Hi guys, got another issue with Daisy that seems to be getting hell of a lot worse and no better. She is now 19 weeks old, in the midst of teething (lost all of her incisors and 4 adult ones are half through). Her biting has become to the point where we can’t be near her unless to feed her, train her etc. She just starts biting whether we’re ignoring her or talking to her. She snarls, shows her gums, lunges and barks. She lets you stroke her for about a minute before it all starts, and she gets more and more wound up regardless of if you’re walking away from her, trying to divert her, ignoring her, being firm with her etc. I have tried teaching her tug which Michael suggested and she loves the game but is not picking up that it stops when she bites. We now have to separate her and put her in a separate room, and to be honest she ends up spending most of her time in the evening (she’s very different throughout the day, sleeping and playing with toys most of the time) in the kitchen on her own due to this. Now I understand she’s teething but I thought the biting turns more into a chewing during teething? It’s becoming extremely hard for me as I live with my mum and her partner and they’re both beginning to question the “force free” training method as they have spoken to multiple friends who just say to smack their noses and that their dogs never bite etc. I do not allow this but it’s worrying me as I can’t watch her 24/7 and there are some periods where she is alone with them. I know it’s pointless to compare your dog with others but it is very disheartening when you see other people being able to cuddle and fuss their pups without it resulting it ripped clothes, cuts and tears. I know there are a lot of trainers on this site and I was wondering if this is normal puppy behaviour? She does seem aggressive when she is doing it now (wagging her tail the whole time though), and it’s not becoming any better. Is this an issue worth getting a 1 on 1 trainer to come and see her in the home?
Hi @Jordan Maides Labs and Golden retrievers are well known for being mouthy. What you are describing is normal. There are several problems with hitting a dog. You can damage the fine bones in her nose. Second, if that positive punishment does not work, then do you resort to hitting her with say a piece of wood. Third, it does not tell her what she should do. Fourth, it's cruel. Five, she can become truly aggressive. I don't see any harm in getting a positive trainer to come in and evaluate what you all are currently doing. For example, you may need some help in learning how to use the tug toy. It seems that she is only a problem in the evening. The trainer should be able to give you some suggestions of what to do in the evening to mitigate the mouthiness.
Thank you. It's reassuring to hear that it is normal. Of course I do not and would not ever go down the route of smacking her nose, and I'll put your reasons to my family so that they can understand too.
Hi just wanted to reassure you,our pup was the same as yours,we couldn't play with her easily as she was biting continuously, it was disheartening. We always put her the other side off the stairgate when she bit one of us and calmly and patiently told her no bites. Roll forward to 7 months old and ALL biting stopped. She is now 10 months and never bites at all,so hang on in there our will improve
I didn't need reassurance. I remember some of your earlier posts. But I appreciate your response. I was aware that I would be providing you with some material to help support your case. I was shopping today and while waiting in a shop spoke to a couple with a 8 month trainee guide dog. It turns out when the dog is out of his harness, he is mischievous (chews flowers and lets the owners know that he has the flower in his mouth), and sometimes displays a bit of mouthiness. Why is this significant? Guide dogs are especially bred to have certain characteristics. And despite that breeding the dog was a bit mouthy. How are you holding the tug toy such that she is still able to bite you? What size and type of tug toy did you get? When you are around her at night I suggest you switch into jeans or such material that is robust and relatively bite proof. The dog in my avatar was a nightmare for a year. She would bite and bite, and latch hold of my leg as I walked away. I thought more than once that I had made a huge mistake in getting her. She turned out to be the nicest Lab I have ever owned. The most gentle and affectionate of the six I have had so far. I miss her very much.
Thanks Micheal, she’s good with tug all day but in the evenings she seems to go into these frenzied modes where she’s doing zoomies with her teeth out and going for everything in her path Its nice to hear about your dog, especially seeing someone with your knowledge who has been in a similar situation.
Okay, I see. If that is the case, then the tug toy is pointless. She's lost the plot and no amount of cues will work. Here is a relevant article. https://www.thelabradorsite.com/dog-zoomies/ Please read the article and see whether you can identify a trigger for her zoomies. And then train accordingly.
I know it's really frustrating and feels awful at the moment, but your puppy WILL grow out of this. If your pup is calm and able to interact ok during the day, I wouldn't feel at all bad about her spending evenings on her own in the kitchen. She is getting contact with you, training with you and interaction with you on a daily basis - there's nothing to feel bad about her spending a few hours on her own if it's a time of day that she is difficult. You are not failing by putting her in the kitchen, you are managing the environment to prevent the unwanted behaviour. Know that she will grow out of this and you will forget all about it....! The other thing to say, is that you mentioned 'stroking'. Stroking her - especially at times of day when she is prone to this - is almost certainly going to result in a mouthing frenzy. Because she wants to play, and she plays with her mouth. When you put your hands on her, she puts her equivalent on you - her mouth. So stroking at these times is a bad idea. I like this video from Zak George because it kind of shows you this is normal behaviour... and how essential it is to get the puppy onto a toy instead of you. Skip ahead to 2min 48 to get the bit on biting.
Thank you Jo! That video was very reassuring to see as Daisy is exactly like that puppy is when he's jumping all over Zak and biting his arms instead of the rope. Nice to see a video that actually shows this behaviour which is so similar to Daisy's. She's actually been a bit calmer the past day or two, which has been a nice break but I'm not expecting it to last too long Thanks for the great advice again.
