Hi All, I really love my pup but I'm starting to fall out of love with him. He's still not allowed out until Saturday so Hubby (who is at home all day) does some recall and lead training with him in our garden, other than that he sleeps on and off (pup not hubby). Hubby collects me with the pup in his arms from the station and the pup is pleased to see me. I get licks when we get home, then I get changed and come downstairs, sit down on the floor and hug and kiss him. Problem is all he does is bite and now he is starting to curl his face up and lunges at me. I read in the book that I should let him mouth me and then yelp when it's too hard, so I have been doing that and we've only had him for a week but his bite is worse. I stopped letting him mouth a few days ago. I have taken to yelping and saying 'playtime over' and then sitting back on the sofa and ignoring him, I then direct his bite onto a toy which he lays down and chews. After a while I will call him again and he just tried to jump up and bite me. I must have encouraged him at some point but can't see where it has happened. He doesn't do it to Hubby either. Please help as I can't sit on the floor and fuss him like I want to :-\ and I miss him while I'm at work all day.
Re: Biting Oh, I know just what you mean about falling out of love with your pup. But it is very difficult to love a creature that seems to spend every waking minute chewing on you. The mouthing is par for the course. I tried everything to stop Molly, but nothing worked. Then suddenly, one day around 5 months I realised that my hands were no longer a network of scabs. Horrible while it lasts. But it does go away.
Re: Biting I know you've already read and are following the advice in The Happy Puppy Handbook, but here's an article that lists lots of relevant links on biting, just to add to the advice you have in the book: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/your-labrador-puppy-biting/ Do you have a safe room you can use as a time-out area? Bathroom or laundry? For really ferocious biting, 10-15 seconds of time-out will help to get the message across. Say 'time out' as he's biting, then pop him in the bathroom briefly. If he's quiet, let him out. If he's not quiet, wait for a couple of seconds of silence. You're doing the right things with this and he will eventually stop I know it's really awful, being the bitee, but in his mind he's just playing and thinks you're a great playmate. For some reason you don't seem to be very skilled at Bitey Face games, but he hopes you'll learn from his good example Take heart though - it will all get so much better and then you'll just have the cuddles without the biting
Re: Biting Yes, it is awful! I had two real meltdowns where I wanted to take him back to the breeder....he was biting so hard. I was actually bleeding every day...my arms, my hands....anything he could get his teeth on. It lasts quite a while I'm sorry to say but YES, it does change at around five months and it does all of a sudden....like overnight. Maybe it's when their new teeth come in but, in the meantime, it is awfully painful.....some of us refer to the biters as "crocodiles"! Yelping, turning your back, giving him a chew toy never worked for me....the only thing that DID work was TIME OUT....mostly because you got him away from you. And I did this many, many times a day for 5 to 10 minutes at a time. Sometimes the biting came on because he was tired and probably grumpy but most of the times there was no rhym or reason. Hang in there.....do the best you can....it does change but probably not as soon as you would like! Good luck!
Re: Biting It does get better but I know how awful it is. My Ash (4.5 months) has left scars all over my arms and has destroyed every pair of trousers apart from my jeans. I got fed up buying new ones so I have sewed all the holes up (I must look like a hobo when out walking the dog) hehe. I tried everything with him but sometimes he just gets too excited and still does it, especially at meal times or when we are due to go out on a walk. These days I just pop him in his gated room (an open-plan under the stairs area in our front room that we have extended out with a playpen) and he settles down straight away. Time out has definitely worked the best for us. It's also great to stop him eating my wellingtons as I'm putting them. Hope your little nibbler settles xxx
Re: Biting Elsie responded to yelping quite quickly, quicker than some terriers we have had and now has a soft mouthing habit where she almost sucks thumbs and toes. That happened at about 4 and a 1/2 months.
Re: Biting Ok, so thanks everyone for your advice....it appears we are slowly getting there. Since he is now allowed out, we have taken him for some walks and doing recall training. I think this extra brain activity is helping, plus I am directing him onto toys straight away. Arms are slowly healing BTW
