Holly has always been very active, never really stopped mouthing, and has the tendency to suddenly lose her head and start jumping up (either on or off lead) and trying to bite. She will bite the lead, seems to go for hands, and just appears to be totally mad. If I stay still and wait and get her to sit quietly for a minute then she can snap out of it, but I worry about it. We don't playing rough with her, my kids interactions with her are all supervised and then don't play running and chasing, most of the times it's happened recently it's been when I think she's frustrated (after I've got her to walk past a dog she wanted to go and see) or when she realises we're going to the car.. Is she going to grow out of this??
How old is Holly? My pup is 6 months and still very mouthy. If her walk is extra exciting for any reason (open spaces and puddles are triggers, as well as too much running) then she barges me, jumps and bites. It's play but very rough play. I'm also hoping she'll grow out of it...
Holly is seven months. She's got a lovely nature but finds everything extremely exciting. I think you are right about stimulation, one minute we're just walking along, then it's like a switch is flicked and the jumpy, bitey madness begins.. it unnerves me, especially if the kids are with me. I have to tell them to move away from her (calmly). I'd liken it to the kind of meltdown my kids would have when they were overtired.. so maybe I need to keep everything very dull. Problem is, I might take her for a little wander out, and I can't control how many other dogs / people / puddles we come across. I also can't always avoid her being frustrated...
I have a puppy with a low tolerance to frustration. It does get better, don’t worry. I found practicing things like collar grabs and walking A to B very briskly with lots of rewards - basically “get out of trouble” behaviours - really helped when we had to do things in the real world.
Probably going to sound really daft now, what's a collar grab? Is it literally grabbing her by the collar?
Yes, but training it so it's not an unpleasant experience. I do this by holding it (gently at first) and shoving a handful of food in her face as I about-turn and say "this way!". Working up to a more life-like grab.
Yes I see. It would be handy to have some part of her to grab, having her dancing about on the end of the lead like a demented snapping kangaroo isn't ideal. I have had moments with this where I can honestly see how pups get given up for rehoming at this age. I just don't trust her at all with the biting thing, around anyone. It's really awful and if anyone saw it they would think she's aggressive, which she isn't. I was shocked when she did it the other day when she wasn't even on the lead because I've always associated it with being on the lead and frustrated.
I feel better knowing I'm not alone and that Holly is normal, relatively speaking. She's under my chair being all angelic now.
Sorry, it's just that your description says it all perfectly. And believe me, I know it's no laughing matter, my Cassie was dreadful a while. And yes you see how dogs get given up for rehoming.
Oh my gosh - that's what I have! A demented snapping kangaroo!! And here I thought he was supposed to be a dog. But this description is so much more accurate!
I hear you!! I have exactly the same issues with my four month old.When we're out and about it's quite embarrassing, and yes, he growls and barks and sounds like a demon dog! It's slightly improved this past week, but it's still happening. I've been advised to redirect Rufus to behaviour I want rather than him snapping at me like a crocodile! I make sure I have lots of treats with me, and practise some commands to redirect his attention. I've noticed that Rufus does the crazy bitey thing if he's over excited or over tired. Bit like a toddler tantrum. If it happens in the house, I've been withdrawing my attention from him, or if it's particularly bad, he has a time out in the kitchen by himself. I'm hoping like you that he will grow out of it. He's mostly inclined to bite me and no one else in the family...
I've been monitoring closely and the behaviour is definitely triggered by frustration / overstimulation. I'm now being careful about what we do and how long we're doing it for... two brief lead bitey jumpy snappy episodes when out today, so I got Holly to sit quietly did a few minutes and she calmed down. Cheese may have been involved (but only once she was sitting calmly).. It is really good to know I'm not alone.
You’re not alone. It does sometimes seem like a mental 'switch'. Out of nowhere all of a sudden I'm the new chew toy. Especially (In my case) around dusk. This is all normal according to my trainer.
Bizarrely since I posted this Holly seems to have calmed down quite a lot. I've been careful about what we have been doing, to try to avoid frustration, but she just seems more settled in herself. She'll just sit down and chill out instead of being on the rampage all day. I actually thought she was ill the first time she was like that, it was so unusual. We've also been very fortunate to finally find her a special friend, a flat coated retriever with the perfect temperament, and she's been able to have a good play when we're out .. amazingly she still comes back when I call her!! It's just like when my kids were demonic toddlers and just when I felt I could take no more they would suddenly be utterly angelic!! Today we discussed the possibility of one day having another one.. (not yet, obviously) so she must be better!!
This also sounds just like little Joy (6 months) and also like our lovely Solstice (sadly no longer with us) who grew up to be such a lovely gentle funny girl. It's hard still, but I'm sticking with patience, kindness and optimism. She clearly wants to please us but 6 months is still very young and we have yet to get to know and understand each other properly. This forum didn't exist last time we were going through this and although I've done it all before you forget what it was like once your dog is completely wonderful. I'm finding this an absolutely invaluable source of support and inspiration.Thankyou to everyone.
I've come back to re-read this thread as it's very reassuring. My nearly 7 month Labrador was a ghastly biting unresponsive kangaroo on her walk this afternoon and I'd have gratefully left her with anyone who wanted her then! I'll hang in there and hope it'll change with maturity but it feels very tough right now...
