14 week old Biting

Hello,

Willow is 14 weeks old and is a black lab. she is still biting, we have tried the whole bite inhibtion thing, yelping when she bites/nibbles but this worked to begin with but then she started thinking it was a game and it made her worse. we have tried distraction and at times it works but most of the time like this weekend it hasnt.

She is teething and the bites are not as hard as they once perhaps were, but she goes out of her way to come and bite. we have tried stopping play getting up and going away when she bites but she will follow and try to nibble trousers.

Also time outs do work however she does come out of it giving kisses and things and a paw then perhaps 100 min later the naughty ness is back.

the only good thing is she dosent seem to go for anyone else just us 3 (my mum, brother and i all grown up) everyone else she is lovely she may try to mouth but she knows she isnt alowed to.

I have spoken to our vet several times about this and they say it is compleatly normal but it just seems like she isnt getting better. she is such a lovely dog.

The Biting is worse when she is tired and also if her teeth are sore.

She has plenty of chew toys around but just seems to want to chew us. she undferstands we are the boss, she sits and waits for her food treats etc.

we are trying to get her into puppy classes one refused her becuase she hasnt had the parvo booster. and are awating to here information for another. we are limited up here as to where we can go to classes as we dont drive.

she is really bad this weekend she has been wormed friday and yesterday and her behaviour has been terrible and she was like this a month ago when she was wormed again (not sure if link) but she is bitey every day ;(

does anyone have any suggestions?

We was told to use a rattle bottle every time he went to bite or bites give it a good shake or drop it close to her, we also shut her in the kitchen for a few mins. it takes time but it worked for us.

Have you tried "swapping" your body parts for a toy & directing your puppy onto the toy when she tries to bite?

Have you tried wearing thick clothes/gloves/boots & standing completely still & ignoring the biting ~ no eye contact, no response at all?

Are you sure that ALL of you are reacting in the same way to her biting? Sometimes attention, of any kind, even pushing her away, or shouting, is enough to keep the biting going.

If she is teething & her gums are sore, what about trying a kong stuffed with something & frozen. The cold can help relieve sore gums. Someone here suggested wetting old knotted rags & freezing them. Or a frozen yoghurt?

It's highly likely that this is a stage she's going through & quite normal puppy behaviour, but I do appreciate that puppy teeth can be needle sharp & hurt!

Hi,
When we first got our dog he was terrible at biting and we tried everything. We did puppy classes and one of the trainers told us to pin him down which was a disaster and made us feel bad. We began to think we had a devil dog as it happened every evening at the same time, around 6pm till 8pm. The rest of the time he was fine. We then began to turn our backs on him and walk away when he did it and this worked the best. I do think the Vet is right though because they do grow out of it but it not a very nice at the time. Be patient and I am sure she will improve.

You could try substituting a toy? A lab is bred to hold stuff so what with that and teething, she will be pretty driven to have something in her mouth.
Try something like a dummy or a soft toy?

we have tried the substituting our body parts for toys since the begining it works sometimes. everyone does the same as we are usualy all intogether!

it is only us she does it to, she will try sometimes (if her teeth are bad) to mouth but never bite anyone else.. it is just us.

we have teied walking away and ignoring her and stopping play if she bites again after being told no bite.

strangley thicker the clothes that you wear the more she will bite them especialy cardigans and fleeces

she has plenty of chew toys and soft toys but some days are worse than others and sme days no bite works others she is a nightmare with it sepecialy if tired

the thing is she knows its wrong because when you say no bite at times she runs off into her bed in the kitchen

No, she doesn`t know it`s wrong, she knows you are angry. A toddler doesn`t know why it gets told off when playing with certain stuff. But the answer is to persist. It takes time to train a dog,

As has been said training a dog takes time, but you are definitely on the right road with the substituting toys and if it continues or gets worse walk away and ignore. If you are persistant and everyone is on the same page with time the pup will grow out of it. I have a 14 week old pup too and am using the same technique. I can definitely see it paying off and getting less and less. Just keep it up xx

Something I always use for teething pups is....

An old leather belt, a big thick one,(I used to use old leather horse rains) cut off the buckle end, then stick it in the freezer , allow it to freeze up, then let pup chew on it.


Always found pups love to chew and mush the leather, they can get their teeth around it , and the coldness and give in the leather seems to soothe their gums.

This is quite normal puppy behaviour & to yelp or squeak will in 99% of cases simply encourage the behaviour & make it a game for the puppy.

If you do not want to reward your puppy for nipping, then do not react at all, any reaction will encourage the behaviour. Adult dogs give puppies a lot of licence & when they have had enough they walk away & ignore the puppy, sometimes with a low gruff grump-but no yelping or squeaking etc.

You have to be consistent with your puppy & not change reactions all the time.

I never have a problem with puppy nipping , because over the years I have learnt not to react to nipping & praise when it stops. The result is my puppies very quickly learn that nipping me isn't rewarding & the behaviour very quickly stops.

Make up your mind how you are going to react(or not as the case maybe)& stick only to that one way for at least two weeks. The non reaction is IMHO the best way & one I always recommend to people first

The above is a big no no biting & nipping is a natural puppy behaviour & frightening your puppy will not teach it bite inhibition