I'm not sure where to start this topic thread, but I have a 11 week old black Labrador Retriever named Felix. He was a very calm puppy when we got him. Maybe because he was nervous with his new owners and home. The first two weeks home, he wasn't put into a crate trained. Instead we got him a comfortable pet bed and he slept there. About a week ago, we finally started the crate process and to our surprise, he actually loved it. He went into the crate himself and automatically fell asleep with no struggles. Even to today, he does the same exact thing, which I am grateful for! Anyways, the problem is, he bites a lot. Yes he is a puppy who is teething and is in the process of chewing nonstop, but our main concern is him with our Pomeranian. At that time, our pom was bigger than Felix. So, the first couple of days with them meeting, our Pom was actually the one who couldn't stop playing and bothering Felix. Obviously, Felix didn't really enjoy it, so we did try to separate them until Felix became more comfortable and until Kaiyu became more relax and calmed. About a week ago, we finally let these two out together again. And of course, Felix grew and is now a lot taller and bigger than our Pom. They were playing like any other pups and there wasn't anything serious. There was a lot of play biting but neither of the dogs bit hard enough to hurt one another. But just two days ago, Felix started having another habit. He would grab our Pom by his tail and neck. He'll bite at the neck and bring the pom down. I was worried the Pom would get hurt so I would watch, stop them when it seemed like the Pom was in too much pain and complain to my boyfriend about Felix's neck biting. But, all he ever said was for me not to worry and that Felix should know when to stop if the Pom didn't like it no more. I'm still very worried and I always always supervise when these two are playing. Last night, Felix grabbed the Pom's neck once again. He pushed the Pom down onto the floor and wouldn't let him up. I'm sure Felix bit a bit too hard and the Pom cried out loudly. But still, Felix wasn't taken back by the Pom's cry and just kept on biting and pinning the Pom down. My boyfriend heard and automatically called Felix to him to distract him with a toy. The Pom got up, ran away for a bit, and went back to playing. What can I do to stop the puppy biting & is Felix being too rough and aggressive?
Re: Puppy Biting I think supervised play is the best thing to do....watch them, and when you feel the pup is being too rough, give a cue, and remove him from the play session immediately. You can use "enough" or "too rough" or whatever you like...but basically it's a distract him and redirect him. He will learn by both the pom's cues and also yours when enough is enough. They are all about testing boundaries at this point, and an over excited lab pup is VERY common. Hang in there, sounds like things are going well! ;D
Re: Puppy Biting Yes, I'd do that kind of thing too. Do what you'd do if Felix was biting you too hard - stop the game and even give Felix a little time out (not in his crate) for half a minute. Unfortunately Felix won't know on his own when to stop - he has to learn this. He will get there with your help
Re: Puppy Biting Sounds to me you are doing well. Let them play, but only under supervision so you can intervene. As the others have said, Felix needs to learn from you and from your Pomeranian when he is being too rough. But don't think he is being aggressive - it is just puppy play, even if it seems a bit too much at times. He will get there, with your help.
Re: Puppy Biting Yes. When I got Tatze at 10 weeks Gavin (Cavalier) was 15 years old with very creaky bones, he couldn't play at all. Tatze had to learn this very fast. She was allowed on his bed so long as she didn't move a paw.
