Biting, barking and lunging puppy.

[Greyhorses]

Hi everyone!
Sorry I have posted my puppy struggles before but I am pretty clueless having not had a puppy for 14 years and can't stop the mouthing behaviour!

I got puppy at 6 weeks from a rescue type situation, he was in a bad way and had been taken from mum far far too early at 4 weeks and was under socialised. I have spent hours and hours taking him everywhere to try and make him more rounded. He has become much more confident and is brave enough to meet new dogs and people now most of the time.

However, I am having trouble with his biting and lunging. I am sure it is attention seeking behaviour but he was basically stand and bark at me then lunge at my face or arms biting me pretty hard. He has done this to others and is going to be a big dog so I want to nip this in the bud now. I started off yelping but this has become an ever bigger game so I need some ideas to stop him quickly before he gets even bigger? He does not care how hard I yelp or cry. Also how do I stop him standing and barking at me, do I just egnore?

Also with training to come, he literally ignores me every single time. He is not food motivated at all (not even for cheese or chicken!) and is not interested in toys so I mustn't be fun enough! He is on a specific diet so can't have much in the way of treats. Any tips for this too?

Thanks again!

[KatharineClifton]

Have you gone to a training class yet?

I think he will be brain damaged because of being taken from mum so early - I have a cat in the same situation - so any help you can get from a proper training professional is vital tbh.

Have you trained him to a crate yet? Quite often nervous dogs like this space all of their own. What age is he now?

[Greyhorses]

Hi,
Yes he is crate trained and is very well behaved in his crate. He was very nervous when I got him but has got too confident with me and thinks nothing of biting/grabbing me/barking in my face and I think it's because he has never learnt manners from his mother. I would like to try and teach him but nothing I do is helping much!

I have tried to take him to training classes but he had a few problems and has only just been vaccinated. The classes were full and don't start again until 24th may!

He is very well behaved in most other respects, he is house trained and can sit but has no patience like most puppies

[LokiBuddyBoo1]

My ddog used to be a really bitey pup when I first got him at 8 weeks I used to call him the tiny terrierist. Fingers were far game to him while playing.
I stopped it by saying ow then no and stopping play for a few minutes and had family members do the same he learnt pretty quickly that being bitey with humans meant play stopped. It only took about a week and he stopped being bitey unless playing with my father's and sisters puppys who are all same age I also think that playing with them and my father's older female dog helped to teach him bite inhibition as my father's older dog frequently told the pups of if things got to bitey and rough.

[Floralnomad]

My rescue pup was very bitey and barky and the thing that worked best was to ignore him and if that failed stick him in his pen and walk away for a few minutes ,any kind of noise ( yelping) just seemed to spur him on but I'm not sure whether that was because he is a terrier and anything that cries/ squeaks is fair game to be killed ! We also had an issue with him coming when called so trained him to go 'down and wait' ,it works really well for us and I often use it when out and about.

[SconessMcFloness]

Have you tried clicker training - I used the kikopup YouTube video to calm a lot of my dog's biting. If it's any consolation ddog's behaviour during the puppy stage was horrible, dcs were scared of him and I was terrified we'd made a big fat mistake but it was just puppy antics, he is now 10months and has no aggression at all.

[moosemama]

My younger dog had a similar start to yours, in that he was never with his mum (dumped at birth) and was very poorly, so he wasn't fully vaccinated and able to start training classes until he was 17 weeks old.

We did as much socialisation as we possibly could with him, carrying him everywhere, despite him being a great gangly long-legged Lurcher and he's fine with absolutely everything, but is nervous of dogs he doesn't know and really scared of off-lead, free-running dogs.

Unfortunately yelping only serves to excite some dogs and it's often better to redirect their biting onto something appropriate, like a chew or toy and if that doesn't work either, do what Floral suggested and give him a short time-out either by turning/walking away from them or popping them behind a dog gate. If he's standing barking at you, then lunging and biting, I would start the time out from when he starts this and then reward him as soon as he calms and starts interacting nicely again. You don't say how old he is now, but pups generally calm down and grow out of nipping as long as you deal with them in a calm, consistent way.

If he's not food motivated, is there a particular type of toy he loves? If there is, put it away and keep it as a reward during training instead. By keeping it for use only during training, you will be increasing his motivation to want it, which makes it more effective. Even better would be to get him keyed into a couple of different toys, then they can be rotated or used as top and second grade rewards.

For recall, I'd have him on a long-line and use the toy and a game as motivation for him to come back to you. The book Total Recall, by Pippa Mattinson is great for recall training. It is based around food rewards, but you could adapt it to use toys/games instead.

[SconessMcFloness]

What kind of special diet is he on?

[JoffreyBaratheon]

From what I have read, I think the biting and mouthing stuff takes longer to 'train out' or grow out of, in a dog taken awayu from its mum and litter too early.

I got a rescue pup in November - she was the usual 8 weeks with mum. But we had easily the worst time I have ever had with any pup, with the mouthing. I thought she was never going to stop (and as she is half staffy, it was vital she did). I tried everything suggested here and on dog forums and in all the current puppy training books... yelping (no, that made it MORE fun!) Ignoring (brilliant, mum, you're standing still so I can bite you for even longer!) Putting myself or herself in another room (waited quietly and patiently by door til reunited then back at it...) Distracting with a treat or toy? Yay! You're rewarding me for puppy biting! Tried a loud "No!" bearing in mind she never gets shouted at for anything, ever, as a rule. She just thought we were barking and it was cool.... Nothing worked.

My experience was, people tell you what worked for their dog, but their dog probably didn't have the same personality or issues.

About two months ago we realised she was only now mouthing us when in the garden, and only grabbing shoes or boots, not skin. Some dogs take ages to grow out of it - but they do. I suspect for all the strategies people suggest, the only thing that really works with some dogs, is time.

(This same dog took til 7 months to be housetrained as well! We think it is probably down to her bad start in life as we did nothing differently to with every pup we ever had, all of whom took a week or two to housetrain - nothing worked). Now she is 99% of the way there.

I think some dogs like OP's and mine with a bad start in life, may just take longer to get there. But keep the faith, and it will happen.

[moosemama]

I agree to some extent Joffrey, as my boy had a similarly bad start and has been consistently behind in his maturity ever since we got him. He's almost 2 now and still very much a puppy emotionally. That said, he learned not to mouth and nip really quickly, far quicker than some of our other pups have in the past.

We had similar with our old girl, who was separated from mum at 4 weeks due to an emergency, then we took on as an emergency rescue at 6 weeks. It took her much longer than our other dogs to mature (and she was a terror for nipping/ragging) but when she did she turned into one of the best, most reliable dogs we've ever had. We lost her the year before last at 14 years old and I still miss her every day.

The only thing I would say is that with things like time-outs, you have to be relentless and consistent. If the pup just launches back into biting as soon as you release them you need to put them straight back in and keep going until you get a moment's let-up then reward that. They need to make the connection between the removal of attention and the action of nipping, so it has to be swift and consistent. An alternative would be to be prepared with a distraction, something they could focus on on release, that means they would forget about biting/ragging. That way you are setting them up for success.

Of course, to a certain degree, how quickly they get it is down to the individual dog and their intelligence/maturity/personality, but the key is always relentless repetition, consistency and setting them up for success. Once the penny drops they usually catch on pretty quickly that it's far more rewarding not to bit/nip.

[cashewnutty]

As a pup our lab was terrible for biting and lunging at our faces. I was terrified of her and she reduced me to tears on more than one occasion. She was taken from her mother at the proper age and had no trauma. It was just how she was. We persevered and at 6 months started proper training classes. At age 3 she is now the most docile, calm lovely dog you could imagine.

I would say just to keep going, and be consistent. Our dog was worse in the evening when she was tired and overwrought. Time out in her crate was the only way we could keep our sanity. She still loves her crate. It is her sanctuary.

[BirdyArms]

Putting your puppy in his crate for short periods of time when he is very bitey might work. My pup was extremely bitey when we got him at 8 weeks (actually was OK for the first week but once he felt confident at home started biting us what seemed like the whole time). We started putting him in his crate and after a week or so he seemed much better. We open the door after a minute or so but he very often stays in, almost like he's pleased to have had an opportunity to calm down. And now that he's doing it less it's clear that he's doing itmostly when he's overtired and overexcited, but I do still worry that he could easily give the dc a bad bite on their faces.

When I see him playing with another dog in the park all he really wants to do is bite them - in a friendly playful way and he understands when he has overstepped the mark with another dog and will stop if they tell him too. But basically I think my pup gets his kicks from chewing other animals.

Can't help on the training motivation, mine is food obsessed which is bringing its own problems!

[SconessMcFloness]

Birdy the mouthing that dogs play out with other dogs is just play and most dogs enjoy it, but it doesn't mean they play like that with humans. My pup stopped doing it with us around 4-5 months but continues to do it with other dogs as part of the game....he's so soft, no aggression toward humans at all, but I had the same fears!