My finance and I have an 18 week old chocolate labrador called Brodie who can switch from gorgeous and adorable to biting and being totally crazed in the blink of an eye! On the whole his training is going well,he is a fast learner and responds well, until he decides he wants to bite, jump, grab our clothes, literally hangs of us until we can get behind a door or puppy gate. I'm sure he is just playing but he really has some force behind him and really does hurt us. My fiance takes Brodie for short runs which he has been great at until the last few days where he has for no apparent reason, started to suddenly go nuts and jumps, bites, grabs and there is nothing that stops him other than trying to keep him at arms length and wait for the biting to stop, by which time my fiance is covered in cuts and blood! Wego to puppy classes where Brodie is always well behaved, the trainer said that as soon as we stop the play he will learn its not acceptable play. This isn't working! Please help!! :-\
Re: Help! We are being attacked! Brodie is being an absolutely normal pupster Here is a great series of articles - http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-cope-with-an-overexcited-labrador-puppy/
Re: Help! We are being attacked! Hi, my 18 week old pup is doing something very similar as well. We can be playing nicely and then all of a sudden, she starts barking at me, nipping at my clothes and biting me, not nice! But, as Mags says, this is all normal!
Re: Help! We are being attacked! It's totally normal, don't worry. I understands how frustrating it can be as Penny was such a little crocodile at that age! We too were covered in cuts and bruises from her. Do you use a crate? If so it might be worth giving him a little time out in the evenings as he could be getting overtired. We put Penny in for nap time every evening until she was four or five months old. It's also probably excitement and over arousal - he's getting so excited he just doesn't know what to do with himself. Does he do it when you've returned to him after leaving or is it when you're playing and it escalates from that? In either situation you need to teach him to redirect this behaviour onto something else like getting a toy instead. So whenever he goes to bite you just grab a toy and stick it in his mouth. You can also give him a time out for mouthing too - when he starts just stop whatever you were doing with him and stand up, turn away and totally ignore him - no eye contact, no speaking, no touch and keep turning away from him until he has calmed down, and then calmly reward him for calm behaviour. Just be aware of something called an extinction burst! The behaviour may appear to get worse before it gets better. At the moment he is getting attention for biting - you are holding him or touching him and this is what he wants. As he starts to realise he is not getting any attention for his behaviour he will start to try harder and harder to get it. Be consistent and stick with it, it will work.
Re: Help! We are being attacked! And here are a bunch of other articles on biting - linked to in this article: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/your-labrador-puppy-biting/
Re: Help! We are being attacked! Sounds normal to me although you will need to get on top of that behaviour as you probably already know. I would suggest reading up on this http://www.canineangel.co.uk/UK-Dog-Psychologist-Nikki-Brown.htm From what I can gatherthe pup is testing your boundaries and limitations of what is acceptable play behaviour. You or your fiance as pack leader need to let yhge pup know what is acceptable and what isn't. Good luck
Re: Help! We are being attacked! I dunno.....I do not think it's about testing limits or leadership. I think Brodie just really enjoys the exuberant leaping and biting. He's just having his own little party. When it stops being fun for him (ie when he learns it just ends in a time out) he'll stop doing it. Not because he's 'been demoted' but because it's suddenly not an exciting game any more.
Re: Help! We are being attacked! [quote author=kevg487 link=topic=6909.msg94072#msg94072 date=1404931142] You or your fiance as pack leader [/quote] Mmm.....yes. I nearly fell over this week when an experienced trainer told me I'd be in for problem if my dog gets to go on the sofa. Seriously. "Am I the leader or am I the follower". : Here is a good round up of the pointers to the evidence: http://totallydogtraining.com/the-demise-of-dominance-theory-the-evidence/
Re: Help! We are being attacked! Again many differing opinions and techniques to solve potential problems. If a technique has been successful for someone then they will be inclined to keep on using it.
Re: Help! We are being attacked! Well, yes. Like candle makers said electricity wouldn't catch on - after all, candles worked fine.
Re: Help! We are being attacked! I think the problem re sofas would be if the dog goes on the sofa and refuses to get off when asked to do so and 'guards' the sofa. If invited on I cannot see a problem. In my house, the only problem is my OH won't let them go on the sofa! One would never dream of even thinking about it, the other would leap on with joy if given the chance
Re: Help! We are being attacked! Currently have a pup snoring on the sofa next to me! ;D Benson did go through a bitey stage about 4-5 months old, and at the same time he was quite big too, and boy did it hurt! His jaws one day crunched so hard on one of my knuckles it has taken a fair few months to feel normal again. We found when he was over-tired, or hyper excited through playing that this would happen. What we found worked was switching him off through distraction and focussing back on us,by getting him to obey commands like sit and down...etc....by focussing back on us he would calm down, sometimes in the house or outside. This was also a good precursor to teaching him to lay calmly on a mat for a few minutes too, that was the next stage which was teaching him to lay calmly on his mat for when we had supper, or someone at the door, we extended the time on the mat..literally by seconds in the early days, using a clicker and treating. If that didn't work we simply popped him back in his crate, with a small treat and a smile, just for 5 mins only.
Re: Help! We are being attacked! Sounds like a normal puppy testing the boundries, just give him time out in his crate when it gets too much. Don't use it as a punishment? Do not say anything as you put him in, leave him for 10 mins and try again. He will soon learn to be a nice boy. As for the sofa issues, this is a dogs on floor household and us on the sofa, can you imagine if the other way around with 3 Labs
