@Hugo's mum is Hugo teething? That can make the biting worse as he tries to relieve his sore gums. Some people make old tea towels in to a rope, soak it in water and then freeze. You could also do the same with rope toys as something else for him to chew on. Normal, what's normal where puppies are concerned
Hi all, I have a 21 week old pup and he has finally stopped biting but he still does when he is tired. His mouth is really gentle now and he will sort of mouth you if you allow it, but at night when he is over tired and he cant settle he turns back into a shark monster. I definitely think there is something to it, like over tired children, so maybe your boy just needs a bit more rest? I am unsure as I guess they are all different but rest assured I also went through a period of despair with the biting (mainly when he would bite other people like my mum!) and it has gotten so much better. Tolerating a small amount of the biting so you can teach him how to be gentle with his mouth is a good idea too. That is my experience, good luck!
My boy was exactly the same! We had tried everything - saying "no", walking away, or running away... hahaha this is what worked for me - teaching bite inhibition. Basically teaching you dog what is your threshold limit of the force he can "play" bite you. This may sound weird but teaching him that a gentle play bite is ok! This may take several days or weeks. Today, he has no problem with biting, he knows not to dare closing his jaw anywhere near people or clothes. However, if ever he does play too hard - he gets placed in his crate for a relaxation period for 3-5 minutes. He is now 8 months and has been doing well over the last 2 months. Unfortunately redirecting to toys never worked for me
Interestingly I had wondered that with Luna. First I thought she was bored so gave her more excercise and it got worse. Then I started putting her in her crate more for rest, to give her the chance to sleep without the kids hailing around and the last few days, though she still nips at flappy clothes, when I try to tidy the cushions on the sofa and if the kids start waving toys about in her face (obviously she wants to toy) it has calmed down markedly and I am feeling we might be on the home straight. @Calbury how has your week been?
I certainly think there is a link between tiredness and the ferocity of biting. Although puppies aren't babies, when young there are certain similarities in behaviours . Who remembers the joys of dealing with a cranky, over-tired toddler? That's your puppy with sore gums thrown in and a desire to explore his world with his mouth . Just keep repeating the mantra, 'every day is a little better. He will grow out of this'
Thank you all, as I am dealing with this also with dear sweet Gunnar! I am thankful each day as I read these posts to my family as new "puppy" antics come up. He truly is a lovely dog and can't imagine life without him. Thank you all again.
So glad the forum is helping you and your puppy on your journey. I see you a new member do it would be lovely if you popped over to the 'Introductions' tab and said Hi to everyone and told us a little more about Gunnar
Thank goodness for this thread. My puppy is almost 12 weeks and I am thinking I made a mistake in wanting this dog. Most of what everyone is saying here is the same for us. My arms look like I was on the losing end of a knife fight. Turning my back just results in my legs getting bitten. If he gets frustrated it is lunge and bite at the same time. It is almost impossible not to pull my arm away and then it is a tear and not just a hole in my arm. If he gets frustrated or if we are walking with the leash he will be fine for a few minutes, then gets nuts and start biting the leash while pulling back and growling. I have always had big dogs and was looking forward to training and bonding with a new puppy but this is not working out so far. I have treats for him, do simple training, walk on leash with some treat time too...I try not to react but its like not reacting to a buzzsaw sometimes. In desperation to get him in his crate I have scruffed him and said no and felt bad about it. He is smart and we do have some fun but the biting is coming. I try to keep the energy low, not over excite him. Crating him everytime he bites seems like not really teaching him anything. We had a puppy class and will be going every week...I am at my wits end plus a bit sleep deprived. Any suggestions are appreciated. Know I love this boy and want the best for him and for us to get through this.
I understand why you say you keep the energy low and try not to excite him, but I think puppies do need some exciting interaction with their human and if they don't get it on your terms (e.g. with a tuggy toy where you decide when the game starts and ends and what the rules are) then they'll try even harder to get you involved by biting. I actually think teaching your puppy to play helps end the biting phase (Molly is my third puppy, fourth dog).
Hi there @Celin and welcome. It sounds as if you have a perfectly normal Labrador puppy. If you look on the Labrador Puppies board you will find a thread which I called something like 'Will things ever improve' which all relates to puppy biting. The good news is that it does end, just not as quick as you might like. Some members advice wearing tight clothes and nothing floppy, some have resorted to wearing wellie boots indoors. Always have a toy in your packet/hand ready for puppy teeth to bite on rather than hands/arms. Have puppy safe rooms so if necessary you leave to give puppy a short timeout rather than try to get them in a crate, the idea being you remove interaction with the puppy. As Joy says play with your puppy. Play is an excellent way to build a bond with your puppy while tiring the puppy - tug and fetch games were very popular with Juno. Please don't scruff your pup though, it can lead to behavioural problems in the form of fear of hand approaching face/neck, or even fear of hour. Your pup is a young baby who is trying to find his way in his new life with you away from mum and his literates and he explores his world through his mouth.
Thanks for the replies. We do play! We have rope toy to play tug and balls to play with. Kong that gets peanut butter in it. He gets plenty of exercise, I think. I meant that I notice as the play progresses he can go from excited to overwrought pretty quickly so I have tried to moderate that a bit. To make sure I am not jacking him up without realizing it. During play and after eating are his two triggers that are more likely to go out of control. I have the Happy Puppy book and we are reading it and taking things one day at a time. I have scruffed him to, literally, get his teeth out of my arm when they were sunk in but it is NOT how I want to react. Hearing his behavior is normal and will get better makes it easier to manage. Reading that other puppies acted like this and grew out of it gives me hope!
He will grow out of it, I found this hard to believe sometimes during the bitey stage but mine did stop. Oh boy was it a tough time and very painful I thought I'd never survive but I did and have a lovely 11 month old now who I wouldn't swap for all the money in the world. Keep calm and heading through the dark tunnel, one day you will start to see the light and get through to the non bitey side
Hi @Celin my boy is 12 and a half weeks now, and although he's always been mouthy, it seems to get worse when he is tired - in fact he has just been incessantly biting my OH. Jumping up and biting again when he is put down from the settee - we put him in his time out area and he immediately laid down and went to sleep! He's just been put in his crate for the night now, and I know our lovely little pup will be back in the morning. It is hard, but I am taking comfort from the fact that I have been reading this forum for a while and they do seem to grow out of it.
I found with Willow that setting up play training, rather than just reacting when it happened ad hoc, got great results. I would crouch down next to her and play with her, tickle her tummy, bounce a toy around her etc. All the time she was playing nicely, the game continued, but as soon as she bit too hard, I would stand up, without saying a word, cross my arms and look away from her. I'd count to 10 or 15, then, if she was calm, would re-initiate play. The crouching down is important, because it allows you to stand up quickly, so the puppy associates the end of the game with what was happening immediately before; the biting. Even taking a couple of seconds to stand up can be enough to break the link between the two things, and the puppy won't understand why the game ended. If you find it hard to stand from a crouch, you could sit on a low stool instead. Play this game when the puppy is well rested, rather than when they're in the over-tired phase, because they won't be able to think. If your puppy is biting because he's over-tired, then the best thing to do is to pop him in his crate for a snooze. Willow would fall asleep within minutes when she got like this. If he won't sleep but you still think he's too tired, give him a kong to chew on in his crate to calm him down. He'll probably fall asleep once that's finished. With this method, Willow had finished her crocopup phase by the time she was 14 weeks. It ended within days of me starting the technique, having four or five structured sessions of a few minutes each a day.
I like that idea of going into play planning to use it like training. We do that a little but not for the biting. That happens and then it escalates and eventually it is puppy in the crate. I don't think he understands at all why he is in the crate. I will give this a try for the next few days, thanks!! He is particularly bitey in the morning right after he eats and it is the worst time for me. So training on this later in the day might end up helping the morning bite fest. Oh and we had a good evening. He is so good while waiting for dinner and he got a new chew bone and has worked on it tonight. You are right about putting him in the crate for a nap when he is tired and cranky. I think it is for a few minute time out but then he just conks out.
We keep play sessions very short and try to stop before anyone gets too over excited.we had a terrible biting stage, Luna is now 16 weeks and has calmed down loads. I was back to wearing long cardigans but she had been jumping up a lot this week so I have had to stop again. Anyway one game that works really well is this, I have a section of hose, about 3 meters long. I wiggle it on the floor and we play tug low down, and a bit of chase. This keeps her head low and encourages her not to jump up. We do this for 10 mins or do them I give her a fuss bending down to her keeping her from jumping up for fuss. Also loads of random fuss when she is just sitting down. So she knows that is a great thing. I feel it is like with the children, you do loads of work with them to deal with behaviours and eventually the behaviours stop. We will never know whether it was out hard work or they just grew out of it. But all the work maintains a modicum of control. Or so I like to think!
@Calbury how are things?hugo is 18 weeks tomorrow and has calmed down but by no means are we past the biting stage - the girls and husband are getting pretty fed up - two work tops ruined this week - can't imagine wearing anything nice again
@Calbury How's the biting been this week. Any improvement? How's Nugget's tummy after his introduction to bones and pizzles? @Hugo's mum you will nice clothes again. Honest, they will also be covered with dog hair Really hoping you are both nearly through the crocopup phase.
Well we are still having a bit of a rough time. Nugget keeps getting an upset tummy every time I try to re-introduce his kibble. I am going to stick strictly to chicken and rice tomorrow. Anyone know if banana might be helpful? I used to feed bananas to my kids when they had this problem... just wondering if it works for dogs too? He loves bananas. As for the biting - no improvement. I had a particularly frenzied 'attack' today and he wasn't wearing a harness or collar at the time, so it was hard to restrain him. He was really quite scary - snarling, biting hard, jumping up etc. He is quite big now, strong and can jump high, so he can be intimidating! I keep telling myself this will pass - but he's 20 weeks now and I feel as if we've been dealing with it for such a long time. I am so looking forward to the day I can come back here and post about how the biting has stopped!
