Hello everyone, Over the last couple of days we've noticed a marked increase in Stanley's aggressive behaviour when trying to interact with him. Even just going to stroke him he's following for your hands to nip and then jumping up to bite (quite hard as opposed to mouthing). Making a meal of it and turning our backs just seems to infuriate him, (as does telling him 'no' firmly) and he'll jump at our legs and keeps biting. If you try and slowly walk off away and ignore him, same deal. At this point we put him in his crate to cool off which he doesn't seem to object to. I know he's just a puppy and I know this is just one of many phases but it feels like we're doing something wrong and we're somehow turning him into a bad dog (That possibly sounds a bit crazy). As sad as it sounds I guess I'm just after reassurance that this is still on the spectrum of relatively 'normal' behaviour for a puppy his age and he's not turning into one of the mutant dogs from the film 'I am Legend'. As ever, advice and experiences gratefully received! Mango
It is still within the spectrum of "normal puppy" behaviour! At least I hope so as it is exactly what we are experiencing with Jura over the last couple of days, and she is around the same age - 12 weeks old today. At times I'm feeling the same as you, that I must be doing something wrong but from all the other posts I've read about this it is a phase that most puppies will go through and it will get better. If it helps Jura gets infuriated by me turning my back on her and ignoring her when she starts jumping up and biting too - in her case she likes to bark and let you know her displeasure vocally!
This is a very unpleasant time, but let me reassure you that it is certainly not aggressive behaviour; he is simply being a puppy. This is when you have to be absolutely consistent and remove all attention - don't talk to him, don't make eye contact with him, don't yell at him, nothing. If he's increasing his behaviour when you ignore him, that actually goes to show that the tactic is working! It means he's getting frustrated and is trying new ways of getting your attention. He will eventually click that it gets him nowhere, as long as you never inadvertently reward him for his behaviour through giving him any kind of attention. If the only thing that works for you is putting him in his crate, then do that. Set aside five minutes a few times a day to do some training around this. Play with him and, as soon as he starts to bite, remove your attention completely. If needs be, pop him in his crate. As soon as he is calm, make a big fuss of him and initiate play again. Repeat. By setting aside time to actually train this, rather than simply dealing with it when it happens, you'll find you get much faster results, as he realises that he gets attention only when he's calm.
Thanks so much for feedback. It's funny as the 'making a fuss' of him is another one of those things that seems to wind him up again. We can't seem to fuss/stroke/tickle his tummy (however calmly you do it) at the moment without it increasing his want to follow your hand/nip and jump Oh well... I'll try what you've said Snowbunny. I'm all for faster results! Thanks again both, good luck to you too Raven12! Mango
My top tip would be to always shove a toy in their mouth when you are doing anything with them! if they are mouthing a toy, they arent mouthing you!
Reading your topic certainly brings back memories. I used to carry a chew toy in my pocket as it was invariably needed. Snowbunny's advice is perfect. That's precisely the way I dealt with Mabel and it really worked. The other tactic I had was whenever she was settled and playing calmly I'd drop a little piece of kibble or treat next to her. Rewarding her for being calm has really worked. I have found that a calm puppy is a happy stress free puppy, that goes for me too
Jaffa - 10.5 weeks now - the same !! - I try redirection with her toy - bit of distraction. But usually its when she's a little over tired and popping her into her crate works well (as you have found) - fast asleep very soon. I am also doing the settling on the mat separately to reward calm behaviour too. (It is annoying and a bit frustrating - deep breath - think puppy - quite normal !)
Ah I'm just stopping by to say 'hang in there' you've had lots of feed back already to assure you everything is totally normal.The crocopup is hard to love I believe at some times ( I didn't have this stage so I only know anecdotally) but you get through it ....just in time to hit the teenage stage and we'll help you through that too! X
If it helps not all days are as bad. Jura was a bitey little horror on Monday and Tuesday, and today has calmed right down. I'm sure the crocopup phase is far from over with her but she is certainly a lot more loveable today, well so far anyway!
Figured I'd add a little here. Maui has been awful lately with the nipping/biting. Actually, a bit better yesterday. I agree, I think sometimes being tired feeds into it as well. I know that when I first got her I did a lot of putting my hand in her mouth and repeating no bite and easy and she was really quite good for a long time. It was only the last week or so that it got bad. She's 14 weeks now. And it seems that's it's mostly when she's over excited and/or tired! And sometimes it's just that she needs to go out and pee or poop! What is most annoying now is the jumping up and biting! Again, it seems she wants to play or get some attention, etc. I do a lot of substituting with toys ... or take her for a walk, now that she can do that after having her shots, throw the ball, etc. And, alas, sometimes the only answer is the crate! I had thought last night would be bad as we had a really bad Thunder Storm and lost power .... but she was so good, just sat beside me the whole time and went to bed normally without incident! We're lucky she's not afraid of the storms too I guess. I still think she has a more mellow make up than our other dog Maggie who really was tough in this area. But, she does have her times! LOL!! I think I'll try the rewarding when she's quiet like was mentioned too! Love her to pieces, but there are times!! LOL!!
Just wanted to say hang in there and time and consistency will win through and crocopup turns into teenager
It comes as quite a shock when the lovely, famously gentle, Labrador puppy proves to be a biting machine. You wonder what you are doing wrong. The answer is nothing. I was shocked when Molly turned out to be a biting machine. My previous mongrel puppy had got the idea that biting wasn't on by the time she was 10 weeks, why couldn't my supposedly intelligent Labrador get it? The answer is that it is par for the course with Labs. Nothing I tried had any effect, and believe me I tried everything. Well you would wouldn't you when your hands were a network of fresh and fading bite marks. Then one GLOROIUS day I realised that I was gently fondling a silky ear and she was not noshing on me. Molly is 22 months now and I would trust her mouth anywhere. I have has my hands right inside her mouth as I have removed discarded rubbish from her jaws (bones from the barbecue seem to be a favourite as people gaily toss them over the garden wall) and I always come out unscarred. My husband, who basically doesn't like dogs as he was attfacked as a child plays with her and says "there isn't a nasty bone in her body". So don't worry, in a few weeks it will stop.
Ahh thank god i found this post....Charlie is been doing exactly this since last 2 weeks or so and i was wondering what wrong have I done And today when even i was not well he left a bite on my finger and little blood came out then after few hours he tore my cotton trouser apart and i almost lost my patience today!! Been trying everything from taking attention away to giving toys to crate etc etc but so far nothing seems to be working. Hez a total crocopup Read all posts and felt better and hope this croco phase ends soon
Mabel ripped five items of my clothes when she was that age. It does pass. If possible buy some kongs, they are a blessing. Fill with some kibble from the food allowance or a few treats. I bought some of the kong easy stuff for puppies. It's in an aerosol can. There are other alternative brands on the market that you can pop treats inside. I've just found kongs the best for my girl. Good luck and keep smiling
I had to tell people at work how I got my injuries as my arms were covered in scratches and bites - I also had my pup attacking my jeans or long floaty tops as I walked along. I avoided winding her up and was fairly calm all of the time. I only started to play rough and tumble games at 12 months and even then not too rough and not too long. Let sleeping dogs lie. Use cardboard boxes and empty plastic bottles for chewing and tearing up but always watch. It's all normal.
Totally totally totally normal. I meet many Lab and Lab X pups each week and there are very few non-crocodiles!
It really does get better - just not yet!!! Hang in there I remember this so well and wondering what on earth we were doing wrong. My friend had a springer puppy at exactly the same time and she didn't experience any of this, whereas I looked liked a self harmer with all the scratches and bites down my arm and all my clothes had tooth holes! My advice is chose on a response and just be consistent and make sure everyone does it every single time. We tried yelping and turning our backs but it didn't do anything and she continued to bite the backs of our legs. We then started to remove her to the utility behind the stair gate and count to 10 or if she was so mad that we couldn't grab her we would remove ourselves from the room and count to 10. For us things started to improve at about 18 weeks. Phoebe is now nearly 10 months and although biting is a thing of the past, there are many new challenges!!!!!
Whewww.....Charlie is my first ever baby and I thought it to be not that tough in the first week but as soon as his crocodile side turned up i started thinking "okay this is not easy at alll" ;-) Now hez doing mistakes day and night in potty training - full on crocodile phase - not learning nicely Come sit and stay....goshhh hez just few weeks old and it takes months to get these pups fully house trained and fully obedient and this phase gonna seem like ages to me But whatever it is....everytime i see him i fall in love with him all over again
