Help please! Puppy suddenly jumping and biting on walk.

Hi, I have a 4 month old lovely black lab. She is sweet as anything 90% of the time. But today on our walk, on the way back she started jumping up trying to bite my clothes and growling. At one point she got a hold of my hand and She bit it so hard and wouldn’t let go that I have really deep puncture wounds on my hand.

Normally she will walk to heel and walks really nicely on her lead, I don’t know why she did this. It’s really upset me as I’ve grown up with dogs and this has never happened before with any dogs I’ve had.

To make it worse people were walking past and staring at me as I tried to control her but she just kept grabbing my clothes and biting me. I have bad social anxiety so this has really shaken me up. I don’t know if she was playing or being aggressive but she was not biting gently she was biting HARD. It’s made me a bit scared to take her on a walk incase she does it again. But as soon as we got home she was sweet as anything!

I tried getting her to walk to heel with treats but she wasn’t having any of it, that’s when she took the opportunity to grab my hand I tried stoppping and waiting for her to calm down but she just grabbed my coat and started growling at me. I tried walking and just ignoring her but she just kept jumping and biting my sleeve.

I don’t know what to do?? Help please !!

 

Update: booked her in for dogs trust training classes to help with the lead issues hopefully . They don’t start until December though so hopefully things aren’t too bad until then

 

Hi Poppy! Great news about the classes. In the meantime, there are many similar posts on here which may have some useful advise. It seems as though some lab puppies can be fairly 'orrible, but chances are, she just found this really funny and wasn't being aggressive. Lead walking can be incredibly dull for a puppy so she may have just been amusing herself. Make sure you are doing plenty of brain games with her.

 

Thanks! It was on the way back from the park where we’d just been playing fetch and doing some training, so part of me thinks she just didn’t want to go home !
She’s also been running around with a bunch of other dogs so I think she was just extra excited and had too much fun! Today I walked a different way home then usual so it was some new environments and it seemed to distract her with all the new sights and smells!

She’s never really acted like it before so it kinda shocked me as she is a really sweet dog who just loves everyone and wants to spend most of the time cuddling !

 

She could have been tired. They act up horribly at that age when they need a nap. Went through the same issues with my little monster. She grew out of it by 7 months.

 

Thanks! I think that might be it too. Normally when she’s tired she will start jumping up because she wants me or my partner to carry her cause she’s too tired to keep walking. But the biting was a new thing she’s never done before! Maybe I’ll reduce the time in the park, we usually spend about 20-30 minutes but she does a lot of running around with her doggy friends and chasing balls so it might be a bit much for her !

Thanks ! Just 3 more months until she starts to settle a bit then

 

Well went for a walk today (my partner walks her at weekends) and on the way home she was doing it again, pulling my coat and jumping up and trying to bite me. Nothing I tried works she’s just determined, I don’t know what to do as im worried she’ll get in the road by accident

 

I was going to say do some heel training on the way back then reread the post.
Take something really tasty with you like chicken or sausage and save it for the training on the walk home. A lot of it is just over excitement.

 

My male lab puppy (now 8 months) used to do this on walks. It's like he became demented, I have had a few ripped coats as a result. It used to really bother me too, I felt like people would be looking at me as though I couldnt control my evil dog. Funnily enough, he did not do it to my partner, because he see's him as boss and me as his playmate, and i think this was ultimately the problem. If it helps, I think it is 'playing' to the puppy, due to the high of being on the walk it's quite extreme 'over excitement' if you will; followed by frustration / rebelling as as result of you not playing back and telling them off. He has now grown out of this and prefers to do his own thing on walks. i found completely ignoring him while he was off the lead helped, so I didn't wind him up. Hope she grows out of it soon for you!! You're not on your own.

 

@Poppy2606 Try taking a toy that you keep just for the walk home and give it to your dog to carry as soon as you clip the lead back on to head home.

@Lucy Hopkins I really wouldn't ignore your dog when he's off-lead. This is the time to play with him, to build your relationship, so that you become the focus for all fun things. If you continue to ignore your dog, he is going to go off and find interest with other dogs or other people.

 

@Joy I guess it depends on your dog, but I disagree. My dog loves to wonder off and do things dogs do on walks. He jumps through puddles, swims in ponds, sniffs bushes, plays with other dogs, runs about, finds sticks etc and he loves this. He doesn't need to stay by my side nor does he crave my attention as he's distracted by other things.

When he was a young pup if I started to play with him whilst out, he was already excited to be on the walk and then the over excitement added by me interacting, caused him to jump at me and bite/grab my clothes etc as he thought it was a game. During this time playing at home and only ball / stick throwing on walks (rather than winding him up with calling his name or touching him) was a better approach personally.

You have not read my comment properly as he has now grown out of this behaviour, and we do not 'ignore' our dog generally, he is very much interacted with. Not winding him up on walks has proven successful, my clothes stayed intact and he's still very much interested in us / a very happy boy - we are a major source of fun for him just not in this particular scenario. I think engaging with this type of behaviour only encourages it, and how I handled it helped him to learn that his 'game' got no reaction therefore to play in other ways.

 

I'm glad that you interact with your dog @Lucy Hopkins and that you are happy together. In your post you said that 'completely ignoring him when he was off lead helped' and it was that comment that I was responding to. I'm not suggesting 'winding a dog up' is a good thing, but I do think that engaging in activities together (as well as allowing your dog to amble and sniff) is the way to build a relationship. So a walk might include formal retrieving, a game of tug, a bit of heelwork, a game of catch etc.

 

I’m glad to know I’m not alone !! She becomes a little demon and people stare and judge silently, it’s so embarrassing and painful when she manages to get my skin!!

She is the same as your pup with my partner she never does it to him!!! I do all the training and play etc and spend all day with her (work from home) so I think she sees me less of a boss then my partner! I haven’t taken her on my own since the last time as I’m afraid she will do it again, so instead me and my partner take her out in the evenings. I might try taking her again tomorrow, I usually spend time in the park throwing a ball for her which she likes to chase! But like you said in your other post if I touch her she tries to bite me and play like that so maybe I’ll try being less touchy and call her less to keep her less exciteable until she grows out of it.

At the moment we have been loose lead training with her as I got confused being heel training and loose lead, so I’m hoping that might help too (she knows heel but not loose lead walking)

 

Thanks I’ll do that! Usually I give her a tiny treat anytime she comes back when I call her, so next time I might not give her any treats in the actual park and save them for the walk home

 

This sounds so familiar I’m glad I’m not the only person who had a wild puppy like this! It really is embarrassing isn’t it, and the more you tell them off or try to push them off you, the more they jump and bite! I used to think wow people around must think I can’t control my dog! It really did work for me, obviously I interacted with him lots at home still but he was happy enough to run about on his own when we were out for walks. I think it’s a case of a very excitable pup who thinks it’s a game- unfortunately at our expense! Hope it improves for you

 

I know what you mean by ignoring, ie avoiding escalation. Sometimes the advice is to not put your pup in a situation that escalates their excitement and resulting behaviour. I do reinforce good behaviour and calm behaviour too. I also understand that tasks things like heelwork are positive as she is focused. My pup has started on walks to swim at 8 months and retrieve a ball, but we can only do this around 5 times and then put the ball out of sight otherwise she will escalate with overexcitement and biting. Even a heavy rain downpour can escalate her, really wish I could avoid the rain too ! It’s tough dealing with ongoing biting I understand. Trying to keep her calm and rewarding calm is an ongoing goal, even then she can at times escalate over unexpected small things (though I get they may not be small to her).

 

Hi Poppy,

This is now the exact thing that is happening with me! Luna never used to do this and it started last week and she was 4 months on the 11th Oct. She never bites or plays up for my husband and if he is there she is good as gold.

She clearly sees me as 'play time'. It is so nice to read she will grow out of it but wow it is so sore! I am currently covered in bruises on my arms and legs.

I feel so awkward when she does this and people are around, hate to know what they are thinking.

Have you found anything that has helped these last 2 weeks?

 

hi! It’s so embarrassing isn’t it!!
The past few weeks I’ve been walking to the park on my own with her then my partner meets me on his way to work and walks past the “problem area” with me (the areas that trigger her to jump up for some reason). On Friday I walked back alone with her and she walked to heel the whole way back (with help from some treats) she did try jump up once but I firmly said OFF and she didn’t do it again. I’m going to try again on Monday on my own and fingers crossed she won’t do it. I have no idea why she only does it to me !! Cause my partner plays with her too. I don’t know if she’s just super excited and doesn’t want to go home or what !
It started with poppy at 4 months too! She’s 6 months old November 5th so I’m hoping she’s just starting to grow out of it

 

It is very embarrassing as people just stare at you!

The main trigger seems to be if we are walking too near dinner time as she gets 'hangry'! Also at the park she gets so excited that she just wants to play.
On Saturday she really hurt me so I gave her a massive telling off then she walked to heel all the way home and went to 'sleep/sulk' in the hall for 2 hours. After that she came and cuddled me for 2 hours before bed.

Last night when out she was really good until we met another puppy so after a little play she was too excited again.
She tends to be like this when we arrive at the park so think its excitement.

I am hoping she grows out of it but just got to keep being strict and firm with her.

I kept thinking it was me doing something wrong but knowing others go through it helps.

 

A little update on this! so she has stopped doing this now thankfully, she occasionally will jump up but I firmly tell her “off” and she will get off. At the end of the play in the park I put her lead on she is still a bit excited but I try to give her the cues that we are going home now and after a couple minutes she will calm down and just walks home to heel.


The problem we are having now is, if we go anywhere that isn’t the route to the park or around the block for a pee she just pulls like crazy. Like she runs her lead pulling. So our next step now is taking her to unfamiliar places and trying to teach her to walk to heel there too as I’d like to take her other places then just the dog park! I’m planning to do the 300 peck method to teach her.

I’m not sure why she does it, maybe it’s all the new sites and smells that set her off she just goes crazy with the pulling.

another problem we have is at the park she jumps up at other dog walkers because she is excited to see them. I tell her “off” and she does get down but I’m not sure how to stop her doing it in the first place. Some people get really angry at me over it so it upsets me they do... because they treat me like I have an unruly dog when actually she’s pretty well behaved, especially compared to a lot of the dogs in the park. Plus she’s still a puppy so learning to control her impulses and as fellow dog owners it would be nice if they could be w little more understanding rather then getting angry at me