Biting Puppies: Help For New Puppy Parents

What does spaztic mean ? A lot of what you describe is normal developmental stages for a pup, they settle and grow out of these behaviours with time and patience.

 

She’s very hyper.

 

The first training class went quite well. There were 6-7 puppies, all of them were pulling, jumping, barking, etc at various times. The instructor is very experienced and was not at all bothered by it, said it's normal and they will get calmer with practice. Came away with a few key tips, have been practicing with Buster, and he is responding well. It will take time, but definitely worth it.

 

That’s great! I might enroll her then. She went to daycare for 2 days and it definitely temporarily calmed her down and her biting is less intense and less frequent. I’ve enrolled her 2 days a week for now. I’m hoping this is the start of better days.

 

My lab puppy Sophie just turned 16 weeks today. I got her at 7 weeks and she has tripled in size in 9 weeks! She is almost 24 pounds and is losing her "puppy" appearance. 3 weeks ago, I called a local dog trainer who specializes in behavior and was highly recommended. The night I called her, I had spent a day shedding tears, my hands full of bloody bite marks and I feared my puppy was aggressive or just really angry at me. I couldn't walk through the house without her lunging at my legs, or my ankles, or biting my calves. She bit me when I tried to pick her up, put her in her crate, it was a non-stop biting frenzy.

The trainer spent several hours with me and taught me some leadership skills I was missing never having owned a puppy before. She gave me some stuff to work on in order to show Sophie I was her leader, like making her wait for food, toys, treats, at thresholds, etc. She had me reduce the number of toys I had in her playpen. She made me claim my personal space, and teach Sophie manners. Sophie was like a different dog the very next day.

Since then, the biting has drastically declined. She still does bite, don't get me wrong, and it still hurts like heck. But she hasn't drawn blood since that horrible day I had my meltdown. She is also a complete different dog, she's starting to become a bit loveable and I can actually pet her and interact with her without being bit. I can check her teeth, pick her up, pull mulch out of her mouth, put her leash on...all without being bitten. I can walk around in the room with her loose without her lunging at me (for the most part, she still does it occasionally when she's over stimulated). I can walk her outside without her lunging at me too. I don't know if it was the combination of the change in my leadership skills, or the fact that my energy changed from being afraid to confident as a dog owner and she feels that energy, or if she's just maturing. I've noticed the past two weeks - I can see the maturity changes from day to day even. She's starting to "get" things, she's starting to calm down just a bit, she's starting to respond better to training.

So for those of you who just got your puppy and are struggling, I was where you are several weeks ago and while you feel like it will never end, it WILL get better. This is proof. I literally thought Sophie was aggressive and was afraid of her most of the time. That's all changed in a manner of 3 weeks. I'm confident in 2 more months or so, she is going to be an even better dog. So please hang in there!

 

I need help! My pup is 11 weeks old and is biting me hard all over, mostly when he's quite excited. I gather this is relatively normal, but I'm actually getting quite scared of him because it hurts a lot and its only getting worse. Ouch sends him more wild so have stopped doing that on purpose, but but be honest it is really painful and I am reacting as such. It doesn't feel like he's inhibiting his bite much at all. I've tried keeping a rope toy handy and diverting onto that but with limited success, and plus I can't always have it close enough. He really keeps going and I can't get away from him, have been putting him in the crate at times but I worry this isn't happening quick enough for him to associate. He rushes after me and keeps biting when I try to leave the room.
Any tips for dealing with him when he wont back off and how to get away from him without reinforcing him or making it worse. I am really starting to worry how I'm going to deal with this especially as he gets much bigger as he's going to be 35kg+.
Also, to manage the over excitement, how can I calm him down? I don't want to over rely on the crate as it's working really well for naps, night Time, and when we go out, he is pretty happy in there ... or should I not worry about that so much

 

I was in pretty much exactly the same situation a few weeks ago! After reading a lot of posts on this forum, I made a couple of changes that really helped. I added a lot more structure to our routine, pretty strictly following a schedule of about an hour of exercise/play time followed by about 1.5-2 hours in the crate for rest/sleep. I am careful to always put him in the crate calmly and quietly, and it has not had any negative impacts - he still goes in eagerly and settles down very quickly. Also, I started hand feeding most of his meals - gives opportunities for training, has made him much more responsive to me, and slows down his eating. These changes made a huge difference almost immediately, his episodes of over-excitement and biting became less frequent and when they happened I was able to get him under control quite quickly - using the "off" command and calmly putting him in the crate for a time out of 15-20 minutes. He is now 16 weeks and doing really well. There is still some biting, but only once or twice a day, and it is much less severe. Hang in there, it does get better!

 

I was in your situation about 3 weeks ago and after a day of feeling like I was a giant chew toy with bloody teeth marks all over my hands and ankles, I called a trainer. Adding more rules, boundaries, structure, and learning about the importance of my leadership skills,Sophie was a different dog immediately. Biting was 90% better. She still bites (she’s started teething now) but it’s less frequent and she hasn’t but hard enough to draw blood since that day. I’m also no longer afraid to manage her, and I know she feels that energy. Before she sensed my fear and it wigged her out and made her more crazy.

Try adding small rules. Make your pup wait for their food, water, treats, toys. Make sure it knows you provide those items. Keep redirecting - my pup took forever to get it, but she’s finally getting “leave it” and redirection. Try leaving a leash on so when you need to do a time out, it’s safer then trying to pick up your pup. I got an ex pen with a door that’s much easier to put a biting pup in rather than a crate. Or, try tethering the dog to something heavy and then when it bites you can escape easier then trying to climb over a baby gate with a shark coming at you. That never worked for me. I got bit on the way to the gate and trying to go over it with a dig attached to your leg isn’t an option.

Also, this was huge for me - I taught Sophie the sit and touch commands immediately. It’s always been a way to reset her in a frenzy via she’s good motivated. When she gets nuts I get a treat, yell her sit/touch and for a minute she goes from shark to angel. Weeks ago the shark reappeared quicker but now it’s helping to settle her. I still use it when she has her bad biting times now. After I do it a couple times she usually goes to her bed. If she keeps coming back to bite more then 3 times, she goes into the pen with a “no bite”.

Try new things...each pup is different and not everything works for everyone. Hang in there, it will get better in a few weeks I promise!

 

Thank you for reply!
Would you expand on the hand feeding please? Is that sort of the idea that they associate you with the good stuff and you only sort of release the biscuits when they are not being mouthy and being patient etc, so they learn that being mouthy on you is not beneficial?

 

Yes, exactly - they learn to take food gently, and to respond to you! I started by holding each piece of kibble between my thumb and forefinger and making him sit calmly and take it gently - he if tried to grab it, I would pull it away until he took it calmly. Then I start making him work for it, have him follow me to other places in the room, let me touch his paws, nails, ears, underbelly, etc. Then I added sit, lay down, turn around, etc. It takes maybe about 15-20 min to feed him his breakfast, I purposely don't rush it because I want him to eat slower. Sooo worth the time, wish that I had started this from day one. Watched a really great Youtube video on this, here is the link () but I'm sure there are others, just search "hand feeding puppy".

 

Just back to say my crocopup has really eased off the last few weeks, if anyone is reading this thread desperately hoping for light at the end of the tunnel, it is coming!

 

Please say it’ll pass. I’m in the same position with you. Now I’m crying and if the breeder lady accept I can give him back.
Two times in the night I am taking him to garden for toilet break. If he's awake every hour in the day time. We can not play because he's starting to bite!I read lots of thing but I am hopeless now.
He is a labrador and 10weeks old.

 

I watched a few training videos (Zak George is good) and realized although my guy bites more than past labs, I also got them few weeks older than 8 and they had more kids around to keep them active and distracted. I keep introducing a toy to bite and redirecting and if he keeps it up and can't listen, separate us for a few minutes. I use frozen kongs with baby food, peanut butter and it helps his gums and keeps the chomping on that. I used bully sticks with old dog not realizing they weren't as good or healthy.
It's tough and I thought did I forget all this with last 2 labs or like kids, they all are different. He pees more and wants more attention but again, I had 3 kids with others that are adults now and they did things I'm expected to do now. I think when you are tired and exhausted, it's easy to get discouraged and think I made a mistake. There are thousands of people online who say "I didn't like my puppy as much but LOVE my dog a year later" Like a mom with a colicky baby, it passes and does get better.

 

It will get better, and it will just happen. My pup was the worst and after some structure and leadership is lessened but then at 4 months it just suddenly stopped completely. Hang in there, I know it’s tough. I cried most days during that phase!

 

It gets much, much better! Rocky at 1yo is not the Rocky at 10-16 weeks, or even at 6-8 months. My pup bit my hands all the time, my jacket, my pants- he would get amped up by floppy sweat pants, socks- he would be on the leash and just turn around and jump on me biting everything in sight. I was upset and mystified, and embarrassed (this happened once on the sidewalk outside the dog park with all the nicely behaved dogs and their owners watching-I was mortified). Dog training helped some. Frozen kongs helped. Sprinkling kibble on the sidewalk helped divert him, finding a stick for him helped. Time outs in the crate helped. But I wondered- is this his baseline personality in the long run? Absolutely not. Time helped the most. At one year he still has his issues, but the biting is ALL OVER and has been for several months. The dog that made me bleed after every walk is now the dog that you can pet with your bare feet-you can put your hands in his mouth. The dog that hardly wagged his tail at me, would just sit and look at me, would never sit with me on the floor, is changing. He is no longer interested in frantically chewing everything in the house (carpet, shoes, furniture). Yes he still does chew some, but it has lessened greatly. He wags his tail at seeing me, and occasionally comes and lays down by my side. Two weeks ago I was reading on the floor by the fireplace and he came and lay right beside me and put his head on my chest. I was so surprised I took pictures. Rocky may never be as affectionate as our now deceased lap-loving Labrador, but he IS affectionate on his own level. He still can be mischievous (I'm going to grab the kitchen towel in hopes that you will engage with me), but this has lessened also. He does get a lot more exercise now- hiking, trail running, swimming (even in the cold), and seems to thrive with this. But his personality has changed. He is not aloof or mean- just a goofy dog trying to figure out his world with us, his owners. It's so true, I didn't love my pup at all, but I love my one year old dog. And I'm beginning to think that he might even love me.

 

I agree with The comment above. I was honestly afraid I had an aggressive dog when Sophie was 3-4 month old. Her biting was so bad that I dreaded interactive with her. It was not at all fun in any shape or form. I can see why some people might not keep a puppy without getting advice, training, support and hope. I stuck it out and honestly at 8 months, Sophie is the sweetest dog ever. Every month I see major changes as she still has got a lot of maturing to do. But now, Sophie will sometimes get over excited and put her mouth over my hand to interact with me but she doesn’t even close her mouth on me. And it happens maybe 1-2 times a week. I stick my bare feet by her all the time and she just lays her head on them. Stick with the training and be patient once you get through the hard stuff it’s so worth it. I can’t love her more then I already do and she’s still not well mannered. ❤️

 

I am a new puppy owner and have a 9 week old chocolate baby lab. He is adorable, but I am having trouble stopping him from biting me and my husband. He bites our feet and ankles and we can barely move around the house.
I tried everything, trying to distract with toys, treats(making him work for it and sit/ stay). I tried to take away all attention from him when he is overexcited and then he plays by himself. But he bites very very hard and i don t know what to do when he lunges for my feet/ ankles and won’t let go for anything.
I honestly don’t know what to do and i admit I am overwhelmed.
The posts here are very helpful, anymore tips with such a small pup?

 

My lab is 5 months now and bites less but still bites. I find at this age it's mostly when he's tired, the end of the day (when I come home) My husband is retired now and gets nips but much less. I sometimes have to do a time out for few minutes in his pen and 80% of the time, he's better when he comes out. If not, he usually will bark a bit and then take a nap. Giving toys helped a little but sometimes he wanted me more. ; ) I found a bully stick helped a little when in that mood, Yak bones were a fail but then Zak George mentioned Pupford beef turbo chews. My goodness, it's like doggy crack for my pup. We don't let him have it longer than 30-40 minutes but if he's fresh and he calms down, and gets the chew, I could go on the computer, eat, exercise and he's in another world. Not cheap but worth their weight in gold.
I do find time, being exercised mentally and physically helps but some pups do seem to bite more than others. I praise when I remember, the good behavior, the licks, and I think that helps too.

 

Hi, I'm new to the site. I have a 15 week old yellow lab, She is absolute gold for a lot of things. The jumpy bitey thing has me at my wits end. She goes from calm and sweet to holly terror in seconds for no apparent reason. The more I try to calm her the worse she gets, I try toys, I try treats. I have her on a house lead so if I'm lucky I can step on it to keep her from jumping but then she bites my feet. I look like I've been in a cat fight, my arms and hands are all chewed up. We are in puppy kindergarten right now and that has helped some but the trainers tell me that this is just something we have to get through. I'll tell you, this is a very depressing thought. I feel awful to have to basically keep her in her pen so much of the time, where sometimes she'll sleep and sometimes she'll just bark and howl.