Hi all. Just wanted a few words of advice on my 9 week on lab Winnie. We’ve had her a week & I don’t think my husband was prepared for the upheaval. Partly due to me not being totally honest, which I have now realised. We lost my husky in October & we planned on another dog just not as soon this. There are positives: Toilet training is going well, up at 3am & 6am. Then back to bed so I can have another hours sleep. Crate training is good. She sleeps through the night without a sound. Working on getting her used to her crate during the day is getting there. And she is a delight 90% of the time. The negatives: The biting phase has just started, along with the zoomies. I’m using her playpen & crate for time outs, normally she just flops on my feet. I’m giving a toy when she goes to bite, it does work, I’ve had blood for the first time this morning. My husband doesn’t like this, he understands she’s a puppy & is teething but he gets very frustrated with her over it. I have 3 cats who are coping well, all still here & living in the same room as her. Just we have to feed them in the kitchen & we have to walk through the kitchen to get outside.. it’s proving interesting. Any advice on this? We have first injections today & second in 2 weeks. We are enrolled in puppy classes from the 28th March. I’m just not sure how I’m going to get to that date without having a meltdown. Helen x
Hi Helen, I too found the biting stage very challenging - definitely was not expecting it to be as intense as it was. I found that a very structured routine of exercise and playtime followed by a couple of hours in the crate to rest helped reduce his over-excitement and minimize the biting episodes. This forum was a huge source of tips and encouragement. The biting stage is tough but it gets better, hang in there.
Hi Helen, I too found the biting stage very challenging - definitely was not expecting it to be as intense as it was. I found that a very structured routine of exercise and playtime followed by a couple of hours in the crate to rest helped reduce his over-excitement and minimize the biting episodes. This forum was a huge source of tips and encouragement. The biting stage is tough but it gets better, hang in there.
Hi Nancy, I’ve I implemented a more structured training, play & nap routine and it does seem to be working. Just so looking forward to walks and being able to use her energy that way along with play. Biting is less as I’m doing bite inhibition training & it is going well so far. Just the cats to sort
Ours just turned 6 months. I'd like to say all is gone but he still nips when he's over excited or over tired. Unfortunately for me that is when I get home at night (hubby retired) so I try to center on him for 30 min before dinner or any exercise, sometimes an hour, but he is always hungry for more. If he gets too nippy, jumping on me playing fetch, I put him in kennel for a few minutes if he can't settle. I notice he is finding soft toys more interesting and starting to destroy them a bit (used to just carry them) I hope he safely chews other things now more than me. ; ) I'm trying to find chews he likes, none of my 3 labs in the past liked nylabones or benebones or anything that wasn't edible. I worry about calories in giving too many bully sticks or the digestion but any tips for tough but tasty chews is appreciated.
Well we are now at 14 weeks & things are improving. My husband still gets frustrated by her but he’s learnt to walk away and ignore her, she soon gets the message. Think she is definitely teething as she’s sucking her blanket a lot more & her rubber toys are taking a hit. Thankfully it’s not my hands. Our trainer gave every puppy at class a beef rawhide chew which kept them all quiet. I now give Winnie one on a Monday after class and it lasts all week.
We have 6 cats. We have two tall cat trees we feed them on. The cats don't mind eating up there and the puppy can't reach them to terrorize. The cats have learned it to be a safety zone! Our pup is now 6 months and the biting has almost stopped completely. There is an end, but can be very challenging! Hang in there!
We had our first nipping day yesterday, she didn’t draw blood but it freaked me out & it sent my anxiety into overdrive, to the extent that I had a panic attack and pains in my back & jaw and a complete crying session over her.
