My 3 month old "baby" when playing... all of a sudden begins to be in "attack" mode... she circles me, barking and lunging, teeth barred and often times lunging and tearing clothes... I just stand still and often times "wait it out" but not usually without getting bit or my clothes torn. My Significant other says to spank with newspaper and say "no bite"... I tried this and she gets more "crazy".... I have tried throwing down treats to calm her, etc... Is this normal? Other ideas to stop this or will it end... I don't want an aggressive dog... I have small grandchildren and I am worried for them... When they are here I have to gate the dog off from their play area because she won't leave them alone, biting, nipping , etc.. I don't want the children afraid of her, but I don't want them hurt. I have had a Keeshond, a husky and a "mutt" and I don't remember this puppy stage being so physical... I wanted a smart, affectionate dog... Thanks for any help and information...
Re: 3 month old --- biting and circling--trying to "attack"... normal? [quote author=tory link=topic=10699.msg158745#msg158745 date=1429830437] My 3 month old "baby" when playing... all of a sudden begins to be in "attack" mode... she circles me, barking and lunging, teeth barred and often times lunging and tearing clothes... I just stand still and often times "wait it out" but not usually without getting bit or my clothes torn. My Significant other says to spank with newspaper and say "no bite"... I tried this and she gets more "crazy".... I have tried throwing down treats to calm her, etc... Is this normal? Other ideas to stop this or will it end... I don't want an aggressive dog... I have small grandchildren and I am worried for them... When they are here I have to gate the dog off from their play area because she won't leave them alone, biting, nipping , etc.. I don't want the children afraid of her, but I don't want them hurt. I have had a Keeshond, a husky and a "mutt" and I don't remember this puppy stage being so physical... I wanted a smart, affectionate dog... Thanks for any help and information... [/quote] Welcome to the forum! Okay… the thing to remember is that you wanted a smart, affectionate dog, but what you have right now is a puppy. You have to mold it into the type of dog you want and that's totally do-able… just a lot of work! A lot of people are surprised by how "crazy", "chompy" and "crocodile-like" their Labrador puppies are. They're often described as a good dog for first time dog owners… a perfect family dog… etc etc… people neglect to mention that labrador puppies are absolutely mad things with very sharp fangs that they use on absolutely everything - you, your belongings, your neighbour and their belongings… They do get better but the initial few months are quite difficult and so is adolescence… it is a continued journey. I would say - limit play, make sure it is not rough, and do not engage when she goes into crazy mode. Put her in a small puppy safe space with a Kong to settle, or remove yourself to the bathroom,e tc, for a break. Do not hit her with a newspaper. That will, as you have noted, make her more crazy, and eventually afraid of you. Saying "no bite" will.. probably have no effect either way, unless you're saying it very fiercely and then it might startle/scare her into stopping (but probably will just hype her up).
Re: 3 month old --- biting and circling--trying to "attack"... normal? Hi there,don't despair,all quite normal for a Labrador puppy ,I agree with Maisiesmomma reply. We got Dexter at 5 months so he was last the worst of it but he was still mouthing when he got excited.i don't have children of my own but have a niece and nephew that visit most days they were 18 months and 3.A lot of supervision was involved with seperate areas for Dexter and the kids but I really wanted to manage it without resulting to just shutting him away,.Dont get me wrong ,there were times when he was shut away if he got too boisterous but I wanted him to learn how to be around them and this just takes time,patience and for your puppy to grow up a bit. X
Re: 3 month old --- biting and circling--trying to "attack"... normal? tory Hi we have 11 week old girl called Ziva she is doing the same I have watched over few days now and seems the puppy nipping is worse when she at this stage but have worked out for her it due to being over tired, not sure if you feel its same for you'r baby, what I have been doing is once she out her crate and been in garden for toilet we either have a small play or little walk on lead round back give it about 15/20 min sometimes less then pop her back in her crate 99.9 % of time she settles within few moments and falls asleep. I was advised to get her a feed cube where you put her dry kibble into kinda like a kong to stimulate her mind keep her busy but that's just my Lab but certainly has helped we using kong last couple days till feed cube arrives . Hope you get on ok with your baby
