So Finn is biting MORE than he ever has. He's about 17/18 weeks. I feel like I haven't been playing with him enough (although he's been getting plenty of walks and dog park runs and attention), so I was trying today and he will start with the toys but then lose interest and go for my clothes. I worry that I've been reinforcing this (since it's getting worse) because I have to get him off me somehow or he will rip my clothes - and I can't afford to have my clothes ripped nor can I always wear "junk" clothes. When he does this I have been ending the game, but he doesn't stop...he'll just be pulling on my clothes. The only way to remedy this is to do a time out and put him in the kitchen behind the puppy gate to calm down. I have been doing a "no" but haven't been getting overly emotional about it. Maybe I should just stay totally silent? I'm just worried that he's going to put holes in my clothes if i just "become a statue" This is getting super frustrating! And I don't want to be putting him in time out all the time!
Ah it's grim isn't it ? He's getting overexcited ....the toys are fun and get him riled up ,he goes over threshold and gets beyond himself and transfers his attention onto you.So many members post about this escalation at this age so don't worry,you aren't reinforcing anything .I believe you are doing exactly right,although I don't know how effective your No is unless your dog understands what NO means .If you haven't trained him to understand it means play stops then he will just hear the sound you make when you say it and he'll take it as attention from you ....I used to say 'Ah Ah ' ( based on the reading I'd done about littermates yelping if mouthing gets too much,it was sort of my impersonation of that! ) stop play,,fold my arms and walk away in silence,if my ruffian followed me I chucked a couple of pieces of kibble into his room and closed the gate on him and gave him a few minutes to calm down ....if he was still wired after his time out ,he would go back behind the gate with a frozen kong and that would always calm him down. This time will pass ,you are almost at the end of the worst of it ....
Yes, a sort of growly "argh!" works better than "no". It was suggested by the trainer at puppy classes and I still use it for mine sometimes. A bit of time out is a good idea too. It's yet another puppy stage, so hopefully Finn will calm down soon!
I disagree with making a noise. We're not dogs, our dogs know we're not dogs and we can't impersonate dogs, so why even try? At this age, he won't know what "no" means - it's such a "nothing" word that it's pretty much impossible to assign any meaning to it - at least not what we mean it to mean. I remove all attention - that means no noise at all - unless a pained squeak escapes! When Luna was at her worst, I'd put her in her crate and play with her in there, with my hand through the open door. This made it easier to remove my hand and attention from her when she got too hard. It only needs to be for a couple of seconds and then you can reengage. Leaving the puppy for too long will dilute the message. Just like everything else in training, you need lots of repetitions to get the message across. So, engage your puppy, disengage the second the behaviour isn't appropriate, then start again after a few seconds. I've found they really do pick it up quickly this way. Once he has the message in the crate (or you could do it through the open baby gate if that's easier), then you can start doing the same thing with you both on the same side of the barrier.
Yes agree with others sounds like he is just getting over excited - best to make the growly sound and step away (out of a puppy pen say) and then he learns 1- you arent happy and 2- playtime ceases when he gets too rough. Its best if you can play with him in an area that you can get up and walk straight out of so he get nothing - no attention at all from the moment you decide its too much. By moving him its oh we are going somewhere so its not an instant removal of all fun.
I wear skinny jeans and tight sleeves when the pups are at this stage - less to grab hold of! I work hard at giving them toys instead of bits of me and - like snowbunny - use the puppy pen when it gets too crazy. I never use my voice to try and stop them doing anything - it doesn't work. My voice commands are for things to DO, not things not to do. It does help to have a cue word and super tasty treat available - they stop on a sixpence for this. Although it can't be used all the time as it would become ineffective. I've used different cue word with each pup, whatever comes to mind. With Mollie it's a long drawn out - almost singing - of her name mollllllieeeeeee as she doesn't even hear a short word when the loopy juice is flowing through her veins!
I so agree with this, Cassie is the first Lab I've had and the biting was a shock, in fact it's how I found this forum. I tried the yelping thing but didn't understand how important the timing is and ended up rewarding her for doing it, so making the situation worse. But it does pass and soon realise one day that it's not happening so much. I still have a bit of a problem when she is worked up about something but am persisting with separation for a short time. I think that's the other thing , you get to know them and their trigger points.
Thanks for all the replies! He basically thinks all noises from me are play, including the yelping. The "Uh uh" works if I can interrupt him before he grabs something he thinks is interesting, and then I redirect him--but only when he's calm. But when he's in a frenzy I could be blowing an airhorn in his face and he would think it was all a game. This morning was just awful. He woke up at 7am as usual, but because I'm sick and couldn't fall asleep last night I needed extra sleep. I left him in the kitchen for 2 hours after his breakfast so I could sleep. When I got up at 9 to take him out for a pee he was a tornado with teeth. My goodness. I was about to throw him out the window! I had to take him to doggie daycare for the day as the weather is awful and with me being sick I just can't deal. I'm in an apartment so space is tight unfortunately, even though it's a spacious apartment. There's just a lack of options for spaces to gate off. I usually play with him in the main room but that's usually where he starts biting me. When he started to bite this morning I stepped over the gate into the kitchen and removed myself. He went into a jumping frenzy trying to get over the gate. The only game he really likes is tug. He will run after toys I throw a few times, but then seems to lose interest and would rather bite and attack his bed or do something else. So, strangely, it's hard to play with him. I have a trainer coming again on Sunday so I will try to brainstorm with her. It's just insane...I've been doing my very best to give him enough exercise and we've been doing recall training at the park, but it's never enough! Oh, I do have a crate but he cries nonstop if he's in there and I'm home. He doesn't cry in the kitchen, so the kitchen is his playpen when I'm home and can't watch him. He doesn't really cry in the crate when I leave him in there when I go out of the apartment (aside from a few cries at first...he mostly sleeps according to my puppy cam)
Exercise will never be enough. With exercise alone, you get a dog that is fitter and fitter that needs more and more exercise! You need to tire him out mentally. How do you feed him his meals? If you feed them from a bowl, stop doing that. Hide the food around the apartment, or scatter it around in the grass for him to sniff out. When he's in a frenzy, there is no point even trying - pop him in his crate until he has calmed down. I live in an apartment - and not a massively spacious one, at that - and brought up two puppies at the same time. It is open plan, but we just built temporary barriers. You can do this
You'll need a large. They look massive but they're the right size Xena gets her meals in the Wobbler.
Get a kong wobbler large but realise that they can and will chew into the top of it (ours hasnt actually got through it but has made indents in the top). Also get a normal large kong too so you can freeze food in it too - this can keep them occupied and they use their brain trying to get the food out (same for the wobbler but it spits out food quicker)
Will report on how it does! I don't think Finn will chew the top.....yet. He hasn't been too destructive even with his stuffed toys. Nevertheless I won't leave him with it alone
We have had a Kong Wobbler for Harley since about a week after we brought her home and it is a great tool to have in the repertoire of feeding choices. It isn't as robust as some of the other Kong items because it is made of harder plastic but we supervise Harley with it and put it away once she is done. It is dishwasher safe So far it has held up well.
Duggan isn't a chewer and he destroyed his Kong Wobbler the first night. You just have to take them up when the treats are finished.
