Puppy biting

[Cathy]

I'm about at my wits end with my doodle puppy. She is so good when we are not at home - we had to spend a week at my mom's and she was sweet and good. When we get home she bites my hands and my clothes, digs, chews and is just about the worst dog I've ever had. Last week at mom's when she bit I would say no, put her back in her room and ignore her for a few minutes. Then we would do it again. After just a few times she quit biting. Now that we're home it doesn't work - constant biting and barking! Any advice would help.

[Leslie J]

Our trainer in puppy school believes in positive training, but she suggested for really yappy dogs (a pomeranian puppy yapped the most but our Cocoa yaps at other dogs to initiate play) to give them a quick spray with Binaca Blast (the aresol, not the pump) on the lower chin (so it gets on the mouth but not the nose or eyes). She used to on the pomeranian during class and it was amazing! She also said it could be useful for chronic biters.

[Cathy]

Hi, thanks for the tip. I took her to doggie day care last night to meet the pack and she did really well. The gal there was a vet tech for many years and when Phoebe tried to bite her hands she pinched her under the tongue and Phoebe didn't try it again on her or even on me. This morning she tried but when she thought I was going to get her again she quit - I think that problem may be solved (we'll see). I've got to get something to spray on my wooden furniture before I'm left with sawdust! :-)

[Leslie J]

Oh, Cathy- there is one thing that also might help. We use a spray called "Bitter End" and it keeps Cocoa from chewing. If you sprayed it on your hands (it's safe for skin, fur, etc.) I bet she wouldn't want to put her mouth on you. The only thing is to be sure to wash it off before you touch food, as anything you touch will taste awful! Ditto with your clothes...

http://www.amazon.com/Cardinal-Laboratories-Botanics-Indoor-Bitter/...

I don't know anything about this website- I am only linking to show the product.

... I guess my mind is on "toxic sprays" today!!!

[Cathy]

I have a natural pet store by me - I think I'll see what they have. Thanks again.

[Adina P]

Just wanted to let you know that there IS hope.
My Rosco (the huge apricot labradoodle--you can see him on my page) was JAWS INCARNATE from 9 weeks till about 1 year old (most dogs don't do this as long as my dog did, so don't panic!). He ONLY bit me and it was always random. NOTHING I did made him stop. Any reprimand (verbal or physical) only got him more riled up. He left bruises and he was big so he'd jump high and go for my belly even. There were days when I cried because I thought I'd never manage. I even tried the awful 'alpha roll' (which I don't recommend). I tried to hold him down on his back and he fought and tried to escape for I'm sure a full 10 minutes. It was awful. I would even be walking him down the sidewalk and he'd end up trying to attack me and there I'd be as traffic passed me fighting with a giant pup...it freaked me out!

A few breakthroughs was after many months of training practice, in the middle of a fit I told him "Rosco! SIT!" and he did! That was not the end of it though, but it helped. Again he ONLY did this to me...not my husband (boyfriend at the time) or guests or anyone else.

What finally 'cured' things was I worked my booty off in obedience training and through that I'm convinced that he developed respect (of sorts) for me, learned to trust me and we bonded strongly. He's now the BIGGEST love bug and when I try to get him riled up (I've done it before, not often, to test him) he ends up grabbing a bone to chew on instead of me (and this he figured out on his own, it wasn't something I ever taught him). He's also a therapy dog and just sweeeeeet as can be! I can take him anywhere with me and because of hard core obedience training he's well behaved.

If I had to do it over again I'd have stuck with the obedience training sooner. I also would NOT have let him suck me in to his tantrums - I would have left him where he was (if he was outside) or crated him ASAP with each fit. Because trying to stop him just made things worse and I think he liked it.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Luca sounds like he was tame by comparison but he was similar from about 3-4 mos. until I started him in training at about 6 mos. I was afraid people would think I was being abused--well, I was, by him. I never had this problem with Calla but she was 17 weeks when I got her so her breeder may have worked on this , or she had a different temperament--she does, or I was more experienced.

[Julie B.]

I'm glad to see this discussion is headed toward the training aspect. I can't believe all of the "bad puppy" postings lately and it bothers me because I am expecting a new puppy at the end of the month. I have never experienced the problems you are all describing with any of my dogs and I think it may be because I started obedience training with them from day 1. They had to sit for almost everything they got that was fun... food, loving, going outside . I also worked very routinely with releasing toys, substituting toys and leaving lots of chew toys laying around for them to have. I sure hope these bad puppy stories are not the norm for our doodles... I have only owned the one I have and she has been a dream but maybe I was lucky??

[Adina P]

Each pup is different. Most pups I think are mouthy and nippy with everyone, just as the way they deal with the world and then it tapers off around 4 months and they are fine. Then there are those rare exceptions like my Rosco. I chose him because he was supposedly the most mellow pup in the litter, most likely to have a therapy dog temperament. And HE IS an incredibly mellow dog and was a mellow pup...BUT...between mellow moments he'd turn into JAWS =) as a pup.

I don't think his behavior was typical AT ALL. But I was also a FIRST time dog owner and got easily frazzled by his behavior. I too started 'training' right away, each meal became a training lesson. So he learned how to sit on command, down, etc. He's not the smartest doodle, but he was smart enough to learn quickly. However, treats/praise-only wasn't adequate for him and once he matured a bit I switched to a more traditional style of training and that turned out to be fabulous for us! I wouldn't have started THAT earlier...but I would have stuck to it right away (because I restarted it 3 times when I had trouble since I was doing it on my own)

[Cathy]

Hi Adina,
Thanks for the scoop - that's very interesting about the regular type obedience training. When I was younger (alot) I trained a doberman the old fashioned way and he was so good. Is 4 months too young for that type of training?
I'm thinking it is....

The person on the doggie day care last night thinks Phoebe is very smart and will be a terrific dog once she gets past puppyhood! She certainly is a cutie!