Hello, I previously wrote a post for advice a few weeks before we collected our puppy Leo. We were concerned as he was the shy / withdrawn one in the litter - but boy oh boy, we did not need to worry! He is absolutely full of beans, loves to play and hasn't been bothered about meeting people / loud noises etc. We have had him home for a week now and he's been settling in well - quiet at night etc. Although he is lovely when he's calm, we are struggling with his biting. I have tried re-directing his attention to the chew toys he's allowed to chew, I've tried time outs for around 1-2 minutes in his crate to allow him to calm down and then I give him another chance to come out and play nice. This does work a little, but it's the unexpected attacks that are hard to get under control, and the more I tell him off and try to get him off me, the more he goes for me. I am also trying to divert him to mini training sessions with part of his dinner. He bites, growls, barks, locks his jaw onto my arms / legs etc. It's very painful and he's drawn blood multiple times. When he's in one of these frenzied moods, its difficult to 'walk away' to not give him the attention as he's physically attached to my skin with his teeth! As soon as I release his mouth from me, he squirms or jumps instantly into another bite. It's like as if he's possessed! Sometimes I'm able to grab him and put him in his crate, with many bites to my hands along the way. It doesn't seem like an ideal option though as he then whines and cries. It is particularly bad when for example, I'm trying to change the newspaper in his crate (we're toilet training). He will run in behind me and eat the paper, and on confiscation (attempted) he goes for me with wild eyes and his teeth bared. I have tried to do this as calmly and quietly as I can, and have tried putting him in another room while I do it but he cries and even starts barking loudly which poses another issue with neighbours. He also seems to be worse in the evening when my partner is at work, and after his meals. He ignores every toy etc during this time and tries to bite me and everything he shouldn't. Does anyone have any suggestions around how I can prevent him from going into these frenzied moods where he's out of control? Note that he does not behave in this way towards my partner, and he infact has not been 'bitten' properly by him - only nipped. However I am covered in bite marks and scrapes! The only thing I can think of it that I probably give him more attention / play / cuddles than my partner does, although I do try to ignore him or walk away when he begins biting. Thank you
Hello....all very normal for this stage...that’s why they are fondly known as crocopups...it will pass, promise. The only thing that helped us was distractions to keep those teeth busy...frozen carrots, stuff Kongs, cardboard boxes...there are loads of posts on here about it, have a search. I too suffered more as my husband didn’t do much of the practical care at that stage. Evenings do tend to be worse as I think a bit like kids, they get over tired. One day you will fondly look at the holes in your clothes and remember the happy puppy days
How long is he crated for he could be bored so when let out gets over excited. Put a toy away so he gets something new to play with often. Amuse him as much as you can to distract from the biting. Clicker train him for good behaviour keep him interested. I taught mine to sit the firts days at home I did something with her every day only little things.
Hi lucy, my pup was the same,i couldn't even play with her as she seemed intent on biting,and barking at me. This was so disappointing as i really wanted to cuddle and play with her she also left my husband alone! Evenings were the worst time. She also chewed and destroyed everything,toys,her bedding anything she could get her mouth on. We calmly but consistently lifted her over the gate(which we had on every door) and told her "no bites". This worked eventually but did take a while and she did bark and whine even though she could still see us. Hang on in there, things will definitely improve and quite quickly,although it doesn't seem like it at the moment. My girl is now12 months and it is all a distant memory
Crocopup... with all that snapping at me, this sounds about right! The frozen carrot idea was great, I gave him one last night and he LOVED it. Thanks for that.
He is crated through the night, in which he is silent and good! Then we only put him in his crate if we're out for an hour or so, or if he's been excessively biting and needs to calm down. Sometimes after his dinner so he doesn't become too hyper post eating! I have tried the clicker training and it did seem to work well, although it only kept him distracted for 10 mins before he started at my ankles again!
Ah this sounds so familiar! I might invest in a puppy pen and place him in that rather than his crate, as our downstairs is open plan and I always feel like I'm punishing him by placing him in his crate! He also barks / whines / howls at me when I'm still in the room! I've found leaving the room completely seems to work best. Thank you for the reassurance, it's hard to know what to do when he is demented with growls and won't stop gripping me with his teeth! He is lovely when he's calm though, very affectionate and loves to bring himself and a toy onto my lap to play. (a rare moment he plays nicely before going full crocopup.)!
Every time Willow was biting our hands we put a chew toy I her mouth. She still chews hands but if I shout ouch she licks instead. Now I say no biting and she stops. I think distraction works most of the time. After food is when the mad eyes come out and the killing instinct there is when she kills her toys and bites the most. We throw toys for her to fetch and play with her until she has got it out. I always do a little training every day they love it and it has a calming affect also help with bonding. There are videos here where you hold food away until they sit and only take the food from you this is a good one as they love anything to do with food.
This is all very normal. Whilst you are changing the crate, I would give him a stuffed Kong - which you have pre-prepared and is frozen in the freezer - so he is busy with that and you can change the crate. However, you shouldn't really have newspaper in his crate in the first place... A crate is not for going to the toilet in - the opposite - you don't want to be encouraging toileting in the crate... When he is really frenzied, then you need to learn how to hold him against your chest so he can't physically bite you and deposit him in the crate with a Kong to calm down...
