I would really appreciate some advice. Our 4 month old pup has a 2-3 hour period every night where she is very bitey. It's too early for her to go to bed and enrichment things don't really distract her, although they help to keep our hands safe. Our main challenge is she jumps on the couch where she isn't allowed and bites whoever is sitting there. We calmly remove her but usually get bitten in the process. The only thing that stops this is sitting in the kitchen with her. Is there anything I could try to break this habit?? In all other areas she is lovely, and she hardly ever does this at any other time.
Hi Martha, Yes totally frustrating. Anything we do to lure her off the couch without contact just makes the whole thing into a jolly game (with biting). I'm hoping as the zooming diminishes it may stop of its own accord, but it wod be nice to have a system for dealing with it.
When she starts to get bitey she is trying to burn off excess energy. Try bringing her outside for some exercise. Lab's are bitey because they were created to fetch things all day long so they naturally have a lot of drive to grab things. A tired puppy is a good puppy!
When we take her outside she eats everything in sight! I have started to ignore her doing that as it was making me nuts! When we try to play fetch with her outside, she just eats things! We have resorted to a can with penny's to keep her off the sofa. That is the only thing we use it for. It does work but not sure for how long. I just worry that she will never grow out of this biting stage. It makes training a bit difficult as she just wants the reward...augh!
Just get a can or I use an old thermos cup with a lid and put a few pennies in it. When she gets up on the furniture I shake the can. I had to use it twice. If I just pick it up she rethinks her action. I didn't mind her on the furniture until she was scratching and digging on the cushions.
I shared the same worry about biting , our girl was the bitiest pup I have ever had. It did go in for a number of months but it does stop. It is hard and upsetting at times I understand. There are so many threads on biting pups on here and useful links to articles. Takes consistency and patience and time and maturity, no real quick fix for some dogs it seems but it will happen! Takes lots of rewards too , I still reward my girl for good things and good decisions she makes, so it’s good your pup wants it!
We are in the same boat. We now leave a short leash on her at in the evenings so we can use that to remove her from situations without getting bitten
Thank you everyone for the encouraging replies. I will certainly try the suggestions We've had a better night tonight so feeling positive. Thank you x
