Hi Freddie is nearly 9 weeks old and is starting to bite our hands and clothes when we are playing with him. When he does this I try squeeling loudly and stopping the game. This just results in Freddie launching himself at us in a frenzy! Sometimes I can distract him on to a toy but not for long he would much rather pull our clothes. So what I am doing is putting him in his play pen with a toy. Then he either plays for a bit or falls asleep. Is this the correct approach? I know this will probably get worse before it gets better and worry he will be spending an awful lot of time in his pen. Also i read somewhere you shouldn't use the pen as a punishment. I don't tell him off just calmly put him in. Thanks
Squealing doesn't work for a lot of dogs, they just think you are playing. Here is some great advice - http://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppies-biting/ When I have a new pup I gather a box of toys which I keep out of their reach (so that each toy is a novelty to them). I fill my pockets with toys and make sure the pup chews them not me, you have to be more determined about this than they are! The colourful ring on the table has been the best so far for all three pupsters. The pup also has its own toy box on the floor with accessible toys, but the 'crocapup' toys are kept separate. I have some within reach at all times. I have rice bones which I hold for them to chew when they are especially bitey. I usually pick the pup up to chew the toy. I wear skinny jeans and tight sleeves so that there's no flappy tempting material. On the worst crocapup days I wear wellies lol! Yes, when the pup is overtired he will bite more. This is a good time to pop him in the pen with something nice to chew. No punishment works with pups, they simply don't understand it imo. Here is my box of puppy toys - new pup arrives on the 15th Nov, I can't wait to be filling my pockets again!
Thank you for your reply. I have taken your advice and I am keeping some new toys which we got yesterday separate from his others and gave them to him when he was bitey and it really helped to distract him. I bet you are counting the days until your new pup arrives it is so exciting when you can finally bring them home!
I found that the squealing made Archie go more whacko too. I had heard that this was a good way to mimic what another pup would do should it get bitten too hard. In Archie's case it just revved him up even more! I like the idea of having special toys for super-croco times. I'm going to start stockpiling a few now. Thanks for the tip! Deb
Squealing just made my boy worse - he would then leap for my face! I would turn away, fold arms and stop interacting with him. Just until he calmed down. Mind you the first time I did it he jumped up and bit my bum! Trying to distract him with toys didn't seem to work, however now each morning when he gets up he grabs a toy or his rawhide bone before coming for his morning cuddle - while I'm cuddling and fussing (my only purpose in life of course!) he is happily munching whatever is in his mouth! Skinny jeans, tight sleeves and yup wellie boots were all essential wear while going through the Crocopup phase which was always at its worst when he was ready for a nap...we popped him in a pen on his bed and he usually just curled up and slept. Also when he was getting tired we had the zoomies which ending with him launching himself at us with teeth at the ready! I was sooooooooo glad when those puppy teeth fell out - my arms were starting to look like a dot to dot drawing! But always remember, it does get better, and now I have an 8 month old, 26kg teenager trying the sit on my lap I wonder where my little fur-ball has gone....
You are not alone Nichola, we bought Poppy home 11 days ago and we are going through exactly the same thing. I think she is half Lab/half lion. I can't offer any advice, just thought you might find it a comfort to know that someone else is going through the exact same thing. But please, if you discover anything that helps then please please share.
My 12 week black lab (buddy) is doing exactly the same...some days are worse than others! I've resorted to wearing the same skinny jeans day in day out...they're full of holes and pulls where he's been hanging off my legs....postman must think I'm a right scruff! Bit the 10mins he sits or lays nicely on my lap keeps me going....I know it will get better!
Betsy was surprisingly bad in terms of biting as a puppy. I was a bit taken aback how bad she was, I thought her really quite extreme compared to Charlie as a puppy. Now I've had her for a bit longer, one big difference from Charlie is that she lost her puppy teeth and had a full set of adult teeth much earlier than Charlie did. I don't know if that was part of it, in that she was so very young when her mouth was hurting her from teething. She now has a full set of adult teeth through, a good six weeks earlier than Charlie did. Anyway, in terms of things I thought helped, I wrote this:
Freddie has been poorly with diarrhea and yesterday he started vomiting. He was very quiet yesterday and didn't bite us at all. We said we wished he was biting us because it would mean he was feeling better. After a trip to the vets he slept 3 hours. This morning he seems better and actually started biting my hands! Yeah! Thank you for all the replies it does help to know we are not alone. My children call him a puppy shark but Lab lion works too! Thanks for the advice Julie I will definitely work on training take it and leave it with tug. I think that will really help. I too am wearing the same old clothes everyday and feel really scruffy!
Jessie was a bitey girl. Completely stopping play and turning away from her worked for us! I also found holding a rawhide chew for her to chomp on was great for letting the kids get close to her without chomping on them! Although be careful as i know rawhide doesn't agree with all puppies!
Glad he's feeling better. I took a page from my older dog's book and growled at her when she bit me. A low, rumbly, serious growl. Stopped her in her tracks - she would open her mouth and back away and look at me in surprise. "I did not know you spoke dog!"
hmmm.....but do you want her to feel the same way about you as she feels towards a growling dog? For sure, dogs use threats, warnings and punishers towards other dogs. That does not mean it's a desirable thing for a human to do. Another dog is never going to train your dog (well, not in the same way as you want to do so) and gives little thought to maintaining a relationship with other dogs.
That's a good thing to consider @JulieT - although, she's cuddled up with the growling older dog sleeping right now so I don't think it's done their relationship any harm! Similarly, I watched for her reaction and only used it after I tried yelping and standing still. It came in handy as a "last resort" on days when I absolutely could not deal with the biting any other way in that moment. It seemed, to my mind, analogous in terms of approach to using a yelp to stop it. Yelp/growl both mean, "Hey, that's too much, back off." Yelp is more "Ow, too hard!" in the midst of play, while the growl is "you're seriously pushing it, puppy." One little play bite in the midst of excitement - I yelp, or I redirect to a toy. When she would attack my legs and ankles so that I could not walk, repeatedly, and persistently, the growl would often get her to back off enough that I could get somewhere safe for me not to pay attention to her (she often bites my ankles on the way in from outside) or to help her settle for a nap, etc. (The persistent ankle-biting is often an overtired thing for her.)
Sparky got me today... on my face. He's gotten so much bigger now and running at full tilt he can jump on top of the couch no problem and managed to catch the bottom of my chin. Luckily it was more like a scratch. As much as I hated doing it, he got shoved in the crate and got the silent treatment. Wife came home and he got excited again in the crate. I had to hold her back and reinforce the silent treatment and we waited until he actually laid down quietly before we let him back out. Took about 5 minutes...
Yes, it's a threat. It means if you continue, something bad will happen to you. That's what a growl means - it's intimidation, a punishment. It's your choice to do this (of course) so long as you know that for a human to do this to a puppy is not without fallout, and it's not a harmless thing to do 'because dogs do it to each other'. Here is an article that explains why verbal intimidation is a punishment: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/punishment-in-dog-training/
