Hello Everyone, I am new here and a first time Lab owner. Remi is my 12 week old Chocolate Lab. We have had a really good start with potty training, sleeping at night and learning commands such as sit. Unfortunately her puppy biting is at it's worst right now and her growling has completely throwing me by surprise. My daughter and I have bite marks and cuts all over our arms and on my daughters legs. I have read how common the puppy biting is at this stage and I have read the links to puppy biting but nothing is working with Remi. She has so many chew toys that we give to her in substitute for ours arms and she will literally drop them and still try to come after us. Her growling sounds mean and when we tell her no she barks and jerks her head back like she is getting ready to jump at our faces. When she bites we will leave her in one room and walk away to another or we will place her in her kennel for a few minutes (which is located in the living room) and she just constantly barks until someone gets her. I really feel like I am doing something wrong and she is growing up to become really aggressive. When we go outside for a walk people will come up to us to pet her and her spine goes up and she starts barking at them. I got her (which was at 7 weeks) and I have always had her around people and she seemed so friendly so I am not sure why is becoming scared of people. I am going to start her in puppy classes in a couple weeks but does anyone have any advice that may have worked for them that has not been mentioned in the article. I really appreciate it. Thank you!
Welcome to you. Nothing does work, they grow out of it by about 20 weeks, but the rest is management and saving your skin! I've had four pups in 3 years (yes!! My own dog Tatze and 3 guide dog puppies, next one due in October) I have plenty of small puppy toys and chews in all my pockets, as soon as I come into the room I make sure the pup isn't biting my hands/jeans/legs etc but biting the toy or chew (hedgehog chews and rice bones are good for this but don't let the pup eat them in one go, keep them for putting in crocapup mouths). You have to be more determined than they are as they would still prefer biting your hands. Eventually they become keen to go and get a toy to play with you - but it takes a lot of time and patience to get to that stage. While they are still small enough I pick them up to prevent the initial leg biting when I walk in the room. Once they are too heavy it's still a case of always having a toy to hand. Some say yelp - but I find this only works to interrupt them for a second, they still need an alternative to bite on. My latest pup, Kara, quickly learned 'sit' and - when not totally hyper - could be asked to sit just before the teeth sunk in. But in her hyper hour that wasn't quite as effective. ...
PS - the growling and barking is ALL play. If you see two pups playing its all growl bark and teeth! ...
Continue to use the crate for timeouts and don't get her until she stops barking, even if it's all day. I know it may drive you nuts but she'll learn if you're consistent. Beginning around 4-5 months my lab's encounters with people and especially other dogs went downhill so where I totally avoid all strangers and other dogs on our daily walks. It's not worth the aggravation for me and the heightened excitement of my dog to encourage meet and greets. When people ask to pet your cute little puppy just say no, not today.
Hi and welcome Fortunately they do grow out of the biting stage. Just continue to remove yourself for a few mins then go back and do the same if needed. She will get the message eventually. I've always put a toy in Harleys mouth and now at 3 years old she will often run and grab a ball when anyone comes in. As for going on walks, I would ask people not to smooth or stop you and tell them you are in training. I wouldn't isolate her from people or other dogs as this could make her worse when you do see someone. When walking past people praise/reward for her ignoring people/dogs as this will help with her concentrating on you.
Stryker is 10 weeks and going strong with the biting. He chews on me like I'm his personal chew toy and I have the cuts and scratches to prove it but being I had another lab previously I know they will grow out of it. Not sure at what age but once my previous dog stopped, he never "bit" anybody. He did play a bit rough with my nieces once and hurt them but it was pure playing. They were swinging and one of them teased him (still talking about my previous dog) with their feet so he went to grab a pant leg and got a bit of flesh, left no marks but scared her. The other one was swinging on the swing and screaming. She knew that screaming means he'll come to her rescue as that's what he had always done. He jumped on her and knocked her off the swing and was sniffing her to make sure she was ok and of course pinned her down and licked her like she was a treat.
Agreed. The trick is to go to them in a gap in the barking. Reward for quiet, however short that quiet is. It will become longer as they learn what's happening. Leaving a dog all day is simply crazy - they will learn nothing from that except that humans can't be trusted. ...
I do think that the following things have helped with Betsy - of course it's difficult to tell how much: Training a nose touch (mouth closed) Treating for hands approaching her and her keeping her mouth shut Early impulse control, in particular 'take it' and 'let go' Training sit for anything Betsy wants Having her settle around humans (I do think it gets worse if the puppy interacts with humans, fun and games, and only settles in a crate because then humans are just for playing (aka biting)) Plenty of things to do, plenty of chew toys... I don't know if these help much, they do seem to have helped. She is still a bit vicious at times though! Hoping it wears off soon...
One piece of advice that I read when Pepper was at the crocodile stage was an article that started along the lines of "To experienced labrador owners this may seem hilarious, but some new owners really do worry that they will have an aggressive, biting dog forever..." The point being that this is so far from the truth that people who have been through it a few times find it laughable that it would be anything other than a stage. It's a tricky stage, and my hands and furniture suffered the costs, but in 3 months it will all be a thing of the past
Yes, puppy biting is not at all related to the behavioral issues of aggression with consequential lunging and biting. Some pups are more destructive and annoying than others but it passes.
Thank you all for the great advice and words of encouragement. I know it will get better in the next few months it just gets really frustrating sometimes. Remi and I are register for puppy classes starting next week and I am so excited. I think this will also help a lot! Everyone gave me great advice and I plan on using it along with studying the puppy biting article like crazy
