Hello, my husband and I have a new 10 week old Chocolate Lab named Molly. We have had her since she was 7 weeks old. We love her dearly but are having a major issue with her biting our feet and ankles to the point our feet are bruised, sore and red (sometimes a little bloody). We have been trying the "ouch" strategy and then leaving the room but it only seems to increase the biting when we return after 20-30 seconds, even when we repeat the process. We need to work on a time out zone for Molly other than us leaving the room. I do not want to use her crate as a time out. Has anyone used a leash, tied to heavy furniture, for time-out? Also, co-workers have suggested keeping a water bottle handy to spray her with when she bites. What is your opinion about this method. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. We feel that we can't even play with her because any amount of play leads to her biting our feet and at times our hands. This is our 2nd lab and we did not have this issue with our last lab!
Hi and congratulations on your little puppy. Positive training techniques avoid treatment that causes fear and a positive reward trainer would probably avoid the water treatment. All of us puppy owners have been through the biting stage and can understand your problem. I would be wearing footwear that can protect you during this stage and try strategies to distract. Lots of toys, cardboard boxes etc. you may like to read up on clicker training and turn the behaviour into positive training opportunities. It's hard because I expect Molly thinks it is all a game. Mine was after long floaty clothes, so I distracted her by doing other things. I hope the phase passes in a few weeks for you and is then a lot easier.
My Molly was also a much worse biter than my previous Lab. We got Molly at 7 weeks whereas Rolo was 10 weeks old when we brought him home, so I wonder if that extra time with littermates made a difference. It will pass - my Molly is a gentle adult now. I wouldn't use a water spray as it will either excite your pup and make her play even rougher or scare her and damage your relationship. I recommend wearing shoes indoors! My (adult) son even took to wearing leather gloves for a while! Plus distraction with soft toys, rice bones, cardboard boxes to tear up etc. Look forward to seeing a photo of your Molly.
I am on pup number three and all have been total, utter crocodiles up to 20 weeks Then they begin to grow up and calm down. Don't spray them or tie them down, both will be very counter productive. 1. Wear skinny jeans and tight fitting sleeves. 2. Always have a toy on your person to put in their mouth. Keep doing this and eventually (17 weeks ish) they begin to pick up a toy themselves to greet you. All three of mine have done this. Tatze (2 years old) still does! 3. Stand up and turn your back when they are in crazy mode. 4. Give them a nice and calm, happy 'time out' place for when they are over tired but not giving in to the sleep they need. Put them there with a stuffed Kong for a nice snooze. If they hate it there sit by them 'till they snooze.
Hi and welcome, as others have said most of us go through the "crocopup" stage with our puppies and some are worse than others but it is a phase that passes. Some great advice from Boogie and I would highly recommend always having a toy on you or within reach. if there's a toy in their mouth they can't bite you
Shoes, suitable clothes, and toy distractions are all good ideas. I wouldn't tie up a young puppy, or spray it with water. There is good evidence that sticking to positive methods, and avoiding imposing even mild punishments, results in a dog with a better adult temperament. So many dogs have odd behaviours, fears and phobias, or no behaviour, and people don't relate this to the "mild" or "normal" punishments imposed on the dog. I firmly believe the two are related, so I would avoid such things. Best of luck with it, the biting stage does pass. They grow up so very quickly.
My chocolate lab, Ripple, was the most horrendous biter compared to my previous two and I also got him at 7 weeks. Now, at 18 weeks, he is improving but still has his moments - today has been particularly bad, I think as a result of getting overtired yesterday and also his teething (I found a tooth on the floor this morning). All the advice on here is brilliant and the support given by everyone has helped me get through tears and wanting to send Ripple back to the breeder. I've found the more noise and fuss I make the worse it is, trying to substitute a toy hasn't worked very well for me - the 'standing like a tree' has been the best strategy but it does involve letting myself get bitten to start with. At a very last resort I've ended up tucking Ripple under my arm to calm him down but I'm not sure if this is really a good idea. Good luck, stick with the forum and I'm sure you will find the best strategies for you.
I can't give much advice but perhaps it's helpful to know I'm going through the same with Ziggy. I have come to think he does this mostly when he's overtired. Saying ouch makes it a game and he bites harder. We put him in his crate for time out. It hasn't dented his love of napping in there one iota and it's the only place we can easily get him to go and stay when he's wound up and toothy. We've done some clicker training on "off" and he usually responds quickly to that request now. If he doesn't then several minutes time out is the only way to break the tension.
Something we have all been through. My advice is tough denim jeans and sturdy shoes until it passes. I don't think squinting the pup with a water bottle is a good idea, it quite likely that it will think it's a game. Either way, it will probably ramp up the excitement and with a puppy you have enough of that already.
Hi there, you have all our empathy. Distraction was the only way we got through it. Meg chomped on cardboard boxes, milk cartons, frozen kongs, frozen carrots ! My house looked a mess but the stage passed without many injuries. Welcome from Emma and Meg
Thank you for all the great advice! It offers relief to know that we are not the only ones dealing with this! I have been wearing shoes and have found a time out area in the house, which has helped a great deal.
Believe me, I feel your pain! My chocolate lab is 11 weeks now and we've had him for 3 weeks. He's been a complete crocodile since the second day that we've had him, and he still is! He is absolutely a work in progress, but I feel like we've figured out some things that have made him more manageable and tolerable. Distractions such as kibble/peanut butter filled Kongs, a billion toys of different textures and sizes, and we also bought him a Kong Wobbler which we now feed all of his meals in because it uses up some energy and slows down his meal time from 30 seconds to about 15-20 minutes. We also started taking him on longer walks which has really helped him burn off a lot of his extra energy. When hes 1. overtired or 2. hyper and under-exercised he is a biting monster.... so we're really trying to avoid that. We do use the "time-out" method sometimes as well when he's out of control. We either leave him in the kitchen for a minute or two which is gated of OR if we have no choice we pop him in the crate with a toy for a moment to calm down. When he's overtired, within a minute or two in the crate he's passed out and then wakes up a much happier puppy. We also started clicker training this week since that is what they use at his puppy classes (his first class was today and it was great!!), so I would look into both if you haven't already. Like I said, he's still a bitey monster and drives me seriously crazy.... he actually put holes in THREE pairs of pants this week, THREE . I've definitely had many, many moments where I wanted to give him away, so I totally understand your frustrations. Luckily were now at the point that we just adore him so much and are willing to wait out this crazy puppy stage to enjoy our life with him.
