3 month old lab puppy won’t stop biting!

My lab puppy will not stop biting me. My breeder told me to pinch his cheeks and jerk him up, yelling NO, which I have tried many times. He yelps like it hurts, but he just comes back biting me again! I repeat the reprimand, but again... he comes back biting. Sometimes he will just look at me as if he is frustrated and starts barking at me like crazy. Sometimes he will take off having a running fit through the house. He’s ripping my skin and making me bleed. My hands and forearms are covered with scabs and I am embarrassed for anyone to see them. I am so upset and frustrated. HELP... DESPERATE!!!

 

Oh my goodness, please don’t ever pinch cheeks or hurt your puppy in any other way. You are his only provider and he needs to be able to trust you completely.

They are crazy crocodiles at this age - All mine have been! It's 100% normal.

Take heart, they quickly grow out of it. Wear tight sleeves and skinny jeans - wellies if necessary!

Here are some articles with the best possible advice - more importantly, it WORKS! The only tip which didn't work for mine was the yelping - that just made them even more excited.

The important thing to remember is that repetition is needed - lots and lots of repetition for them to learn new skills.



http://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppies-biting/



http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-cope-with-an-overexcited-labrador-puppy/



http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-play-safely-with-a-labrador/



http://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-training/

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Excellent advice from @Boogie , and I agree, please don't use any form of physical punishment , which is sadly what your breeder advised and I`m sorry that she did . As a new owner, you naturally listened to their advice but in this case, it was wrong . I really can understand your despair , my late boy wasn't a biter, but the Lab girl I had before him was , I was convinced, the devil incarnate ! I felt unable to ask visitors to call , and those who did call to see my new puppy were often horrified that this sweet little soul could be so shocking ! As said , read those links , and keep the faith, it does get better, honestly !

 

Oh my gosh, what an AWFUL thing to recommend! Your poor puppy! As the others have said this is perfectly natural, normal behaviour. It's not "bad" behaviour, your puppy is just trying to play and doesn't yet understand that human skin is pathetically sensitive compared to what they're used to! Read the links Mags has posted above. We do sympathise, those of us who have had puppies all know how painful this stage can be, but please don't hurt your puppy, it's not necessary or kind, and will just make him afraid of you - the worse case scenario is this will actually create aggression issues, rather then stopping the biting! Now you know there are better ways, hopefully you'll try them. Just know, there is no quick fix, and nor should there be. It's a learning process for your puppy. He doesn't want to hurt you and so shouldn't be punished for trying his ways of interacting with you. It's your job to teach him that those things he's doing don't result in interaction but playing calmly does.

Another link to read through is this one: https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/puppy-problems-will-things-ever-improve.1680/
It's a compendium of other puppy owners' experiences with unexpected puppy behaviour. Just know that, without exception, they all grow out of it with patience and kindness.

 

You may need to go back to stage one. This means that you keep him tethered to you at all times. This means that you hand feed him. You get the food from the food place while he watches; you put it in the dish, and then you put your hand over the dish, grabbing some food. He has to eat the food out of your hands. When its empty in your hands, you require eye contact before you give him more. If he’s standing to eat, he has to sit again to get another handful. He has to see you as the provider of everything he needs.

When he bites, say “ouch”, loudly enough to get his attention, but not enough to scare him, but don’t pull you hand out of his mouth. When he releases praise him. You may even need to treat him(give him a treat: hot dog, hard cheese, carrot, apple, turkey, etc.). If he can’t calm down you may need to remove your attention from him. If he was smaller, I’d recommend a large Home Depot box for a very short time out immediately upon, but he’s probably now too big for that. You could hook his leash on a door and then stand in front of him, but facing away. As soon as he calms down, release him. What you want him to know is that biting you doesn’t produce a pain-punishment, but it takes your attention away from him(but as soon as he calms down, he can get it back).

If you develop the bond with him, he won't see you as a playmate but as his carer and provider, and losing attention from you will be way way more effective than any punishing behavior, and gaining attention and treats will be worth everything. My new puppy, will do anything for attention from me, and would sell his mother for a treat( but not me).

The bond you develop is what you need to fix this. My new puppy, learned by the fourth day that biting my fingers resulted in loss of attention, and no treats, and no good dog, but releasing resulted in "good dog”. I only had to put him in box isolation twice, for just about 20 seconds. And after that each day he was very very careful about how he held my hand.

But its all about the bond.

 

What??? Tethered to you at all times??? Taking food out of his dish??? Sorry, but this is ... simply twaddle.

A puppy needs to be able to run around and play freely, and to develop his bond with you in that way, not to be tethered to you. In fact, I'm a big fan of letting puppies off the lead outdoors, and playing games with them so they automatically learn to follow you wherever you go. I play lots of games and generally make myself the most important thing in my puppy's life. And I would never, ever take food out of my dogs' bowls, unless in an absolute emergency situation. You can and absolutely should teach a puppy to wait respectfully before you put his bowl down, as you don't want a 10-month old Labrador jumping up at you to get his food...

 

I found the very best way to stop the mad puppy biting was to withdraw attention, and if need be to put the puppy in his/her crate (or behind a baby gate) for a moment or two, until he had calmed down. This awful biting time with puppies seems like it will go on for ever, but actually it only lasts a few weeks - mostly by the time the new teeth have come through, at about four to five months, the biting stops, and soon you will find you have a dog with a gentle mouth. You may not realize it, but your puppy is already being careful to some extent - if you have ever fed a puppy a raw chicken wing, for instance, you will know that he would be completely capable of biting right through your fingers, if he really wanted to. He is already pulling his punches, and now just needs your help to learn that human skin is more delicate than the thick fur of his mother and siblings.

Your puppy sounds like he gets wound up and overtired (the mad running around the house). This is the time a crate or quiet area can work wonders. Stay calm, keep giving him toys and chews to chomp on instead of your hands, refuse to interact with him when he bites you - even a second or two of no attention will help him to realize you really don't like it. Grabbing his cheeks and pulling him obviously doesn't work, he probably thinks it's some kind of game, and the attention you are inadvertently bestowing on him in that way seems to be making the situation worse...

It will help if you teach him what you DO want, which is calm, gentle behaviour. Don't forget to praise him quietly and calmly when he is being good and quiet. I found holding one end of a chew (such as a bully stick), so that we were interacting without him actually hurting me, helped. I also found that working out a routine was very helpful, so that we would go outside to play, then he would have his food, go out again to pee, then I would put him in his bed (in the crate or behind a gate) for a rest.

Don't panic, this is very normal puppy behaviour, and I guarantee it will pass. Wear long clothes to protect yourself (jeans and long sleeves), keep giving him toys to chew on instead of your hands, break off contact briefly if/when he bites, and remember to praise and reward quiet behavior. You will get there. In a couple of months you'll be telling us what a delight he is...

 

Unfortunately @Karen some puppy books still do recommend that you tether your pup to you at all times = Dr Sophia Yin comes to mind. I'm totally with you though - it's a load of twaddle

 

Agreed.

The bond, for the pup, happens with the first meal you give him/her, it’s just not an issue. I’ve seen it happen many times now. An unsure pup, fed his first meal - you see the relief/connection on their face “ahhhhhh, she’s going to feed me then, all is well!”

Of course the bond grows and grows all the time. But the initial ‘this is my person now’ is pretty much instant

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I still get twitchy when I think of the crocopup months (and yes, I said months - in varying degrees) but what I have realised as Harley has matured is that it is ery important that she sees us as safe, fun and consistent. I don't want a robot, I want a dog and she has the most incredible sense of humour - unfortunate timing - but incredible. Sometimes I think that lab pups are so bitey because if they were perfect little pups it would be too much goodness in one dog. From about 6 months, even earlier maybe, it started getting much much better with regards to biting. We still get regular zoomies but that is awesome. DH and I often tak about how terrible the crocopup stage was, so that it will discourage us from wanting another pup.

 

Is it only me who doesn't remember the crocopup stage being THAT bad?

I think because I want another one really badly I've just blocked it out

I remember this little angel and nothing more

 

Oh my goodness, what a sweetie!!!!!

 

Long live the zoomies

 

No you aren't alone, and not because I've blocked it out. My girl just wasn't very bitey . Just hope the next one doesn't make up for it

 

Oh just look at baby Stanley , heart meltingly gorgeous !! Sam was never a mouthy biting puppy , just never did it, but the girl Lab I had before him was a shocker !

 

Shadow never bit, but we didn't get him until 14 weeks. Willow did, but wasn't that bad and certainly never latched on.
Luna was another level, but, even though it did hurt for sure, she drew blood several times a day and it was a challenge to work out how to extract yourself at times, it's not like I lost any limbs.

The thing that I had forgotten between W&S and L was how much time they take up! All that outside, inside, feed, outside, inside, play, outside, inside... yes, they sleep a lot, but that time is spent doing the things you haven't been able to do during the outside, inside, feed, outside, inside, play, outside, inside. And then they wake up and you're back to outside, inside, feed, outside, inside, play, outside, inside....

 

Haha, so true! The house doesn't get vacuumed, your hair doesn't get washed, and your legs don't get shaved for months!!!

 

I never do those things anyway so when I get a pup it's just a good excuse to not wash or do house work but I've found all mine to be very different. Doug was ok and a bit nibbly but Moo never even nibbled me once and Rory was awful. Rory's breeder did say this is a very bitey litter and she was not wrong. There was 8 boys and 1 girl they were a swarm of bite beasts. They were a lively bunch but very very competitive confident and active.

 

So so true!

And everyone who doesn't have a dog (especially those who have kids instead) look at you like and you think having a puppy is hard?!

My mam swears Stanley was harder than me and my sister

 

I am really grateful for this thread , my resolve was wavering but reading all these posts has reminded me to take off the rose coloured glasses