Hi, we have a 10 week old Lab Pup, Seemed to have cracked the toilet training but his biting and chewing is non stop, we did expect this but just maybe not as relentless and his bite is getting stronger! Is this just because he is teething and feel the need to chew as a relief as well as a playfull thing? Is there an age where this does subside at all? Thanks for any help and advice
Ziggy and I went for lunch with a friend and her 5 month old yellow lab the other day and he didn't bite or chew at all so I'm hoping that by 5 months Ziggy will have lost the compulsion to bite and chew so much. I'm not sure its quite that easy though - they're all different!
Molly had largely grown out of biting us by around 4 months old but she couldn't be trusted not to chew things she shouldn't (shoes etc) until about 18 months of age.
We have beautiful Bess who is nearly 18 weeks old. She has calmed down a lot in the last couple of weeks and is 90% adorable. However, she can still get 'bitey' in the evenings. She doesn't draw blood but it can be painful. We turn away and ignore her and put her in another room if it gets too lively. She's worse when people visit, very excited and jumping up repeatedly on the settee like a crazy dog so again I separate her. I have young grandchildren and worry that this won't stop! Grateful for any reassurance and advice
It's all play Mollie has been the mouthiest dog I've ever had. She's only just stopped mouthing us at 10 months old! On the other hand, she doesn't chew anything she shouldn't. They are all different, keep being consistent and it will come. @snowbunny has really good methods, depending on your pup and how keen they are to bite you, she wrote it on here a while ago and I saved it as it gives the technique in detail - "Be absolutely consistent. If your puppy is over-tired, just pop him in his crate as you have no chance of teaching him anything when he's manic. For normal puppy biting, I actually set up training opportunities rather than simply reacting to it when it happens. Training sessions allow repetition and so aid learning. With my first puppy, Willow, I used a method where I'd sit on the floor playing with her and the instant she bit too hard, I'd stand up, cross my arms and withdraw attention. No words, no eye contact, just silence. Just for a few seconds and then I'd give her another chance to play nicely, with lots of vocal praise while she was doing so. If you try this and you're not flexible, you may find it easier to sit on a low stool while you play - the key is standing up immediately the puppy bites too hard. If it takes you a few seconds to get up, they'll lose that connection between behaviour and consequence. Willow was an easy puppy, though. She never bit my legs or my clothing. Then there's my boy, Shadow, who never bit once - we brought him home at 14 weeks. Then, Luna came along. My little whirling dervish. I'm not saying she was awful, because there are far worse pups, but she was far worse than Willow. The method I used before would have her biting my calves and jumping up to grab at any part of me she could reach. I tried the advice of stepping out of her pen, but that's easier said than done when you have a puppy's teeth embedded in your leg! So, I came up with a method of playing with her inside her crate. I'd pop her in and play with her through the open door. The second she bit hard, I'd close the door and ignore her for just a couple of seconds. It's far easier to pull your hand through a door of a crate than it is to step over a gate or partition. After that briefest of pauses, I'd start playing again. You have to be really careful that you're not associating the crate with a punishment, so it must be literally a couple of seconds of separation, and lots more time spent playing in the crate. But I found that she very quickly learnt, using this method, how hard was too hard, that biting resulted in the game ending, and she tempered her play biting outside of the crate, too - except when she was manic from being over-tired. I did a few sessions a day of a couple of minutes each time until she got the idea, which only took a couple of weeks. Now she's five and a half months and almost never bites anymore."
We've recently adopted Honey, who's reportedly two years old but we think more accurately MAYBE 18 months. She still chews and bites but that may be due to her never learning not to in her first family.
Hi @twix31 @snowbunny (via @Boogie) says it all really - just be consistent. They are all different with my Bailey he had stopped biting me pretty much by the time he was 3 months old, but he continued to play bite my OH quite hard for another 6 months - BUT that was my OH fault as he preferred to "lecture" Bailey on not biting so hard rather than withdrawing his attention. Once he started doing that Bailey stopped biting - and not once did I say told you so
Sounds like Bess is fairly normal then! My husband is also not good at withdrawing attention @Samantha Jones and consequently he gets harder and more frequent play bites. Looking forward to thinking 'told you so' when he finally gets it
