puppy biting, bleeding wounds HELP!
Our 14-month-old English female chocolate lab bites ALL the time. We got her at 8 weeks. She goes to school almost all day every day with the trainers because I WANT THEM TO WORK ON THE BITING, and it is a potty-training program (so that too, of course). At home, she tries to bite me even though I do play bite hold like the trainers taught me.
She runs and jumps at the kids and catches their skin and has caused deep bleeding wounds. And the kids stay on the couch. They are afraid of her. I have started placing them on the table to protect them during her play.
Soon she will start the more serious obedience training (a 12 day full-day program). The biting she doesn't do so much at school because there are no kids for one, and also there are other puppies. She does not find biting the trainers so interesting since she is busy playing. She bites the other puppies with her play (as dogs do) but really gets into it...so when I go to the preschool family time I see the trainer holds her leash. Many of the other dogs don't need to have this done. They are not really such biters.
I thought this was a great family pet? She only gets a few supervised times around the house per day (if I am sure she has peed or pooed already outside) and I feel bad she spends most of her time in a gated octagon gate (but really many her age are in crates all day; she is only in the crate at night). She gets lots of outside time on a stake with room to roam (but even though we have a fence she would maul the kids so she is on the stake, and the kids play in the yard but she cannot bite them this way. There are 7 kids ages 2 to 11 and now I wonder if what we got ourselves into...if the kids will ever be safe. She really bit the 11-year-old hard today. Lots of blood. It's all in play, but...
Does anyone else have this problem? How come the breeder was so patient with me and taught me a TON about dogs (this is my first) and did not even MENTION biting? How long does this last? We are already spending hundreds on school. What else should we do???? Or is this normal?