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  1. #1
    Puppy SunnySideUp's Avatar
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    Angry At My WITS END with the BITING!!!!!!

    I'm probably going to get a lot of negative feedback for this ... but I'm to the point, I don't care, I need help.

    Lucy will be 5 months on Feb 10th.

    The biting has not stopped ... or even gotten softer or less frequent.

    If we're standing - she's biting our legs and feet. If we're sitting, she's biting at our hands and arms, with the odd lunge at the face.

    The "yelp" method does not work. At all. Yelping makes her go even more crazy and bite harder.

    She is getting AMPLE amounts of exercise (walks, energetic play time inside and out). Combined with plenty of sleep so she's not overtired.

    We've tried time-outs immediately when she bites. Time outs calm her down, but within a few minutes of being freed, she's back at the biting.

    I know someone's going to mention puppy classes - and bluntly, I don't have the money to pay for puppy classes. (I've done research into local classes, and they're all out of my budget). On top of that, I've been saving to pay for her getting fixed soon, so money is already allotted for.

    We've had labs before (three to be exact), and other dogs, and NONE of them have had this biting issue.

    Our vet told us to distract her with a toy when she starts biting - she could care less about the toy and keeps biting.

    PLEASE someone give me reassurance that this is normal and that it WILL stop. I love the little girl, but the entire family is going crazy and are beyond fed up and frustrated.

  2. #2
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    Have you reviewed the sticky at the top of this section? Puppy biting!

    I started it that sticky because Kimber used to make me cry. She was awful. If Lucy is nearing 5 months, she *should* be getting to the end. Kimber stopped right at 5 months; it's pretty rare to hear of a lab still biting by 6 months. If you are all being consistent in your behaviors with her when she bites, she WILL grow out of it.

    I can understand money being tight; do you know anyone else who has a puppy or young dog that's good with puppies? Puppies learn a lot more and faster from other dogs than they do us, and other dogs don't put up with biting (generally). Some play dates may move this along in the right direction. Also, you don't need professional classes to teach her basic obedience: sit, stand, down, walk nicely, greet nicely, etc. Mental stimulation is important for them and can wear them out.

    Try to remember (and remind your family) that it's MUCH harder to train a dog to NOT do something than to do something. Soon the biting will be over, and then you can work on fun things like NOT jumping and NOT pulling on leash.

    Hang in there!
    Stormageddon, Princess of Darkness, aka "Stormy"
    Birthday 9-13-18, Gotcha Day 11-11-18
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    Miss Kimber, CGC, 6/15/2005-1/27/2018 forever in our hearts



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  4. #3
    Best Friend Retriever silverfz's Avatar
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    How about some that worked real good with us . It was like less than 10 bucks .

    We got a bottle of lavender oil from a vitamin store like GNC . Put it on ur hands . Vicks works better on your ankles. I put a bunch on my kids ankles during ankle teething .

    I sense frustration in your post.i would recommend you try the above but also calm a bit and not get Angry.i would put a drop in Gigi mouth . It calms long term but short term snaps the brain out of the nipping behaviour.

    Gigi is a Labrador ,German Shepard Mix so double whammy for us on the teething side.

    Can you have play dates, I noticed a big change after a few play days that a older dog corrected her crazy zoombies.

    Find a local puppy social . We took Gigi to a whole bunch as it was free at PetSmart. I also found training places have them for less than 10 bucks once a week. Social interaction also cuts the bite process and effort.

    Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
    Last edited by silverfz; 02-01-2017 at 08:32 PM.

  5. #4
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    I have found the lip curl to be the most effective way to get the message across that biting in inappropriate and it hurts. Sophie was horrible, and it's what originally led me to this forum. The lip curl fixed things in about to days. Bruce wasn't too bad, by the second or third lip curl, he completely understood, and he was only 3 months old. Brooks was a bit of a hard head, and even at 9 months, he will get mouthy when he's tired and excited, which is always a bad combination in a Lab. I used the lip curl with him until he was about 5 months old, basically when his big boy teeth came in. It took a bit longer with him, but he is much higher drive than the other two. Now when he does it, I'll grab his cheek firmly, and tell him "no bite", and he's done.

    Labs are mouthy by nature, and what you're dealing with is pretty normal. Most of the time all the touchy-feely stuff works ok, but with some dogs you have to make a big correction or two to get the message across. I am in no way saying you should abuse your dog, but firmness and consistency are needed to get the results you need. And just to qualify, I've been told by a several very experienced trainers and handlers that I'm too soft on the dogs.

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  7. #5
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    yelping as they get older really makes things worse I agree. it seems to work best with the younger puppies. I would absolutely add more mental stimulation then try either the lip curl or if what you are doing works, crate them with something to chew, the action of chewing helps many dogs relax. actually maybe you can sorta schedule things so that he gets a forced break in his crate with a stuffed frozen kong or toy or something around the time he normally gets super nippy.

    So I would work on MENTAL exercise VS physical if indeed he is getting lots of physical exercise. and you can work in mental with the physical ESPECIALLY if you work on fetching. Start slow but get them to sit for a second before throwing. and then slowly increase. train to drop on command. baby steps but it helps make them use their BRAIN as well as their body.

    I would make him work for all meals. Either via training or interactive toys or kongs. many interactive stuff you can do on your own. One black kong isn't terribly expensive.

    Sounds like he needs to learn to chill (which comes after tiring the body and the mind).

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  9. #6
    Best Friend Retriever annkie's Avatar
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    So my method may not be the most "positive" but it was extremely effective. My chocolate lab was super duper stubborn. Super alpha. I don't remember when I did this, perhaps also around 5ish months maybe. So, dogs jaws are actually designed to bite down and not open up. Their strength is when they bite down. They have little strength to actually open their mouth. I put my fingers around his mouth LIGHTLY and said "no biting" until he stopped fighting. Then let go. I did this every time he tried to mouth my hands. It took a couple times until he got the "no biting" command. It doesn't hurt them. They're just not fans of not being able to open their mouth. You don't press their mouth closed. You just operate as a muzzle with your hand/fingers and say "no biting". That's it. That's how he stopped. And if he got overly exciting as he got older and was mouthy with a new person all I had to do was say "no biting" and he stopped immediately.

  10. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by annkie View Post
    So my method may not be the most "positive" but it was extremely effective. My chocolate lab was super duper stubborn. Super alpha. I don't remember when I did this, perhaps also around 5ish months maybe. So, dogs jaws are actually designed to bite down and not open up. Their strength is when they bite down. They have little strength to actually open their mouth. I put my fingers around his mouth LIGHTLY and said "no biting" until he stopped fighting. Then let go. I did this every time he tried to mouth my hands. It took a couple times until he got the "no biting" command. It doesn't hurt them. They're just not fans of not being able to open their mouth. You don't press their mouth closed. You just operate as a muzzle with your hand/fingers and say "no biting". That's it. That's how he stopped. And if he got overly exciting as he got older and was mouthy with a new person all I had to do was say "no biting" and he stopped immediately.
    This sounds like a very good suggestion for the OP, and a thorough explanation on how to use it.

  11. #8
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SunnySideUp View Post
    I'm probably going to get a lot of negative feedback for this ... but I'm to the point, I don't care, I need help.

    Lucy will be 5 months on Feb 10th.

    The biting has not stopped ... or even gotten softer or less frequent.

    If we're standing - she's biting our legs and feet. If we're sitting, she's biting at our hands and arms, with the odd lunge at the face.

    The "yelp" method does not work. At all. Yelping makes her go even more crazy and bite harder.

    She is getting AMPLE amounts of exercise (walks, energetic play time inside and out). Combined with plenty of sleep so she's not overtired.

    We've tried time-outs immediately when she bites. Time outs calm her down, but within a few minutes of being freed, she's back at the biting.

    I know someone's going to mention puppy classes - and bluntly, I don't have the money to pay for puppy classes. (I've done research into local classes, and they're all out of my budget). On top of that, I've been saving to pay for her getting fixed soon, so money is already allotted for.

    We've had labs before (three to be exact), and other dogs, and NONE of them have had this biting issue.

    Our vet told us to distract her with a toy when she starts biting - she could care less about the toy and keeps biting.

    PLEASE someone give me reassurance that this is normal and that it WILL stop. I love the little girl, but the entire family is going crazy and are beyond fed up and frustrated.
    Before you start lip curls, holding the dog's mouth shut, corrections, etc., ask yourself if the puppy's needs are being met. If the puppy's needs are not being met, start there. Tanya had a lot of good suggestions. Just because you cannot afford a class, does not mean you can't train and mentally stimulate your puppy. There are books and there are online classes. The online classes I attend cost $65 for six weeks of lectures and auditing of 12 working pairs trained by world-famous trainers. Lectures and practice is 3-6 days per week. There is a class right now called Baby Genius for puppies your dog's age. That is about $100 less expensive than in in person, once a week class, often held by a sub-par trainer in a strip mall. Unfortunately, because your puppy is now five months old and still exhibiting this behavior, this is your puppy's go to behavior when she is feeling a certain way. It will take longer to break no matter what avenue you end up going. That said, it's bound to go away on its own before the pup hits a year old.

    Personally, I would never use the lip curl or hold my dog's mouth shut. Not because it doesn't work (some dogs just get mad and come back harder, but it can work) but because I am not into punishment, pain or potentially causing my dog to distrust me. What I do is not "touchy feely" but the path of least resistance and something that trains the dog to do something different when he is over-aroused. I teach my dogs what I want them to do instead and for me, that was shoving a toy in their mouth and not reacting to biting. As soon as the pup was getting excited and before the teeth came out, I shove the toy in their mouth then party. I created value in the toy because he learned that biting did not get a reaction, but the toy in the mouth did. For many dogs, the party starts when the teeth touch the skin or the clothes and the person starts to scream or run. To this day every single one of my dogs has defaulted to toy in mouth when overly stimulated. When they know they are getting super excited, they actively look for a toy and come back with it. Consistency is key regardless of what you decide. I've never had any issues with my dogs or the couple dozen young and untrained Labs and Goldens I've fostered.

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  13. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Labradorks View Post
    Before you start lip curls, holding the dog's mouth shut, corrections, etc., ask yourself if the puppy's needs are being met. If the puppy's needs are not being met, start there. Tanya had a lot of good suggestions. Just because you cannot afford a class, does not mean you can't train and mentally stimulate your puppy. There are books and there are online classes. The online classes I attend cost $65 for six weeks of lectures and auditing of 12 working pairs trained by world-famous trainers. Lectures and practice is 3-6 days per week. There is a class right now called Baby Genius for puppies your dog's age. That is about $100 less expensive than in in person, once a week class, often held by a sub-par trainer in a strip mall. Unfortunately, because your puppy is now five months old and still exhibiting this behavior, this is your puppy's go to behavior when she is feeling a certain way. It will take longer to break no matter what avenue you end up going. That said, it's bound to go away on its own before the pup hits a year old.

    Personally, I would never use the lip curl or hold my dog's mouth shut. Not because it doesn't work (some dogs just get mad and come back harder, but it can work) but because I am not into punishment, pain or potentially causing my dog to distrust me. What I do is not "touchy feely" but the path of least resistance and something that trains the dog to do something different when he is over-aroused. I teach my dogs what I want them to do instead and for me, that was shoving a toy in their mouth and not reacting to biting. As soon as the pup was getting excited and before the teeth came out, I shove the toy in their mouth then party. I created value in the toy because he learned that biting did not get a reaction, but the toy in the mouth did. For many dogs, the party starts when the teeth touch the skin or the clothes and the person starts to scream or run. To this day every single one of my dogs has defaulted to toy in mouth when overly stimulated. When they know they are getting super excited, they actively look for a toy and come back with it. Consistency is key regardless of what you decide. I've never had any issues with my dogs or the couple dozen young and untrained Labs and Goldens I've fostered.
    Did you even read the OP post? "at wits end", before getting into this positive stuff? everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I'm not going to reward a dog for biting me!

  14. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bernie View Post
    Did you even read the OP post? "at wits end", before getting into this positive stuff? everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I'm not going to reward a dog for biting me!
    Very true. Can't treat your dog like we treat kids these days. Look how well that's turning out for us.....

    Sent from Planned Parenthood

 



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