I've been reading this forum ever since we got our latest chocolate lab nearly 8 weeks ago. He has been a shocker with the biting and nipping, far worse than our previous 2 ever were. Now at nearly 15 weeks we are still having terrible trouble, I've read all the links, we've got the happy puppy book and nothing seems to work - everything makes him more excited, turning our backs on him makes no difference, we try to get over the baby gate to get away from him but he just hangs on to clothes until they rip; we tried picking him up but he snaps and writhes so it is almost impossible, this also makes putting him back in his crate really difficult as well. Today he has been a real horror, he tore my trousers again and ripped a big hole in my husbands jeans, he's also been on the settee ripping at it continuously - and barking and snapping when we try to remove him. We are really beginning to despair as reading other posts I thought it would be starting to improve by now, I don't know what we are doing wrong or what we can do to improve the situation. As he's getting bigger it's beginning to be quite frightening.
Hi and welcome! As I finished reading your post I wondered how to respond, then remembered that a puppy under 6 months that does this is not being aggressive; it is normal although a little scary. Rushing to get over the gate may just excite him and encourage him to "play" even more. I know you have had pups before so you probably know this stuff. Remember to stay calm and consistent. Carry toys in your pocket to quickly distract him. Give him other things to bite and chew like puppy kongs (stuffed and frozen), cardboard boxes - anything he can get stuck into. I bought some special bitter apple spray to spray on anything my pup chewed and that worked. My arms were covered in little scratches and nicks for several months so what your pup is doing is not unusual. Some people use crates for time out but I never did as I didn't want it to seem like a punishment. I suppose the trick is to keep him occupied but not over tired. You will get more thoughts from others I am sure. Good luck!!!
Hello there, and a very warm welcome to the forum. What is your puppy's routine? In terms of structured play, walks, training and other exercise? While we all have to just hang on through the biting phase, it greatly helps to give your puppy an outlet for the pent up energy - training is perfect for this. And clicker training is the best thing ever.
Hi! I am definitely not an expert as my 17 week old Ella is my first ever dog. However, if it's any help, I find that Ella only really becomes a feral biter when she's over tired these days. She acts like a baby trying to stop herself falling asleep! Generally if I can get her to calm down and have a rest she wakes up an angel (haha not really but definitely not so bitey)
Oh, but I definitely agree with JulieT's comment about training. I find it amazing how 10 minutes of focused training makes Ella more tired than a half an hour play!
Thanks for replies. The day starts at 6.15 when my husband gets up and takes Ripple out for wees etc, he also has a 5 minute wander on the track outside our house. Breakfast is at 7.00 then a nap in his crate for a couple of hours. Mid-morning there is an hour of clicker and other training and play. Then a Kong in his crate. Lunch is at 12.30 followed by an hour of constructive play ("find its" etc). Then another nap. Mid afternoon we often take him out in the car to the beach or a park where we do some lead walking training - some days we stay at home and do lead walking, heel and other clicker training. Then another nap until dinner at 6.30, followed by play and brushing or look at ears, teeth etc. Ripple then has a frozen kong for the evening, wees etc at 11.00 then bed. Luckily he has always slept well at night and is happy to nap in his crate during the day, although he never takes himself in there and would keep going until complete exhaustion if we let him.
My Twiglet (Guide Dog puppy!) is a total crocodile too! I feel your pain! (you should see my arms - eeeek!) Tonight I am on red wine - it helps lol.
Try many short, up beat training sessions that really focus him - a 15 week old pup can't seriously train for a hour. Max 5 to 10 minutes of meaningful training will be the limit. If you can really get him to focus on really leaning something for that time you'd be doing well. The book "a perfect foundation" by Kay Lawrence is excellent and contains suitable exercises for his age.
Thanks Julie - this is more or less what we are doing, within each hour Ripple is up we have 2 - 3 short training or constructive play sessions, during which he is really attentive (far more than our previous dogs). It is when we stop the training and he plays with his toys that he starts the biting and pulling at clothes. I will look for the book you mentioned, I haven't read that one.
To give yourself a break, have the final exercise of the training "go in your crate". Don't do it just as one final thing, but let him earn a few rewards for going in, and coming out. On the final "go in your crate", pop a kong in their with him, and close the door. If him playing with toys seems to be winding him up, remove the toys.
Ok, I'll try that, sounds a really good idea - and I think he probably has too many toys out at a time, I did start with only a few and rotating them but now he always seems to have them all.
Crates sound a bit cruel (well they did to me) but they are a place of sanctuary for your pup and somewhere to put them when YOU HAVE JUST HAD ENOUGH Don't use it as a punishment, lure him in there and drop a couple of kibble in through the bars to make it seem a good idea. You have a very normal pup. You are not the first person to be surprised by the biting pup and to wonder "what have I let myself in for". Pups are darned hard work, but you are laying the foundation stones of many happy years together and it is so worth it.
Eric (12 weeks on Monday) Is a growler and snapper if we try to pick him up when he's tired/excited and refuses to co-operate. He just hates being picked up. I got quite a shock last week when he started this. I don't know if i'm doing the right thing but this is what we're doing now. If i need him to come in the house or go into his crate and he's refusing then I lure him in with treats. To come in the house I show him what I've got then call him in. He usually comes bounding in and sits in front of me. I'm always within arms reach of the door to close it behind him. We then do a few clicker sits/downs and then he's fine to be in. To go in the crate we are working on 'in crate'. I always put some kibble in then close the door behind him with either more kibble or a kong. We are also working on him being picked up. It takes two of us. For each step of picking him up... arm under chest, arm under bum etc we click and treat It does seem to be working
Eric sounds as if he has some of the same traits as Ripple. At 12 weeks I felt as if I could cope with it but now almost 3 weeks later it's becoming very tiresome, I thought from what I was reading on here it would be improving by now. Ripple has been brilliant at his puppy socialisation classes and I almost got the feeling that they didn't believe us about his behaviour at home as he didn't bite anyone there. Although on his first week he was very rough with the other puppies. This last bout of biting us has really escalated in the last few days and I am really beginning to despair, so hopefully the advice on here will help.
I was wrong! Here is a video of Twiglet mouthing me when she's feeling relaxed. Her bite inhibition is fine! It's when she's over excited that she's no idea http://s1106.photobucket.com/user/BoogiesAlbum/media/Bite inhibition.mp4.html
[QUOTE Ripple has been brilliant at his puppy socialisation classes and I almost got the feeling that they didn't believe us about his behaviour at home as he didn't bite anyone there. Although on his first week he was very rough with the other puppies. .[/QUOTE] We haven't been able to get Eric into the local puppy classes yet as they are full. he starts in September when he is 15 weeks. I wish he was there already. My mum has a 16 week old cockapoo and Eric is very rough with him!
sympathy - Jaffa is 15 weeks and alternates between being the snuggliest, butter wouldn't melt, please cuddle me puppy - to full frontal attack on my nose, swing off my clothes - I end up sometimes fending her off with her tug toy - sometimes a quick fun training session helps (but not always) - sometimes a quick exit of me from puppy pen helps - usually its time to put Kong in crate with puppy and I go chill. Been through it before with the others, so I know it does come to an end. Decided to choose puppy classes at lunch time (snuggly puppy time) rather than 6pm (crocopup time) in order to not bring chaos to the puppy class (I hope - we start next week)
You've made me feel better about Ripple Foxylady, at least I know he's not the only 15 week puppy still in the biting stage. I do feel envious of your cuddles though, Ripple has never been a cuddly puppy unlike my previous two. We were lucky to get puppy socialisation classes at a local vets where they can go from 10 weeks to 16 weeks before they move onto a bigger class, I think this has been very helpful especially as Ripple's litter were homed at 7 weeks.
Twiglet has been a nightmare with her brother, Rossi. When he came on Friday it was a disaster. I rang my supervisor and her advice was interesting. She said don't let them meet again unless on leads and at a neutral venue 'till they are at least 8 months old. I have to make sure all Twiglet's encounters with dogs are with good, adult role models - no puppies except in the controlled environment of puppy class. Makes sense! She has had several other puppies who have been too bitey with pups the same age and it's escalated into snarly/snappy - all have had this restriction and none have gone on to have any problems at all with other dags.
Thank you for this! Mum brought dexter round again this morning. They were a bit better but not much. Dexter pounces on Eric straight away but as Eric is bigger it doesn't go dexters way! They both bit each other today and although Eric backed off dexter didn't. Will suggest to mum that we meet in park I think with both on leads later this week
