Since your son has been feeding him maybe he is trying to say that he is hungry? Luna can get 'bitey/jumpy' when she is hungry or trying to tell me something
Well I have officially hit rock bottom with all this.... went to puppy classes lady night. Explained that the ow and time outs aren’t working and she suggested a puppy corrective spray. I picked her class due to her promoting positive training methods. She said she wouldn’t normally suggest it but as his biting isn’t responding to usual methods she said this maybe worth a try. I 100% don’t want to go down this route. Maybe I have been naive to think this would resolve in time. Please some do you have any advice for me
I don’t think it’s that....he is always like it with my son. I assume he thinks my son is a bit of a play thing.
Our puppy is like this with me. She only bites me and only 'goes' for me not my husband. I get to the point that sometimes I just want to sit and cry because she doesn't always listen to me. I have loads of bruises on my arms and legs and it is very demoralising when she has these episodes. Would you be able to list everything you have tried and then we can see if what else there is and what could be done differently to help? Is it a stage but I can empathise with you especially knowing how your son feels.
No...she is not a positive trainer. That’s bad advice. Look for a KC obedience class..I can’t praise them enough. Just be patient, keep your son and pup apart as much as possible for the next month or so. It will improve. Little kids inadvertently overstimulate pups and the result usually ends up with fear and pain for the child. You dog will settle, this is just a developmental stage that has to be managed proactively.
Hi Hi mum of bitey pup. We have a 5 month working line lab who was a proper crocodile for the first couple of months and also have young grandchildren who I look after Monday to Friday. Our pup Hero was always jumping up and nipping legs and hands and any part he could reach. We taught the children to become trees, turn their back on him and fold arms so hands out of sight. In the main this worked with some perseverance. We also got the children to always have one of Hero's toys close by so that the minute he became nippy they would offer the toy. This has worked well as a distraction. He has also learned to pick a toy up himself before going over to any of the children and he tends most of the time to keep the toy in his mouth while saying hello. Labradors are intelligent dogs as well as sensitive to being ignored when doing wrong and with a lot of patience and consistency they can learn. Hero is by no means a little angel and at his age we expect a lot of slip ups, but we found that by everybody being consistent with commands, reactions and distraction methods it has seemed to have got a lot better. Dogs and children are a hard mix especially as dogs seem to want children to be playmates but Don't understand that they can't rough play like they did in the litter. Although my grandchildren are 9, one of them is quite small and I have always stayed within reach should Hero become too rough. The one thing I did do so that the children didn't become scared of him, was if he bit or nipped them, I would step straight in to distract pup and then after a short time get whichever of the children affected to come back to him with a toy and play fetch with him. The children now find the that they can more easily control time with Hero, but if he gets too boisterous they know to get up and walk away to an area of the house Hero is not allowed. I am probably just repeating stuff you've been told before and tried yourself, but just wanted to show that there is light on the other side of the dark hole you are beginning to feel has opened up.
Sorry to hear you are dealing with this...do you know why your pup goes for you more than your husband? We have tried the ow, time outs, my son turning his back on him, my son feeding him so that he associates my son with being someone who gives him food (puppy trainer’s idea).It’s honestly like my son has a magnet on him and the puppy is drawn to him. The trainer feels like the dog feels he is above my son so is demanding play but honestly I’m lost as to what the reason is and how to deal with it.
Thank you. I really do appreciate your advice and comments. I’m not prepared to follow the trainers advice at all.
Thank you for replying. We tried the turning his back on the dog and folding his arms but the dog either jumps at his back or bites his arm. Im hoping this is a phase and will get better but right now that feels unlikely
We have no idea as when we are both home she chooses to follow me and cuddle into me. My husband is home with her during the day so it might be that because he does her training that she sees me as play time? I read a good article about dominance and hierarchy quote by @Ruth Buckley in a post last week and it was really good to see that dogs don't want to be above us, they look to us for food, water etc. Not sure where it is now - Ruth might be able to quote it again. Ow and turning your back don't work, she just went for the back of my legs! Saying Ah in a firm voice or no and point your finger are starting to work with Luna. I think she responds when the tone changes as she isn't used to it. Does your pup listen to your son at all? E.g during training of sit, paw etc? Sometimes I need to go straight into training with her as this focuses the energy on something else. If doing this the first treat needs to be high value to grab his attention. It isn't easy but might be worth trying to train your pup to sit/lie down with a hand signal? My husband has taught Luna to sit when you put your right arm up. This helps when she is excited as she can't/won't listen but it is visual for her to see. With the time outs how did you do these? We worked on this for quite a few weeks with Luna. We haven't crate trained her so we would put her into the crate and when she was quiet make her sit and then let her out. If she still came out hyper she went straight back in this time longer. When we started we stayed next to the crate, then turned our back, then make the cage dark and then moved so we were outside the room with the door closed. First time was 10 seconds, second 30 seconds. This was enough but if it doesn't work increase by 15/20 seconds each time. I know it is always your son that he is going for but try to work out his triggers. Luna's are - when she is hungry, excited out on a walk and she sees the park, not wanting to go home after a pee (we live in a flat so need to take her up the side to grass). Have you tried a house line/lead? This would mean that your son would be able to step back from him and he wouldn't chase your son. Maybe only let them interact when the pup is on a lead so that he can be pulled back from the interaction when he starts to bite. I am sorry that you are having all these issues and your son is the target. Sorry for the long post!
I do so feel sorry that puppy has got you this low. I felt like this a couple of months ago and reading on the forums how many Other people have gone through really awful times and the advice given helped me tremendously to persevere and help the children at the same time. Puppies aren't the cute and cuddly little creatures portrayed on TV ... They are monsters in disguise and can make life hell for a time, but I seriously believe you and your family and especially your little boy are strong enough to get through this time and end up with the loving and faithful family pet everyone wishes for. I quite agree with Luna's mum about restricting your son's time with the puppy and using lead control be ause you want your son to to be able to enjoy your doggie not be afraid of him bless him. Did you say anywhere what type of Lab you have - is he from working lines because these can be more excitable, energetic and highly strung and need a lot of training, or so we were told by the breeder. It does make a difference. So just continue to open up on here about what you are feeling. There are lots of lovely people on here who will listen and try to help suppo
I do so feel sorry that puppy has got you this low. I felt like this a couple of months ago and reading on the forums how many Other people have gone through really awful times and the advice given helped me tremendously to persevere and help the children at the same time. Puppies aren't the cute and cuddly little creatures portrayed on TV ... They are monsters in disguise and can make life hell for a time, but I seriously believe you and your family and especially your little boy are strong enough to get through this time and end up with the loving and faithful family pet everyone wishes for. I quite agree with Luna's mum about restricting your son's time with the puppy and using lead control be ause you want your son to to be able to enjoy your doggie not be afraid of him bless him. Did you say anywhere what type of Lab you have - is he from working lines because these can be more excitable, energetic and highly strung and need a lot of training, or so we were told by the breeder. It does make a difference. So just continue to open up on here about what you are feeling. There are lots of lovely people on here who will listen and try to help support you. Just as an aside...have you invested in a Kong Wobbler or licky mat yet. They do wonders for calming and relaxing a puppy when things get fraught. I so hope you find a way to turn that corner and have things improve.
I do so feel sorry that puppy has got you this low. I felt like this a couple of months ago and reading on the forums how many Other people have gone through really awful times and the advice given helped me tremendously to persevere and help the children at the same time. Puppies aren't the cute and cuddly little creatures portrayed on TV ... They are monsters in disguise and can make life hell for a time, but I seriously believe you and your family and especially your little boy are strong enough to get through this time and end up with the loving and faithful family pet everyone wishes for. I quite agree with Luna's mum about restricting your son's time with the puppy and using lead control be ause you want your son to to be able to enjoy your doggie not be afraid of him bless him. Did you say anywhere what type of Lab you have - is he from working lines because these can be more excitable, energetic and highly strung and need a lot of training, or so we were told by the breeder. It does make a difference. So just continue to open up on here about what you are feeling. There are lots of lovely people on here who will listen and try to help support you. Just as an aside...have you invested in a Kong Wobbler or licky mat yet. They do wonders for calming and relaxing a puppy when things get fraught. I so hope you find a way to turn that corner and have things improve. Please ignore this reply. For some reason it didn't put full answer and wouldn't
Liki mats are great and give us about 20 minutes of calm and after she is relaxed. We use puppy peanut butter and banana, freeze for 10 minutes to set the banana and your ready to go!
Take a deep breath ... you're not giving yourself enough credit. In addition to raising two small children, you've managed to deal with the biting for 3 of your 4 family members. If you skim the zillions of posts from desperate lab puppy owners you'll realize the soon-to-be lovable pups bite everyone all the time, especially the person who has primary responsibility for them. This will pass but until it does, unfortunately your job is to keep your son away from the puppy. I apologize in advance because I don't know you and your family - so please don't be offended. In your original post you wrote that the biting starts when your son wants to come into the kitchen where the puppy is. In an ideal world our children should have free roam of the home but for now, your son shouldn't be in the kitchen. If he wants a snack, make it for him and hand it over the gate. If he needs to tell you something, come to the gate and chat. I'm assuming you are in the kitchen (working) when he wants to come in? Your son surely knows the puppy is going to nip him when he can so why is your son putting himself in this position? How do you respond when the puppy nips him? If you can't keep them separated can you be matter of fact when the inevitable happens? For example by wordlessly removing the puppy and sending your son on his way? I would try this if/when your son puts himself in a position to be nipped - nothing to loose right? This may sound trite but it's important to make time for yourself. See if you can manage a morning or afternoon each week without puppy or kids. Sending hugs and good thoughts to you
I’ve not been too sure what to do myself at times but I know this forum has kept me going! I thought I had good dog skills and I felt like I was failing this little dog. It’s quite a tough and upsetting thing to deal with and you may have up and down days and weeks , I know I have. I think for our Gwenni she just ‘ looses it’ , for want of a better phrase, sometimes with excitement and her first response can be to bite and can be quite persistent. I guess perseverance is what you want in a working line dog . She will have a different facial expression when she is in bitey mode and her more calm face looks quite different. Gwenni is quite a highly strung pup and does everything with such verve, good or not good behaviour. I know I felt our relationship had worn quite thin with her at times and we were all rather stressed, I understand you might feel like giving up. It’s definitely been a case of life interrupted quite unlike any other dog I’ve had before, which has been hard to accept at times. I guess managing your pup and children requires changes to what everyone can do and where, I guess and separation may be necessary for a while as Athena mentions or a house line as suggested by others? Hope you find what works for you as a family and you get through this phase as your pup matures and things get better.
Thanks for the idea - I went out and bought a Likimat and it has 3 different textured sections, so I have done doggy peanut butter, banana, and liver paste then put it in the Freezer - seems to be a hit so far! x
I never meant to suggest in any way to resort to cruel measures it was just a thought I have never had dominance issues with any of my dogs. I thought with the dog biting the youngest child it could be a dominance issue. As I said get a different trainer. Hopefully your pup will grow out of it. I have to put my 1 year old lab being a stair gate when my grand daughter comes as she jumps up and could catch her with her teeth so we don't take a chance. They are mouthy dogs. I hope you can sort the issue out.
What did she say to do with this pet corrector? I got one and that is the exact name. I never sprayed at her just a quick spray to distract once she stopped and was calm I treated her. The spray was mainly used for jumping on me. She had previously jumped and hit the back of my knees taking me right off my feet and smack on my back. Im not sure why a pet corrector spray would be bad? Please everyone don't kill me here I just don't see why is it bad? Maggie is now 11 months (in heat at the moment) and she has been very calm. I never remember thinking "what did I do to myself " with my other labs like I did with Maggie. But we must have turned the corner because she hasn't bitten me in so long I forget now. Still and occasional jump at my face but not a regular habit. I can't imagine her not being here now. Its still not perfect but I can see her trying. I also think she bit me the most because It flipping hurt so I would squeal or shriek or scream and I would escalate the situation. She thought I was playing a game and she wanted in! I don't miss that at all. If I didnt have a toy to shove in her mouth as she was going for me I would get up and walk away. Now when she is really excited she goes and grabs a toy inner mouth when she comes at us, its great haha.
