Hi, some advice if possible, we lost our 11yr female choc lab to cancer in February and after waiting 6 months we decided it was time to get our new baby, she is now 13 weeks, we have had her since 8weeks, she is very good at learning, sit, down and other things, but we cannot stop the biting, we have done all the 'yelping' walking out of the room, but nothing seems to sink in, she is also excitable and that's when it's worse, so we try to do calm. Any suggestions gratefully receive, thanks in advance.
Hi there. My 17 week old does the same thing. Yelping never worked for me either- I swear I just became a huge squeaky toy to him! We continue to work with it, but try to always place something else in their mouth to replace your hand/arm/leg/face - whatever they are gnawing on that they shouldn't. Walking away is great, but if she still won't settle, she may need a time out in her crate (if you use one). I haven't had to do that - I just go sit in the kitchen and do something else. He will get the picture and lay by my feet. Unfortunately, some days as soon as I start paying attention to him - it starts all over. I have noticed that he really does it when he is very excitable. So I try to practice his obedience commands then, and make sure we play. I also know that I need to try to exercise him more - I know he wants to play more often and needs more walks. Unfortunately, he refuses to leave my yard. Good luck! I am told it gets better!
Some puppies are horrors for this. Others are just your regular crocopups. I know how frustrating it is - as well as painful! - but know that it is just a phase and, with consistent training, she will grow out of it. My Willow was done by 14 weeks, others take a bit longer. I tried the yelp with Willow and it seemed effective at first, but almost immediately lost any impact. I won't bother doing this with future pups; I think that any stopping is caused by the shock of the noise, and I don't like to train that way, in hindsight. Plus, the fact that the noise is only shocking a few times just goes to show that it's ineffective. Here's an article which may help you: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppies-biting/ True consistency is the key. As soon as the biting becomes too painful, stand up, remove all interaction and walk away immediately. If you wait five seconds, or if you make eye contact and keep talking to the puppy, it loses its effectiveness and you've lost your training opportunity. We tend to like to chatter on, "No, pup, that was bad! Ouch, it hurt me! Please don't do that!", all the time making eye contact, but that's the last thing you want to do. Stand up, look away, keep your trap shut, walk away if necessary. Then engage again after a few seconds, once your pup is calm again. If your pup is over-tired or over-excited, then some time in her crate will help her calm down; you can pop a kong in there with her to settle her down. Don't look at it as a punishment, though; the crate should be a happy place, and using it to punish your dog will destroy that. When you put her in, be calm but chirpy, "Time for a snooze, little one!", rather than "Get in your bed and think about what you've done!" Pour yourself a glass of something nice, and repeat the mantra, "This will pass. This will pass!".
And it does pass! Bailey is nearly 6 months old and until reading this thread I hadn't thought about his biting in a couple of weeks. That's because he doesn't do it anymore! I can't believe I didn't notice he had stopped.
I really must do a video of Betsy....all she does is try to get human skin in her mouth, and she does this constantly. I just couldn't interact with her if I got up and walked away every time she manages to (and it hurts!). It is simply not practical and would result in a puppy that didn't have any handling or contact with humans. So, although I do remove contact from her when the biting really, really hurts, and I do pop her in her crate when I can't deal with it anymore, mostly I just grin and bear it while distracting her with toys and alternatives to my arm and ignoring the nips. I'm covered in bruises! It's getting better, slowly....thankfully she has stopped the jumping up and ripping at clothes and skin while we are doing stuff, so I tend to do a fair bit of training to avoid the bites, but I do make myself lie on a mat with her and do cuddles and handling too because it's very important.
I agree with JulieT It's a case of managing the biting while protecting your arms and legs (wearing wellies is one option!) Training helps, especially if the pup loves treats. Kara was quite easy to keep off my feet as she'd sit for a treat any time, any place even when very young. Twiglet - no! Biting was far higher in her priorities than treats! Have chews/toys on your person to shove (I say shove, not so you force it but be very persistent and focused that they WILL bite the toy/chew, not you - because you have to be determined that they will chew the toy, not your hand - they would much rather have your hand! It is quite challenging to be more determined than a puppy, especially in the evening when they are at their crocapup worst.) The link given by Snowbunny is excellent too - lots of strategies ALL of which help, NONE of which cure the problem. The only cure is time and the pup growing out of it. I also like the explanations in the articles, as you learn that none of this is intentional by the pup - all is play and learning. Your bond with the pup is very important and needs to be top of your mind in all interactions. If they are having time out because they need it (over tired, over excited) that's excellent. But, as a training aid, it does nothing at all. I'm due a new pup in October and will be reading all the articles on the main site here again - I can't recommend them enough. ...
as I sit here typing, my Molly, 4.5 months is trying her best to rip any part of me she can get a hold on to bits. She's still got her little needle canines and makes mighty efficient use of them. Its a puppy thing and labs are extremely good at it. In time - (yeah, I know, when?) - your pup will be your best friend and these days will fade away. Good luck and very best wishes, by the way, get lots of Savlon in.
Around six months - sooner if you are lucky Pity me, I have had four in three years, and soon to have another! (not really, I love every needle sharp, crocapup minute lol!) ...
You're mad! At 4.5 months I still find I've got the puppy blues. I've discovered that puppies are much like babies - lovely, when they belong to other people!
Jesse is almost 4 month now and his biting is so much better , but i still have my bottle of bitter apple spray next to my table. It may be sound silly but i sprayed some on my hands and my pants legs and he doesn't like it all. We also used on our leather couch and baseboards. A man in the pet store told us about it, he had 4 puppies and it worked for him so we tried it. He has his croco pup moments but it is much better.
13 week mark was yesterday I think. I keep forgetting but it's close to that age. My left arm. What I do and it seems to work is pinch his lower jaw. Well... ..sometimes One day he kept at it and so I said to him Ok so you like seem to like the way I taste, lets see if you taste as good. So I bit him and that wasn't a very good planned out idea. He bit me on the lip and drew blood. So lesson learned, Don't bite your puppy, they are quicker than you think.
I feel your pain - Bailey was a determined crocopup. Now at 6 months he is a lot better, he very rarely bites me (although he is rather fond of trying to chew the plaster cast on my left arm) I used the remove myself/attention until he was calm. My OH on the other hand likes to rough play with him, will not do the "tree" pose and lectures Bailey about hurting him so guess who still gets chewed on regularly?!!! Consistency, patience and vodka was my strategy! Good luck, it will pass honestly.
Ted, now 16 weeks still has a problem with biting, usually bare legged people. I've noticed though that when he and I have our morning "reunion" once he's out of the crate, done his pee, etc, and comes back in the house, the greeting - ears back, tail wagging, excited, roll on his back invitation to play, can turn from gentle into trying to bite me. I've learned to get him to differentiate between what I want (good boy!) (a-a!) and don't want, and I've noticed that gradually the bites are turning into licks and they really are reducing. I do think he might be getting there. I'm still training family members to do "the tree", and stop pleading with Ted when he attacks.
My Labrador puppy is just four months and I have been struggling with the biting since 8 wks, to be honest it is quite a shock to me. In someways better now that she doesn't chew my arms but now wants to do "rough play" barking and jumping at my clothes and biting me then which is really horrid.Like some other people I have not found the yelping to help, it just seems to make her worse, so may be I've not done it right. I do pop her in the crate but don't want to reduce interaction time with her. She's very beautiful and other aspects are coming on well - but I'd enjoy her so much more if I could stop this. When it happens in the middle of field or woods you don't have crate option anyway. Help!
The only thing to do with a puppy that is jumping up, biting and ripping clothes is....nothing. Wear robust clothes, boots, and keep your hands out of reach. And just wait. When the attack is over, a cheery 'let's go' and get on with your walk or training (training is better than walking, because it keeps their minds busy and also mentally tires them out). With some puppies, it is effective to hold your hands out, palms down, to block the puppy seeing your face - this works with puppies who are jumping up to try to get to your face (it worked with my first pup), but not puppies that are finding the sound of your shirt ripping fabulously good fun (it doesn't work with my second pup). Just be absolutely consistent, and don't inadvertently reward the behaviour by flapping around or even looking at the puppy, and it does wear off.
Thank you for your response I will try these options, I take your point about the mental activity being important, this has become apparent to me
Hi Selina, I had / have a similar problem but it is getting better. Yelping when Judy bit me didn't work. I used toys to divert her bites when she was a bit younger but then I started to leave her for a different room for a while. It didn't feel good doing it but things definitely improved after a couple of days. She was a bit bitey yesterday but she seems to have sore gums, she's been chewing a lot. Outside, she sometimes does the jumping / biting at clothes and it really bothered me at first, it put me off taking her out. As Julie says, I'm finding the best thing to do is nothing and it is getting better. I wear my most robust clothes (or ones I'm not bothered about!) and a heavy denim shirt that doesn't tear easily. It's most likely to happen now if she's fearful (if another dog she's unsure of comes into her space) or if she's a bit hyper to start with. Also there's one field we go to sometimes where she does it for no apparent reason but I guess there's something there that bothers her. It was a test to stay calm and provide no reaction but I'm getting better at that and while she jumps a bit still, it's less of a big deal now. When it's over, we move on. The biting was a shock to me too, I'd read about it and was expecting it but wasn't prepared for the energy behind the bites or the pain they could inflict! I hope things improve.
I really, really wouldn't do this. If it works, it's because you're causing your puppy pain, and why would you want to do that? He's only playing, as much as it may hurt you. He doesn't understand the "see how you like it" mentality. You could end up making things worse by making him afraid of your hands approaching him, and that can lead to reactivity to your hands. The methods that others have given work. You just need to be kind, consistent and patient while he learns the rules of play.
