My furry baby has a bite worse than his bark

[VizMum]

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Hi doggie1

If only our furry friends could talk!

Good luck with the training, even if the results are coming on slowly it is still a step in the right direction. Keep us updated x

 

[Mayblossom]

Hope you have a good day with your little bundle of joy let us know how you get on, bandages at the ready and don’t forget the Baileys! That’s for you and not the puppy ...

 

[doggie1]

Hi doggie1

If only our furry friends could talk!

Good luck with the training, even if the results are coming on slowly it is still a step in the right direction. Keep us updated x

Thanks. I make little remarks about him all the time. One day, I hope, I'll have a eureka moment, then you'll lall know about it! Now it's time for the dreaded walk and I am a bit later leaving because of the frost, more dogs about.

 

[Maggie Mul]

Vizmum, it does get better, I promise. We were in exactly the same position as you with our puppy who is now nearly 6 months old. I was often in tears and so were my children. My husband and I had moments of wondering if it was going to work out with our puppy and if we had made a mistake in getting her. We tried numerous methods, but in the end distracting her with a toy, timeouts and food worked for us - not all in that order of course!!
The first thing we did was to distract her with a toy. As soon as she redirected to that, we gave lots of praise and a treat. Admittedly, she would come straight back to us and start all over again. It was painful and exhausting. After 3 times of doing this, we would put her in time out, meaning, we would leave for 10-20 seconds and come back in when she was calm. She would come and start straight away again and we would do the same, distracting with a toy, praise and treat which would lead to her wanting to play rather than bite us!! Over time, she seemed to get the idea it was better to chew the toy than us.....but it did take time. We also scheduled in lots of short training sessions and focused on those when she was particularly bitey. We also gave her lots of frozen kongs and chews to help her teething. Once her baby teeth began to fall out and her adult ones came in, it improved a lot. She still bites us, but we can now say 'Where's your toy?' or "Fetch your toy' and she will go off and find that to bring and play. I can completely understand how you feel but am afraid it's just patience and time!! The IYC game is brilliant as well, we still play that now! Good Luck and hope things improve soon!

 

[doggie1]

Vizmum, it does get better, I promise. We were in exactly the same position as you with our puppy who is now nearly 6 months old. I was often in tears and so were my children. My husband and I had moments of wondering if it was going to work out with our puppy and if we had made a mistake in getting her. We tried numerous methods, but in the end distracting her with a toy, timeouts and food worked for us - not all in that order of course!!
The first thing we did was to distract her with a toy. As soon as she redirected to that, we gave lots of praise and a treat. Admittedly, she would come straight back to us and start all over again. It was painful and exhausting. After 3 times of doing this, we would put her in time out, meaning, we would leave for 10-20 seconds and come back in when she was calm. She would come and start straight away again and we would do the same, distracting with a toy, praise and treat which would lead to her wanting to play rather than bite us!! Over time, she seemed to get the idea it was better to chew the toy than us.....but it did take time. We also scheduled in lots of short training sessions and focused on those when she was particularly bitey. We also gave her lots of frozen kongs and chews to help her teething. Once her baby teeth began to fall out and her adult ones came in, it improved a lot. She still bites us, but we can now say 'Where's your toy?' or "Fetch your toy' and she will go off and find that to bring and play. I can completely understand how you feel but am afraid it's just patience and time!! The IYC game is brilliant as well, we still play that now! Good Luck and hope things improve soon!

Gosh, that sounds horrendous! Glad things got better.

 

[FrankieDoodle]

Wouldn't it be so much easier if puppies came with a button that you could press to turn them into perfectly, well adjusted adult dogs.

It really Does get better, especially when they lose their puppy teeth! Frankie did the ragdoll thing. I found a giant soft toy with a squeaker in really helped .

 

[Caro Perry]

It does get better! Harri could mouth for Wales and had teeth like needles. It got a lot better as he finished teething. The biting was always worse when he was over tired and in need of a nap so a few minutes time out usually ended up with him falling asleep.

 

[VizMum]

Thanks for support, folks.

We played IYC this morning and baby boy did very well albeit he got a bit bored!

Normal playtime did result in a few time outs, but after 3 he got the message. I know it’s just a fluke and no doubt he’ll be sharking later but a positive morning for us both.

Just got to hunt out a cardboard box for our next game now!

 

[doggie1]

Thanks for support, folks.

We played IYC this morning and baby boy did very well albeit he got a bit bored!

Normal playtime did result in a few time outs, but after 3 he got the message. I know it’s just a fluke and no doubt he’ll be sharking later but a positive morning for us both.

Just got to hunt out a cardboard box for our next game now!

Well done. Hold on to the positives, I always think with Eddi, he's done it once, he can do it again!

 

[Mayblossom]

Great news! The positives will soon outdo the negatives....honestly

 

[Violet Turner]

I’m sorry but I have tried to help then got hated on when I helped so I won’t be posting unless needed to. Sorry

 

[JudyN]

I’m sorry but I have tried to help then got hated on when I helped so I won’t be posting unless needed to. Sorry

@Violet Turner I certainly didn't intend to come over as 'hating' and I'm sorry if you took it that way - but there are so many people who think their completely normal puppy is aggressive when nothing could be further from the truth, and then damage the pup by dealing with puppy biting inappropriately, that I was very concerned to see a link being suggested by someone with a lot of dog experience that could reinforce those views, possibly influencing not just the OP but anyone else reading the thread.

 

[Mrs S]

Just to say I feel your pain... Literally. Our pup is 8 months old and an absolute nightmare. You have the advantage of starting your puppy off on the right foot though... Our pup had a rough start with different owners so trying to undo all the bad and it's not easy. Giz does exactly the same, hangs onto your limbs and shakes them... Our arms are shredded. The joys of puppy ownership. I do wish you all the best with your little one. Sounds like you have made a really good start xx

 

[VizMum]

Hi Mrs S, my best wishes go out to you and Giz xx

My furry baby is still doing his Jaws impression but not as frequently (fingers crossed he is getting the message). I’ve also started to wear one of my husbands hoodies when it’s playtime so if he does go in for the bite he only gets a gob full of material!

He had his last jab this morning so we’ll be able to go out for walkies next weekend

 

[VizMum]

Spoke too soon, just had a bad bout of it!

 

[JudyN]

There will always be an element of two steps forward, one step back - and at times, like adolescence, there can be a huge leap back, then you'll eventually make your way forward again...

 

[Violet Turner]

Spoke too soon, just had a bad bout of it!

it's fine, your dog is a puppy = could be normal behaviour... Your not alone

 

[VizMum]

Thanks folks, at least it’s not making me emotional any more so that’s one good thing!

 

[JoanneF]

There is something called "extinction burst" which is where a behaviour that used to get your attention no longer does, so your dog feels he has to practise it even harder to get the response he used to get. This is actually a good thing because it shows what you are doing is working.

 

[VizMum]

Just a little update - furry baby seems to accept redirection 70% of the time with a toy when he starts biting us during the day, but in the evening there’s about 30 mins when there is nothing you can do with him, so a time out is the only option. My arms still look like someone has gone at me with a knife, not to mention the bruises.

Night-time toilet wise I think he could quite happily go all night without going, but we still get him up once to be on the safe side. Even then he is reluctant to get out of his crate. During the day we are still taking him out to do his business as he hasn’t yet worked out how to tell us he needs to go. As it was warm & dry on Saturday we left the back door open and he took himself out for a wee. He can more or less do a wee on command but his number twos are a different matter.

We’ve enrolled him in a beginners training class which starts in a few weeks. We took him along to one of the classes today to see what it is like. He was a good boy and wanted to join in, well, when I say join in he wanted to play with the other dogs! As it was in a field he saw a couple of horses, other than a little growl on first sight they didn’t seem to phase him.

Hope everyone & their furry friends have had a good weekend