Wild puppy

[Debbie & Gibbs]

Need some advice.  Gibbs just turned 3 months old on the December 9th.  Very sweet little doggie, but he has entered into a new phase where he is constantly jumping on you and biting at your robe, the belt from your robe, your coat, just anything that kinda flows.  I feel like all I am saying is "no" drop it, no Gibbs, turning my back on him is not working.  I must not be doing something right as he continues this behavior.  Last night he was so wired that I just had to have a time out and he went to the x-pen.  What do I need to do differently, to get across that jumping and biting on clothes is not acceptable behavior.  I will pick up a toy or throw a ball to try and divert his attention to something positive.  Suggestions welcome..

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

Kona had such a thing for fleece, and every time I turned my back he bit my calves.  I've tried quite a few things and both the ignoring tree and the growling like a disapproving mama dog work the best.  "No" and the hand on the neck do not work on him.  He thinks it's attention and that's what he wants.  So the disapproving growling mom and the completely ignoring mom worked the best.  But I have to be honest....it was a rough 5 months of that wild coyote puppy stuff!  I was soooo tired!  And for 5 weeks of his first 8 weeks with me, I was very sick with flu, strep, cold, sinus infections, etc, so I was pooped!  The biggest improvement in his puppy behavior was when I adopted another puppy!  Instead of doubling the trouble, I finally could get a lot done while they were wrestling and snuggling!  (That happened when both were about 10 months old)

[Deb's Yarrow and Schatzi]

I totally understand what you are experiencing. Yarrow turned 3 months on December 10th.  I have noticed that certain articles of clothing (two sweaters in particular) entice her to sink her teeth in for a game of tug-of-war.  If I say NO, she gets more riled up.  I've decided to stop wearing those two sweaters for a week or so and see what happens. 

On the good side, she let me clip her nails this evening!  I thought that was a nice, big positive!  She was trying to bite the nail clippers the whole time, but she didn't try to pull her paws away.