Is it normal for her (14 weeks) to be mostly biting me? She’s a lot less bitey with my mum and her partner, meanwhile I’m covered in cuts and scars. Im embarrassed to wear short sleeves, I’m worried about how my arms are going to look by the time she’s out of this stage. It’s really getting me down as I’m the one who has wanted a dog for years, done all the research, responsible for training her, and I’m with her the most. Yet I’m the one she hurts the most, she can be in the kitchen with someone else, happily chewing her toys away from them, the minute I walk in she lunges at my feet and legs biting me hard. I can’t completely ignore her as it’s agony, she draws blood multiple times a day. I was putting her out into the garden for a time out but now the weathers extremely stormy so cannot do this anymore. If I put her into another room she chews and destroys everything other than her toys (ripped carpet off the bottom step, kitchen units, sofa legs etc). I don’t want to put her in the crate too much as punishment because she is sleeping well at night in it, but if it’s really bad and I put her in she just barks and howls so loud (which she hasn’t done for weeks until these last few days). We shove any chew toys/ropes etc in her mouth but she just chomps up them and straight onto your skin. What I’m asking is is it normal for her to be mostly biting me, and is this something that naturally gets less as she gets older and gets her adult teeth? Other than redirecting her bite (which doesn’t always work) onto something appropriate, is there anything else I can do to help this situation? I’m at my wits end with it as she is the perfect pup in regards to everything other than biting. At what age did your pups start to ease off with the biting? Sorry for the long post
I'm not a dog trainer, but from experience you need to completly ignore her if/when she's biting you. If you constantly stuff toys in her mouth when she starts to bite, you are automatically rewarding her with a toy. Every time she bites, I would just turn around, not give her any attention, no yelling, or talking to her.. If she continues, I would either leave the room or put her in a room, separated with baby gates in time out, if the crate is our of the question. That means no toys, no fun until she calms down. Our girl is 23 weeks now, and she went threw this stage and this really worked for us.
Thanks for your reply I too worried about rewarding her by giving her something else to chew on but that’s the advice I found from most places. I appreciate what you’re suggesting but as I mentioned she can’t be ignored as she’s doing some serious damage, we have baby gates but when she’s in her frenzied bite mode she will chew whatever furniture is in the room with her. I’m hoping Daisy is out of this stage by 23 weeks like your girl, although that’s still 9 weeks off, seems like forever!! Im trying not to wish away the puppy days but it’s very hard to enjoy them at the moment
Hi @Jordan Maides One would really need to observe the dog interacting with each and every person in the family to really work out what is happening. I suspect that she thinks she is playing with you. The other individuals are not so much fun so she leaves them largely alone. In your case, I would not just ignore it and hope the biting stops. You have to teach her that it is okay to bite the tug. If she bites you, then the tug game stops. You can then apply time out until she settles. In doing so, you are not reinforcing biting people, and in particulaly, you. In fact, you are applying negative punishment. I realise it's hard to deal with. The puppy's teeth are sharp and painful. And one doesn't expect a Lab to be so mouthy. But it is a characteristic of the breed. Golden retrievers are mouthy as well. As I said in another thread, tug has many uses. At the moment, we have to get the biting under control now.
Hi @Jordan Maides To clarify, whenever your puppy is approaching you bring out the tug. Make it a game. It's something you two play. If you suspect she is a bit boisterous but still below threshold (she will still listen to you) then bring out the tug. You are going to carry it with you all the time you are around the dog. Have her on a long line. As soon as she bites, the game stops. No yelling. Quietly drop the tug. It's no longer alive. If she persists in going after you, then quietly take her to her crate or spare room for time out. Ignore her barking or whining that she believes she is ready to come out. Move onto what Blomster and Gunnarsson call the On and Off game, attributed in their book to Eva Bodfaeldt. The video of Robert Cabral demonstrates a version of the on and off game but he does not call it by that name. It's essentially getting the dog to stop and start the game of tug.
Thanks again for your advice Michael. I will definitely be getting a tug rope and also looking into that book. The weather has been a lot better this morning so every time she’s become too excited and started biting hard, we’ve picked her up and taken her outside for ten minutes. When she comes in we’ve given her no more attention and she’s a lot calmer, wanting to come and cuddle up next to you. I will take on board your tips and hope I can improve this issue even just a little bit.
Michael is right, she is definitely biting you because she sees you as her main playmate and friend. Don't forget she has come from a litter of pups, which all wrestled together with their mouths and played in this way... If you are finding she is not interested in toys when offered them and chomps her way up to your arm, then you need to think about 1) the type of toys you are using to play and 2) how you are moving them and animating them. You should be using soft, floppy toys which the pup can easily bite onto. Rope toys can often be a favourite but for many pups even the rope is too hard, and they prefer something softer. Like those toys with the stuffing removed which are very floppy... When playing with the toys, you should be moving them as if they are a little animal on the floor - running away from her and hiding, then coming out again. You are trying to imitate prey. Squirrels don't throw themselves into the mouths of dogs, they try to run away and hide. Squirrels don't fly, they are mostly on the ground. Squirrels don't run in perfect straight lines or at consistent speeds, they stop and start and they zig zag.... Think: What would the squirrel do?!?! It is totally fine to put her in the crate and have some noise happening, if you sit right by the crate this is actually a valuable lesson: Noise doesn't work. You don't get let out and you don't get what you want when you make it. Far too many people with crate training think they'v failed if the pup makes noise. You haven't - as long as the noise is not separation anxiety noise - noise is a necessary part of crate training. I'd also be thinking about your daily routine a bit and if she has sufficient mental stimulation and is getting out to new environments daily. If pups are tired, they will sleep most of the time at home. We don't really want physical tiredness, but the mental tiredness which comes from new experiences outside the house daily. My pups at this age come to cafés with me, to DIY stores, to town, to the bank, to hydrotherapy, to training class (as many as I can make it to each week)... Being at home is a chance to sleep, not destroy things and me...
Thanks for the great advice with some fresh ideas that we haven’t thought of yet. I will be changing the way we move the toys as we just shake them about at the minute. “What would a squirrel do?” seems like a brill idea! It also helps to think that she’s more rough with me because she’s thinking of me as her main playmate. I hope this will reflect as her being my loyal companion when she’s older. I’ll definitely look at giving her some more mental stimulation. This makes complete sense now you’ve said it as at the moment her days consist of being at home, playing, eating, sleeping, training and two walks. I will work on taking her to new environments daily, she came to our local dog friendly cafe last week and she was so sleepy when we got home. Thanks again for your advice!
