Puppy attacks me during walks- help!

[Puppy Madness]

Ernest is almost 4 months old, and generally does well walking on a leash.  However, it seems once every couple days we will be walking along as usual and he just starts attacking me for no reason.  He is getting bigger and taller now so it's getting harder to deal with.  He has ruined countless T-shirts, and tonight my arm/hand is the sorest it's ever been from his bites (his jaws are getting stronger!).  When this happens, it seems there is nothing I can do.  I firmly say "no" and stop walking until he calms down.  Tonight, I swear we were standing in the same spot for over 10 minutes while he attacked and would not calm down.  I seriously almost cried, due to embarrassment, and the fact that his bites REALLY hurt.  Does anyone else have to deal with this or have any advice??? 

[Kristin and Sophie]

Sophie used to do this to me as well, and then suddenly she stopped!  I have holes in my sweatpants from her jumping up on my leg and biting me.  I'd get so angry.  She would be so good and then suddenly jump up and I couldn't get her to stop.  And, then one day I noticed 'she's not jumping on me anymore'.  Fortunately or unfortunately, I have found a lot of her behaviors to just improve through age.  Hopefully, Ernest will not do this much longer.  Sophie is almost 5 months old, so she's not too far ahead of him - but has really improved in the last few weeks.  :)

[Kimberly Cook]

I feel your pain..literally. Chopper did the same thing. I would carry a big stick for him to bite on instead of me. He is 6 months old now and much better about not biting during walks. I also use an Easy Walk harness that helped immensely with controlling him.

[Sharae & Winston]

Yep, dealt with this exact same thing but at closer to 6 or 7 months when he was bigger and was leaving bruises all over my arms! You need to get yourself a GENTLE LEADER, it will help immensely. Just make sure it's fitted right. We also would just stop and direct him into a sit and stand there until we felt like he had calmed down before we started walking again. On the crazier ones where he just wouldn't listen our trainer instructed us to just stand on the leash so he can't jump, and do that til he calms down. It's a tough situation just hang in there and be consistent.

[Kimberly Cook]

Haha our trainer told me to do the same thing with the leash. Just make sure you are well balanced when you stand on the leash. Chopper put me on my fanny one day. Good thing we were on our lawn.

[Cathy, Fozzie & Shaggy]

I was reading about the developmental stages of puppies and saw that the author, Brenda Aloft, describes puppies between 13-16 weeks as the "Age of Cutting...puppies are cutting teeth & becoming more independent....(this is the time) when the more serious "temper tantrums" begin to rear their ugly heads.". She strongly recommends puppy obedience/ socialization classeS (more than one). She also recommends working on building impulse control, and using back always. Both of these activities have helped Shaggy have more respect for me and the leash. Brenda Aloft does a fantastic job describing the problem behaviors from biting to potty training to noise phobias to puppies with childten, etc. then gives strategies to change the behavior. The name of the book is PUPPY PROBLEMS? NO PROBLEM!

[Sandra]

I will go look for the book  we started class last week  he did start this behavior at 13weeks ironically enough.

[Cathy, Fozzie & Shaggy]

It is a fantastic book IMO.
http://brendaaloff.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/puppyproblems.jpg

[Lindsay n Archie]

My pup does the same thing. hes getting big and it hurts pretty bad when he does it. The trainer also told us to make him sit and praise all positive behavior. When he is being good on walks or anything he is calm. he does better with the pinch collar .

[Vivian & Mojo]

My puppy Mojo was a jumping and biting alligator when walking as well as in the house. He tore my clothing to shreds and bit me making me bleed. I had a private trainer assist me and she brought over a easy walker harness and bag of chunks of cooked chicken and got him into training mode by making the walk a training session. It helped a lot but he still at times would get out of control as well as in the house. I found by staying calm in his out bursts it helped to calm him down but even with all of that he still would have times when he jumped and bit, when he was so crazy it was hard to do anything including stepping on the leash. A friend recommended Pet Corrector, it is a canister that sprays air making a hissing sound and safe with no chemicals and very inexpensive. One can for $10 lasted me through the rough jumping and biting period. After a while I just had to take out of my pocket and he calmed down. Mojo stopped all the biting by six months and is now 15 months and a mostly well behaved dog. I was so sad during the wild nipping time and often cried out of frustration so hang in there  and good luck with Ernest.

http://www.amazon.com/Company-Animals-Pet-Corrector-Spray/dp/B005H0...

[Kathryn digregorio]

OMG I thought I was the only one. Breezy would attack me not on regular basis, it was awful, town clothes, cut hands etc. I would get her down and hold her down until she calmed down. This only worked once in a while, also try standing on her leash to give her no room. But hang in it does end. Breezy is 9 months and it is better after 6 months. I actually would wrap my hands in elastic bandages to not get bitten.

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

Are these real bites or nips?  Puppy nipping can hurt but not a cause for alarm.  On the contrary, it is a good thing because that is how dogs learn bite inhibition and how to have a soft mouth.  It means he is less likely to hurt people or objects later on.  If you are talking about actual attacks or biting (meaning, agression), it is a problem that needs to be addressed.  Often these are not so much a matter of any particular training technique but involve issues like fear, energy, dominance/submission, pack structure, etc.  I can't tell you exactly or prescribe a recommended course of action without seeing it in person.  But if that is what is going on, I think you should get someone involved who has experience with these things.  Once that early windows closes, it will be more difficult to correct early socialization problems.

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

That sounds best.  That would be a separate issue from the puppy classes.  Puppy classes provide a bit of early socialization with other dogs and people and a fun introduction to obedience training.  Psychological development is something related but different.  Please keep in mind that time is of the essence.  You are just about at the end of your puppy's first fear period, when a lot of behavioral patterns get set for life.  Not that dogs can't be rehabilitated, because they can - but that is much harder than addressing the issue while they are young.