I have a 9 week old yorkie and he does not play with his toys much when put in the crate or even when outside the crate. He just plays with it for two seconds and drops the toy, goes about walking to find something better to chew on... like my hand, feet, or my clothes!! Even when i replace the clothing or whatever object of mine he just drops the toy and goes back to the Article of clothing, fabric, or my hand! I went to petco just earlier and got him some new play toys and went home and gave it to him.. He started to chew on them and i turned my head and started chewing on my $300 sunglasses!! He bites pretty hard and I say "OW" and walk away but he still does not like eatting hard treats/biscuits.. I feed him Friskies cat treats right now since they're soft. He doesn't even eat his eukanba food unless i mix it with alot of soft canned foods. I'm just slowly decreasing the soft canned foods little by little and see how it goes. But I'm a little worried that he if he doesn't play with his toys in his crate and i leave him in there for an extended period of time he will have separation anxiety, be bored/mad or piss of my roomates of the loud barking and whining.I heard of the "KONG toy" i dont know if that would be of much help since he doesn't really play with his toys in the crate but it does have treats in it.. Peanutbutter in the middle?? 

Hi there

contrary to popular belief, dogs - especially puppies - do not like to play with toys on their own.  They actually like you to play with them.  Try playing with the toy with your puppy and you will soon see he/she is more interested in the toy.  Leaving a toy in the crate for him/her is no fun.  At this early stage he/she really shouldn't be being left for any longer than 1-2 hours (and personally I think that is stretching it!!) and during that time if they have had a little game with the toy and outside to relieve themselves they will sleep.  Puppies sleep at lot at this age.  Re the hard food - its not wrong to mix soft food with the hard stuff.  If he likes it and eats it then that is fine.  Obviously, if he is not eating his hard food he is trying to tell you something.  What did the breeder wean the pups on?  Normally you get some to keep you going.  Hope this helps.

The breeder basically weaned him off of Canned purina food.. I guess the best way is just to mix the food until he can solely eat dry dog food? and even when i do play with the toys with him .. He still finds my shirt to bite and bites really darn hard!!! I dont want to yell @ him and he get all mad and angry @ me and won't play anymore. I know a few no's here and there for a accident on the floor or whatever it maybe but I always read that saying, "OW" and leaving the room works?? It hasn't really been working for me

I know you are concerned, but your pup is only 9 weeks old. He will bite, chew, mess, wee, and all sorts; this is natural, and it will continue for many weeks.
It's not good to yell at him, as you say yourself; you need calm consistent training methods based on an understanding of canine behaviour. Grab yourself a copy of Gwen Bailey's "The Perfect Puppy" - it's full of sound and helpful advice :)

When a pup leaves its littermates, it still tries to bite just as it would with them - it has no other way to do things. It's in an alien world. Look up the posts on here re. puppy biting/mouthing, and you will feel better and get some ideas hopefully :)

Re chewing - if he chews anything in the house, use something like Bitter Apple or oil of cloves on furniture, wood skirtings, etc as this will put him off.

Hth a bit,

Lindsay
x

Hi

Lindsay, the reason I didn't mention Gwen Bailey's book is because I think OP lives in USA.  Is her book available there?  If it isn't, maybe you would know of a good book they could buy!

Kind regards
Annie

Hi Annie

I'm not sure, but I expect it could be bought via the internet :)

If not, Ian Dunbar's are excellent, he also has a great puppy training video. I believe he was the first person to educate us all in the UK into real good puppy classes, understanding how to help them socialise correctly etc.

Lindsay
x

I still haven't got the hang of this WWW!!!!   I keep forgetting things are available there!!!  I'll get the hang of it one day but, by then, we'll be onto something else.  My life is like that!

Annie

Keep the faith!  Puppies are all teeth and claws at this age but they do grow out of it!!  He probably isn't eating the dry because he was weaned on wet food.  I think what you are doing is fine until you can get him over to 100% dry if that's the way you want to feed him.

Good luck.  You can always come on here for advice when you need it!

Annie

Kongs are great but it may take him a little time to be keen on them, as the others have said they need to learn to play, at the moment he has only learnt about playing with other puppies.

Please get him off of the cat food asap, it is far too rich for a dog and may well give him an upset stomach.

I dont feed him cat food, its cat treats.. Dog treats are all Hard and won't take them.. I have no other way of positive reinforcement besides the regular "good dog!! your a good boy" kind of crap. I dont think the cat treats are any harm, he hasnt had any problems

In small quantities cat treats wont do any harm, however a nice bit of chicken would probably work at least as well :)

Cats and dogs have different requirements. Ideally cat food (including treats) shouldn't be given to dogs. As Bluebell says, small pieces of cooked chicken aren't hard ... ;)