Puppy biting hands and feet!

hethmar

Go on amazon and buy The Pefect Puppy book which will explain puppy's behaviour and the best way to handle them

.http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_17?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+perfect+puppy+gwen+bailey&sprefix=the+perfect+puppy%2Cstripbooks%2C244


TBH, its a long time since I had a puppy and bless, he was disabled but I quite enjoyed the" hanging on to my trouser leg" phase When he nipped my hands or toes Id make a high pitched yowel and then carrying on with a sobbing noise - bless, he would always step back and looked concerned (for a little while anyway)


I still get on the floor with my two middle aged boys to play tuggy or squeaky with them - its all part of socialising and bonding. You dont want a nervous anti social dog. Its only for a short time, so enjoy it while they are so playful. I cant believe someone told you to spray a little puppy with water !!!

analyst_2

I think others have said it all really. - Dogs learn commands, not English.

However, teaching the dog the "No" command is important for the future, but accept it will take some time. We use the word "No" only because it keeps our credibility with nearby humans, you could just as easily teach the same command with the word "sausages" but expect to receive some funny looks.

Try to voice the "No" in a gruff way, deep and low from the stomach. This emulates the 'vocalisation' the mother will use to discipline the pups and they never forget it in a lifetime. It takes a little bit of practice.

To train them off biting, immediate toy substitution with praise is good practice. Remember, the toys need not be sophisticated. Pet toys are designed to give human appeal and hike up the price. One of the best 'toys' your pup will love is a bundle of old socks tied into a tight knot and it will ruff and swat them around the floor. With any luck it may even help with your dusting.:p

A quick final tip, since you say it is still a pup. There seems to be a critical period of 14 weeks of a pups life. Things they experience within that 14 week period they go on to accept as the norm in life. So get the pup used to as many 'sensitive' experiences as possible in a calm environment and as often as possible in that time e.g. vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, lawn mower, baths etc

Raksha

You might also want to look at his/her diet. Labs are particularly mouthy pups, because they are retrieving dogs, so geared up to have things in their mouths, but when I was running Puppy School puppy classes, the mouthiest Lab pups were being fed 'supermarket brand' dog foods and once one a higher quality protein food improved almost over night. Also tired puppies tend to be more mouthy, so make sure it gets plenty of time out.

marmitepotato

It's a puppy and its what they do! Took our pup 10 months to stop the biting phase, she still likes to hang on to a trouser leg now!

RevolvingDoor

hethmar wrote: »

When he nipped my hands or toes Id make a high pitched yowel and then carrying on with a sobbing noise - bless, he would always step back and looked concerned (for a little while anyway)

I have to try that with my dog,:) she is over 12 months old but she still nips us when she gets excited, which is often!

krlyr

RevolvingDoor wrote: »

I have to try that with my dog,:) she is over 12 months old but she still nips us when she gets excited, which is often!

Think of a dog much like a toddler. Toddler keeps grabbing at expensive breakables on the side, or biting you in play, or throwing toys at people's heads - you could spend all day saying 'no' (and much like a dog, with limited grasp of the English language, a toddler may take a while to get the concept of 'no'). But to get better results you teach said toddler what to do instead - so you might say 'no' but then you give them a children's toy to focus on instead of the breakable items, you put them down if they try biting and then give them a short break before trying again - so teaching them to interact nicely, without biting. Ditto with the throwing - you'd probably take away the easily thrown toys but then sit down and teach them to roll their toy car along the floor instead, or stack the lego bricks together, etc.

Same with a dog. The yowl might break their focus and stop them in their tracks but you're not teaching them a substitute behaviour so next time they forget their manners in their excitement, it's back to biting.
Ideally, you want to interupt, or ideally prevent (because the more they practice it, the more it becomes habit) the nipping behaviour but then in that very moment, teach them a more acceptable substitute. With dogs, an automatic 'sit' can be very helpful for lots of situations - dog knows a visitor is arriving, instead of jumping up they do an automatic sit and get rewarded for it. Out in public, getting a dog to sit rather than shove its nose in people's crotches when in excitable crowds (or worse, nip at strangers) is much preferable.

So don't just solely concentrate on stopping her behaviour, but on teaching a substitute for it too. When one of mine gets all excited, e.g. when I arrive home, I would send her to fetch the nearest toy - nowadays it's an automatic reaction, she starts to get excited and she'll go and grab a toy, so her energy is released either by shaking a soft toy or tuggy about or by us throwing the toy for her for a few relays of fetch. A much better alternative to her previous behaviour which was jumping up at people in her excitement (not ideal with a 35kg muscley dog!)

RevolvingDoor

I do distract her with toys and that worked on her chewing but she seems to do the jumping up and nipping it at times when I don't have a toy to hand like when I have just woken up and I'm coming out of the bedroom and don't feel like playing. I suppose I could tell her to go and get her toy and just throw it once.:o:p

hethmar

Get the Perfect Puppy book because theres going to be lots of other things you need to understand in the next year or so

blondy24

Hello All,

Thanks very much for all the posts has been good to read and take notes. She was just over 7 weeks when we got her, in a way OH and I have said that they need socialisation skills with other puppies till at least 10 weeks old.

We have tried to yelp like another pup and she ignores it, we do try to distract her with another toy and praise her when she is good, sometimes it works depends how much she just wants to bite us. We do now put her in her crate for 5/10 mins until she calms back down and then let her out and play. She is getting better I know it is early days and a bit of a mixture of things. I have taught her to sit with treats so she is progressing on that front.

Silly question - do you know if it is ok to put out nuts for birds, or is it not safe for dogs?

Thanks again x

hethmar

Nuts arent good for dogs - dont you have a bird feeder to put them in?