risk of him having issues from lack of socializing was more crucial.

 

Here is a link to about 5 good articles on dealing with puppies and teaching bite inhibition. Good luck.

ClickerSolutions Training Articles --

 

Here is a you tube video that explains bite inhibition:
Teaching Bite Inhibition - YouTube
Puppy Biting - YouTube