New puppy and constant biting

[CraftHer]

Here's a post on puppy biting.

Puppy biting!

With Mocha, we did everything - lip curl, OUCH, toys distraction, crate, ignore. Whatever the moment called for. It seemed like nothing was working, but we kept being persistent and consistent (thanks to the advice on this site). And I stopped getting eye level with Mocha. Then, one day when Mocha was about 4 - 4/12 months old I realized he was biting much less. So, it may seem like nothing is working, but it will eventually.

Mocha thought the snout grab was playing, so that totally didn't work for him.

[teej89]

Just saw the sticky on here for biting, thanks for the heads up guys! That'll give me a better insight. Also I notice he doesn't bite or play rough when we hang out outside or while training outside. It's when he comes inside he goes bananas. Tonight I'm going to spend a lot of time w/ him outside after our brief Hillmann training session and see how that does.

It's funny that overtired was in there because a friend of mine laughed at me when I said he gets more nippy and rowdy when he's tired. It's so true though! When he's tired he bites more but then I crate him and he's asleep in a couple minutes.

[TuMicks]

Yes, I agree, this puppy behavior usually goes away on it's own and it's not anything to freak out about. It usually happens to me when I'm down on the floor with a young dog working on hallway retrieve, or other games. Obviously, as they get bigger, (and I get older!) I'm on the floor less. But dang it! Those little fangs hurt! I just put my hand over the snout (palm on top, fingers and thumb down... if that makes sense) and I barely close my fingers. It's the sudden disapproval that I'm trying to communicate as well as getting his little fangs off my fragile old-lady skin. So it's the sudden removal of his mouth from my skin, a brief, light hold... as long as it takes to say "NO!" and then I let go, and try to present something for him/her to retrieve.

Perhaps it's more self-defense than legitimate training. But it usually saves wear and tear on me and has not damaged my pups in any way. You have to really work at putting a well-bred field lab off retrieving to hand. Usually, they're in a hurry for you to take the bird so they can get the next one. They're so fun to watch.

[teej89]

They're so fun to watch.

They sure are! He's a gem when we're training, the drive he has for retrieving is unbelievable.

[kimbersmom]

At the top of this forum is a sticky that says Puppy Biting! started by yours truly. Read it. Lots of great advice (not just by me, really).

[CaraDeo]

With Mousse, I'd say he was fairly "worse" than any pup I've had about biting at first. Though not as bad as I've heard some people say their pup was. He never drew blood, just liked to attempt to bite.

When he did, I would just say "ow, no bite" and then ignore him. We also have been teaching him a "kiss" command which is what he'll normally greet us with now. He still has his moments, but for a 19 wk puppy he's a fairly fast learner.