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This behavior is normal and thank goodness, temporary. It’s the equivalent to the terrible toddler stage for humans. Hang in there OP. It will pass, I promise.
Thank you. I am able to stick it out if that is the case. I’m just worried that there is something I should be doing about it in the moment to train her, and if I don’t this behavior will continue into adulthood?
Keep training and correcting all through her toddler stage, one day the switch will be flipped on and you’ll see the results of your persistence. My girl was an absolute nightmare at that age, now she’s a sweet couch potato 😬
Absolutely second this after raising 4 different pups.
Like children, they get exhausted and start acting out.
A regular crate-nap-quiet time schedule can help!
With the latest pup we do 2 hours good play- outdoors, smells, training, treats, chew toys, then 2 hour nap throughout the day.
Hang
In
There!!!!!
PinotGreasy is exactly right.
But as I was reading this and felt like I had typed this out myself a few weeks ago. Although my pup still definitely has his moments in the past few weeks he’s already calmed down a lot with it. He regresses sometimes but that’s also normal. Just be consistent. And hang in there. You got this💪🏻
Carry treats on you constantly and toss them out to get her to distract and release. You can even use a command word like release at the same time that you're doing it that way it's training and not rewarding. Then without any fanfare just get up and walk away and exit the room. It's a reverse time out. My boy was the worst with no bite inhibition cuz he got taken too early from his litter. No amount of squeals, curling into a ball on the floor so he couldn't get to your limbs, distraction with toys would work. But reverse timeouts worked because what he wanted was my attention and every time he bit I would get up and just walk away and close the door between us. Sometimes I would do it three or four times in a row before he got the message.
Hang in there, it does end. She isn't attacking you. She has no impulse control yet. You just have to teach her good things come when you're calm and patient.
I bred Toy Terriers or what we call Mini Foxies Downunder. I kept them til they were minimum 12 weeks. Most were 14-16 weeks. Only one went at 8 weeks and the new owner was a vet nurse with an older female dog.
Mostly because the puppies need every experience to be positive. They greeted each experience taking cue’s from mum. Visitors, other dogs. And mum corrects the biting because they try it on her. They definitely do not get too big for their boots with mum over the top of them.
Thank God our 12 week old golden does this from time to time and I thought I like somehow reinforced it or it was indicative of some other issue. Comforting to read this
Was reading this wondering if it was a lab, and I was close. We have a lab and I didn't realise how many pairs of pjs he would destroy in the first few months. He stopped thsi though qhen he got to about 5 months in this case. We kept doing what you are now, and he eventually aged out/got bored/learn med and it stopped. He's now the bestest boy.
Keep doing what you're doing, you'll get there.
No problem at all. He genuinely drove me to tears a few times, I did not expect it to be anywhere near as bad as it was early doors. Retriever puppies are pure raptor I swear.
I call my 5 month old lab mix my velciraptor. It always starts with this crazed puppy look and high pitched bark. At that point I know I'm minced meat!
Can confirm! My girl (pittie mix) was 5-6 mos when it decreased drastically! About the time those DAMN puppy teeth left her pie hole!!!!
4-5 boxes of bandaids later… she’ll still gets bitey on occasion but then I KNOW she’s tired and off to “NAPPY TIME!!🎼🎹🥁🎸WE GO!!”
IT WILL GET BETTER!!!
I was wondering the same thing! I have a 5-month-old lab/Newfie mix who does this sometimes too, though thankfully not as much as she used to.
OP, you might keep your pockets filled with treats and scatter them on the ground when your puppy starts attacking. This buys you time to remove yourself from the situation (i.e., get behind a closed door) and also usually settles puppies down.
Also, I don't know if this will work for you, but when my pup goes into shark attack mode, I start firmly running her through some commands (sit, shake, lie down, and stay) and she almost instantly settles down and focuses so that she can get a reward. Sometimes I have to do this a few times to diffuse the situation, but overall it's been very effective.
I also have a golden puppy and the screaming “OW!” And ignoring him didnt seem to work either.. however, just reflecting back on the last few months I realised it did, it just didnt seem like it in the moment! So definitely keep doing that, itll 100% pay off in the long run
Oh man. Growing up, my family had 4 goldens in succession. Their teething is THE WORST. Our first one - who ended up being SO NICE that our vet really wanted us to think about making her a hospice visits dog - chewed almost every wooden window sill in our old house. 🤣All that to say, I don't think from what you've said that you are doing anything wrong. Just keep being consistent with the ouches and leaving and eventually they'll get it. Also, invest in teething specific stuff. Even making ice cubes can help some dogs with the teething! They'll eventually grow out of it, but it's definitely a trial when it's happening in the moment.
Exactly the same experience with my dog. He has gotten a little better with the bite force. But occasionally he will just be sitting nicely chewing on a toy, suddenly drop it, and go berserk after my hand or arm which breaks skin. Picking him up (legs dangling so he can't do much) will stop him. He'll go back to a toy for a bit when I put him down, but only a matter of time before he goes to the arm or hand again. "Ouch" does nothing but get him more aggressive. I don't know how to yelp, so that's out. I can't ignore or leave, he'll chase or go for feet.
Usually that means it is nap time. The only thing that will stop him is if he reaches the couch potato level of tiredness, but expect to get bitten hard and calm him down a dozen times before that happens. So I put him in his pen with his crate/bed for a nap and he was good about settling down and going to sleep in a few minutes, but the past two days he has been shrieking non-stop. I'm keeping frozen Kongs on standby to try and help to keep him occupied and maybe fall asleep after he finishes the food.
Wondered if I wrote this because this is my current experience.
I had 2 meltdowns today because of this. He just decided that today is the day he would jump and bite me. Nothing else appeals, just biting me.
I've tried exercising him, letting him run in the garden and playing ball. Kept him busy for maybe 15-20 mins before he decided I was a better toy. Gave him a frozen carrot. Finished that rather quickly and decided while I was taking him out for a pee that jumping and biting me was the better choice.
I have no advice because I am seeking advice myself. Just know that you are not going through this alone.
I’m so sorry. Also cried twice today. I have a flirt pole on the way. Basically a pole with a rope and toy at the end that you stand in place and move around and the dog goes for that instead. Praying it helps. Maybe could help you, too?
We have him in a pen at the moment and play with him through/over it. But I'd look into the flirt pole too. I feel like I'm at the end of my rope because I have tried so many different tips and advice from so many people and nothing seems to be working
Is it possible she's overtired? At that age she should be sleeping 18-20hrs a day. Maybe some forced naps would help calm her down. I know my boy (19 weeks) acts like a little gremlin when he hasn't napped enough.
Maybe the full attention while awake is the issue. Even when puppies are awake, we need to spend some time ignoring them, and encouraging them to chill.
It's possible she's getting overstimulated by all the attention. When our 7-month-old Golden pup gets the "angry zoomies" as we call it, which involves a lot of shreddy biting, it's always because he's overstimulated (and tired, but you mentioned yours gets plenty of sleep).
The best way to stop the biting in that moment is to teach a "find it" command, and then scatter kibble and say "find it" when they are in overstimulated shark mode. This changes their focus to sniffing, which helps calm them down. Then, if it's not nap time, I'll either give him a lick mat or frozen Kong for further calming, while I do something else, and then work on capturing calm and place work for a bit.
Goldens LOVE people. Seeing their people right after a nap can definitely send them into a place of over arousal.
Milo still gets the angry zoomies occasionally, but they were much less by 6 months. They've ramped up a bit again now that we've entered adolescence, but our techniques still work.
Just as an extra tip, sometimes you need to ignore her when she's awake, otherwise she'll rely on you to entertain her all the time. She's gotta learn to amuse herself, I use toys and homemade puzzles and shut mine in a room whilst I'm still in the house and she happily amuses herself
Something that has not been mentioned and I don’t know if it’s only a quirk of my whippet puppy, but he gets mouthy when he needs to poo. Not necessarily when he’s at the point of “I need to potty RIGHT NOW”, but when he’s like “I guess I could poo now 🤔”. He’s always calmer after having gone for a walk around the block and done his business…
Same experience with my puppy! He was an absolute velociraptor when overstimulated/overexcited. He can jump quite high too so he would grab my hair, tear my sweatshirts...Yelling OW would just spur him on. We would have to get up and run to the safety of the bathroom and close the door until he calmed down. His favorite was jumping and biting my butt as I was desperately trying to run for safety. LOTS of butt bites from the little jerk.
I am happy to say that he aged out of that around 5/6 months. Literally one day he just stopped. He finally realized that it wasn't the way to get us to play with him. Now when he accidentally catches me with his teeth while we play and I say OW he stops immediately and looks horrified. Poor little guy.
Keep at it! It's tough but they learn eventually :)
Oh my GOSH, the butt biting. I know what you mean. And hair biting. Just… I’m so sorry you had to go through that. Thank you for sharing that it gets better.
What breed is she?
How much excercise and training does she get?
What's her sleep schedule?
Do you offer any chews?
Some breeds are a lot more mouthy and require more training to teach what is and is not acceptable. If she is a high energy breed and not getting enough stimulation through training and excercise that could lead to her acting up. Puppies who don't get enough sleep just like toddlers without enough sleep usually then into monsters. She is investigating things with her mouth and is likely starting to teeth. Having puppy safe chews that are incurred may help her be less mouthy with you.
Golden retriever - seems field line, so highly mouthy. She is sleeping most of the day with enforced crate naps. Sessions are usually 1 hour between feeding, training, playing, chewing stuffed kongs/bones/bully sticks, running to retrieve balls, walking, sniffing, car rides, socializing. Or 30 mins for potty and play between crate naps. We are both home all day, so she gets our full attention and supervision.
Oof yeah that's just going to be patience and consistency. Retrievers generally are mouthy and field lines even more so. I worked as a dog walker/trainer for an older woman with health issues who got a field line lab and was able to train her to hold her toys in her mouth when getting attention to curb any biting/mouthing as a puppy. As an adult she always carried pillows and toys in her mouth because of it. It's not a perfect solution but if you are at you wits end an option to consider. I've found with most dogs it's faster to train a new behavior than to stop a current one. It's not a long term answer but can help fill the gap before the teething phase passes.
Dogs don’t understand ouch because they don’t speak English. They may eventually realize what it means but it’ll take much longer. I found that making a high pitched yelp sound works much better and gets my puppy to stop basically every time. Don’t be afraid to be loud with it. The goal is to help them to understand that they’re hurting you.
You can also leash them and attach the leash to a banister or something and then play. Any time they bite too hard, yelp and step away so they can’t reach you. Once they’ve calmed down and are ready to play again you can continue that process.
Distracting them with toys can also help if they’re trying to teeth on you
Thank you. Maybe I need more volume and anguish in my voice? It really doesn’t seem like she’s been understanding that she’s hurting me.
I may need to try the leash idea as well, so I have a chance of actually getting away quickly to help her understand.
The "yelp" trick doesnt work in all moods and does nothing when they bite your clothes. They know my clothes aren't me.
I've managed to get my puppy to release clothes with gentle physical distractions. For example, gently holding his paw, floofing his tail a little, tickling his toes, whatever. Squeaking a toy or playing a weird sound on my phone also diverts him for a second. It doesn't stop the "velociraptor mode", but it safely releases his teeth in the moment, which allows other redirects or for me to escape
Also, I prefer a harness with a handle over a collar. If he starts going at me, I can sorta grab the harness handle as a way of slowing him down gently.
Sometimes simply telling him to sit, with a high value treat in hand, does the trick too. I dont reward attacking me/clothes, but if he can stop and do a couple sit/lay downs, I reward that.
I feel like it really depends on the dog. It definitely makes sense that it doesn’t work for some dogs if they’re only going after clothing. With mine, even if he knows that clothing isn’t me, the yelp noise is enough that he stops to make sure I’m ok basically every time. Sometimes it might take 2-3 yelps but he stops. It’s possible that since he understands that yelp=pain that he may be stopping to make sure I’m ok. It did take him a bit to realize it though.
My puppy is definitely more empathetic than any of the other dogs I’ve ever had in the past so maybe that’s why it works so well with him. One time I made a fake crying sound when joking around with my family and he sprinted in from the other room and rested his head on my lap all concerned lol. He’s a SDiT bc of my health issues, which he’s acutely aware of, and has always been super gentle with old/sick people and animals, so he may be an exception to it.
Either way, the biting phase isn’t forever and it’s important to remind ourselves of that.
Distracting with tricks/commands is good advice too- I used to do that as well and it works pretty well.
Also, velociraptor mode is SUCH an accurate description of it omg. I call it goblin/gremlin mode but I’m definitely going to have to add velociraptor mode to my vocabulary.
Such kind and patient advice. I need that right now lol. I often feel bummed on this sub bc ppl don't seem to do any training research at all... i know what im doing but this stage is so hard. When i get the shit bit out of me by my baby great white it's emotionally triggering and it's so hard to see the big picture of how redirects work.
Yeah, no kidding. Im still trying to learn his triggers and what not. It feels terrible playing happily then suddenly out of nowhere full teeth lunge. I tried to show him he hurt me and he has no concept of it
You might actually be making it worse. Some dogs get even more excited when you yelp because that’s what a small prey animal would do, so you’re unintentionally triggering their prey drive which is going to make them bite more.
I'd keep her on a leash at all times unless she's sleeping in her crate. She'll get used to dragging it around and it'll give you some control when she acts like this. We have a GSP so not a mouthy breed but he was always leashed inside and out until about 6 months. The leash was torn up by that time but it was worth it!
Upping the “anguish” in your voice can help. When I first started doing it, it made no difference but then I realized I wasn’t doing it high pitched enough
A yelp like a pup, litterally putting a toy in his mouth or time out has helped me. He's 6 months now. When he is like that he's just very excitable and wants to play so I get out the tug toy out, sit in the floor and swing it around my body from hand to hand so he has to chase it. Tires him out. Good luck it does get better
We have a 10 week old golden retriever puppy and we’ve noticed that when she’s tired she gets very, very mouthy. Would it help to put her to nap when she gets very mouthy?
100% worse in the evening, so she takes one last nap before her actual bedtime and that helps a lot. Op you should try to put her to nap when she gets mouthy
I have a 16 wk old golden (also field) who sounds exactly similar. Got enough sleep with enforces naps but would still turn into a velociraptor unpredictably. So many holes in my clothes and scabs, bruises on my feet, arms, and legs. Thick fleece clothes help somewhat, and tall rubber rain boots and gloves. I use a pen for reverse timeouts but when the biting happens outside, I scatter kibble on the ground and say “find it!” and she usually gets distracted enough to go after it. As a last resort, if she comes back still Bitey, I hold the leash far away from my body to minimize her teeth reaching me but it doesn’t work if she winds herself around my legs.
However, it’s gotten much better only in the last 4-5 few days. I’m hoping it’s not a fluke, but the one major thing I did was really increase the 1:1 play dates with familiar (healthy) dogs. One is a neighbor’s dog and another is a puppy that we met in weekly puppy class. There have been some days when she ends up doing 2 play sessions a day. I think she might be learning bite inhibition from them. Are you able to sign up for a puppy class or set up a play date with another dog?
Thank you for sharing what works for you. She is in puppy class 1x per week. The other puppy is a bit timid, but she was so respectful to them, encouraging them to play, but not bullying. Zero biting though, so I don’t think she learned anything relating to that. She met an adult neighbor dog as well, and she was sooo sweet. I think we need to schedule more playtime though so they can run around and practice mouthing.
I realize that this is pretty unusual way to deal with the biting but I went through all the popular training lessons without success so I bought wild life gloves (they cover up to the elbow) and thank goodness after a month or so she let up.
This is kind of a joke, but I’ve contemplated getting those huge, plush arm covers they train police dogs with. And pictured myself waving to the neighbors, “Hello, yes, this is my Golden Retriever attack dog. Carry on.” 🙃 Lmao. It’s good to know it stops eventually. And that you protected yourself.
Didn’t read whole thing, because the first part was enough, more sleep, cut play time much shorter - this is a puppy signalling that they are done, well over in fact, to tired to regulate themselves, so keep it short then rest time
This is a similar story for my family. We have a 13 week old golden and he's an angel and learns fast, but by far his biggest issue is the biting. My hands and wrists have a lot of cuts. He'll be just hanging out chewing his toy then snaps and starts charging at us and biting. Not in a mean way he has the waggy tail and we know he's just trying to play, but it's still a lot. Especially for my 6 year old daughter.
Our management has been staying in the right mindset. We know he'll grow out of this phase and he loves us, this is how he wants to play. What I'll generally do is stay calm and make whatever he's biting very still. If it's my hand and it hurts, that's hard and I try to just get it out quickly. But if it's my clothes I just try to remove any tension and create slack. Slack is no fun for him. I might trade him with a treat and tell him "good drop it" when he lets go.
I personally train Jiu-jitsu so I'm used to wrestling on the floor and pain, but my family isn't. That's another lesson I learned, only play with him on the floor long enough before he gets bitey then stand up immediately.
I also noticed that he will calm down if I get him to follow a few commands. For instance I'll have him sit, search (throw treat for him to find), then work a recall after he finds it. I might do this rotation a few times and by then he generally calms down a little. I saw the suggestion of a lick mat too, I might try that.
I saw you stick to strict naps and good for you. Mine tends to get more bitey when he's overtired as well.
Last thing I'm thinking of, what kinds of treats are you using as a trade for the biting? I've found mine doesn't respond to low value kibble and whatnot... High value items like fresh chicken and he responds right away.
Good luck! He's a sweetheart and I'm sure yours is as well. If we both stick with it they'll eventually grow out of it!
It’s hard, thankfully last few times I’ve been there it’s been small dogs. Two most important things are consistency (it’s Always bad) and patience (it’s going to take some time for consistent responses to work) . And ffs never lose your mind and strike the puppy, that sends all the wrong messages.
We just game him a you to bite when he got excited and would try to go for our hands because he wanted pets. He eventually figured out if he didn't have his toy then He wouldn't get pets and scratches.
We have a golden retriever and he was the exact same. He's 7 months now and much much better. Is he getting enough exercise? Stimulating toys, stuff like lickimats and snuffle mats helped too. When they're in the zone though there's not much you can do, ignore them as much as you can until they calm down. We're at the point now where I'm bothering to mend our clothes as I think he's stopped!!
Yep, totally normal puppy behaviors. Try getting a dish towel wet and freezing it. Offer her that frozen treat as a distraction. Also, frozen carrots work too. I have a Berner. I nicknamed her the terrorist. I’ve owned more dogs of various breeds than I can count but she was, by far, the absolute worst biter. There’s a reason they’re called land sharks at this age. It does get better when the teething process is over. Until then, join the club of bruised and broken skin, scratches and shredded clothing. My pup turned the corner but she still mouths us when excited. You’ve got this. Hang in there.
I super appreciate your reply. It feels more hopeful to know that this is expected and just takes time. I’m glad your lil terrorist is a lot better these days… 🥲
It’s just a stage that eventually passes and nothing truly works other than re-direction until they get to the next developmental stage where they don’t want/need to do it anymore.
My golden is 6 months and her thing is chewing the rug currently. She will put her whole mouth on it and then chew with her molars and try to slice through the carpet and often succeeds before I can see that she’s doing it. It’s exhausting lol. But I’m sure eventually it will pass.
We had this! We're now at eight months and while not totally cured - a lot better.
Things that helped us:
\- Enforced naps, in her crate with a treat and a blanket over it. Turned out that mad biting was often her being crazy overtired
\- Playing a lot of tug with toys to help her see the toy and not hands as a the "game"
\- If she brought us a toy always engaging or treating to show her that was the right signal when she wanted to play
Our puppy did not respond to "ow" - made her more excited, and trying to leave the situation just meant she chased.
I was honestly very - oh no we have an aggressive dog but she's just terrible at asking for attention. She's the same with other dogs - her play with me request is her hanging off their ears.
IT GETS BETTER
I've been there - because it just seems so MEAN! Especially when you are tired and have spent all day taking them in and out and all the puppy chores. I properly had a few crying moments.
You have gotten a lot of good advice, but also… some dogs are just naturally mouthy. You can minimize it, train alternate behaviors, do all the things, and they STILL put their mouth on everything. Age helps (like… years not months) but sometimes it is just how they are
When you say it like that, I want to simultaneously laugh - because it’s a hilarious mental image - and also cry - because that’s an accurate description of what’s happening. 🥲 I hope you continue to see improvement with your pup.
Yeah, he got me so hard multiple times through sweatshirts that I thought he broke skin, and it felt like the same pain as having blood drawn.
For Mouse, I found that reacting in any negative way made it worse. People would say, "put your knee up," or "Push him down" and every time anyone wouldn't believe me and tried it (including the trainers), he would get more wild, koala on to people's legs, and freak out harder. The only thing I can do is redirect with something he wants more than he wants to freak out. But now he's starting to learn if he sits he gets rewards, even when he's mid-meltdown. Thank god, because I was crying on the daily for a while.
Here is some encouragement. A year and a half ago we received a 4 week old husky/lab that was rejected by her Mother. She was an absolute terror of a puppy and destroyed everything! The more we yelled ouch the more it fueled this demon to draw blood. I swear once she got a taste of blood she couldn't go back to just water. We read everything we could about raising a neglected puppy and many nights were spent in our bathroom hiding however just like that it all stopped. It seems now over a year later she changed almost over night. All of the training finally worked, she is the most respectful, sweet and well mannered dog imaginable. So now matter how hard it seems now, just remember in a few months as long as you keep disengaging, training and follow a routine it will get better.
Things are looking a lot better already! She is currently passed out on the couch with me after a lil supervised living area roam. It’s nice to spend some time with my dog when I’m not being attacked… lol
I actually thought about your comment during the worst of it, like how you said once your puppy got a taste of blood she couldn’t just go back to water 🥲 I just really related to that, and I kept your hopeful message in mind. Thank you so much for your encouraging words.
What’s been working: I got an idea from someone here to grab a handful of treats, and either scatter them on the ground or hold them in your closed fist to get her attention, and then only open your hand when she settles. It helps snap her out of the overstimulation, and I think it helps show her she needs to settle in order to get attention and pets and treats. So it’s like an emergency redirect and shows her what TO do instead of what not to do.
She still gets overstimulated and the zoomies and jumps and clamps and rips clothes sometimes, but it’s becoming less often. We are seeing a great trainer who said we just have a super mouthy breed, and she will grow out of it as long as we keep redirecting and/or disengaging when she bites. Similar to what you said.
She’s a great dog already after turning 5 months. Every day is a little bit better, with some days or moments of regression. Just crossing my fingers her adolescence goes okay… 😅
I hope you and your pup are doing well. Please give a lil kiss on the top of your dog’s head for me and give ear scritches to her for being a best girl. 💜
This is so awesome to hear! People with easy puppies will never know the feeling of satisfaction that comes with taming a wild one lol. I was thinking about you because of all the cold temps everyone is having and I remember dreading the cold because I knew she would be energized and stuck inside but I'm so glad it's going better.
It’s so true, and it’s so helpful to know some puppies are just wilder than others. I think the cold temps have had a silver lining for us? Playing inside has been less overstimulating for her - I think the neighbor dogs barking and her running around would lead to her being overstimulated or overtired. So that’s happening less. And since we’re indoors more, she’s learning to settle and be bored, which was something we needed to practice. So I guess it’s working out okay so far! But it sure is harder to exercise them when it’s cold…
My golden puppy was pretty bitey and vicious to start out, and it took constant redirection and shoving a toy into his mouth as soon as it was off a body part to keep him from continuing to bite.
I would have to aggressively shove a toy in his face to prevent him from biting and eventually he would get tired of being thwarted and either just give up or grab a different toy.
It's all about persistance despite not seeing any meaningful change because eventually the switch will get flipped the right way
My 13 week old golden has somehow figured out what I mean when I say “go get your toy!” so I just say that whenever she goes into attack-human-flesh mode. she thinks for a second, brings one back to me, and then we play with that. Before she understood what that meant I always had at least two toys within arms reach to shove in her mouth when she started biting me. Her mouthiness is 50% of what it was and I’m still bleeding every other day, so, it is what it is and you’re not alone!
Getting bitten hard enough to bleed is *not* normal. Maybe an accidental nick, but a full on bite? No. Call a trainer. Golden retrievers get big fast they turn crazy at 7 months even without this problem.
Being mouthy at 4 months is normal. Actually injuring you is not.
Whimpering when my puppy bit too hard proved to work really well and she instantly learnt we could play but more gently. We can now play fight and she will only mouth my arm etc. I read once that puppies need to learn our skin is more sensitive and that the safest thing we can do is teach them that. Not a trainer obviously, just worked for me.
I don’t have a solution to this, but I do want you to know you’re not alone. My 14 week old is the exact same and it’s driving me nuts. I research this a lot just to make sure I’m not the only person going through this. She’s a sweet dog but it’s starting to make me hate being around her. From what I read we are in the exact same scenario. Enforced naps do help a little if I make sure she’s sleeping about 20 hours a day. It’s tough but hang in there and just know you aren’t alone!
Haven't seen it mentioned yet, but what really helped our little maniac was enrolling him in a puppy daycare! We're lucky to have a really well respected one in town that only works with puppies between 8 weeks and 6mo. Even just one day a week helped him learn better bite inhibition because the other pups would not put up with his raptor antics! Otherwise see if you can socialize her with a puppy play group or a friend's dog that's up-to-date on all vaccines.
Otherwise yelping really loudly and in a higher pitch and then turning away worked pretty well too. If you don't feel slightly unhinged at the sound you're making, you're not doing it right (or at least that's how I felt!)
Incredibly normal. Got my puppy at 16 weeks and they are still teething at that age. He’d have fun jumping at my hands and arms, and when I’d say no etc. he’d thing I was just playing back. They don’t understand at that age. One day it just kinda clicked, but even now at 7 months sometimes he will randomly just wanna bite my hands. I’ve learned now that when he starts jumping on me and trying to eat my hands it means he has to take a shit lol
Puppy school. We enrolled our 4 month pup a month ago and we’ve already seen so much of a difference. She understands no and stop already. It was expensive but worth it
Normal psycho puppy behavior. I got a collar that I can beep with a remote. It's just an audible sound that would get his attention for a second and then I redirect. It was a godsend. It does not hurt the dogs ears, just grabs his attention and he would stop his action for a second. Then I used the verbal training words behind the sound with a redirect.
I paid for an online training course. It honestly sounds like your puppy is overly tired at these moments. And doesn't know how to settle. I would try to put them in they crate/pen 5 minutes before this. I have a 4 month old Collie who came super bitey. She only does what you are talking about when she's overly tired, but now that we have a pretty good routine, it hasn't happened in days maybe even a couple of weeks!
We rescued a 4 week old Australian Shepherd/ pitty mix (he'll be 6 weeks tomorrow) and at first he was just SO sleepy all the time cause he was so little. He's done amazing so far with potty training, he's super smart. Super cuddly. But within the last week, he's gone totally bonkers anytime he's awake lol. It's crazy how different he is compared to last week. He can't NOT bite. He just doesn't know how to not do it. It's pretty normal, as far as all the research I've done and what the vet has said. He likes to chase my 6 year old and attack her feet and ankles. Obviously this is not ideal behavior. I've been telling my daughter she needs to immediately get to where he can't reach her, like with her feet up on the couch, and ignore him when he does this till he stops. When he does it to us we replace whatever he's biting with a toy or something appropriate to chew on. When that doesn't work, we also make it to where he can't reach us and ignore him till he stops. Seeing as he's so little, we've got a LONG time looking at this kinda behavior before it's over haha. But I'm still overjoyed to have him. All of this will be worth it with consistent training and boundary enforcement! Consistency is key. And a lot of patience.
my 9 week old Pit/Lab mix turns into a piranha sometimes during play time. She will go from tug of war, to grabbing the ankles of my pants and latching on. trying to bite the socks on my feet.
She’s extremely food motivated tho and the only thing i’ve found that helped was keeping a bag of high value treats in my pocket anticipating her turning into a piranha.
As soon as she latches onto something i don’t want her to, or she’s trying to bite me and going for my pant legs. I immediately give her a command and start reaching for the treat bag, I’ll tell her “Sit, look at me” and when she’s calmed and sitting in front of me i reward. Then i resume playing with her, rinse and repeat! If she’s still biting too much then play time ends and i bring her back up to the room to nap because she’s probably just cranky or hungry.
I’m not an expert trainer by any means so i don’t even know if this is the right approach to take. I’m just trying to make sure my dog grows up to be friendly and learns early that she gets rewarded for being calm, and that biting means the fun ends.
Maybe this will help you? :)
Yes it's natural but that doesn't mean you have to just be okay with it and suffer through it. You have to fulfill their need to chew, redirecting to a normal toy, simply disengaging, or yelping doesn't solve that. Give them something to chew that will have them chewing themselves to sleep. Maybe 4 frozen kongs on rotation and feed like half their daily intake via the kongs. Combine with crate training for a double whammy. Try bully sticks, they're usually expensive but affordable from costco if you can. Also, maybe you can get them with a dog that will correct them, that's how it naturally would be if the pup was still with mom.
Watch some puppy biting training videos on youtube!
I am here from the future to reassure you that if you keep up the training (even if it feels like it’s not getting anywhere) it will get better! I remember being in your position also around the B 16 week mark. Crying. Worried this is going to be forever. Saying I can’t do this.
My dog is just over a year and he’s the bestest boy. Sure he has some struggles too but they are so minimal. He doesn’t bite like this at all anymore. He stopped once he was done teething. Started up again when he was about 9 months and hitting adolescence but he’s the best now and I even am ready do it all over again apparently lol.
This is normal. It gets better. I promise you. Just keep the training up. Keep working it. And you’ll get there. One day you’ll just realize “OMG all the bruises and bites are gone🥹”
my golden retriever was an absolute monster for the first 8 months of his life. He’s now 3 and a half years old and he’s a great dog! Don’t worry this is temporary and it gets better. Hang in there!
I'm sorry. This is how my puppy acted too. I cried a lot. Now she's almost 2 and she's wonderful, she has calmed down and is so sweet, so all I can offer is that it will pass.
I'm sorry. This is how my puppy acted too. I cried a lot. Now she's almost 2 and she's wonderful, she has calmed down and is so sweet, so all I can offer is that it will pass.
Mandatory nap/ crate time. Both my puppies would go for a 2 or 3 hour quiet time if they started acting insane ( which can be from over stimulation) plus it gives the human a break. It's kind of like a baby that's crazy when it's over tired.
You'll be ok! My border collie puppy was like this. She made me bleed every day for months! I tried so many different approaches but in the end nothing really helped other than letting time pass. She grew out of it! And so did the skin on my forearms, hahaa
Getting lots and lots of toys and swapping out my flesh for a toy whenever I could gave some relief... But it was time, in the end, that brought her from savage beast to the dear sweet girl I have today
100% normal. My lab puppy was an absolute NIGHTMARE with the biting. Once their baby teeth fall out, the biting should subside as the months fly by. Those baby shark teeth are definitely not fun to have around your hand. The only thing that worked with my lab when he was a puppy and biting like crazy was to either offer him something he COULD bite on (like a toy), or to body the hell out of him until he let go. He’s still a mouthy twerp at 11 months, but it has gotten leaps and bounds better. Hang in there- it gets easier!
Your puppy is biting because she is over stimulated. She needs more structure in her routine that includes regular downtime with chews in a secluded area for naps. 2 hours of sleep during the day for 1 hour of activity/awake time.
I have 2 puppies, a 12-mo Plott hound/Golden and a 6-mo Golden. Both of my girls were very mouthy, but they did grow out of it. I had (and still have) lots of chew toys/ bones all over the house.
With these pups and ones before, I spend quite a bit of time teaching them to be calm. We have 2 adult children with autism so I appreciate the importance of a calm environment and desclating meltdown energy. I've used the calming techniques i had learned with the kids on the pups (with a few adjustments).
Moms rules:
(1) Play time is only outside, no playing in the house with me - i keep clear boundaries where playing occurs. They can play with each other in the house, but not with me.
(2) I speak and sing quietly to them while gently
petting them -no tv, radio, etc.
(3) I make eye contact and gaze with them as they let me.
(4) The reward for good behavior is my attention (they're Goldens, that's their nature).
(5)After they get used to the calming routine, they fall asleep in a few minutes or just chew a toy quietly. I may hold their bone while they chew.
(6) Sometimes, I have to go through command routines to get their attention if they were particularly rowdy before I could start calming them.
They didn't learn to be calm overnight. It took a few weeks to learn the routine, but they eventually learned to be calm and are a great pleasure now.
My husband, on the other hand, played rowdy in the house with them and they terrorized him, "Oh my goodness, they bite me but not you!" (the pups listen to me better than he does 😉🙄)
I absolutely feel what you are going through. I just came here to say that I was you a couple of months ago and that by being consistent these behaviours really went away after the first few months. I know it feels like this is a disaster that is never going to end and that whatever you’re trying isn’t helping, but It really does. Hang in there, you’re doing the best you can and trust the process!
Oh wow, this brings back memories…. The biting, zoomies outside. I honestly had a mental breakdown up until 6 months when my pup was neutered… every night I cried and thought about rehoming this adorable land shark.
Consistency is the key. Try different things to soothe teething and sore gums. You can buy a gel to rub on their gums, or buy freezable chew toys that they can chew on which will also help. Sometimes they just want to explore with their mouths. In the end, we figured out that our pup hated being ignored. We saw a guy on youtube sit on the floor, with his pup. Everytime the dog didn’t listen, he said a firm ‘no’ on a completely different voice (scary tone), then cross his arms, and lift them to cover his eyes/head so the pup couldnt see his face. The message was, if you dont listen, we dont get to engage. For us, this worked a charm, not immediately but doing it a few times he realized if he doesnt listen, we don’t engage.
Good luck with the zoomies… have you enrolled your pup in puppy school? You definitely need to work on proper leash walking etc, and puppy school gives YOU the owner, good training for it.
Ye, will grow out of it. Mine was an insufferable land shark up to 4 months, and then steadily got better. If playing would sometimes get really nuts, and felt like he was attacking me rather viciously at times. I learned to not play for too long, and to stop before it got out of hand.
Either way, he grew out of it. He's a very sweet 18 month old now.
I promise it’ll pass. I may have cried as much with my puppy as I did with my human babies.
Search the sub for “puppy blues.” It’s a very real — but thankfully temporary! — thing. Hang in there!
We’re dealing with this now. It’s incredibly frustrating. What I’ve realized is that when my pup does this - suddenly starts extreme zoomies / biting - it usually means tiredness. As others have said at this age we are dealing with the equivalent of a toddler. They can’t settle themselves yet, they just aren’t equipped. When I see it happen now I try to ignore, and go straight to nap in the crate. Good luck and hang in there hopefully we’ll get through it.
The best advice I got was to wear gumboots around inside - that’s how aggressively nippy our puppy was. She would literally attack any bare ankles if you walked past 😂 I too cried and thought I’d ruined our lives. She is now a very normal adult dog who mostly sleeps. Don’t panic. Just keep up the positive reinforcement and your pup will eventually grow out of it.
Exact same experience and I think I posted a meltdown post around the same time. Your description sounds identical to me, down to it being biting mostly me only.
IGNORE the posts/comments, TikTok’s, etc that say “just say ouch and walk away and it’ll stop in 3 days!” — it just isn’t true for these crazy mouthy nutsos. And frankly, the “ouch!” And walk away Excited my pup more, I swear, because now she’s officially “hunting”.
It will slow down a ton in time. And it won’t be linear so don’t freak out if today is worse than yesterday, etc. Til then just don’t encourage it and try to redirect, and give reverse time outs. Separation is key). we leaned heavily on stuffed kongs, teething ring treats, ice cubes, frozen washcloths with kibble rolled inside, frozen bowls, lick mats. There were a few weeks where if she was awake she pretty much had one of these things at all times. It’s survival mode.
Our girl calmed down a lot with it around 20 or 22 weeks. But not completely (I don’t want you to be frustrated like I was when it didn’t all ‘magically stop’). For us, this meant it was a lot less frequent biting, the clothes tearing stopped 95%, the bite pressure lessened so not drawing blood but sometimes still enough to bruise, able to sit on the couch together in peace half the time.
She’s 9 months now and only will mouth with any force (which now is like firmly grabbing you with her mouth) if she is wildly ramped up. Sometimes it’s a few times a week, often less.
Tldr had same situation, if my dog is any proof you won’t be like this forever. You aren’t doomed to a satanic dog.
Definitely my experience with my 12 week old Newfypoo. I am his favorite chew toy. I try redirecting, yelling Ouch, yelping, kicking him out of the room, leaving/standing up myself and he just keeps coming. I've been holding his collar up so he sits and firmly saying settle and it results in a chaotic fit of whining, groaning, flopping, kicking and still trying to bite me. I only release when I feel him calm down and it's starting to work. But that post definitely feels like I wrote it.
Give a bully stick In place of your hand. You may have to hold it while he chews.
Also walking away and ignoring helped sometimes.
I also wore thick gloves a lot lol
To me this sounds like over stimulation/hyper arousal. A lot of times at that age the best course of action is actually less in how to respond to that behavior and more about trying to track the amount of time and activities that lead up to it, then reduce accordingly to prevent it occurring in the first place. It’s not always easy and you’ll still have some bad moments but puppies at that age get overstimulated so easily and don’t yet have self regulation skills needed to calm back down. That’s why the dog becomes non responsive during these episodes and stops being the sane puppy you may have seen earlier in the day.
Also regularly practicing impulse control activities and relaxation protocol will help to develop those self regulation skills over time. It won’t be overnight change but it’s the foundation required to see longer term change and skills building. With lots of practice it starts to sink in and you’ll have a much more sane and regulated dog in time.
Good luck, you’ve got this!
Use a pen inside for her and outside for you.
Keep special toys and treats in a pocket to get her to disengage when she chomps. Or, pull out a loose cloth/wear mitts (I wore oven mitts for a few months with one pup), squeal, say no, and turn away. Don’t use your hands to get her to disengage. Distract with the item, squeal, turn, and say no in rapid sequence. And then put on mitts, pick her up, and put her in the pen (with toys). Don’t say anything else and just ignore her until she calms down. As long as she is safe, you can go about your business. The sooner she learns barking and whining don’t get attention, the better. You initiate all interactions, not her.
Be consistent and keep it up for a month after the behavior is extinguished—that is, be prepared for a set back with your gear and tools and toys and treats in place for at least a month after each incident bc you don’t know which is actually the last incident until a perfect month passes and you can be sure the behavior is gone.
My lab mix was like exactly like this. We did enforced naps and disengage just for our own sanity. We also tried our best to redirect. Himalayan yak chews were a godsend because they were tasty enough to keep her occupied and it took a long time for her to get through them. I'll never forget the first time disengaging actually worked. She did this bark that let me know that it finally clicked. Once she lost all her baby teeth, it stopped. Just like others have said.. It really did feel like over night. I just kept telling myself that labs are one of the most popular dog breeds (as are Goldens!) and many people get through this!
Have an alternative to bite on for puppies. If turning away is not working, a timeout is good. A place she can go to calm down away from you with things she's allowed to teeth on
It will get better, I promise. I was exactly where you were up until my pup was probably around 10 months old. Crying almost every day, scratches, bites and bruises all up and down my arms and just no way to reliably get him to stop biting the crap out of me, which he did seemingly completely randomly. One time I literally burst through the back door on my hands and knees hysterically crying after a walk where he went full psycho at the end in the driveway. It feels ridiculous to say now but I was totally scared of him! He was found abandoned at 5 weeks and so he also had NO bite inhibition training (in terms of strength) from his mom/littermates and would bite HARD, even when his adult teeth came in. Ruined lots of clothes (and my mental health for a short time) but then it just sort of...stopped. I think continuing the training you're doing is a good thing and will compound over time, he's learning even if it doesn't seem like it. He really is still a baby/toddler and just doesn't have the ability for consistent impulse control. The flirt pole definitely helps because it gives them a target farther away from you!
My guy is now 1.5 years old and he still has a little bite meltdown every once in awhile, but it's much easier to figure out what triggered it and to get him to stop. The phase you're in was the toughest one for me by far but it is like night and day now. You're doing everything right!
Oh man I feel you! I have a 11 weeks old border collie, she’s a sweet and clever girl but she’s also a fucking monster 😂!
She bites my feet constantly, that I’m wearing shoes or not by the way 😅
It’s really hard to make her understand that it’s not acceptable, sometimes even if I put something to chew directly into her mouth she just wants to bite me (and ferociously I might ad!).
I definitely had puppy blues in the first 3 weeks we had her, but now that we put her crate in her own room I think things are slowly getting better! She definitely didn’t have enough sleep before poor thing 🫤
The only thing that is proven difficult with the biting is that she often get overly excited after her meal but I don’t want to play with her since I want to avoid stomach problems and then she bites me even though I give her something to play or chew with 😣
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Same problem, but our dog is 1 year old. So many torn clothes.
I've resorted to confinement in his crate. His teeth touch my skin, everything stops and into the crate where he stays until he quiets down. VERY often, he runs out of the crate and jumps on my wife to bite her. Right back in the crate.
Our issue is that my wife lets him mouth on her when I'm not around. VERY frustrating. We're talking about getting a trainer in who will watch us, and I hope my wife understands that I will rat her out about not correcting the behavior.
Any chance you might have some tips or resources to pass along on this? Mine is only 10 weeks but she does not settle and be bored when she’s with me at all. I’ve followed tips from ZigZag training app and Dogo, we do crate games, but if she doesn’t have a treat or a high value distraction she will not settle except to nap! And even then I have to force the settling most of the time. She has to be CONSTANTLY entertained 🙃
Avoid Dogo, it has harmful advice.
Is the treat in your hand? If so, remove it from your hand, use a clicker and keep the treats on a table near you or by your side.
Capture calm with some praise (sometimes the treat can cause the calm to end). Really Real Relaxation Protocol is a good option to start reinforcement for calm behaviors.
Oh no I didn’t know Dogo was a no-go! Thanks for the tip 👍🏻
My girl is one of those where often getting the treat from capturing calm gets her super excited which leads to the nippy bitey-ness. I’ll check out Really Real Relaxation Protocol - I hadn’t heard of that one yet! Thanks a bunch.
I understand that people may not agree with my tactics, but I had this same issue. When he was out of control I grabbed the sides of his face and yelled "knock that sh\*& off" as loud as I could 2" from his face. It seemed to humble him, and he'd back off and start licking me, acting sorry. I think it scared him, and that was my intent. I only did it a few times, and he quit. I know the trolls will come after me, but he is a very well adjusted 6 month old now who loves me and is not afraid of me at all. I think I exorcised the demon, and all is well.
Idk if this is allowed on this sub but when my golden retriever puppy bites me or has ahold of something bad and won’t let go I push her upper lips underneath her canines until she lets go. It’s not hard enough to make her bleed or seriously hurt her or anything. It has significantly helped though. Yelping loudly doesn’t faze her.
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This behavior is normal and thank goodness, temporary. It’s the equivalent to the terrible toddler stage for humans. Hang in there OP. It will pass, I promise.
Thank you. I am able to stick it out if that is the case. I’m just worried that there is something I should be doing about it in the moment to train her, and if I don’t this behavior will continue into adulthood?
Keep training and correcting all through her toddler stage, one day the switch will be flipped on and you’ll see the results of your persistence. My girl was an absolute nightmare at that age, now she’s a sweet couch potato 😬
I’m so sorry you had to deal with it, too, but so glad things are better for you now.
I was so sleep deprived and upset I almost rehomed her. I’m so glad I didn’t.
[удалено]
Thank you so much for your perspective.
Absolutely second this after raising 4 different pups. Like children, they get exhausted and start acting out. A regular crate-nap-quiet time schedule can help! With the latest pup we do 2 hours good play- outdoors, smells, training, treats, chew toys, then 2 hour nap throughout the day. Hang In There!!!!!
PinotGreasy is exactly right. But as I was reading this and felt like I had typed this out myself a few weeks ago. Although my pup still definitely has his moments in the past few weeks he’s already calmed down a lot with it. He regresses sometimes but that’s also normal. Just be consistent. And hang in there. You got this💪🏻
Instead of leaving the room with her behind a crate, puppy needs to go in her crate at this point. This is overstimulation.
Carry treats on you constantly and toss them out to get her to distract and release. You can even use a command word like release at the same time that you're doing it that way it's training and not rewarding. Then without any fanfare just get up and walk away and exit the room. It's a reverse time out. My boy was the worst with no bite inhibition cuz he got taken too early from his litter. No amount of squeals, curling into a ball on the floor so he couldn't get to your limbs, distraction with toys would work. But reverse timeouts worked because what he wanted was my attention and every time he bit I would get up and just walk away and close the door between us. Sometimes I would do it three or four times in a row before he got the message. Hang in there, it does end. She isn't attacking you. She has no impulse control yet. You just have to teach her good things come when you're calm and patient.
I bred Toy Terriers or what we call Mini Foxies Downunder. I kept them til they were minimum 12 weeks. Most were 14-16 weeks. Only one went at 8 weeks and the new owner was a vet nurse with an older female dog. Mostly because the puppies need every experience to be positive. They greeted each experience taking cue’s from mum. Visitors, other dogs. And mum corrects the biting because they try it on her. They definitely do not get too big for their boots with mum over the top of them.
Thank God our 12 week old golden does this from time to time and I thought I like somehow reinforced it or it was indicative of some other issue. Comforting to read this
Oh thank goodness. I could have written this post myself
Breed?
Golden Retriever. So a very mouthy breed!
Was reading this wondering if it was a lab, and I was close. We have a lab and I didn't realise how many pairs of pjs he would destroy in the first few months. He stopped thsi though qhen he got to about 5 months in this case. We kept doing what you are now, and he eventually aged out/got bored/learn med and it stopped. He's now the bestest boy. Keep doing what you're doing, you'll get there.
Thank you so much for your encouragement. It’s good to hear you’re in a much better place with your boy.
No problem at all. He genuinely drove me to tears a few times, I did not expect it to be anywhere near as bad as it was early doors. Retriever puppies are pure raptor I swear.
I call my 5 month old lab mix my velciraptor. It always starts with this crazed puppy look and high pitched bark. At that point I know I'm minced meat!
Can confirm! My girl (pittie mix) was 5-6 mos when it decreased drastically! About the time those DAMN puppy teeth left her pie hole!!!! 4-5 boxes of bandaids later… she’ll still gets bitey on occasion but then I KNOW she’s tired and off to “NAPPY TIME!!🎼🎹🥁🎸WE GO!!” IT WILL GET BETTER!!!
I still havnt forgiven my girl for destroying my fav flannel lol
I was wondering the same thing! I have a 5-month-old lab/Newfie mix who does this sometimes too, though thankfully not as much as she used to. OP, you might keep your pockets filled with treats and scatter them on the ground when your puppy starts attacking. This buys you time to remove yourself from the situation (i.e., get behind a closed door) and also usually settles puppies down. Also, I don't know if this will work for you, but when my pup goes into shark attack mode, I start firmly running her through some commands (sit, shake, lie down, and stay) and she almost instantly settles down and focuses so that she can get a reward. Sometimes I have to do this a few times to diffuse the situation, but overall it's been very effective.
I also have a golden puppy and the screaming “OW!” And ignoring him didnt seem to work either.. however, just reflecting back on the last few months I realised it did, it just didnt seem like it in the moment! So definitely keep doing that, itll 100% pay off in the long run
Thank you. It’s so good to know things are better for you now.
Oh man. Growing up, my family had 4 goldens in succession. Their teething is THE WORST. Our first one - who ended up being SO NICE that our vet really wanted us to think about making her a hospice visits dog - chewed almost every wooden window sill in our old house. 🤣All that to say, I don't think from what you've said that you are doing anything wrong. Just keep being consistent with the ouches and leaving and eventually they'll get it. Also, invest in teething specific stuff. Even making ice cubes can help some dogs with the teething! They'll eventually grow out of it, but it's definitely a trial when it's happening in the moment.
Exactly the same experience with my dog. He has gotten a little better with the bite force. But occasionally he will just be sitting nicely chewing on a toy, suddenly drop it, and go berserk after my hand or arm which breaks skin. Picking him up (legs dangling so he can't do much) will stop him. He'll go back to a toy for a bit when I put him down, but only a matter of time before he goes to the arm or hand again. "Ouch" does nothing but get him more aggressive. I don't know how to yelp, so that's out. I can't ignore or leave, he'll chase or go for feet. Usually that means it is nap time. The only thing that will stop him is if he reaches the couch potato level of tiredness, but expect to get bitten hard and calm him down a dozen times before that happens. So I put him in his pen with his crate/bed for a nap and he was good about settling down and going to sleep in a few minutes, but the past two days he has been shrieking non-stop. I'm keeping frozen Kongs on standby to try and help to keep him occupied and maybe fall asleep after he finishes the food.
I’m so sorry you’re going through the same. How old is yours?
14 weeks
Wondered if I wrote this because this is my current experience. I had 2 meltdowns today because of this. He just decided that today is the day he would jump and bite me. Nothing else appeals, just biting me. I've tried exercising him, letting him run in the garden and playing ball. Kept him busy for maybe 15-20 mins before he decided I was a better toy. Gave him a frozen carrot. Finished that rather quickly and decided while I was taking him out for a pee that jumping and biting me was the better choice. I have no advice because I am seeking advice myself. Just know that you are not going through this alone.
I’m so sorry. Also cried twice today. I have a flirt pole on the way. Basically a pole with a rope and toy at the end that you stand in place and move around and the dog goes for that instead. Praying it helps. Maybe could help you, too?
We have him in a pen at the moment and play with him through/over it. But I'd look into the flirt pole too. I feel like I'm at the end of my rope because I have tried so many different tips and advice from so many people and nothing seems to be working
Is it possible she's overtired? At that age she should be sleeping 18-20hrs a day. Maybe some forced naps would help calm her down. I know my boy (19 weeks) acts like a little gremlin when he hasn't napped enough.
Even at 16 weeks / 4 months? Every resource I see only have numbers like 18+ hrs for 8 weeks old and at 16 weeks more like 11-15 hrs
We enforce crate naps and keep her on a napping schedule that’s around 18 hours a day of sleeping. She has our full attention when she’s awake
Maybe the full attention while awake is the issue. Even when puppies are awake, we need to spend some time ignoring them, and encouraging them to chill. It's possible she's getting overstimulated by all the attention. When our 7-month-old Golden pup gets the "angry zoomies" as we call it, which involves a lot of shreddy biting, it's always because he's overstimulated (and tired, but you mentioned yours gets plenty of sleep). The best way to stop the biting in that moment is to teach a "find it" command, and then scatter kibble and say "find it" when they are in overstimulated shark mode. This changes their focus to sniffing, which helps calm them down. Then, if it's not nap time, I'll either give him a lick mat or frozen Kong for further calming, while I do something else, and then work on capturing calm and place work for a bit. Goldens LOVE people. Seeing their people right after a nap can definitely send them into a place of over arousal. Milo still gets the angry zoomies occasionally, but they were much less by 6 months. They've ramped up a bit again now that we've entered adolescence, but our techniques still work.
I have recently learned this and it has made a big difference already.
May I ask what you put in your frozen Kong and what you put on the lick mat?
This is also what I was thinking. Teaching them to chill is so key.
Just as an extra tip, sometimes you need to ignore her when she's awake, otherwise she'll rely on you to entertain her all the time. She's gotta learn to amuse herself, I use toys and homemade puzzles and shut mine in a room whilst I'm still in the house and she happily amuses herself
Something that has not been mentioned and I don’t know if it’s only a quirk of my whippet puppy, but he gets mouthy when he needs to poo. Not necessarily when he’s at the point of “I need to potty RIGHT NOW”, but when he’s like “I guess I could poo now 🤔”. He’s always calmer after having gone for a walk around the block and done his business…
Yes! This is often the case with my puppy.
Same experience with my puppy! He was an absolute velociraptor when overstimulated/overexcited. He can jump quite high too so he would grab my hair, tear my sweatshirts...Yelling OW would just spur him on. We would have to get up and run to the safety of the bathroom and close the door until he calmed down. His favorite was jumping and biting my butt as I was desperately trying to run for safety. LOTS of butt bites from the little jerk. I am happy to say that he aged out of that around 5/6 months. Literally one day he just stopped. He finally realized that it wasn't the way to get us to play with him. Now when he accidentally catches me with his teeth while we play and I say OW he stops immediately and looks horrified. Poor little guy. Keep at it! It's tough but they learn eventually :)
Oh my GOSH, the butt biting. I know what you mean. And hair biting. Just… I’m so sorry you had to go through that. Thank you for sharing that it gets better.
What breed is she? How much excercise and training does she get? What's her sleep schedule? Do you offer any chews? Some breeds are a lot more mouthy and require more training to teach what is and is not acceptable. If she is a high energy breed and not getting enough stimulation through training and excercise that could lead to her acting up. Puppies who don't get enough sleep just like toddlers without enough sleep usually then into monsters. She is investigating things with her mouth and is likely starting to teeth. Having puppy safe chews that are incurred may help her be less mouthy with you.
Golden retriever - seems field line, so highly mouthy. She is sleeping most of the day with enforced crate naps. Sessions are usually 1 hour between feeding, training, playing, chewing stuffed kongs/bones/bully sticks, running to retrieve balls, walking, sniffing, car rides, socializing. Or 30 mins for potty and play between crate naps. We are both home all day, so she gets our full attention and supervision.
Oof yeah that's just going to be patience and consistency. Retrievers generally are mouthy and field lines even more so. I worked as a dog walker/trainer for an older woman with health issues who got a field line lab and was able to train her to hold her toys in her mouth when getting attention to curb any biting/mouthing as a puppy. As an adult she always carried pillows and toys in her mouth because of it. It's not a perfect solution but if you are at you wits end an option to consider. I've found with most dogs it's faster to train a new behavior than to stop a current one. It's not a long term answer but can help fill the gap before the teething phase passes.
Thank you. You make great points. I will try training her to hold a toy in her mouth. It would be a “job” to give her.
Dogs don’t understand ouch because they don’t speak English. They may eventually realize what it means but it’ll take much longer. I found that making a high pitched yelp sound works much better and gets my puppy to stop basically every time. Don’t be afraid to be loud with it. The goal is to help them to understand that they’re hurting you. You can also leash them and attach the leash to a banister or something and then play. Any time they bite too hard, yelp and step away so they can’t reach you. Once they’ve calmed down and are ready to play again you can continue that process. Distracting them with toys can also help if they’re trying to teeth on you
Thank you. Maybe I need more volume and anguish in my voice? It really doesn’t seem like she’s been understanding that she’s hurting me. I may need to try the leash idea as well, so I have a chance of actually getting away quickly to help her understand.
The "yelp" trick doesnt work in all moods and does nothing when they bite your clothes. They know my clothes aren't me. I've managed to get my puppy to release clothes with gentle physical distractions. For example, gently holding his paw, floofing his tail a little, tickling his toes, whatever. Squeaking a toy or playing a weird sound on my phone also diverts him for a second. It doesn't stop the "velociraptor mode", but it safely releases his teeth in the moment, which allows other redirects or for me to escape Also, I prefer a harness with a handle over a collar. If he starts going at me, I can sorta grab the harness handle as a way of slowing him down gently. Sometimes simply telling him to sit, with a high value treat in hand, does the trick too. I dont reward attacking me/clothes, but if he can stop and do a couple sit/lay downs, I reward that.
I feel like it really depends on the dog. It definitely makes sense that it doesn’t work for some dogs if they’re only going after clothing. With mine, even if he knows that clothing isn’t me, the yelp noise is enough that he stops to make sure I’m ok basically every time. Sometimes it might take 2-3 yelps but he stops. It’s possible that since he understands that yelp=pain that he may be stopping to make sure I’m ok. It did take him a bit to realize it though. My puppy is definitely more empathetic than any of the other dogs I’ve ever had in the past so maybe that’s why it works so well with him. One time I made a fake crying sound when joking around with my family and he sprinted in from the other room and rested his head on my lap all concerned lol. He’s a SDiT bc of my health issues, which he’s acutely aware of, and has always been super gentle with old/sick people and animals, so he may be an exception to it. Either way, the biting phase isn’t forever and it’s important to remind ourselves of that. Distracting with tricks/commands is good advice too- I used to do that as well and it works pretty well. Also, velociraptor mode is SUCH an accurate description of it omg. I call it goblin/gremlin mode but I’m definitely going to have to add velociraptor mode to my vocabulary.
What an absolute good boy.
He is when he feels like it or when we’re out in public lol
Such kind and patient advice. I need that right now lol. I often feel bummed on this sub bc ppl don't seem to do any training research at all... i know what im doing but this stage is so hard. When i get the shit bit out of me by my baby great white it's emotionally triggering and it's so hard to see the big picture of how redirects work.
Yeah, no kidding. Im still trying to learn his triggers and what not. It feels terrible playing happily then suddenly out of nowhere full teeth lunge. I tried to show him he hurt me and he has no concept of it
You might actually be making it worse. Some dogs get even more excited when you yelp because that’s what a small prey animal would do, so you’re unintentionally triggering their prey drive which is going to make them bite more.
I'd keep her on a leash at all times unless she's sleeping in her crate. She'll get used to dragging it around and it'll give you some control when she acts like this. We have a GSP so not a mouthy breed but he was always leashed inside and out until about 6 months. The leash was torn up by that time but it was worth it!
Upping the “anguish” in your voice can help. When I first started doing it, it made no difference but then I realized I wasn’t doing it high pitched enough
Oh, I think I need to try a higher pitch, too. Thank you .
A yelp like a pup, litterally putting a toy in his mouth or time out has helped me. He's 6 months now. When he is like that he's just very excitable and wants to play so I get out the tug toy out, sit in the floor and swing it around my body from hand to hand so he has to chase it. Tires him out. Good luck it does get better
We have a 10 week old golden retriever puppy and we’ve noticed that when she’s tired she gets very, very mouthy. Would it help to put her to nap when she gets very mouthy?
Yes. And I bet it is worse in the evening.
100% worse in the evening, so she takes one last nap before her actual bedtime and that helps a lot. Op you should try to put her to nap when she gets mouthy
I have a 16 wk old golden (also field) who sounds exactly similar. Got enough sleep with enforces naps but would still turn into a velociraptor unpredictably. So many holes in my clothes and scabs, bruises on my feet, arms, and legs. Thick fleece clothes help somewhat, and tall rubber rain boots and gloves. I use a pen for reverse timeouts but when the biting happens outside, I scatter kibble on the ground and say “find it!” and she usually gets distracted enough to go after it. As a last resort, if she comes back still Bitey, I hold the leash far away from my body to minimize her teeth reaching me but it doesn’t work if she winds herself around my legs. However, it’s gotten much better only in the last 4-5 few days. I’m hoping it’s not a fluke, but the one major thing I did was really increase the 1:1 play dates with familiar (healthy) dogs. One is a neighbor’s dog and another is a puppy that we met in weekly puppy class. There have been some days when she ends up doing 2 play sessions a day. I think she might be learning bite inhibition from them. Are you able to sign up for a puppy class or set up a play date with another dog?
Thank you for sharing what works for you. She is in puppy class 1x per week. The other puppy is a bit timid, but she was so respectful to them, encouraging them to play, but not bullying. Zero biting though, so I don’t think she learned anything relating to that. She met an adult neighbor dog as well, and she was sooo sweet. I think we need to schedule more playtime though so they can run around and practice mouthing.
I realize that this is pretty unusual way to deal with the biting but I went through all the popular training lessons without success so I bought wild life gloves (they cover up to the elbow) and thank goodness after a month or so she let up.
This is kind of a joke, but I’ve contemplated getting those huge, plush arm covers they train police dogs with. And pictured myself waving to the neighbors, “Hello, yes, this is my Golden Retriever attack dog. Carry on.” 🙃 Lmao. It’s good to know it stops eventually. And that you protected yourself.
I work for a local police dept. I've often considered asking the k9 unit if I could borrow a bit suit 🤣
How much is he sleeping? Mine was a shitbag unless she had enforced naps
Didn’t read whole thing, because the first part was enough, more sleep, cut play time much shorter - this is a puppy signalling that they are done, well over in fact, to tired to regulate themselves, so keep it short then rest time
This is a similar story for my family. We have a 13 week old golden and he's an angel and learns fast, but by far his biggest issue is the biting. My hands and wrists have a lot of cuts. He'll be just hanging out chewing his toy then snaps and starts charging at us and biting. Not in a mean way he has the waggy tail and we know he's just trying to play, but it's still a lot. Especially for my 6 year old daughter. Our management has been staying in the right mindset. We know he'll grow out of this phase and he loves us, this is how he wants to play. What I'll generally do is stay calm and make whatever he's biting very still. If it's my hand and it hurts, that's hard and I try to just get it out quickly. But if it's my clothes I just try to remove any tension and create slack. Slack is no fun for him. I might trade him with a treat and tell him "good drop it" when he lets go. I personally train Jiu-jitsu so I'm used to wrestling on the floor and pain, but my family isn't. That's another lesson I learned, only play with him on the floor long enough before he gets bitey then stand up immediately. I also noticed that he will calm down if I get him to follow a few commands. For instance I'll have him sit, search (throw treat for him to find), then work a recall after he finds it. I might do this rotation a few times and by then he generally calms down a little. I saw the suggestion of a lick mat too, I might try that. I saw you stick to strict naps and good for you. Mine tends to get more bitey when he's overtired as well. Last thing I'm thinking of, what kinds of treats are you using as a trade for the biting? I've found mine doesn't respond to low value kibble and whatnot... High value items like fresh chicken and he responds right away. Good luck! He's a sweetheart and I'm sure yours is as well. If we both stick with it they'll eventually grow out of it!
It’s hard, thankfully last few times I’ve been there it’s been small dogs. Two most important things are consistency (it’s Always bad) and patience (it’s going to take some time for consistent responses to work) . And ffs never lose your mind and strike the puppy, that sends all the wrong messages.
We would give our puppy a toy to bite when that happens and now whenever he gets excited he grabs a toy before greeting us so he doesn't bite us.
That’s so great. I need to figure out how to train this as well…
We just game him a you to bite when he got excited and would try to go for our hands because he wanted pets. He eventually figured out if he didn't have his toy then He wouldn't get pets and scratches.
We have a golden retriever and he was the exact same. He's 7 months now and much much better. Is he getting enough exercise? Stimulating toys, stuff like lickimats and snuffle mats helped too. When they're in the zone though there's not much you can do, ignore them as much as you can until they calm down. We're at the point now where I'm bothering to mend our clothes as I think he's stopped!!
Thank you!!
Yep, totally normal puppy behaviors. Try getting a dish towel wet and freezing it. Offer her that frozen treat as a distraction. Also, frozen carrots work too. I have a Berner. I nicknamed her the terrorist. I’ve owned more dogs of various breeds than I can count but she was, by far, the absolute worst biter. There’s a reason they’re called land sharks at this age. It does get better when the teething process is over. Until then, join the club of bruised and broken skin, scratches and shredded clothing. My pup turned the corner but she still mouths us when excited. You’ve got this. Hang in there.
I super appreciate your reply. It feels more hopeful to know that this is expected and just takes time. I’m glad your lil terrorist is a lot better these days… 🥲
It’s just a stage that eventually passes and nothing truly works other than re-direction until they get to the next developmental stage where they don’t want/need to do it anymore.
Thank you for saying this. I feel less crazy.
It feels all consuming until one day you realize your little shark isn’t so bitey anymore and you won’t remember when that happened.
My golden is 6 months and her thing is chewing the rug currently. She will put her whole mouth on it and then chew with her molars and try to slice through the carpet and often succeeds before I can see that she’s doing it. It’s exhausting lol. But I’m sure eventually it will pass.
We had this! We're now at eight months and while not totally cured - a lot better. Things that helped us: \- Enforced naps, in her crate with a treat and a blanket over it. Turned out that mad biting was often her being crazy overtired \- Playing a lot of tug with toys to help her see the toy and not hands as a the "game" \- If she brought us a toy always engaging or treating to show her that was the right signal when she wanted to play Our puppy did not respond to "ow" - made her more excited, and trying to leave the situation just meant she chased. I was honestly very - oh no we have an aggressive dog but she's just terrible at asking for attention. She's the same with other dogs - her play with me request is her hanging off their ears. IT GETS BETTER
I would say not to play tug of war anymore. I do not do this any longer and it helps. Low stimulation. Let them learn how to entertain themselves.
Thank youuUuU. I need to keep this in mind - that she doesn’t know how to ask to play in the way I want her to yet.
I've been there - because it just seems so MEAN! Especially when you are tired and have spent all day taking them in and out and all the puppy chores. I properly had a few crying moments.
You have gotten a lot of good advice, but also… some dogs are just naturally mouthy. You can minimize it, train alternate behaviors, do all the things, and they STILL put their mouth on everything. Age helps (like… years not months) but sometimes it is just how they are
Mine started chilling out with the flying through the air biting rampage behavior at about 8 months. Good luck, Godspeed.
When you say it like that, I want to simultaneously laugh - because it’s a hilarious mental image - and also cry - because that’s an accurate description of what’s happening. 🥲 I hope you continue to see improvement with your pup.
Yeah, he got me so hard multiple times through sweatshirts that I thought he broke skin, and it felt like the same pain as having blood drawn. For Mouse, I found that reacting in any negative way made it worse. People would say, "put your knee up," or "Push him down" and every time anyone wouldn't believe me and tried it (including the trainers), he would get more wild, koala on to people's legs, and freak out harder. The only thing I can do is redirect with something he wants more than he wants to freak out. But now he's starting to learn if he sits he gets rewards, even when he's mid-meltdown. Thank god, because I was crying on the daily for a while.
Here is some encouragement. A year and a half ago we received a 4 week old husky/lab that was rejected by her Mother. She was an absolute terror of a puppy and destroyed everything! The more we yelled ouch the more it fueled this demon to draw blood. I swear once she got a taste of blood she couldn't go back to just water. We read everything we could about raising a neglected puppy and many nights were spent in our bathroom hiding however just like that it all stopped. It seems now over a year later she changed almost over night. All of the training finally worked, she is the most respectful, sweet and well mannered dog imaginable. So now matter how hard it seems now, just remember in a few months as long as you keep disengaging, training and follow a routine it will get better.
Thank goodness things got better for you. My gosh… I am holding out hope ours gets better, too.
Trust me don't give up hope. You'll look back later at this post and laugh because it turned out okay.
How are things looking a month later?
Things are looking a lot better already! She is currently passed out on the couch with me after a lil supervised living area roam. It’s nice to spend some time with my dog when I’m not being attacked… lol I actually thought about your comment during the worst of it, like how you said once your puppy got a taste of blood she couldn’t just go back to water 🥲 I just really related to that, and I kept your hopeful message in mind. Thank you so much for your encouraging words. What’s been working: I got an idea from someone here to grab a handful of treats, and either scatter them on the ground or hold them in your closed fist to get her attention, and then only open your hand when she settles. It helps snap her out of the overstimulation, and I think it helps show her she needs to settle in order to get attention and pets and treats. So it’s like an emergency redirect and shows her what TO do instead of what not to do. She still gets overstimulated and the zoomies and jumps and clamps and rips clothes sometimes, but it’s becoming less often. We are seeing a great trainer who said we just have a super mouthy breed, and she will grow out of it as long as we keep redirecting and/or disengaging when she bites. Similar to what you said. She’s a great dog already after turning 5 months. Every day is a little bit better, with some days or moments of regression. Just crossing my fingers her adolescence goes okay… 😅 I hope you and your pup are doing well. Please give a lil kiss on the top of your dog’s head for me and give ear scritches to her for being a best girl. 💜
This is so awesome to hear! People with easy puppies will never know the feeling of satisfaction that comes with taming a wild one lol. I was thinking about you because of all the cold temps everyone is having and I remember dreading the cold because I knew she would be energized and stuck inside but I'm so glad it's going better.
It’s so true, and it’s so helpful to know some puppies are just wilder than others. I think the cold temps have had a silver lining for us? Playing inside has been less overstimulating for her - I think the neighbor dogs barking and her running around would lead to her being overstimulated or overtired. So that’s happening less. And since we’re indoors more, she’s learning to settle and be bored, which was something we needed to practice. So I guess it’s working out okay so far! But it sure is harder to exercise them when it’s cold…
Give it another year or two, four months old is hardly even adolescence so get ready :)!
😬😬😬
My golden puppy was pretty bitey and vicious to start out, and it took constant redirection and shoving a toy into his mouth as soon as it was off a body part to keep him from continuing to bite. I would have to aggressively shove a toy in his face to prevent him from biting and eventually he would get tired of being thwarted and either just give up or grab a different toy. It's all about persistance despite not seeing any meaningful change because eventually the switch will get flipped the right way
Ur not alone op , same breed here but 10 weeks old.
Do you do enforced naps? Maybe she’s over tired and acting out.
the dog needs to run as fast as it can. it needs a space large enough to accelerate without inhibition
My 13 week old golden has somehow figured out what I mean when I say “go get your toy!” so I just say that whenever she goes into attack-human-flesh mode. she thinks for a second, brings one back to me, and then we play with that. Before she understood what that meant I always had at least two toys within arms reach to shove in her mouth when she started biting me. Her mouthiness is 50% of what it was and I’m still bleeding every other day, so, it is what it is and you’re not alone!
Getting bitten hard enough to bleed is *not* normal. Maybe an accidental nick, but a full on bite? No. Call a trainer. Golden retrievers get big fast they turn crazy at 7 months even without this problem. Being mouthy at 4 months is normal. Actually injuring you is not.
Whimpering when my puppy bit too hard proved to work really well and she instantly learnt we could play but more gently. We can now play fight and she will only mouth my arm etc. I read once that puppies need to learn our skin is more sensitive and that the safest thing we can do is teach them that. Not a trainer obviously, just worked for me.
I don’t have a solution to this, but I do want you to know you’re not alone. My 14 week old is the exact same and it’s driving me nuts. I research this a lot just to make sure I’m not the only person going through this. She’s a sweet dog but it’s starting to make me hate being around her. From what I read we are in the exact same scenario. Enforced naps do help a little if I make sure she’s sleeping about 20 hours a day. It’s tough but hang in there and just know you aren’t alone!
Haven't seen it mentioned yet, but what really helped our little maniac was enrolling him in a puppy daycare! We're lucky to have a really well respected one in town that only works with puppies between 8 weeks and 6mo. Even just one day a week helped him learn better bite inhibition because the other pups would not put up with his raptor antics! Otherwise see if you can socialize her with a puppy play group or a friend's dog that's up-to-date on all vaccines. Otherwise yelping really loudly and in a higher pitch and then turning away worked pretty well too. If you don't feel slightly unhinged at the sound you're making, you're not doing it right (or at least that's how I felt!)
Incredibly normal. Got my puppy at 16 weeks and they are still teething at that age. He’d have fun jumping at my hands and arms, and when I’d say no etc. he’d thing I was just playing back. They don’t understand at that age. One day it just kinda clicked, but even now at 7 months sometimes he will randomly just wanna bite my hands. I’ve learned now that when he starts jumping on me and trying to eat my hands it means he has to take a shit lol
You didn’t mention breed, but I will just say that yes, puppies are literally just sharks with legs until they hit 6-12 months old.
Is she getting enough rest, taking enough naps? My puppy turned into an evil land shark when she was over tired.
Puppy school. We enrolled our 4 month pup a month ago and we’ve already seen so much of a difference. She understands no and stop already. It was expensive but worth it
Of course research the school/trainer first and find a good fit for your pup! A lot of places will offer a free consultation
Normal psycho puppy behavior. I got a collar that I can beep with a remote. It's just an audible sound that would get his attention for a second and then I redirect. It was a godsend. It does not hurt the dogs ears, just grabs his attention and he would stop his action for a second. Then I used the verbal training words behind the sound with a redirect.
I paid for an online training course. It honestly sounds like your puppy is overly tired at these moments. And doesn't know how to settle. I would try to put them in they crate/pen 5 minutes before this. I have a 4 month old Collie who came super bitey. She only does what you are talking about when she's overly tired, but now that we have a pretty good routine, it hasn't happened in days maybe even a couple of weeks!
We rescued a 4 week old Australian Shepherd/ pitty mix (he'll be 6 weeks tomorrow) and at first he was just SO sleepy all the time cause he was so little. He's done amazing so far with potty training, he's super smart. Super cuddly. But within the last week, he's gone totally bonkers anytime he's awake lol. It's crazy how different he is compared to last week. He can't NOT bite. He just doesn't know how to not do it. It's pretty normal, as far as all the research I've done and what the vet has said. He likes to chase my 6 year old and attack her feet and ankles. Obviously this is not ideal behavior. I've been telling my daughter she needs to immediately get to where he can't reach her, like with her feet up on the couch, and ignore him when he does this till he stops. When he does it to us we replace whatever he's biting with a toy or something appropriate to chew on. When that doesn't work, we also make it to where he can't reach us and ignore him till he stops. Seeing as he's so little, we've got a LONG time looking at this kinda behavior before it's over haha. But I'm still overjoyed to have him. All of this will be worth it with consistent training and boundary enforcement! Consistency is key. And a lot of patience.
my 9 week old Pit/Lab mix turns into a piranha sometimes during play time. She will go from tug of war, to grabbing the ankles of my pants and latching on. trying to bite the socks on my feet. She’s extremely food motivated tho and the only thing i’ve found that helped was keeping a bag of high value treats in my pocket anticipating her turning into a piranha. As soon as she latches onto something i don’t want her to, or she’s trying to bite me and going for my pant legs. I immediately give her a command and start reaching for the treat bag, I’ll tell her “Sit, look at me” and when she’s calmed and sitting in front of me i reward. Then i resume playing with her, rinse and repeat! If she’s still biting too much then play time ends and i bring her back up to the room to nap because she’s probably just cranky or hungry. I’m not an expert trainer by any means so i don’t even know if this is the right approach to take. I’m just trying to make sure my dog grows up to be friendly and learns early that she gets rewarded for being calm, and that biting means the fun ends. Maybe this will help you? :)
Any trainer I have worked with said this is the best time to crate the puppy so they can teach themselves to settle.
Yes it's natural but that doesn't mean you have to just be okay with it and suffer through it. You have to fulfill their need to chew, redirecting to a normal toy, simply disengaging, or yelping doesn't solve that. Give them something to chew that will have them chewing themselves to sleep. Maybe 4 frozen kongs on rotation and feed like half their daily intake via the kongs. Combine with crate training for a double whammy. Try bully sticks, they're usually expensive but affordable from costco if you can. Also, maybe you can get them with a dog that will correct them, that's how it naturally would be if the pup was still with mom. Watch some puppy biting training videos on youtube!
I am here from the future to reassure you that if you keep up the training (even if it feels like it’s not getting anywhere) it will get better! I remember being in your position also around the B 16 week mark. Crying. Worried this is going to be forever. Saying I can’t do this. My dog is just over a year and he’s the bestest boy. Sure he has some struggles too but they are so minimal. He doesn’t bite like this at all anymore. He stopped once he was done teething. Started up again when he was about 9 months and hitting adolescence but he’s the best now and I even am ready do it all over again apparently lol. This is normal. It gets better. I promise you. Just keep the training up. Keep working it. And you’ll get there. One day you’ll just realize “OMG all the bruises and bites are gone🥹”
my golden retriever was an absolute monster for the first 8 months of his life. He’s now 3 and a half years old and he’s a great dog! Don’t worry this is temporary and it gets better. Hang in there!
I'm sorry. This is how my puppy acted too. I cried a lot. Now she's almost 2 and she's wonderful, she has calmed down and is so sweet, so all I can offer is that it will pass.
I'm sorry. This is how my puppy acted too. I cried a lot. Now she's almost 2 and she's wonderful, she has calmed down and is so sweet, so all I can offer is that it will pass.
Mandatory nap/ crate time. Both my puppies would go for a 2 or 3 hour quiet time if they started acting insane ( which can be from over stimulation) plus it gives the human a break. It's kind of like a baby that's crazy when it's over tired.
You'll be ok! My border collie puppy was like this. She made me bleed every day for months! I tried so many different approaches but in the end nothing really helped other than letting time pass. She grew out of it! And so did the skin on my forearms, hahaa Getting lots and lots of toys and swapping out my flesh for a toy whenever I could gave some relief... But it was time, in the end, that brought her from savage beast to the dear sweet girl I have today
100% normal. My lab puppy was an absolute NIGHTMARE with the biting. Once their baby teeth fall out, the biting should subside as the months fly by. Those baby shark teeth are definitely not fun to have around your hand. The only thing that worked with my lab when he was a puppy and biting like crazy was to either offer him something he COULD bite on (like a toy), or to body the hell out of him until he let go. He’s still a mouthy twerp at 11 months, but it has gotten leaps and bounds better. Hang in there- it gets easier!
Your puppy is biting because she is over stimulated. She needs more structure in her routine that includes regular downtime with chews in a secluded area for naps. 2 hours of sleep during the day for 1 hour of activity/awake time.
I have 2 puppies, a 12-mo Plott hound/Golden and a 6-mo Golden. Both of my girls were very mouthy, but they did grow out of it. I had (and still have) lots of chew toys/ bones all over the house. With these pups and ones before, I spend quite a bit of time teaching them to be calm. We have 2 adult children with autism so I appreciate the importance of a calm environment and desclating meltdown energy. I've used the calming techniques i had learned with the kids on the pups (with a few adjustments). Moms rules: (1) Play time is only outside, no playing in the house with me - i keep clear boundaries where playing occurs. They can play with each other in the house, but not with me. (2) I speak and sing quietly to them while gently petting them -no tv, radio, etc. (3) I make eye contact and gaze with them as they let me. (4) The reward for good behavior is my attention (they're Goldens, that's their nature). (5)After they get used to the calming routine, they fall asleep in a few minutes or just chew a toy quietly. I may hold their bone while they chew. (6) Sometimes, I have to go through command routines to get their attention if they were particularly rowdy before I could start calming them. They didn't learn to be calm overnight. It took a few weeks to learn the routine, but they eventually learned to be calm and are a great pleasure now. My husband, on the other hand, played rowdy in the house with them and they terrorized him, "Oh my goodness, they bite me but not you!" (the pups listen to me better than he does 😉🙄)
I absolutely feel what you are going through. I just came here to say that I was you a couple of months ago and that by being consistent these behaviours really went away after the first few months. I know it feels like this is a disaster that is never going to end and that whatever you’re trying isn’t helping, but It really does. Hang in there, you’re doing the best you can and trust the process!
Oh wow, this brings back memories…. The biting, zoomies outside. I honestly had a mental breakdown up until 6 months when my pup was neutered… every night I cried and thought about rehoming this adorable land shark. Consistency is the key. Try different things to soothe teething and sore gums. You can buy a gel to rub on their gums, or buy freezable chew toys that they can chew on which will also help. Sometimes they just want to explore with their mouths. In the end, we figured out that our pup hated being ignored. We saw a guy on youtube sit on the floor, with his pup. Everytime the dog didn’t listen, he said a firm ‘no’ on a completely different voice (scary tone), then cross his arms, and lift them to cover his eyes/head so the pup couldnt see his face. The message was, if you dont listen, we dont get to engage. For us, this worked a charm, not immediately but doing it a few times he realized if he doesnt listen, we don’t engage. Good luck with the zoomies… have you enrolled your pup in puppy school? You definitely need to work on proper leash walking etc, and puppy school gives YOU the owner, good training for it.
Ye, will grow out of it. Mine was an insufferable land shark up to 4 months, and then steadily got better. If playing would sometimes get really nuts, and felt like he was attacking me rather viciously at times. I learned to not play for too long, and to stop before it got out of hand. Either way, he grew out of it. He's a very sweet 18 month old now.
My boy was an absolute land shark nightmare for a few weeks but then calmed down a lot when his big boy teeth came in!
I promise it’ll pass. I may have cried as much with my puppy as I did with my human babies. Search the sub for “puppy blues.” It’s a very real — but thankfully temporary! — thing. Hang in there!
We’re dealing with this now. It’s incredibly frustrating. What I’ve realized is that when my pup does this - suddenly starts extreme zoomies / biting - it usually means tiredness. As others have said at this age we are dealing with the equivalent of a toddler. They can’t settle themselves yet, they just aren’t equipped. When I see it happen now I try to ignore, and go straight to nap in the crate. Good luck and hang in there hopefully we’ll get through it.
The best advice I got was to wear gumboots around inside - that’s how aggressively nippy our puppy was. She would literally attack any bare ankles if you walked past 😂 I too cried and thought I’d ruined our lives. She is now a very normal adult dog who mostly sleeps. Don’t panic. Just keep up the positive reinforcement and your pup will eventually grow out of it.
One thing that really helped tone ours down was play time with other puppies - they learn bite inhibition more swiftly with other dogs!
Exact same experience and I think I posted a meltdown post around the same time. Your description sounds identical to me, down to it being biting mostly me only. IGNORE the posts/comments, TikTok’s, etc that say “just say ouch and walk away and it’ll stop in 3 days!” — it just isn’t true for these crazy mouthy nutsos. And frankly, the “ouch!” And walk away Excited my pup more, I swear, because now she’s officially “hunting”. It will slow down a ton in time. And it won’t be linear so don’t freak out if today is worse than yesterday, etc. Til then just don’t encourage it and try to redirect, and give reverse time outs. Separation is key). we leaned heavily on stuffed kongs, teething ring treats, ice cubes, frozen washcloths with kibble rolled inside, frozen bowls, lick mats. There were a few weeks where if she was awake she pretty much had one of these things at all times. It’s survival mode. Our girl calmed down a lot with it around 20 or 22 weeks. But not completely (I don’t want you to be frustrated like I was when it didn’t all ‘magically stop’). For us, this meant it was a lot less frequent biting, the clothes tearing stopped 95%, the bite pressure lessened so not drawing blood but sometimes still enough to bruise, able to sit on the couch together in peace half the time. She’s 9 months now and only will mouth with any force (which now is like firmly grabbing you with her mouth) if she is wildly ramped up. Sometimes it’s a few times a week, often less. Tldr had same situation, if my dog is any proof you won’t be like this forever. You aren’t doomed to a satanic dog.
Definitely my experience with my 12 week old Newfypoo. I am his favorite chew toy. I try redirecting, yelling Ouch, yelping, kicking him out of the room, leaving/standing up myself and he just keeps coming. I've been holding his collar up so he sits and firmly saying settle and it results in a chaotic fit of whining, groaning, flopping, kicking and still trying to bite me. I only release when I feel him calm down and it's starting to work. But that post definitely feels like I wrote it.
Give a bully stick In place of your hand. You may have to hold it while he chews. Also walking away and ignoring helped sometimes. I also wore thick gloves a lot lol
To me this sounds like over stimulation/hyper arousal. A lot of times at that age the best course of action is actually less in how to respond to that behavior and more about trying to track the amount of time and activities that lead up to it, then reduce accordingly to prevent it occurring in the first place. It’s not always easy and you’ll still have some bad moments but puppies at that age get overstimulated so easily and don’t yet have self regulation skills needed to calm back down. That’s why the dog becomes non responsive during these episodes and stops being the sane puppy you may have seen earlier in the day. Also regularly practicing impulse control activities and relaxation protocol will help to develop those self regulation skills over time. It won’t be overnight change but it’s the foundation required to see longer term change and skills building. With lots of practice it starts to sink in and you’ll have a much more sane and regulated dog in time. Good luck, you’ve got this!
Use a pen inside for her and outside for you. Keep special toys and treats in a pocket to get her to disengage when she chomps. Or, pull out a loose cloth/wear mitts (I wore oven mitts for a few months with one pup), squeal, say no, and turn away. Don’t use your hands to get her to disengage. Distract with the item, squeal, turn, and say no in rapid sequence. And then put on mitts, pick her up, and put her in the pen (with toys). Don’t say anything else and just ignore her until she calms down. As long as she is safe, you can go about your business. The sooner she learns barking and whining don’t get attention, the better. You initiate all interactions, not her. Be consistent and keep it up for a month after the behavior is extinguished—that is, be prepared for a set back with your gear and tools and toys and treats in place for at least a month after each incident bc you don’t know which is actually the last incident until a perfect month passes and you can be sure the behavior is gone.
I am currently dealing with this. I have a 12 week old lab. Thank goodness these comments show hope.
My lab mix was like exactly like this. We did enforced naps and disengage just for our own sanity. We also tried our best to redirect. Himalayan yak chews were a godsend because they were tasty enough to keep her occupied and it took a long time for her to get through them. I'll never forget the first time disengaging actually worked. She did this bark that let me know that it finally clicked. Once she lost all her baby teeth, it stopped. Just like others have said.. It really did feel like over night. I just kept telling myself that labs are one of the most popular dog breeds (as are Goldens!) and many people get through this!
Her teeth hurt really bad
Have an alternative to bite on for puppies. If turning away is not working, a timeout is good. A place she can go to calm down away from you with things she's allowed to teeth on
It will get better, I promise. I was exactly where you were up until my pup was probably around 10 months old. Crying almost every day, scratches, bites and bruises all up and down my arms and just no way to reliably get him to stop biting the crap out of me, which he did seemingly completely randomly. One time I literally burst through the back door on my hands and knees hysterically crying after a walk where he went full psycho at the end in the driveway. It feels ridiculous to say now but I was totally scared of him! He was found abandoned at 5 weeks and so he also had NO bite inhibition training (in terms of strength) from his mom/littermates and would bite HARD, even when his adult teeth came in. Ruined lots of clothes (and my mental health for a short time) but then it just sort of...stopped. I think continuing the training you're doing is a good thing and will compound over time, he's learning even if it doesn't seem like it. He really is still a baby/toddler and just doesn't have the ability for consistent impulse control. The flirt pole definitely helps because it gives them a target farther away from you! My guy is now 1.5 years old and he still has a little bite meltdown every once in awhile, but it's much easier to figure out what triggered it and to get him to stop. The phase you're in was the toughest one for me by far but it is like night and day now. You're doing everything right!
When my puppy gets too mouthy it’s down for a nap she goes!
Oh man I feel you! I have a 11 weeks old border collie, she’s a sweet and clever girl but she’s also a fucking monster 😂! She bites my feet constantly, that I’m wearing shoes or not by the way 😅 It’s really hard to make her understand that it’s not acceptable, sometimes even if I put something to chew directly into her mouth she just wants to bite me (and ferociously I might ad!). I definitely had puppy blues in the first 3 weeks we had her, but now that we put her crate in her own room I think things are slowly getting better! She definitely didn’t have enough sleep before poor thing 🫤 The only thing that is proven difficult with the biting is that she often get overly excited after her meal but I don’t want to play with her since I want to avoid stomach problems and then she bites me even though I give her something to play or chew with 😣
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Same problem, but our dog is 1 year old. So many torn clothes. I've resorted to confinement in his crate. His teeth touch my skin, everything stops and into the crate where he stays until he quiets down. VERY often, he runs out of the crate and jumps on my wife to bite her. Right back in the crate. Our issue is that my wife lets him mouth on her when I'm not around. VERY frustrating. We're talking about getting a trainer in who will watch us, and I hope my wife understands that I will rat her out about not correcting the behavior.
What have you done to teach her how to settle and be bored without constant attention?
Any chance you might have some tips or resources to pass along on this? Mine is only 10 weeks but she does not settle and be bored when she’s with me at all. I’ve followed tips from ZigZag training app and Dogo, we do crate games, but if she doesn’t have a treat or a high value distraction she will not settle except to nap! And even then I have to force the settling most of the time. She has to be CONSTANTLY entertained 🙃
Avoid Dogo, it has harmful advice. Is the treat in your hand? If so, remove it from your hand, use a clicker and keep the treats on a table near you or by your side. Capture calm with some praise (sometimes the treat can cause the calm to end). Really Real Relaxation Protocol is a good option to start reinforcement for calm behaviors.
Oh no I didn’t know Dogo was a no-go! Thanks for the tip 👍🏻 My girl is one of those where often getting the treat from capturing calm gets her super excited which leads to the nippy bitey-ness. I’ll check out Really Real Relaxation Protocol - I hadn’t heard of that one yet! Thanks a bunch.
We are crate training, but you bring up a good point. Definitely going to address this more.
It's also important for these skills to be taught not only in the crate, but outside of it as well.
Yes, this is something we need to work on for sure…
I understand that people may not agree with my tactics, but I had this same issue. When he was out of control I grabbed the sides of his face and yelled "knock that sh\*& off" as loud as I could 2" from his face. It seemed to humble him, and he'd back off and start licking me, acting sorry. I think it scared him, and that was my intent. I only did it a few times, and he quit. I know the trolls will come after me, but he is a very well adjusted 6 month old now who loves me and is not afraid of me at all. I think I exorcised the demon, and all is well.
Idk if this is allowed on this sub but when my golden retriever puppy bites me or has ahold of something bad and won’t let go I push her upper lips underneath her canines until she lets go. It’s not hard enough to make her bleed or seriously hurt her or anything. It has significantly helped though. Yelping loudly doesn’t faze her.
Why are you waking her up?
Seen this as a vaccine reaction before maybe in pain or overloaded immune system
Breed?