Puppy 'biting' and snarling

[tiredemma]

New puppy - adorable- Love her immensly- literally perfect, goes outside for wee/poo. Doesnt make a peep at night but her 'biting' and snarling at myself and children is really becoming disheartening.

I have looked online and there is lots of info mainly around biting hands and fingers, My pup also jumps up to your face if you are sitting low to the floor and also goes for ankles etc. Im hoping it just phase but im also concerned- DS2 is becoming scared of her.

any advice

8 weeks and 4 days.

What breed?

Is it snarling or play growling? This is an important stage for the puppy to learn bite inhibition. It does pass, and was frankly the most irritating part of training a puppy.

Is she aggressive or possessive about her food or toys? This is a good time to set boundaries. Do you have any rules or commands that you have taught your puppy? Sitting nicely to get her meals, a sit before going out etc.?

Sit is a great command and is very easy for a pup to pick up. Also means if they are sitting, they are not running around like mad or trying to bite. Instead of saying no to biting, tell her to sit and then reward. She will calm down a bit, at least for a little while.

she is a working cocker spaniel.

She isnt aggressive about food or toys, overall she is generally very good- but she has these episodes where she just wont stop biting us.

I did the 'yelping' out when she bit me in the hope that this would make her stop but it didnt. I then also kept taking her back to the utility room (where she sleeps) everytime she nipped at us but this upsets me- I didnt get a dog so it could spend the day stuck in the utility room! I want this lovely little creature to sit on my lap as I watched TV.

Ill try the 'sitting' task tomorrow and see how it goes.

I can see from info on the internet that its quite common - really hoping it does pass but also prepared to put the effort into helping eradicate this.

The yelping thing worked on most of our pups when they were five weeks old and starting to mouth. It is good for them to learn a soft bite. You can also facilitate that by feeding by hand.

I have a very low tolerance for hard mouthing and I don't say anything, just close his mouth firmly with my hand and then ask him to sit and then give a frozen carrot or chilled rope toy to chew.

When my puppy goes into his mad mood, I tolerate it for a little while and then just scoop him in my arms and hold him till he calms down. Often he falls asleep in my arms or if he is still up, we do sitting commands and gentle playing.

Best of luck. They can be such angels and devils at the same time!

It isn't agression!

She is a baby and trying to make you play - just as she did with her siblings. Puppies pounce and snarl and growl at each other for fun. Mine still do it to each other and they are 'grown up'!

She needs to learn it isn't appropriate to do it to you. You will never stop her doing it to toys, other dogs etc.

Yelping has never worked for me. A firm no and walk away does the trick here. Give her something else to do at the same time - either a training command or a toy.

I'd also guess she can do with more down time. Nipping and snarling frenzies often occur with an over stimulated or tired dog. Make sure she is left on her own - not shut away or anything, but to mooch around where you are. Make sure she has some down time.

I have used a lot of Ian Dunbar's advice on biting in puppies. His methods worked very well for us. It took a couple of weeks but it worked in the end.

Ian Dunbar

Oh - and puppies will always go for the lips and faces of adult dogs if they are hungry. Is she hoovering all her food in a flash? She may be trying to tell you something!

Our 'pup' (nearly a year old now) gets confused by faces too close to him at low levels, and still very occasionally air snaps - but its definitely not aggression. Its either play or instinct (to get food).

dd1 (8 yrs old) used to burst into howls of indignation and shock, and think he was attempting to bite her nose - and I can see why it felt like that. Its no fun for kids, and my solution was to impose some rules on play/distance etc with kids as well as dog! But it has got so, so much better with time and pup growing up.

I'm no expert, but tend to do the same with dogs as with toddlers: ie with behaviour I do'nt want to encourage, a firm 'no' and replace with a positive command/distraction as daisy suggests.

She does sound adorable, hang in there - cocker over the road drove owner and kids crazy for a few weeks, then it all calmed down

I meant to add my bit about yelping too.

I know it's only my opinion, but I think it is an insane thing to do.

Puppies KNOW we aren't dogs. If we try to mimic a dog we give out a very confusing message.

They start to interact with us as they would with other pups because it's all they know. It is nothing even vaguely to do with agression or possessiveness. It's the only 'language' they know how to speak.

We need to teach them how to behave with people. What is right and what is wrong. How to please us and what makes us very frustrated indeed.

A firm no and a complete disengage with a nipping pup will work. Puppies are social animals who will do pretty much anything for our attention. They are also very, very keen to please us.

It will be a pain in the bum, but every single time your puppy goes a bit manic, give a very firm 'no' and go and do something else instead. Hoovering, make a cup of tea, hang out some washing. Anything will do. Don't faff about pushing the puppy away or defending yourself. Walk off.

A happy, sing song, positive, jolly hockey sticks voice with good behaviour and a very firm, a bit loud but not shouty voice with unwanted behaviour is what you need. Make sure you have a very clear, different tone.

OP You can't have had her for more than a few days.

You're going to have to lower your expectations a bit. It will take her time to learn what you want and how to behave. She can't just guess. She also won't lose her puppy instincts for a while yet. Be kind to her and DON'T set her up for a fall by sitting on the floor for example. It won't be forever, but for the next 3 months or so, she needs a lot of help to get it right.

Agree with daisy that ignoring is the best way to stop unwanted behaviour.

Our pup is now coming up to 9 months ish and when he was still mouthing I used to turn away, walk off ignore completely. Also works with jumping up! He's so good at it now, that whenever anybody new comes in he tries so hard to squash his wagging body into a sit before he's allowed a fuss! except when the dog walker comes then its a free for all jump into her arms like a big furry baby

Ignoring might work, depending on your puppy's nature. I decided to hold mine when she was hyper or over-excited. She would struggle at first, but learnt quite quickly that till she was calm, I would not let her down.

It was useful later if I had to ever physically restrain her or carry her away from a situation, she would not struggle as she had learnt early on that even when excited to let me carry her without a fuss.

I think when they are so young, you can teach them to be comfortable with pretty much everything, and also nip any bad behaviour before they become a habit.

As an aside, if you ever see your puppy growl at a human with regard to food, please do not ignore it. That is not a play growl most likely, it is the start of resource guarding. Nip it in the bud, otherwise it might escalate.

It's two years later, and I am wondering how you got on with your biting puppy. Did any of the techniques work? Did she grow out of it? I have a gorgeous mostly quiet German Pointer puppy but she started to bite - not nip! - at 9 weeks. 'Ouch' technique is no longer working (and now it really does hurt!). We are getting up and walking away but it is sometimes very difficult to disengage from a biting puppy whose teeth are entangled in your clothes, and as you said originally it is very disheartening, so it would be marvellous to hear if you succeeded and how!