Hi. For 3 weeks now we have Pablo, a baby chocolate lab and it is overwelming it is our first pup and he is adorable, but we are dying here. We did so much research beforehand, but it seems nothing can prepare you for what it is really like to have a baby pup. He is soo active, and biting all the time, he bites out feet and ankles when we walk around the house.. he bites when we pet him. When he is not sleeping, he is just biting everything. I just don’t know what to do.. nothing seems to work, I tried just about every advice I could find. I don’t want to traumatize him, to yell at him, but he will not listen. I am so tired and depressed and I know everybody says that it will pass and it is worth it.. but do you have any tips that I can try..? Thanks from a tired new pup owner
Like you I am a first time puppy owner and I can sympathise with what you are going through - I ended up in tears one night as my pup had spent the day attacking me - I would have rehomed him that night if the rescue centres had been open. What we found was he was reacting the the food we were changing him to - although it was by then making up only 20% of his total food this was enough to turn him from a loving boy to a monster - he was around 11-12 weeks old at the time. We fully reverted to his old food and our loving boy returned overnight. Now our boy gets a little nippy if he need to toilet or have a drink (we need to tell him to drink as life is so exciting he forgets....). Ensure he is having enough rest also - my boy would go through the full day without sleeping if it was left up to him - now I 'force' sleeps when he has been awake for around 90 minutes or so by crating him - he goes into his bed voluntarily once he knows the 'Den Wizards' have visited - i.e. throw a bit of kibble on his bed. The first few weeks are hard as you are tired with the night time loo runs but honestly it gets much much better - my boy is 18 weeks old, I love him to bits and I can't imagine life without him now.
I have a 6 month old chocolate lab named Abby and went through the same thing with her. Constant biting of feet, pants, ankles, shirts, and she drew blood numerous times on my hands and arms. The best advice I found was the article on Puppy Biting on this site site: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppies-biting/. I started doing daily training sessions with her and taught "touch", "watch me" and "sit" - this seemed to help and she was less wild and bity. I also started putting her in "timeout" when she overly excited by putting her in her create for about a minute. This usually stopped the biting for a while and always calmed her down. Now, at six months, Abby very rarely gets bity. And when she does, its a very gentle bite and the teeth are no longer razor sharp. Hang in there, it will get better!!
It is hard, I had two calmer labs before and it was different but they were still active. My 5 month old wants constant attention but I found a puppy chew (mentioned on youtube by Zak George trainer) called beef turbo chews from Pupford. I started giving them to him recently and it's like "puppy crack" he loves them, calms him right down and I let him chew for about 30-40 minutes. I also got a bully stick and holder which makes his biting urge less. He didn't like Yak chews the vet suggested. I also got a pen to put his kennel in since he hated the kennel and he doesn't mind his time outs as much there. Sometimes he needs a few minutes, sometimes he needs a nap. He never learned to settle himself well (without food/chew) unless he was dead tired, but bad behavior/biting, jumping, would exist when he was tired but not "can't keep eyes open" tired yet.I admit listening to others on youtube and forums makes me feel less alone. I don't want to yell, I know it doesn't help, it actually makes it worse, but I'm human and sometimes the redirecting doesn't work, the "no" the complimenting good behavior and they just need a time out. (and you do) I also found lick mats calmed him and although some of this existed with my other dogs, I didn't need it. I was told if I freeze or slightly freeze the food on it, it will last longer but I do see a calming aspect to it. Don't give up, it does get better, most dogs after the first year are still lively but much more settled.
That sounds like heaven omg. I never would have thought it could be the food making him all fired up.. I just hope I have the patience to go through the first months, as everybody says it will pass and it is all worth it in the end
My Pablo is so active, it’s like he is on batteries sometimes. I don’t have a crate for him to put in time out, but when he is very naughty, we cover him with his blanket and he sits quietly for about a minute. I am not sure if that’s a good aproach, I don’t wanna traumatize him. And you’re right, the word NO rarely works with us, it somehow gets him even more activated. I will keep trying to train him, but I am just so tired, I keep reading that it will stop and it will get better
Would a pen help? it's larger, he could see out and you could put toys/chews in it, rotate things in and out. We don't have crate since he didn't like it no matter what we did and our last lab stopped using it after a year. I once did the blanket thing, I didn't have a toy to redirect (not that it always works) and Gabe kept jumping on me on couch. His nails were sharp and I took a throw and put it over him. He stood there for a few seconds like "Is this a game?" shook it off but stopped jumping. That was the distraction. I find dinner time is the worst, he's like the energizer bunny and gets the "zoomies". Yesterday when I was trying to sort through some tax papers after work, I gave him an amazon box that came that day...made quite a mess but I got my 20 minutes to concentrate and he got a free toy. : ) Every dog likes something different, my old lab hated rubber, liked soft things. He liked a ball that dispensed treats and in pen was contained. This dog likes stuffed kongs but soft toys mainly for tug of war, not "by yourself" type of play. Maybe your vet can suggest something for him to chew on. Because of cost and richness of bully sticks/chews, I save them for when people are over, when we get service like our new washer etc, or when I really need some time to concentrate on something else.
I think a pen might be a good idea, I guess he would’t feel as confined/ scared as he would in a crate. I also give him boxes to chew on, or carhboard milk boxes( he loves those), but i let him have it just for about 10 minutes, cause I’m afraid he eats pieces of them. I bought my Pablo all sorts of chew toys, but nothing seems as attractive as out feet, ankles and hands Now on top of it, I feel his nails have grown bigger in the last week( i feel it on my skin that is). I have no idea when i should start cutting them. Thank you all for all the advice, the biting is still horrible, but I feel it helps to know I am not alone in this.
Have you tried 'yelping' like a puppy when he bites? That's what his litter mates and mother would have done to let him know he's too rough. It worked with my girl when she was little, though I do have to admit she wasn't an inveterate biter.
We've had several labs over the years and they all were bity as puppies. We now have a 6 month old who has pretty much stopped biting once she got her new teeth! Biting is inevitable with this breed, I think more so than others. Redirect their biting as much as possible by giving them alternative things to chew on. Our puppy liked shoes- we gave her an old slipper and put it in her "toy box". She knew it was hers and left all of our other shoes alone. She liked chewing on wood furniture- we brought sticks into the house. It makes a mess that you have to clean up daily but she no longer chewed the furniture. She loved cardboard as someone else suggested too. So we gave her all the carboard boxes we received which she tore into little pieces. Point being- they are puppies who like to chew and pretty much destroy things. Redirect that attention and give them something similar to chew on and let them have their way with it. When you hand them an item that they can do whatever they want to to it, they seem to be satisfied. Its all about redirecting there attention (which is pretty easy at this age as they have an attention span of a nat). Plus teaching them to fetch a ball will help tire them out because as they say- "a tired puppy is a good puppy".
My 6 month male lab still nips on occasion. I find it especially when tired or over excited. Then I'll put him in his pen for a few minutes but sometimes it's out of the blue. You can be massaging him and he's fine, you stop to look at TV or whatever and he might lift head up and instead of nudging you, lightly bite your hand. I tell him "you don't bite the hand that feeds you or pets you" but seriously besides saying "No" and moving or stopping if he continues, I'm not sure I'm doing anything right. Although his adult teeth are in, the difference I find is he now is destroying his cloth chew toys he chews when anxious. He really doesn't like rubber ones unless food is in them and then when done, he stops. He likes ropes but I can't leave them with him since he can do damage with shredding them too. I do feel he needs to let out anxiety with something but still looking for what that is. Lick mats are great but again it's food. He's never too consistent, sometimes a walk works, sometimes he's more nippy after, some days he's excellent. I felt bad the other day when I said he had turned a corner and my husband who has carpel tunnel in hand/wrist, had him nip his hand and leave a "dent" and he saw stars. They were playing tug and he got too excited. It scared him a little to see him yell and then he went to his antler. I guess I'll be off balance for a while but keep trying to find what works that day.
I've just remembered. My girl's all time favourite when she was a young pup was an ordinary plastic bucket. She'd toss it around, chase it, chew, it. Kept her occupied for hours and helped with teething and biting.
I find dinner time is the worst, he's like the energizer bunny and gets the "zoomies". Yesterday when I was trying to sort through some tax papers after work, I gave him an amazon box that came that day...made quite a mess but I got my 20 minutes to concentrate and he got a free toy. : )
That’s a very good idea. I will give it a try. He already likes any plastic bottle, big or small, so I guess he will like it. Thanks a lot!
Good luck with it. You'll find the plastic bucket a lot more robust than a bottle (don't want to risk swallowing pieces of plastic!) and quite frankly I found it entertaining when she romped around with it on her head!
Sounds just like our new lab puppy. I've found that large chicken oinkies, and bullies work pretty good, he can chew on those for hours instead of you, then he's tired of chewing on your for a while. IT GETS BETTER! Hang in there.
Hang in there it will get better. He just wants your attention. Just give him something to chew like an oinkie tried or Bully treat, these can keep him busy for a while and give you break. Goughnut toys are great too.
Totally agree with you! We have 10 month chocolate who was a furious biter when she was younger. This helped a lot: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppies-biting/ Also a few other things that helped: - doing short timeouts (just a minute or two) in the crate when she got overly excited and bitey - doing very short training sessions several times a day with simple commands like just touch, sit and "watch me" and lots of treats - giving lots of exercise playing and even doing beginning leash work with a small leash She was mostly over it by about 4 months and totally over it by about 6 months so hang in there!
