Another puppy turned into monster

[Alli and Barkley]

HELP!  I know this has been posted 17 million times but I need to vent too lol

 

Barkley (14.5 weeks) is in training, has been for six weeks now- he has been great at leash walking, sit/down/working on stay, etc.

 

However- he has gone from barely nipping at all last week to becoming a vampire times 500 this week.  Kids can't walk past him without him taking a bite of their juicy little limbs.  Barkley never tried to nip at DH, and thats all out the window this week-

 

He stopped biting me, biting the table, etc and now?  He is a nippy biting machine. 

 

We have tried all suggestions from our trainer (will see her again tonight) to no avail this past week. Have already tried yelping, spray bottle, holding down muzzle, he is constantly on a leash, etc.  Now what?  I can try to turn him on his side till he is calm boy jeez oh man it will take up my whole day lol

 

Also- when people come over he goes absolutely bonkers- I am at wits end.  Not so much jumping but barking, and now the new nippy vampire bites my guests.

 

I still love him like crazy though 

[Jennifer & Kai]

Have you tried stuffing a bone for him to get some of his chewing frustration taken care of...???? sounds like he is teething.  Does he get any exercise? 

I was walking mine at that age and it seemed to help...also giving him a chew bone stuffed with treats..to help distract and tire him out..When people come over put a leash on him and have him sit...if he barks then walk away with him and the return. Keep doing it till he stops...have your friends stay in one spot until he agrees to greet them nicely...have him sit and give him a treat when he does stop barking.  It is great social skills..have to be on task while they are learning and beyond.  Good Luck..

[Eva and Fenway]

Oh wonderful.. I can hardly wait. Look for me here in six weeks when Fen enters that phase. She's 9 weeks now, like Barkley was I guess, and she does sit/down/paw/high five/speak/quiet like a pro with only hand signals. Stay is a work in progress as far as duration. She even watches me for cues when we go for walks which was our first puppy class lesson. 

 

I guess this is normal. I'll just enjoy my six weeks of peace while they last. :)

 

As far as advice.. I wonder if it's energy-related? I noticed that when I added an additional play/training session Fen got much easier although she entirely destroys her pen in between my visits home. Maybe at Barkley's age his energy level has taken yet another step up the requirement rungs? I also second the teething advice. I ordered some bully sticks (the Moo kind, thanks to DK) for when she's able to have them to help with this.

[Pat and Traveler]

I do recall that Trav went through stages.  I was shocked when after a time of being a well-behaved pup, he suddenly started jumping up on me during walks, biting at my arms and hands when we came back into the yard--and/or simply stopping and refusing to come into the yard at all.  I was sooo frustrated--thinking this behavior was my REAL dog!  Turns out it was a stage--I think he was older when this happened, but maybe Barkley is just hitting one of the normal stages.  Trav also suddenly started grabbing things and running with them--nothing was safe on the coffee table or floor--he'd steal it and run outside if the door was open, and we had to chase him if it was something we didn't want to see destroyed.  Of course, chasing just added fun to the game for him.  What has always worked best for him is to just ignore him.  Walk away silently and close the door, leaving him alone.  Hope things get better for you--sounds really frustrating. 

[Adam, Emily and Butters]

I do not recommend the turning him on his side and waiting til he is calm.  I have seen this turn ino a disaster.  I honestly believe that the yelping is the best way to go.  But you HAVE to do an ear piercing yelp AND you have to get up and walk away or turn your back.  otherwise, it's still a game.  BE CONSISTANT and be patient. 

[Lynda Kamrath]

You are definitely right - we have all been through this.  My pup had his nippy stage and he preferred my DH.  Whenever he was greeting him, he would take a nip from his hand or arm.  He did not nip me because I would grab his mouth and just push my thumb down under his tongue.  He did not like that at all, and stopped biting me.  He frequently jumps on anyone who allows it, but not on me.  If someone talks with a high voice, he thinks that means "You want me to jump on you."  The best thing I have found is to instruct any visitors to ignore him or push him away with their leg.  That seems to work, but I think it really is a normal stage.  It does get better.  Let us all know if you come up with something that works for you.

[Jess and Pippin]

Been there!  Giving Pippin something to chew, kongs, orbees with treats, bully sticks (did we go thru bully sticks!), extra exercise etc.  Time out also worked well.  When Pippin nipped, first response was to remove hands and attention (walk away, turn your back etc) and wait until he sat.  (everything good happens for Pippin when he sits.  Attention, leashing for walks, treats, supper, play, fetch.  Everything.)  Once he was sitting, play time started again.  When he was in a particularly determined to nip at all costs mood, we told him "time out" and he was immediately (gently and firmly) placed in his crate.  He was released when quiet (usually took a couple a minutes).  As soon as he went back to nipping, another time out.  We had 1 or 2 days of constant time out, release when quiet and well behaved, back to nipping, time out etc etc.  He learned really quickly that nipping halted all fun!  His crate was always where we were (eg kitchen, family room etc), so he wasn't completely isolated.  It was a tiring process for all of us, but worked so well.  The other thing we noticed for Pippin was that increased nipping was often associated with needing a nap (many the time we put him into time out, checked after a couple of minutes and he was fast asleep!), or needed to go outside for business (he still doesn't have 1 consistent sign for this :)  We were in the midst of puppy class at this stage (16 weeks or so) and were reminded by our trainer that this is normal and to expect a week or so of "off" behaviour from time to time.  Totally normal, be consistent, laugh lots, don't panic, and things will settle down again.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

I've noticed that too about the increased nippyness... We could always tell when Luna was tired because she couldn't control her mouthiness.  We waited till a break in the craziness and put her straight in her crate for a nap.