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I have an eight week old Border Collie pup that I got at 5 1/2 weeks old. I know that's too young now, but didn't know it then. She is highly intelligent as she already knows to come, sit, lay down and is working on crawling toward you while in the down position. Plus she will play fetch and bring it back for short periods of time already too. I am her main care giver and we haven't had any trouble with crate training, or pooping in the house. She is so young though that I've cleaned up many puddles off the kitchen floor. I don't mind that. What I do mind is that I can't get her to stop biting, chewing on or snapping at me. When she is doing something I don't want like chewing on the kitchen table I am able to redirect her attention to something else. But when it comes to me, I can't get her focus off me and onto something else. When I correct her with a "no" she will stop most times momentarily. Sometimes I have to snap my fingers at her to get her attention and that is when she snaps at the hand that snapped the fingers. Or she will stop, look at my hand and then jump at it,nudge it with her nose and then snap at it. She really seems like she is testing me to see if she can get away with biting and then is rebelling when she is told to stop. She is not left alone very much except at night when she is in her kennel. I take her to work with me, where she can romp around the greenhouse or outside. She gets plenty of exercise. If I do have to leave her at home, we have an outside dogrun that she stays in. I should mention that the biting and snapping aren't all the time. She can be quiet loveable and sweet most the time, but when she get's wound up to play I have to watch out. She generally doens't snap at anyone else, but does try to chew on their hands sometimes after she's been playing or been pet by someone else for a period of time. I would appreciate any help in this matter. Can anyone recommend a good dog training/obedience book? Specific to Border Collies would be ideal, but if there is a general one that is really good I'd appreciate knowing about it.

>>I have an eight week old Border Collie pup that I got at 5 1/2 weeks old. I know that's too young now, but didn't know it then. She is highly intelligent as she already knows to come, sit, lay down and is working on crawling toward you while in the down position. Plus she will play fetch and bring it back for short periods of time already too. I am her main care giver and we haven't had any trouble with crate training, or pooping in the house. She is so young though that I've cleaned up many puddles off the kitchen floor. I don't mind that. What I do mind is that I can't get her to stop biting, chewing on or snapping at me. When she is doing something I don't want like chewing on the kitchen table I am able to redirect her attention to something else. But when it comes to me, I can't get her focus off me and onto something else. When I correct her with a "no" she will stop most times momentarily. Sometimes I have to snap my fingers at her to get her attention and that is when she snaps at the hand that snapped the fingers. Or she will stop, look at my hand and then jump at it,nudge it with her nose and then snap at it. She really seems like she is testing me to see if she can get away with biting and then is rebelling when she is told to stop. She is not left alone very much except at night when she is in her kennel. I take her to work with me, where she can romp around the greenhouse or outside. She gets plenty of exercise. If I do have to leave her at home, we have an outside dogrun that she stays in. I should mention that the biting and snapping aren't all the time. She can be quiet loveable and sweet most the time, but when she get's wound up to play I have to watch out. She generally doens't snap at anyone else, but does try to chew on their hands sometimes after she's been playing or been pet by someone else for a period of time. I would appreciate any help in this matter. Can anyone recommend a good dog training/obedience book? Specific to Border Collies would be ideal, but if there is a general one that is really good I'd appreciate knowing about it.

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She needs contact with a healthy litter of pups and their mom, and the time for it to work is nearly over. Puppies have to learn bite inhibition from the littermates and from other dogs before the critical period for this passes. Any teaching that you can do will not take the place of this. It really sounds like you're headed for huge trouble with this pup.

Ask your veterinarian to help you find a veterinary behavior specialist or truly ace behaviorist in your community to teach you the very good skills it will take to work with this pup. Again, there is no time to waste.

Ask every dog person you know, including your veterinarian, for leads on a safe situation (immunologically, your pup is very high risk to about 16 weeks, but this cannot wait until then) to get the needed training from contact with other pups and dogs. Otherwise, you are looking at a dog who may become dangerous later. The odds are not in your favor at this point, and using punishment to correct it will make the dog defensive. The articles Puppy Biting and Defensive Dog Behavior at the link below my signature may help explain, but this is not a problem that reading will solve. The pups your dog needs to learn from cannot read!
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47