I know this is a common question regarding lab pups but I've tried everything I've read about how to stop it. I've yelped when he bites and I've turned my back to him and ignored him, I've put him in the laundry room as a time out when he does it. I love him to death but him jumping on family members and drawing blood with some nips is getting old. Any suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated.
None of the 'solutions' solve the problem. It's really a case of managing your pup until they are a little older and no longer so bitey. I wear skinny jeans and tight sleeves which help a lot too. One thing I don't do is the yelp - it simply doesn't work in my experience. My go-to solution is to have many small puppy toys and chews in my pocket and to make sure they go in the pup's mouth, not my hands! When this doesn't work it's (usually) because the pup is over tired or over exited, so then I pop them in their crate with a Kong for a settle and snooze. @snowbunny has a good method which she'll, hopefully, come and describe. But, once they are six months old, the worst of the puppy nipping will be over ...
Thank you so much for the quick reply. Hopefully your friend snow bunny will chime in here with some advice. I am open to anything at this point. Thanks again.
My first puppy was averagely bitey, and shoving toys in his mouth, stepping over barriers and leaving him etc. did work to some extent although really he just grew out of it. It also wasn't all that bad...looking back on it...now I've had puppy no.2 who my OH (who is no wimp) from time to time called 'the dog from The Omen' although mainly we were able to keep our sense of humour and just called her Bitey McBite Face. She was so bad! Really awful. But it wore off - eventually. Training a nose touch helped (keep your mouth shut near a human hand) and 'thank you' to mean 'let go' so when she was playing 'kill the human body part' we could at least tell her to let go. Apart from that, you've just got to wear thick clothes, try not to let it spoil your interaction with your puppy, and wait for it to go away.
Dont do the yelling when they bite, thats how dogs in the wild learn to bite more! What worked for me was to constantly shove my arm in his mouth and leave it in there. After a while he got tired of it and would go and mouth something else. Luckily my boy likes rawhide and chewed on that most of the time. Like others have said, things did get better as he got older.
Stanley was quite the crocodor. I spoke to his trainers when he was about five months and the recommended we kept him on a training lead. Whenever he got too bitey I would guide him out of the room and trap the lead in the door (so he couldn't have fun on the other side). When he was calm he could come back in. If he started biting.. straight back out. He got it pretty quickly that biting = out and nice play & kisses = stay
Here are some articles with the best advice - more importantly, it WORKS! The important thing to remember is that it takes a lot of time for things to improve and repetition is needed - lots and lots of repetition for them to learn new skills. http://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppies-biting/ http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-cope-with-an-overexcited-labrador-puppy/ http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-play-safely-with-a-labrador/ http://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-training/
Thank you for the replies. It seems I just have to have patience and he will grow out of it. I forgot to mention he is almost 6 months old if that makes any difference.
Can I suggest you choose one method and stick to it. Repetition is how they learn. If you try one thing one week then give in and try something else they won't learn. Consistency with everyone who engages with him - get them to do the thing you decide on.
Hello, sorry I'm coming late to this. I agree to be absolutely consistent. If your puppy is over-tired, just pop him in his crate as you have no chance of teaching him anything when he's manic. For normal puppy biting, I actually set up training opportunities rather than simply reacting to it when it happens. Training sessions allow repetition and so aid learning. With my first puppy, Willow, I used a method where I'd sit on the floor playing with her and the instant she bit too hard, I'd stand up, cross my arms and withdraw attention. No words, no eye contact, just silence. Just for a few seconds and then I'd give her another chance to play nicely, with lots of vocal praise while she was doing so. If you try this and you're not flexible, you may find it easier to sit on a low stool while you play - the key is standing up immediately the puppy bites too hard. If it takes you a few seconds to get up, they'll lose that connection between behaviour and consequence. Willow was an easy puppy, though. She never bit my legs or my clothing. Then there's my boy, Shadow, who never bit once - we brought him home at 14 weeks. Then, Luna came along. My little whirling dervish. I'm not saying she was awful, because there are far worse pups, but she was far worse than Willow. The method I used before would have her biting my calves and jumping up to grab at any part of me she could reach. I tried the advice of stepping out of her pen, but that's easier said than done when you have a puppy's teeth embedded in your leg! So, I came up with a method of playing with her inside her crate. I'd pop her in and play with her through the open door. The second she bit hard, I'd close the door and ignore her for just a couple of seconds. It's far easier to pull your hand through a door of a crate than it is to step over a gate or partition. After that briefest of pauses, I'd start playing again. You have to be really careful that you're not associating the crate with a punishment, so it must be literally a couple of seconds of separation, and lots more time spent playing in the crate. But I found that she very quickly learnt, using this method, how hard was too hard, that biting resulted in the game ending, and she tempered her play biting outside of the crate, too - except when she was manic from being over-tired. I did a few sessions a day of a couple of minutes each time until she got the idea, which only took a couple of weeks. Now she's five and a half months and almost never bites anymore.
Thank you for responding Ms Snowbunny, I was hoping to get a reply from you. That's not to say I don't appreciate ALL the responses as I need all the help I can get. I love my pup immensely and just want to enjoy his companionship and every suggestion helps. Thank you again.
