The last 2 days it seems like Sophie’s biting is getting worse and I’m just mentally exhausted and afraid of interactive with her. She’s 13 weeks going in 13. “Leave it” isn’t working anymore and her biting is getting harder and she able to jump now and is growing so she’s able to bite higher up on my body. I can’t ignore her with her teeth digging into my thigh. I can’t walk away with her teeth sunk into my shoe or my pant leg. Redirection doesn’t work. Her crazy hour seems to be lasting longer and longer. I am unable to exercise her outside, she just want walk on a leash. I exercise her indoors with plenty of mental stimulation, playing, flirt stick, I even have her run around chasing after stuff. Nothing works. At what age do things start to improve just a bit? I’m exhausted, sad, and afraid my fog is never going to be kind and gentle. I don’t even enjoy interacting with her the last 2 days. I have no personal life, And it’s sad that my favorite time of day is going to bed. An I alone feeling this way?
You aren't alone! Wish I could offer help, but am having similar issues. Buster is 12 weeks and I'm having a lot of issues with biting. For a few days it seemed a tiny bit better and "leave it" was starting to work, but the last couple of days have been terrible. I persist in taking him for walks but find it sad and upsetting to be constantly trying to stop him biting my legs and feet. Am tired and frustrated.
Thank you for posting. I'm glad it's not just Sophie. I find it disheartening that I'm trying to exercise her to burn off the puppy energy causing her to bite, but when I try to walk her she just lunges at my feet and legs and so therefore there's no exercise. I never thought puppyhood would be this difficult. My trainer says not to show her I'm afraid but that's really hard when teeth are digging into your skin. Her latest antics are to take my finger and tug on it with her teeth. I was so upset I broke out into tears yesterday.
I'm with you Nancy. I dread walking Sophie becuase unless she really has to go potty its constant lunging at my feet and legs to bite. She has no interest in "walking" to get exercise. I'm at wits end...I have no idea how to exercise this dog. She has no interest in fetch, walking, tug, etc. Everything is a biting fest! Very disheartening and sad. Playing with her is a miserable experience right now and I hope it's just a phase. Nothing I'm doing is working!
Hello, I understand how you are both feeling. I felt so mentally drained and exhausted during that period and I thought our little Alma would never settle down. I can assure you though that it will pass and everything you are feeling is completely normal. I went through a terrible phase of puppy blues, I thought I was prepared for a puppy but nothing can prepare you for the reality of it. It was just so tiring, you need an eye on them constantly so you are around them but then all they want to do is bite you! I used to refer to Alma as my beautiful nightmare...I just didn't realise little monsters could come in such a cute form! I know it feels like it goes on for what feels like forever but once your pup has outgrown that phase there is so much wonderful stuff to come.
Hi CarrieAlma, thanks soooo much for the post - makes me feel much better! After a disheartening evening yesterday, I vowed to start fresh today and continue to try and work on redirecting and the "leave it" training. This morning we went for a short walk and by throwing down a trail of kibble in front of me was able to get Buster to ignore my legs and feet most of the time - only a couple of "attacks". Aside from the biting he's a great dog - just need to get through this...
Thank you for posting this. Do you remember what age the biting started to improve? I realize it will take time and it's not something that happens in a day but at this time I feel like we are going downhill instead of down the road to improvement. Thank you!
Around 18/20 weeks I would say. There were lots of highs and lows with periods of what felt like quite a bit of aggression towards only me but she just became more and more gentle. Alma is so gentle now that I am more than happy to leave her with my tortoise in the garden. Such a difference from the younger puppy that used to jump up and try bite my face, making holes in all my clothes, even drawing blood! I thought I would never be able to leave her with Norman the tortoise as I thought she'd just use him as a chew toy but it's like she is a different dog! I found little time outs helpful when she was being a real handful, I would say 'no biting' and put her the other side of the baby gate for a short while. I also bought a Kong wobble which kept her occupied so I could get a little bit of peace as sometimes engaging in training would just turn in to a biting session.
Aw you're welcome. I found this forum a great source of comfort and it helped me understand that it was ok to feel all the emotions, whilst learning from others. You're doing a great job!
It wasn't pure biting terror up until 18/20 weeks though. Like I say highs and lows. Hard biting would be replaced with nipping which was an improvement really, then it moved on to mouthing and we managed to stop that as well. It's all puppy dog eyes and paws for food now
Our girl Hailey was a terrible biter as a puppy. I found it really difficult to cope and not really prepared for it as our previous dog was in retrospect a very laid back puppy. But she matured into the most gentle dog...my only suggestion is to wait it out, this stage will pass and it will all have been worth it
You aren't alone! Wish I could offer help, but am having similar issues. Buster is 12 weeks and I'm having a lot of issues with biting.
You aren't alone! Wish I could offer help, but am having similar issues. Buster is 12 weeks and I'm having a lot of issues with biting. Tutuapp 9Apps ShowBox
I had a dog behaviorist here because I thought Sophie was being aggressive because she was coming after me so much biting. She observed us and told me Sophie is just a high energy puppy who’s out of control due to my lack of leadership and it’s stressing her out and she’s trying to play the lead. I was teaching Sophie commands but I want giving her rules or boundaries, she told me the more rules, structure and consistency, the better she will be. It’s been 4 days and aside from Sophie having a few spots throughout the day where she tries to get bitey and crazy, I’m able to reel her back in snd she’s like a different dog! She taught me so much about puppy behavior! Google McCann Dogs cuz they also have videos on leadership. I’ve started making her sit and wait for everything - food, water, leash, out, treats, toys. That alone calmed her down so much! I also began rewarding her for calm behavior and that’s helped too (more then just ignoring her). I am hoping we are in to better days! (Though zoomies hour is still not fun!)
