Jaws!

The title is self explanatory, Let me move on. As I brought the little puppy home and set him on the floor, he began sniffing. Puppy books say that's 'pee time' so I picked him up and ran. It was important to begin teaching him, pee and poop begins outside not at home. We had to come up with a name for him doing his business. Its vital, all dog books say that , you have to give everything.every act a name or phrase and adhere to it always. So on the way down the stairs, we decided 'Atti lets go grass' would be his line. We struck gold, he went grass the first time we took him down. Reward the puppy for everything he does right. We gave Atti a million kisses and and a treat on our way back. Atti started to explore his crate, his lovely cozy bed and cushion that he began to chew and his innumerable toys. puppies love to play,sleep, eat and go grass! well, they also love doing something else, what they do best- BITE ! Atti was a champ at it, he would get every little thing in his mouth and you had to pry it open to get it out. He believed us to be his siblings and enjoyed chewing/biting our hands, legs ,any skin he could get. play biting it is called in dog jargon- well, play for Atti only ! He was in his own world, biting me almost all the time(Srik was too terrified to do /touch anything that involved his mouth),playing, napping, getting his belly rubbed and mesmerising his with his unbelievably cute puppy faces. I was at my wits end, 3 weeks had passed, I had no clue of the time or the date or anything else except Atticus. I had several sleepless nights where I would run down half asleep with Atti in my hands while he got me with his teeth and wait for him to "go grass" and I derived immense pleasure becasue I thought how Atti was being so good in learning house training and waiting to do his business while I woke up and took him. He was a smart and loving puppy who was doing what all puppies did at his age. I would say proudly that I had very few accidents and Atti was potty trained in less than 2 weeks. I also realized, those accidents were not Atti's but my fault.
Atti had a list of shots he needed to get every three weeks. I should tell you all, he hardly felt a thing, he didnt even care while Srik closed his eyes and moved away when Atti got his shot :) . The vet told me I needed to constantly play with Atti's mouth and teeth so that he wouldnt make a fuss when she messed with him. And boy did Atti like that.. he got his favourite toy to chew on- my hands. At one point ,I had so many bite marks all over my hands and legs that I couldnt believe this 15 lb puppy could be capable of voilence. Size doesnt matter ! I dont want to shock you all this moment so here's a life saver. Most people I met told me you had to go through this stage and he would get over it. And I also learnt something valuable,- to yelp when he bit. It was supposed to put him off and make him understand that biting wasnt fun after all for the humans. So Srik and I yelped. We felt foolish and almost laughed (in pain) but it worked like a charm. Atti was getting over it and was realizing his toys were his bait and not our skin. If, while reading this you change your mind about dogs, i strongly object. The reason I have written this post is to tell you exactly how it is during the 6- 10 weeks period. It is exhausting, nerve racking and sometimes hurting but is hugely rewarding because you can see in his eyes that you are his world, you can see how rapidly he wags his tail and runs to you as he sees you. Soon, Atti grew out of play biting (almost) with repeated "Guboy Guboy Atti! (constant yelping) no bite, play with your toy" by the end of August. The icing on the cake was he was completely potty trained. Atti wins over Speilberg's fish paws down !