Cant socialise my pup for another 2.5 wks - any tips?

[Oscar's mum]

Hi All,

I've been reading through lots of posts and have come across great tips from chow chow owners but I was wondering if you had any for my specific circumstances.

Basically I picked up Oscar last week and took him straight to the vets for his 2nd vaccination but the vet said that it had been 18 days since the initial vaccination and (as this was 4 days over) she recommended that I start the process again and have a full puppy pack. Obviously I agreed as I wanted to ensure that Oz is covered and healthy. However I hadn't realized that this means Oz couldn't go out of my garden for another month! [2 weeks between jabs and a further 2 weeks after the second]. My other dog is 10 years old and either I've just forgotten how long they had to be kept in doors for or I've been taking dogs out before they were 'safe' to do so.
I was gutted as Oz is already 16 weeks old now and I had enrolled him puppy training classes as soon as I decided to get him. I've postponed the classes until he's fully vaccinated but believe small bad habits are creeping in.

Nipping is the worse one at the moment - any useful tips to curb this would be much appreciated. He has lots of toys and chew things to be playing with (not all out at the same time as per one tip) but various sizes, colours textures etc with treats/without treat etc. He's very friendly at the moment, but can tell he has a very stubborn streak (even for a chow) and I know I have to curb this as his nipping can get to the point where I think he's thinking about biting....if that makes sense. He's also very destructive and like a 2 year old child, will always go to the one thing in a room that he cannot have (table/chair legs/biting the leather sofa etc). He is having loads of attention and play time, as well as rest time so dont understand his desire to go to things that we specifically say NO to. We have resorted to using his create/cage as a 'time out' place where he goes if he nips us repeatedly (he never went in there for anything else so its not like we are taking away his safe space or anything). Is this a good method to use or will this antagonize him more?

He's not getting on well with Max my other dog but this is understandable as Max is 10 and Oz is 4 months old - I believe that things will improve when I am able to take them on walks together. But at the moment, Oz see's me taking Max out on these lovely walks and Max see's me spending all this time with Oz grooming him, training him and generally paying him a lot more attention that Max gets (and wanted if truth be told - Max is like a cat, sleeping all day in the sunshine and being fussed when he wants it).

I have been walking Oz around my garden and house with a harness and lead and he's not too bad but could be so much better.
He's ok in the car if he is in a create but in his harness and car seat, he's terrible. I've not managed to take him out in the car alone yet.

I am gutted at the moment as I know how important socialising with other dogs, cars, traffic, outside noise in general is but cant do this. My garden is large and peaceful and Im worried that when I finally get to take him out, he'll be freaked out.

Any suggestions are very welcomed. Thank you.

[Rory's Dad]

Wow, that is a lot of post...so i will address the most important aspect...the nipping.

Make sure that you are not accidentally rewarding the behavior. My female has a thing for chomping on my shoe, while my foot was still in it. She has a good bite and my response was to toss her a ball to distract her. She figured that if she wanted to play ball, she would start by chewing on my foot as a signal. Took a while to re-teach her.

Make sure that you are not rewarding negative behavior. Can be tough to tell sometimes, but think like the pup.

[Oscar's mum]

thank you Rorys dad....will try not to reward him by distracting him with nice things...he's a tiny bit better but booked puppy training class at the end of the month.

[Constantina]

A week after the 2nd vaccine, I started socializing Chestnut by taking her to short car trips to the ATM or when visiting friends/ relatives houses. I would carry her outside though and not let her paws touch ground. I also walked her on a stroller when she got too heavy. When I have friends over I let them pick her up and pet her. Start with leaving the TV on or radio so she gets used to noise. Now at 5 months, she loves greeting our guests who come over. Also she hams it up and begs to be petted by strangers who approaches her. The bad thing is she would probably welcome a burglar as she loves people too much. My fear is she might get stolen for being too friendly.