Hi there Just wondering if anyone else had experience of their puppy biting quite aggressively? So we have had our lab ruby for two weeks now, and she’s been great with house training, her crate and pen as well as sleeping so I feel that we are having quite an easy ride given some of the posts I have read. One thing we are really struggling with is biting which seems to have got progressively worse. She doesn’t always do it, it’s when she’s most excited. We have tried standing up, ignoring her, moving away, replacing with a toy, making a loud noise, trying to mimic a yelp, putting in crate but with little effect so far. The bites are full on bites and our hands and arms are now covered in little cuts and marks. We really need to try and curb it if we can as worried about her around my husbands children at the moment who are the 10,12 and 14. Does anyone have any tips? How about clicker training? Would be grateful to hear experiences and whether we could be trying something else. Thanks Sammie
Hi Sammie, a very warm welcome to the forum. My girl is almost 8, but I remember the sharp biting "croco-pup" stage really well. You need to develop some strategies to reduce permanent damage - wearing long sleeves and long trousers - the skinny variety rather than the flappy type can help minimise damage to clothing and body. It can be especially tough for children. The little fluff ball turning into a monster. There is some good advice on the main site https://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppies-biting/ Removing yourself from the biting - either by hopping behind a baby gate or leaving the room may help, or perhaps with an over-tired puppy popping them in a crate. Also having something as a handy swap - keep some soft toys or rope toys in pockets to swap for your body parts when biting starts. It does get better, honest. The forum chant......"This too will pass".
Read through the stickies in the puppy board and you’ll see this is really common. To a large extent, you just have to weather the storm, to be honest. Yes, you will be covered in cuts and bruises but that’s just proof you own a Labrador puppy! The children really aren’t that young so I would say that they just need to be told how to interact appropriately with her, not winding her up. Teach them to be calm around her. If she bites, they should get up immediately, without shrieking or flapping (which is hugely exciting to a puppy) and walk away. Only engage with her when she’s calm and encourage that calmness. If they can’t manage not to shriek (as I appreciate some children find hard) then the interactions with puppy and child should only happen under very careful supervision. She will grow out of it, just as human babies grow out of discovering the world by putting their mouths around it.
Yes, honestly, I think the only way to deal with this is protection and prevention, I wore gardening gloves for weeks! They really don't mean to hurt you, it's just a Labrador Thing. On my fifth sweetheart now, I can promise you it really is just a puppy phase. If you believe this and don't panic, keep the faith in your lovely pup and eventually you'll have such a lovely sweet soulmate. Use this forum too. It's massively informative and supportive. Also fun, which is equally important of course!
10 week old puppy owner here and, yep, he is horrific for biting. As the more experienced owners have said, it seems to be just a case of let it run its course but minimise opportunity as much as possible. Incidentally, in the article posted above it mentions that the biting tends to calm after 4-5 months, would the more experienced owners here say this was about the timeframe they noticed improvements?
I know they are crazy crocodiles at this age - All mine have been! It's 100% normal. Take heart, they quickly grow out of it. Wear tight sleeves and skinny jeans - wellies if necessary! Have a puppy toy on every shelf and in every pocket to put in his mouth. You need to be more determined than they are that they will bite the toy and not your hand - and that is very determined! Here are some of the best articles - http://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppies-biting/ http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-cope-with-an-overexcited-labrador-puppy/ http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-play-safely-with-a-labrador/ http://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-training/
Yes, but some take longer than others. They really are all different. My Keir was out of the crocapup biting phase by 14 weeks, Mollie was more like seven months! .
Same, Willow was done by 14 weeks, Shadow came to us at 14 weeks and was never a biter. Luna was a croc for months!
Bailey was a mad biter but at 7 months she’s not anymore but obviously they’re all different. My hands and arms always looked terrible but I used to find she got worse when she was tired. I used to sit down with her or she went in her crate and had some time out. She was usually asleep within a few short minutes. See seemed better when she woke and was calmer. Might be worth a try....
