Doodle Puppy biting getting worse. (I think he is part alligator !!)

[Karen P]

My Chewie (16 weeks on 12/30) seemed to be doing so much better, but has started getting extremely mouthy again. He has also started to mount my leg which he has not done in several weeks. He has all ready been neutered. He had to be neutered before we picked him up from the breeder. He is now barking and growling at me when he I try to stop this. I am getting so upset which I know just aggravates the situation. My husband thought that he read that letting your doodle lick your hands/face is a sign of submission. Is this true? Because I like to encourage licking
( kisses ) because it is a LOT nicer than being bit. But I don't want to send out the wrong message. Any advice would be GREATLY appreaciated.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Licking you can be a sign of dominance in dogs; alpha wolves and dogs "groom" their subordinates by licking them.
But I doubt that's what's causing the biting & mounting behaviors.
I haven't had a puppy for almost 20 years, and one of my reasons for adopting an adult dog was to avoid these puppy behaviors, lol. So I have no advice. But the "Puppy Madness" group has lots of good advice for you. I'm sure you'll get lots of other helpful responses as well.
Good luck, and remember: this too shall pass!

[Karen P]

Thanks for your input. I will check out the Puppy Madness (we will fit right in) !!!

[Karen P]

Thanks for the information. I hate to discourage the licking because it seems so sweet. It does seem like he is doing the mounting out of frustration. We have been trying the leash around the house and it does help to get him off, but then he is right back at me. I need to try and use the timeouts more often. I am hoping that will make a difference. Chewie has had one complete session of puppy obedience training and he did well. We are going to start a second session after the first of the year. Thanks for the information on the teething. I was hoping that the puppy teeth will be gone soon and that will control some of the mouthiness. Who is the cutie in your photo?

[Adina P]

Even though he seemed to be improving...he's still VERY young and still at that age that nipping is common. I tell this story all the time but my Rosco was 'JAWS incarnate" for his first year. Seriously he was awful. He left bruises and broke skin (just barely) more than once and left me feeling like a complete fool on many occasions. What brought us out of this mess was a serious commitment to obedience training with the goal of excellent obedience off and on leash...we stuck to that goal through getting his Canine Good Citizen certificate and then even passed the time he got his Therapy Dog certification. We never did accomplish total off leash obedience (as in I wouldn't trust him under ALL circumstances) but the time and effort we put into obedience paid off in huge dividends and I ended up with a wonderful, good, sweetie pie dog that I can take almost anywhere!
Start obedience if you have not...and go through all the classes (as far into "advanced") as is offered. You will NOT regret it!

As far as licking/kisses I don't think it would have made a whit of difference in Rosco. He is NOT a licky kind of dog at all. I can have a mouth full of food and breathe on him 1/2 an inch away from his face and he will not try to lick me! If he's just a little rough with his mouth (i.e. takes things out of your hand with too much teeth involved or doesn't know how to be careful near you) then encouraging a 'soft mouth' and kisses I think works great.... But what he's doing is a playful attack when he nips/bites...he's not being accidentally rough...he's purposely trying to bite in fun...so he needs something different than just encouragement to be soft.

[Karen P]

Thank you for the great information. It helps to not take it (too) personally when my sweet puppy wants to bite me on purpose that I am not alone !! I am definitely going to keep up with the obedience training. The dog trainer that I am taking Chewie to is going to be doing training for the Canine Good Citizen certificate this spring. That is going to be one of our goals. I am also thinking about some agility training when he is a little older. The training does seem to help quite a bit. But it seems like we take 1 step forward and 5 back sometimes and it gets a little discouraging !!

[Paula]

Or maybe he's just living up to his name...Chewie! ;-D

[Karen P]

Yeah, that's what I am afraid of !! (ha ha)

[shelly]

We had this problem with Tori too. She actually bit me, bit me one day! She had "stolen" something.. can't even remember what it was by now.. she ran under my son's bed with it. As I reached under to try and get it she bit me - HARD! Even cut my hand. It took every bit of restraint in my body not to beat the S#$@ out of her or open the door and let her out! I was soooo hurt - mentally. I just think they are just like kids... they test the limits to see exactly how far they can go. Of course (knock wood) she has NEVER done that since. She KNEW she was bad (heck I told her enough times that night. I wouldn't even look at her - and she KNEW I meant business). Guess that's what it took for BOTH of us to realize just who was boss! Hang in there... Chewie will improve. Tori is soooo wonderful now!!!

[Karen P]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I will hang in there !!! Who knew that training a puppy would be harder than raising a son !!! My 7 yr old was much easier than this "little" puppy.

[shelly]

AGREED!!! I have two boys - 12 and 16! The dog beats them - hands down!!!

[Leslie J]

I often keep Cocoa (5 months) tethered to a sofa or table. I have three boys and she sometimes jumps up and nips them. By tethering her, they can walk away when she isn't being nice. Her teeth are falling out like crazy now and I think that is also part of the mouthy behavior.

[Karen P]

I will try tethering Chewie to something. I think that sounds like a great option. That way he will learn that if he is not nice then he is left out of the fun !! Thanks