Hi I've never posted before , I have a 5 year old black lab and a 5 mth old chocolate pup. I'm really struggling with this puppy she is nothing like our other lab was she constantly bites us and our other dogs , the children can't play with her at all because she is so bad . She also has a really strange temperament for a lab puppy . She cowers from anything new , people or things she was the last pup of the litter and wouldn't come to us then either but I thought it was because sh was the last one , unfortunately we've had to have her knocked out and x rayed twice because of worrying about her joints so this hasn't helped her nervousness . She actually puts her back up and growls at strangers or new things which I've never seen in a puppy.Neither is the fact that we constantly spend all day shouting at her or eventually grabbing her to stop her biting everything she's on restricted exercise and isn't allowed to run after a ball or toys either so I have no way to tire her out , she's also recently started howling when she's in her cage too which she never used to do and I don't know how to stop I'm starting to feel like I've made the biggest mistake and our poor other lab just looks so miserable she can't even move without being bitten or jumped on , she won't play with her or discipline her so I'm having to always go get the puppy off her . It's getting worse daily the puppy also will not listen to any commands I've tried teaching her we actually thought she was deaf at first now we realise she just doesn't want to do anything other than her own thing
Re: Help with biting Welcome to the forum First of all I would completely stop grabbing her or shouting at her. Treat her gently and calmly at all times, even when she is neither gentle nor calm. All shouting and grabbing simply confuses pups and causes them to get even more over excited or scared of people and noises. Both of mine were TOTAL crocodiles at this age, and Gypsy still is at times (5 months). I follow all Pippa's advice as it is first class - here is a link to her articles on biting. http://www.thelabradorsite.com/your-labrador-puppy-biting/
Re: Help with biting Hello there, welcome to the forum Your poor puppy seems to have been through a lot in her short life - it sounds like she has missed out on a whole lot of critical socialisation. Perhaps it might help if you try and look at things from her point of view. She is always in trouble, finds new things scary, she isn't allowed to run and play like other puppies. Poor little thing. It might be helpful if you had more of a routine - to train her things (at least she can have mental exercise, if not physical), get her slowly used to new people and new things (as appropriate if she is on restricted exercise) and then try to be calm around her, spend time with her and try to establish a bond.
Re: Help with biting Hi and thanks for replies , what should I do when she's biting us all then ? She doesn't actually ever stop unless I go stop her I'm starting to have to keep everyone separate as that's the only way to stop her without shouting , she actually jumped up and bit my sons arm while he was on the sofa sleeping one night we have taken her out with us every weekend since 8 weeks we carried her at first and now we take the crate in the car and put her back in for rest in between short walks as the vet told us to do this so she's been socialised in lots of different situations ,our other lab we just used to say no biting and she learnt this but this puppy is so different she actually sometimes just sits snapping at the air , or our poor other dogs fur
Re: Help with biting Puppies bite. I've learnt this in the couple of weeks I've had my little one. My hands are a mess of holes. But, this is perfectly normal; she just needs to be taught how hard is acceptable. When she bites too hard, say "ow!" in a high-pitched tone - but not loudly enough to scare her. Immediately stand up with straight legs and ignore her, even if she continues to jump up. I would highly recommend getting Pippa's book The Happy Puppy Handbook, which you can buy from Amazon and even get it today if you buy the Kindle edition. It was a massive help to me. I agree you should stop shouting at and grabbing her. That won't help at all. Read through the articles on http://www.thelabradorsite.com which have a wealth of information. Look at the training articles, too. You can't just say a word and expect her to know what it means. It takes time and a lot of effort on your behalf. I'm sure you can have a lovely puppy, you just need to make some adjustments to the way you're doing things. Good luck, and definitely buy that book!
Re: Help with biting We had to get puppy biting under control quite quickly we have a 5 year old child and a tiny Chihuahua so Elsie had to be gentle. We did the action and sound that each bite hurt much more than it did, if she jumped as we moved around the room to bite we turned our backs and refused to play. Her biting became much less and much softer within a week. Her accidental catching us with puppy finger nails however was harder to deal with we all looked like self harmers with plasters all over arms and legs for weeks. Two nail cuts and a bit of a dremelling later and we have that under control too. She still mouths but so gentle it's more like a suck with no teeth so it has worked. I would add no shouting or grabbing was used we try to be gentle as possible to teach her to be gentle too, this has worked with past puppies and is working quite well with Elsie too.
Re: Help with biting Hi, Hollie is half lab half crocodile so I know how you feel. I'm no expert but we have found being calmer around her helps her to be calm, we always have a toy to put in her mouth instead of our body parts and say no biting every time. If she ups her biting we know she is in pain with teething and give her frozen carrots and ice cubes. Have you tried kongs to keep her stimulated, we use her food allowance and for a half hour fix just soaked kibble but for a few hour fix we freeze it, her afternoon meal we normally put in a kong wobbler but not sure with your pup with her restrictions. It will get better
Re: Help with biting My 10 wk old pup Gibson is a bit of a biter too, which is frustrating as my 6yr old daughter is taking the brunt of it. We're doing as the others say, yelping (my wife's yelp is particularly poignant) and taking hands away, stopping playing. It is slowly working and his biting is getting softer. When he goes into mental crocodog mode snapping a little I just gently hold him with a hand under his jaw and stroke his head with 'shhhhh' sounds - which seems to calm him down. That said, I don't want to minimise what you're going through. It does sound extreme and I'm sure the more experienced people on here can give you much better advice than me. When Gibson kicks off though I try and keep in mind that I need to make him feel safe and calm and anything that isn't directed towards that is counter-productive (no matter how much you want to strangle the little sod at times - and kids get you the same way before anyone accuses me of being a puppy hater). So I remove him from the situation that's making him feel threatened, give him a favourite toy, sometimes I'll just shut the door to my office (where his crate is) and stretch out on the sofa and chill with him with nobody else allowed in the room. He knows he's safe there and after a bit of jumping around will usually calm down and go lie on his bed. When he's calm again I'll open the room door and let him go out when he decides he's ready. He's usually pretty chilled and happy by that point and is licking rather than biting.
Re: Help with biting At 5 months, normally, you would expect the puppy biting (to learn bite inhibition) to be all but over. It sounds to me (just from what you have said) that you might have an excited/frustrated/anxious dog. Which is understandable if she is is restricted in what she can do. So that's why I suggested a routine involving a lot of training and activities and play. If you clicker train, there is a lot you can do to mentally tire her out, even without physical exercise. Being calm around her, and dealing with things in a positive way will all help too.
Re: Help with biting [quote author=Love labs link=topic=8394.msg118673#msg118673 date=1413883908] Hi and thanks for replies , what should I do when she's biting us all then ? [/quote] I would follow this link and start following the advice there. It takes a lot of time and patience but is well worth the effort http://www.thelabradorsite.com/your-labrador-puppy-biting/ There are lots more links on the page, all about biting and what to do about it. http://www.thelabradorsite.com/your-labrador-puppy-biting/ http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-cope-when-your-labrador-puppy-bites/
Re: Help with biting Oh dear, it sounds as though your are having a tough time. Just a few thoughts/questions, to add to the helpful advice you’ve had already It sounds as though your puppy has not been adequately socialized, a process that the breeder should have started long before you took her home. Added to the fact you have had to keep her on crate rest, you and she are having a pretty miserable time of it. Aggression? You are probably worried that there is something seriously wrong with your puppy’s temperament, but that is most unlikely. Aggression etc doesn’t normally show itself at this age. So her behaviour is likely due to her environment/experiences to date. And you should still be able to catch up with her socialization, even though it may take a little longer. Biting I should also add that many puppies are still very bitey at five months, and it is perfectly normal for puppies to be far too rough for small children to play with them. The links above should help Training The training issue is also normal. Puppies are only interested in what works for them, which is why training with food is so effective. A fun skill to start teaching is the hand target. I’ve just put some instructions and a video on this up on my training site. Why not give it a go and let us know what happens. What I am essentially saying is that your pup sounds fairly normal if a little undersocialised and fearful. Which you should be able to resolve. So try not to worry. Have a read of the links you’ve been given and come and ask any questions you may have. Is she done with crate rest now? If not there is a good book out designed to help people in your situation. It's called 'no walks, no worries' and is co-authored by Sian Ryan, one of our guest writers. You can buy it on Amazon here Hope that helps a bit
Re: Help with biting Thanks for that Pippa! Gypsy is due to be spayed next month, so I have ordered the book - she will be hard to keep quiet and happy!
Re: Help with biting Just wanted to say hi and welcome to the forum Sounds like you're having a difficult time at the minute - the links that have been put on here are fantastic and will hopefully help. Have you gone to puppy classes at all?
Re: Help with biting Hi there,a puppy can be a big shock to the system,especially when you have an older sensible dog.... You've had lots of helpful advice and suggestions...much more than I could help you with,I just wanted to say hang on in there....better times are coming x
Re: Help with biting Just wanted to say hope it all works out my Lemmy was a total crocadog and still has to be timed out sometimes but following the Puppy handbook really helped plus reading links etc. I found it very reassuring to know others were patching up puppy injuries at same time as we were stick with it and remember this will pass.
