Hi there, To set the scene, I am a new puppy owner - Tatti will be 10 weeks tomorrow and we have had her for 9 days now. In the most part she seems settled, she is confident, happy and is doing well with the basic training (sit, lie down, wait, come here). House training is also going well (mostly due to my amazing breeder), so far she has gone all night (11:00 - 06:30) with no accidents and very few accidents during the day (those we have had have mostly been down to my complacency - I forget we're still training this). So LOTS of wins already and on the whole we are happy with our pup. BUT I cannot find a successful way to actually get her off me when she is grabbing at my clothes and biting. I tried looking away to disengage with her but she was still happy pulling away at my tops, I tried prizing the fabric out of her mouth but then she just grabs on somewhere else - usually with more force. I have tried swapping the fabric for a lovely toy, even one that she dosnt use often so is a little more exciting but often there is not one in reach and again this doesn't always work, and the same goes for food (although I definitely do not want her to be rewarded for this behaviour). I am finding it very hard to get her off me without 'joining in the game'. A large part of this I think is that she gets over excited very quickly but it is difficult to calm her down when she is in full blown crocodile mode. I have spent many hours on the website, reading the books and scrolling through this forum (which I think is great and has been a well needed source of comfort) on a daily basis. I think I am getting the hang of some things but I also think I am completely failing at others. The theory sounds great, but in practice it is just not that easy to persuade this girl to give up the jumpers. Is this normal? Does anyone have any good videos I can watch about this so I can physically see what I am doing wrong. I clearly have a very bright dog. I want her to be able to play so she is well exercised and to train her so she isn't bored but I also need to work and cant spend 20 minutes of every hour or two trying to calm down an excited pup. Again, I have read all the articles on how to do this and holding her helps, so does putting her in her pen - sometimes - but other times, this just makes it worse. Perhaps I need to be more patient with her?? One other thing, as I am on here. Tatti is female but she has a toy that I think she likes to hump. she doesn't actually hump the toy, just makes those movements while she is playing with the toy. I have googled this and some say that it is for pleasure/comfort or can be the sign of an allergy but she isn't actually humping anything - does anyone know what this is about and should I be worried. I have only seen it a couple of times but thought i'd ask. Louise A slightly overwhelmed owner
Have a toy ready before you meet her (keep one on your back pocket) when she's busy be sure to re-load your pockets with toys/nylabones. When mine are very young I use the smallest kong toys as they can fit nicely in every pocket. So, as you approach her - or she approaches you - they first thing her teeth meet is the toy. Wear really tight sleeves and skinny jeans too - much harder to grab hold of. It works. All three of mine soon learned to pick up a toy to greet us or get our attention. Twiglet is 19 weeks now and her whole body wags, toy in mouth. I discourage humping behaviour by distracting them - so that it doesn't become a habit/obsession. 20 minutes every hour or two is the least time to spend with her while she's so tiny, to be fair. If you really can't give her the time use filled bones (better than kongs if the pup is not left alone, they last mush longer - fill them with soaked kibble and freeze) It won't be long before her snoozes are predictable and you can get your work done then. Patience? Yes, the more patience we have with them the better. The puppy phase is sooo short and you will look back with great fondness if you are as patient as possible
Hi Louise. As you already know, you're not alone! I was lucky that Willow never did that thing of hanging off of clothes when he was a tiny pup - I could even wear big fluffy slippers and she'd ignore them. My hands were not so lucky, but anyway... So, I'm not in the best position to give you advice about a tiny puppy doing this. But. We got Shadow when he was 14 weeks and he never went through the crocopup phase with us; he'd obviously been taught enough by the other dogs in the house. However, I believe this isn't necessarily an entirely good thing, because he never went through bite inhibition with humans and eventually learning that it's not acceptable to use his teeth. He's recently hit a funny phase (he's now 14 months) and, when he's very excited, normally first thing in the morning when we first get up and see him, he has started nibbling at our clothing. It's like grooming and it's quite funny in some ways, but he can occasionally catch the skin underneath, which hurts, and so I need to stop it. He doesn't pull at the clothing like a little puppy can, but latches on and won't let go. So, let me share my tactic, which is being quite productive. If I can see he's in that mood, I put my fluffy dressing gown on. This is one of his favourite of all things to nibble on, with its dangly cord and floaty hem. Sounds strange, maybe, putting on something I know he's going to react to with the behaviour, but I view it as a training aid. The important thing is, it's really easy to take it off. So, if he starts nibbling at it and standing up/ignoring him doesn't work, I simply slip it off, drop it on the floor and leave the room. Attention gone, he ignores the dressing gown (which is good, I don't want it wrecked ) and comes to try and find me. When he's calm, he gets attention. If he can behave without nibbling my clothes, that attention continues, but if he starts to nibble again, the dressing gown goes back on and we start again. Yes, little puppies need a lot of your time. When they're not sleeping, they're learning, and they need to be sociable. This phase does pass very quickly, so you should try to enjoy it if you can; soon, she'll be snoozing her way through the day with a lot less need for interaction.
I'm so pleased to see someone, Boogie, has already suggested getting the alternative toy ready BEFORE she latches onto something inappropriate. It will take some time but that way YOU initiate play with a toy you approve of and in the long run that will help establish YOU as the benevolent leader. I have never heard or read of any link between humping and allergy. Would that be some kind of itchy tummy allergy? Or, wait, was someone being facetious about "scratching an itch?" At any rate, humping doesn't bother me as along as it's not me, my furniture or another dog. Or another person. When my 9 week old boy got "itchy" ( ) I bought him his own humpee toy, a big teddy bear, and encouraged him on it. To this date he has never, ever humped anything other than Poppa Bear. He will be 8 years old this week and he's intact. Maybe we were lucky, maybe providing encouragement and direction did the trick, maybe a bit of both.
Thank you both for your tips here. I love the idea of a training gown - I have just the thing (and luckily don't mind if she does get her teeth into it). I will try and keep a distraction handy for peak biting times too. I tried wearing close fit clothes and in most respects this works, except for when she goes to grab my now non existent sleeve - she gets arm which hurts a lot. Its funny because when I play gently with her and she mouths at my hand she is very gentle. I suppose I just need to teach her that its still me under there - I don't think she'd do it if I were in a t-shirt and it was bare arm. hmm. I think trying to balance house training with quality time, general training and working from home is where the battle will lie. If we go out when she wakes so she can go to the toilet (and it can take a while for something to happen if at all) THEN spend 10-20 mins calming her down, I will never get any work done :-/ I have spent a lot of time with dogs throughout my life but this is my first experience of a puppy and I think I vastly underestimated how much work they were.I suspect I may be working into the evening to meet my workload demands but that doesn't help for the teleconferences during the day (perhaps I should think about a puppy sitter). Don't get me wrong, I love her to bits, I lie awake at night worrying about each and every little thing that she does because I love her so much, and I will try and do everything right, I just didn't realise it would be this hard. Anyway, thank you for your continued support - she is now snoring away so I can get back to it for a little while at least .
Fear not, I have a new pup each year and each year I totally forget just how hard it is! Also, it's a bit like having children ('tho better!) - they don't hold our mistakes against us It may be worth having a puppy sitter for your important conferences - it would help to put your mind at rest. You will only need them for about six weeks as the pup will then be house trained and able to settle after training and play.
Hi Tatti! Everyone's tips here have been right on. My Otis is just about 15 weeks now and I've posted more than once on here frantically because he was such a croco pup between 8-12 weeks. He was making me bleed several times a day! I was going crazy. My hands looked like a cat attacked me and I had plenty of other hidden marks from him jumping up and attacking me. It sounds like her puppy behavior is very similar to my pups! Wearing tight clothing makes a HUGE difference, keeping toys ready at all times, and being able to do a reverse time out also helps. So, when she's being a bitey maniac just remove yourself from the room so that she learns that the attention goes away when she behaves like that. Return after a few moments, and hopefully she's calmed down. If not, repeat! My puppy also gets very bad when he's overtired, so when that happens I'll put him in his crate with a special treat and he takes a nice nap. The bareskin biting has 95% stopped I'd say, but he still does jump up and attack me at this point (we're working on this!) Lots and lots of different toys! Also, bully sticks and Himalayan chews have been a really great thing for us. Everyone has different thoughts about them and I found it's important to introduce them slowly so that they don't get an upset tummy, but the first time I gave him a bully stick he was busy for 1.5 HOURS. I cleaned my whole kitchen and it was amazing. It also is a really great outlet for their chewing. Sorry for the long post, but I feel your pain! It really does get better. Very very very slowly, but better!
I have a lovely 6 year old yellow female and a 14 week old black male. The puppy is very good but his worst behavior is biting and chewing on my female who is the world's most tolerant patient dog God ever created. He bites on her face, mouth, legs, climbs on top of her. We pick him up and hold him saying calm down and he does. The other tactic we use is putting our thumb and forefinger on either side of his muzzle saying "No Bite". Our girl very rarely puts him in his place and even when she does it is never a growl. Her favorite way to be rid of him is to take one of his favorite toys and go upstairs where he can't go. He has lots of toys to chew on and I do give a bully stick for short periods of time, no longer than 20 minutes. When he gets too wild we put him in a ex-pen we have in our family room for a time out. I don't use the crate for the time out as I don't want him to consider the crate as a bad place. He really is a wonderful puppy, sleeps all night not a peep. Our house training is coming along nicely, a few pee accidents her and there but really pretty good and never a poop accident. The other thing is when he is outside he eats EVERYTHING and it is a constant battle removing sticks, dirt and grass from his mouth. I would love suggestions on both biting the older dog and the outside eating junk.
We have a safe place for Tatze (2 years old) which is in the same room as us. It's a chair and Twiglet (20 weeks) is not allowed near her on that chair. Tatze takes herself there when she's had enough. Outside (in the garden, not the street) I allow Twiglet to pick things up and just keep an eye to see she's not swallowing - I think it's their way of exploring and they soon grow out of it. When on lead I keep her nose up (no sniffing or picking anything up). Out on a free run I let her explore the same way I do in the garden I have also taught the 'leave it' cue and the 'drop it' cue which is really useful when I think she may have picked up something she shouldn't have. (Simple to teach - swap for a nice treat).
Thanks Boogie, I have tried the leave it and handing a treat. This puppy is a food and treat monster and it is sort of a game. I will do more of this and see how we do. The one piece of furniture that belongs to our girl is upstairs in the bedroom and that is why she escapes upstairs. I know this stage doesn't last forever but it's hard to watch her being constantly under attack.
