Mouthing/play biting and clothes pulling

[NoNamesLeft86]

Hi. Just looking for advice really. We have just adopted a rescue puppy. He is around 7.5months old. He is a lovely, playful pup who loves kids etc. So no massive worries, we are getting on well and all is good. Except for the face he is Mouthing/play biting so much and quite hard. He is play biting us/our clothes etc a bit too much. We are training, and I think we are doing the right things, but as its our first dog, its good to check with others! We are using a clicker, which he reaponded to immediately so I think he has done some clicker training in the past. But the issue is he is jumping on the kids so hard that he knocks them over, then mouthing at their faces. I am 100% sure he is only playing and isnt meaning any harm, but as you can imagine, the kids are becoming scared. We are now keeping the kids and dog seperate when he goes in the garden, as this tends to be where he gets really carried away. In the house he is fine, but if he starts the biting I know he is about to have some crazy playtime so I take him in the garden. Once im out there alone and sorted with clicker and treats etc then I can handle him quite well, and play with him with his toys etc, with some biting me but i can get him off fast. But before that, while im trying to get my shoes on, clothing on etc he is very difficult to manage, biting my jumper for example while I'm trying to get it on but not responding to my commands to leave etc. So frustrating as it ends up bery stressful and he keeps ripping my clothes (and I hardly have any that fit as it is). We have started using his normal dry food as treats as he has an upset tummy and seems just as motivated with that. He is still very very new to us so he is still settling in and working out his place in the family. But just want to get it right now so we don't mess it up

When he starts biting and you take him out to play you are rewarding his behaviour.
We tried lots of things to stop our pup playing roughly with the dc but the only thing that worked was giving him a time out - so only playing when he was nice and calm and if he got carried away we stopped.

I was going to say something similar. As soon as he starts 'biting' at clothes etc - take him to another area and shut the door until he calms down.

My friend did this with her dog when he was a puppy ie she would shut him in the kitchen on his own for a short time. He is a much calmer dog now.

Ah ok. I didnt think of it like that. Glad I asked. Always easier to see things from the outside ☺

If you give him time out it should be for no more than 5 seconds, 10 at max. I tried simply turning around and ignoring pup but she turned it into a game. What worked for us was carrying treats in my pocket then when she started ankle biting I would make sure she saw the treats then scatter a few in the grass, this got her off me for long enough to escape (your kids may want to do this) I also had to wear wellies for a while .

a flirt pole may help your kids play safely. I tend to do the hose work with a flirt pole tucked under my arm as it keeps pup interested and my clothes reasonable safe

Thank you. Ive just ordered one, should be here later today

Although to be honest, he won't go for the rope toy when its in my hand. He is specifically avoiding the toy and going for skin and clothes, rather than accidentally nipping us while trying to get the toy. Does that make sense?

Wow that's quick!
He has really got past the age when biting is a puppy thing as he should be past teething at this point and he could course quite a lot of pain. It may be just a settling in thing but he needs to get no reward for biting and a lot of reward for not biting if you see what I mean.

I have a terrier so we attached a toy rat the the end of the flirts stick. She loves it.

Thanks. He just seems to see people as a big toy! He is a rescue dog and has been to at least 3 different foster homees so he has had a lot of upheaval in his short life and is very scared of new people and noises, but he is getting better everyday. Until now we have only been able to do very short walks round the block, but now he is getting his confidence, we are gradually taking him further each day, and I think I will attempt the park on Monday when the kids are back at school (they have football clubs etc there at weekends so not a good time to try it!). Im hoping that once he is doing proper walks, he will be getting more stimulation from things that dont involve biting people!

You absolutely need to get the messages across that biting is a gsme or gets rewards. So you ignore him until he is calm. No interaction at all, no eye contact nada. If he persists then put him out of the room.

I would also stop any tug of war games. If he wants to play he has to leave the toy to be thrown and then drop it again.

*not a game

Thank you. Thats pretty much what we have been doing for the past couple of days which seems to be working well. Ita not stopped but is improving. Ive pretty much just shut him out of the living room or in the garden when he starts (sounds horrible to say garden but he is quite happy out there in all weathers, he came from Romania where it's knee deep in snow so he gets too hot in the house and is quite content sitting in the rain even when the back door is open for him).If i shut him in the garden it seems to work. As he goes off, has a mad 10 mins running around and playing with his toys or finding his chews/bones. Then is calmer when he comes in.

Can anybody recommend some chews that are not rawhide but take ages to go through? He loves his stuffed marrowbones and I also stuff his Kongs with wet food and then freeze them and this is great - keeps him happy at busy times of day when I need him to entertain himself. And tripe etc. If i give him something like a jumbone or dentastix its gone in less than 30 seconds. So im looking for a bigger variety of long lasting things that he can chew on. He seems to want to chew everything all day long so I think it would help.

Antler and raw bones - ribs are better I think (supervise). You can get dog friendly logs too.
My pup just likes sucking on things so I haven't much experience with chews.

Thanks. Ive just spent another £75 on zoo plus on bones and antlers and stuff to chew. Lol. Seems he got hold of the guinea pig treats in the night

I'm really shocked that a rescue would let you have a mouthy dog that's been through several homes when it's your first dog and you have children. That seems very dodgy to me.

Can you pay for a behaviourist?

The flirt pole is fantastic, thank you for that recommendation! He would play with that all day if he could!

Mellie - he has been in at least 3 foster homes that I know of, possibly 4. The foster homes had children in at least 2 of them, although they were age 7 and above. We are his first proper home as he was dumped as a teeny puppy. We have just booked in some dog classes starting next month and the lady is a behaviourist too, so may ask for a 1:1 session in the meantime if things don't improve, but at the moment they are getting better everyday so we are hopeful.

Bumping incase anybody else has any tips!