Puppy biting.....I just have to vent! (want to scream, could almost cry...hate this part)

[Jodie]

I have been so completely frustrated with the biting that Dex is doing. I thought about waiting another month before complaining again. However, I also know that I'm not alone in my frustrations and (at some point) it may be helpful to look back at this time and see some improvements. I have confidence that things will get better--I'm not sure it can get worse!

Dexter has acted more aggressive lately. In the week since his training, we have been practicing "ignoring" the bad biting behavior. He has become more persistent and has drawn blood on my hands as well as a few holes in my pants and a couple of shirt sleeves of my daughter. The bloody/scabbed knicks are still appearing on our other dog and I do my best to try to separate/distract them. Unfortunately for my older dog, he is not conditioned to bite back. He appears to open his mouth and growls, but he will not inflict any type of harm on this puppy or people. We've done the "be a tree" thing and have the butt bruises (from biting) to prove it. I keep thinking maybe we overlooked something there. ha!

WE still love Dex and we continue to try to have patience. But secretly, I just can't stand this puppy stage. I am not a "puppy person". I realize it's all part of raising a dog and I can thankfully say that I'm relieved puppy years don't last as long as toddler years in humans. I'm really praying that the weather gets better so we can be outside more. If I could tire him out more, he would have less indoor energy to misbehave.

Anyway, that's my update. We go back to training on Tuesday night and I'm already excited to see what we work on next. One thing I would like to mention.....I did take my 13 year old daughter with me to the training. It has really helped to build a bond between her and Dex. She feels involved with his training and I can see that she's having more patience with him during these difficult puppy challenges we face. Typically, she would put him in his kennel. I'm happy to report, he spent the day OUT of the kennel with all of us. ACCIDENT FREE!!!! No accidents in the house!! YEAH!!!

[Dennis Castiglione]

Our Nico targets my 7 year old when it comes to nipping and biting. He is definitely establishing his dominance (humping included) with my son. Of course, my son does some teasing and then tries to walk away just about the time Nico thinks it's time to play - and the mouthing and nipping can often tear shirts, catch flesh and scare my son. Frankly I don't blame Nico because i know it's both a puppy phase as well as someting that my son brings on himself. But it's no less disconcerting. Hang in there. I know we are too!

[Mommy2Max]

I feel your pain - literally!

I have broken down and cried on several occasions.

We tried everything or at least it seemed so. Ignoring seemed to do nothing. He would just follow you and nip at your feet and clothing. Bitter yuck worked for a moment but, I'm pretty sure I suffered through it more than Max. Crating him worked while he was crated (obviously) but, he continued while out. Positive reinforcement...you name it nothing seemed to work with exception to one thing.....

Coins in a cola can! His nipping/mouthing has decreased greatly. I just show him the can now and he stops for the most part. He is now 16 weeks old and he is not on the sofa with us nearly as much so, that alone has helped. If he wants my attention he still tends to nip at the feet but, it is MUCH better.

Max is a persistant little one. He is a mini so maybe it's Napoleon complex?!

~Danielle

[Jodie]

I like the idea of trying lemon juice. Can you please explain a little more about HOW you used this? Did you just buy the little lemon and put some on your fingers? Or do you squirt it into his mouth when he's biting? What if Dex is biting my daughter? Do I tell him no bite and then force him to taste some of the lemon juice? I'm not sure how to go about trying this....but if it would freak him out enough to keep his mouth shut, it would be WONDERFUL!! He's been in his kennel most of the day today. I feel like he's been more aggressive today then yesterday. Maybe my daycare kids irritate him. For some reason, he just can't be normal around the kids!! Grrrrrrrhhhhh..........

[Penny, Comiskey & Beemer]

We had this problem with Comiskey...(she is now 16 months old) we struggled and tried everything...nothing worked until I tried lemon juice....in those little lemon shaped squeeze bottles.....magic....where bittle apple didn't phase her....the lemon did....only had to do it twice...then the threat of that yellow lemon shaped bottle stopped her in her tracks....so along comes Beemer.....from the very start we used the lemon and only had to use it once....now if you show him the lemon he backs up so fast that you think he's little butt is on fire!.....I hated everything I was told to do with Comiskey....and frankly I would have given her to any one that made an offer....."this to will pass" didn't cut it with me.....we were lucky to get it under control....and love her so much that we went back and got another pup (when I said I would never have another puppy!)...never say never....good luck.....

[Jodie]

Our trainer IS planning to bring her dog tonight. In fact, I think she said she was bringing 2 of them. She said that one of the dogs is very passive, but she commands the leadership role around other dogs. I'm not sure if that's for our benefit (ha, ha) or what. But yes, she is going to bring her dogs. I am going to let them chew on my Dexter this time. I was not thrilled with the idea because I was afraid that it would teach Dex to bite more. However, maybe it will teach him to understand boundaries. I don't know.

And I do agree with you, Dex is probably tired and should go to bed for the night. I think my kids were trying to spend time with him since they don't get that during the day. They were just trying a "time out" with him in hopes that it would help and they could go back to playing with Dex. However, it just may be that he's ready for bed earlier then we originally thought. But yes, he will just have to go to sleep when he gets like that. It's a new day, I can hardly wait to see what he is going to teach me today!! ha!

[Jodie]

Last night, I was not home. However, my older teenagers were here to spend time with Dex. They said that he was good until later on in the night. At that point, he became more aggressive and was biting quite a bit. They kept trying to work with him and redirect his attention to "acceptable" things to chew on. However, my daughter said that he acted like he almost "freaked out" on her. She said that he started almost attacking her head when he was sitting with her. She said he started out biting and she told him no and reached to grab his chew toy. He bit at her again and she screamed, "Ouch". This seemed to make him attack more and he bit her on the back of the head twice before my oldest grabbed him away from her and scolded him. He put him in the kennel. After about 30 min, they let him out to go to the bathroom. He went outside and did his job, then came back in and snuck into a back bedroom and had a HUGE pee accident on my youngest child's bedroom floor. I don't understand that because he's done so well with house training. I suppose he was upset or something.

I have a tendency to agree with one of the comments here, I think it's possible that he gets overly tired and can't calm himself down. It seems like he does get into that behavior of not being able to control himself. I think he could be getting more aggressive when he's lacking sleep. After all, he's still a puppy and there is always a lot going on here.

He is still trying to play with my older dog. I have allowed them to interact again yesterday because I wanted to see if my dog would cry or let him know that he's had enough. He will growl or bark at Dex, but it doesn't seem to phase Dexter. In fact, Daunte did let out a yelp and Dex backed off for only a minute and was back at him again. My older dog was standing under my stool and Dex was still barking and trying to get him to play. I noticed a couple more scabbed over blood spots on my older dogs neck again. I know that this is new and from their recent contact. My dog only yelped once, but the biting was strong enough that it is breaking the skin.

I feel like I need to contain Dex for about another month to see if the biting becomes less. I also feel that I'm losing precious training time by doing this.

I feel like Dex sounds like a monster. Truthfully, he can be very cuddly and sweet. When I carry him, he hugs me and seems to love my attention. I can tell that he's looking to me to play with him and provide for him. He wants ME to walk him, ME to let him outside, and he comes to me for his treats (even if someone else is working with him). I'm not sure if this is a good thing (he see's me as a leader) or a bad thing (he think's he's my leader and trying to protect me).

I'm going to try to get to our training class early tonight. The instructor said we could come up to 1/2 hr early and she would be there to help us and answer questions. So, I'm going to try to do that. Maybe it will give Dex a chance to warm up and his true colors will come out while we are at class. He's so bossy, and he's usually quiet at first around new people.

[fergie11]

I agree with Ann B. on this. I've seen this work with other dogs. It might feel silly but try it.

[Adina P]

He's NOT gonna be a forever biter...even if he seems like a little monster now. I am willing to BET you that within a few weeks it will gradually diminish to a point where you say to your hubby "Hey...I haven't been bitten in days...have you?" And he too will realize that those sharp teeth have not scratched his skin in days too! I KNOW it SEEMS like yours is worse than other puppies could possibly have been...he's not. At least from your description it doesn't seem like it. It IS AWFUL...but 90% chance it will NOT last THIS bad for more than a month more. And will get less over the month.

I wouldn't attempt loose leash walking for more than 1 block... it needs to be a VERY focused exercise if you want him to fully understand where he is to walk in relation to you and it needs to be kept VERY short of a training exercise (5 min max...working up to 10 min until he's a bit older). You can repeat a few times during the day...but don't expect him to retain it or keep it up for more than 1 block...back and forth down that block until your 5 min is up.

[GBK]

I had a nipper that drew blood too, and he was my first puppy ever, I thought I had a monster on my hands!

I used the crate as time out, but if I had to do it again I would put a small hook in the corner of the hall or living room and time him out there on leash. They can actually see all the activity going around, and they are not included if they are nippy. Sometimes mine would bite me coming out of his time out, I turned him around and back into time out he went again for a few minutes. He learned very fast as he did not want to be left out of all the action!

[The Berry Oaks Doodle Ranch]

Jodie, I can most diffidently feel what you are going thru. Guinness at 5months started this 2months ago and we know we have a long way to go.My husband is better with him than I, Guinness is very smart he scares us somethimes just watching all that he can do. He took to potty training very quickly,and many commands that is opposed on him. I'm most diffidently not the ( Alpha) at this stage of the game.But,he comes to me when not feeling well or hurt.Wendy, I like this idea with the spray bottles.