Hi I have a 11 week mutt puppy (lab x boxer x staffy we think). Her playing is centered around tug if war and biting her toys but she also wants to bite our hands and arms we are trying the tactic of saying g no biting and them walking away but it doesn't seem to be making any difference. Then in the garden she is digging I don't want to shout at her but I'm not sure how to tackle this behaviour as I am a new puppy owner and want to get this right as she will be a big god and we have a 4 year old. Any advice welcome, she is a very sweet girl we've only had her 2 weeks so far so tlwe are all learning together. Thanks
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Puppy play biting
- Thread starter HR87
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For the biting, have a read of this: Puppy biting
Digging holes might be trickier - shouting would just serve to scare her and you want her to see you as a 'safe place' that she can trust. Even saying no tends to be ineffective as pups don't know what it means - teaching her what she can do is a much better approach. One option would be to find a bit of the garden where she can dig, and redirect her to there every. single. time. This could backfire, though. If she loves digging, by the time she's adult sized she's likely to be capable of flinging the soil from one side of the garden to the other (I've been showered with dirt while sitting on my patio
).
You could try to distract her from digging every time she starts, and play a game with her instead. Or simply pick her up and move her indoors, so she learns that digging = fun ends. With luck, this will mean that digging doesn't become established as a habit.
If at all practical, the best method is to block access to parts of the garden where she could dig. You can get chicken netting which fixes to the ground with stakes which is an easy, flexible and relatively cheap way of fencing off parts of the garden. Though if you have borders and a lawn, there is a chance she might just dig up your lawn instead of your plants.
Digging holes might be trickier - shouting would just serve to scare her and you want her to see you as a 'safe place' that she can trust. Even saying no tends to be ineffective as pups don't know what it means - teaching her what she can do is a much better approach. One option would be to find a bit of the garden where she can dig, and redirect her to there every. single. time. This could backfire, though. If she loves digging, by the time she's adult sized she's likely to be capable of flinging the soil from one side of the garden to the other (I've been showered with dirt while sitting on my patio
).You could try to distract her from digging every time she starts, and play a game with her instead. Or simply pick her up and move her indoors, so she learns that digging = fun ends. With luck, this will mean that digging doesn't become established as a habit.
If at all practical, the best method is to block access to parts of the garden where she could dig. You can get chicken netting which fixes to the ground with stakes which is an easy, flexible and relatively cheap way of fencing off parts of the garden. Though if you have borders and a lawn, there is a chance she might just dig up your lawn instead of your plants.
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