Puppy won’t stop biting

[Xiuminwonwoo]

Okay so, we recently got a female cockapoo puppy at 8 weeks old. She originally settled in well, learnt tricks quickly and generally well behaved. She is 13 weeks now and has gotten worse with biting. We have tried everything, ignoring her and walking away, redirecting attention with a toy, yelping or saying ouch and time outs but it’s just not working. I’ve read about spraying water in the dogs face but we think it would only excite her further. Recently her biting has gotten harder and she appears more aggressive- snapping at us when we trying to remove her from a situation she is enjoying (such as trampling the plants). She lunges and bites down hard, so hard that she’s drawn blood and pierced the skin. It’s aggravating everyone in the family and honestly I’m fed up it’s getting ridiculous. She doesn’t listen, a calm and assertive command does nothing and yelling escalated the situation. My brother and Dad refuse to come into the room if she’s there and I’m honestly considering re- homing her. I do love her but it’s becoming too much to handle. I really wanted a sweet, calm puppy that would be a good friend not sure this. Is there anything that we can do? I don’t want to use physical action and hit her etc

What puppy training is she doing?

I think this is normal puppy behaviour. It needs addressing for sure but rehoming? Puppies need loads of work. Cockapoos can be very very high energy.

Don't use punishment. That just suppresses. You're also right the water may actually be something she enjoys.

Peanut butter is the secret. You smear peanut butter on your hands, arms, ears, neck - front and back, legs, feet face. Not necessarily all in one go but you could if you want lol. Get doggy peanut butter. When your dog kicks it off you, you praise in the voice you'd use for a toddler and say good girl, kisses, good kisses. Any time she bites you redirect by saying "No biting, kisses" She learns humans are for licking, not biting. Guaranteed to work. Stick with it, be patient and consistent. Don't get angry when redirecting but do sound firm and when she responds high squeaky delighted voice. As said. Stick.with.it so many people start a treatment and then abandon as results don't happen fast enough. This WILL work.

Firstly puppies go through bitey stages. It goes with the territory and you have to ride the hard times with the good to get your 'sweet, calm puppy that would be a good friend' that you mentioned.

Forget physical action as you put it or raising your voice. Would you use it on a baby or toddler? No because it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference and cause greater issues long term and a puppy is no different.

Firstly behaviour like this tends to be worse when over excited or tired. You need to learn to recognise the trigger points and act before they escalate. Be consistent so timeouts for a few minutes to calm down and straight back again until your puppy calms down. Keep things calm in the house so you don't over excite the puppy which tends to make them more bitey. Rather than drag her out of the flower beds encourage her out with treats or a favourite toy. Cordon the flower beds off in the garden until she is older.

It does sound like you might need some outside help for you to understand and recognise how to praise the behaviour you want and redirect the behaviour you don't. Have you done any training with a professional trainer?

Cows hooves. Swear by them.

I suspect this may be your first puppy, OP? If so, maybe you will feel better (or not!) to know at 13 weeks she is still in the normal biting phase and probably teething. In all honesty, she doesn't sound like an unusual puppy. Perhaps more determined than most but from what you've said, it sounds like she could be learning to be more determined because it gets a big reaction. Plus, starting to get grumpy about the changing methods and/or being physically forced to move when she's doing something she likes.

Be consistent. Pick a method and stick to it. Make sure everyone in the house is doing the same.

Personally, I would be looking for ways to stop play without having to man-handle her. A house line can allow you to lead her out. Leaving the room yourself, leaving her behind a baby gate so you can still keep an eye on her can also work. Using treats to lure her out of the situation is also an option. Touching her (picking her up etc) to move her is going to be stimulating and counter-productive, imo.

I'd make sure she doesn't get over excited during play. At this age, this could mean only a very short, calm play session (a minute or less).

Give her lots of different textured toys she can mouthe. Is she is teething there are toys you can fill/soak with water and freeze to help relieve discomfort.

Hitting her and spraying her in the face will bring you far more problems than you have already. I suspect, you may see her turn to aggression to get you to stop hurting or spraying her.

Also when she does bite while learning this - so not when busy licking peanut butter. After telling her no biting, kisses - give her something that is suitable to bite on, this you can bite! In the early stages if she doesn't take the kisses redirect don't worry, just repeat no biting and give her the chew toy. Eventually she will take both 're directs. Crates are also great - do some proper research on how to use them. They can be a very useful and positive tool if used correctly. For many dogs they become their safe place.

Just to add (in case it's not obvious) you have two retrieving breeds there. That will make a dog that is more likely to enjoy having things in his mouth than other breeds might. If that's true, he's really going to need good outlets for his needs to chew.

You've had her for 5 WEEKS and are thinking of rehoming her? She'll probably live to be 10 years or so, so you've got a LONG way to go. Puppies behave like that! Take her for puppy training.

Puppies bite. It's what they do. They explore the world with their mouths.
Substitute you for a toy. Every time. Don't try and stop biting. Redirect it.
Yelping or saying ouch can excite them.
And no means nothing to a puppy.
Use a slip lead to move her.
And get in touch with a good trainer. One that uses positive and reward based training.
This sort of cross is never going to be calm. Puppies generally aren't.

Hi, thankyou for your replies. Yes this is our first puppy. We take her on two walks a day- playing fetch and running around- they can last for 30 mins to an hour depending on how hot it is or how tired she is. I can see how picked her up may be stimulating but she gets so worked up that using treats or toys do not grab her attention at all- squeaky ones or rustling ones. However, the next time I will try luring her out with the treat bag and shake it to get her attention.

We are working hard to teach her discipline such as sitting before we give her anything, manners on the lead, letting us go through door ways first etc and she is getting the hang of it but sometimes she just ignores us completely. I have looked into puppy classes and the like, but unfortunately as we live I’d quite a small town there aren’t any puppy classes or dog walking sessions that would allow for that extra help.

We are just finding it really hard and it’s created a lot of tension- I do want to resolve it as she is my puppy rather than the family puppy so I will try my best to implement your suggestions

Ours is now 20 weeks, we solved the 3 month biting stage by time outs and lots of them. She got one ow squeal then if it didn't work time out.

We also stopped engaging with her with toys that wound her up into a frenzy. She was much worse after a game of tug. So we stopped playing it and just let go if it got aggressive. Now she's onto the back teeth she's much calmer and much more able to target where its hurting with various toys. I've just spent 20 minutes holding a nila bone (no idea how you spell that) so she can get right to the back teeth, they were useless at the stage you're at she didn't know what to do with them.

She's in pain, it is seriously irritating her. I know the internet is littered with conflicting advice on them but we found antlers a godsend.

Also just popping the lead on her and taking her out for a walk helps.

Good luck, the stage will pass.

You need to find a trainer. Even if you have to travel. Some people have recommended the perfect puppy book.
An hour? At 13 weeks. Too much. Far far too much. Overtiring your pup won't help.

I forgot to mention that we have been using the time out method for a little over three weeks now- saying time out as soon as she bites- but she just appears to bite more when we say it

Don't squeal.
Don't time out.
Puppies don't understand what those things mean.
Redirect the biting.

We are working hard to teach her discipline such as sitting before we give her anything, manners on the lead, letting us go through door ways first etc and she is getting the hang of it but sometimes she just ignores us completely.

Be patient. You might see from some of my previous posts that I wished I had been more patient. They do eventually learn but sometimes it takes more time and maturity than you might expect. She is still very young and won't have the self control to do it right every time.

We are just finding it really hard and it’s created a lot of tension

I think we all recognise this. Most of us have had pups that caused more tension than we ever expected. Remember that it all will pass and you will eventually be left with the dog you wanted.

Sorry, I’d just like to mention that we don’t want to put her through an hour or two car ride to go see a trainer. And I know and hour sounds like a lot at her age but it consusts if the walking, playing and then maybe a good twenty minutes lying around- she especially likes to visit a local spring and will spend around twenty minutes just playing in the water. She is not spending the whole hour waking- I should have made myself more clear.

Hi, we did try directing but it only excited her more

About five minutes a month is recommended isn't it?

Nala then you're not doing it right!

We have given her a range of toys (specifically teething ones) and often chill them in order to relieve the pain further.

Hi yes they do say 5 minutes a month, but it does nothing for her. She still wants to walk and she still wants to play. I’m not going to make her turn around to go back home when she still has bounds of energy. She is a very active breed and they do say that’s only a guideline and is breed dependant

Not sure what you mean by saying 'time out'? To me timeout is when play stops so puppy is behind a baby gate or on their bed etc. It's effectively an enforced calm down period.

30mins to 1 hour of fetch twice a day is too much at that age. Not just for joints but also for over stimulation. An over stimulated puppy is like an over tired toddler and they can't calm down and their behaviour deteriorates.

Running a cockerpoo around isn't going to tire them out. I know because I have a cocker. You have to mentally exercise them as much as physical exercise but also not overdo it so they are worked up.

There are many different techniques and some work better for others so you will get people saying do this whilst others recommending other things but ultimately it's about finding what works for yours (in a positive way).

I really think you need to find a trainer to help you.

Over exercising will over stimulate and could affect growth.
Go to new places. Walk on different surfaces. Visit dog friendly shops. New experiences tire the little bugger out!!
When a puppy bites you need to give them a toy and get yourself out of the way. A trainer said to me get massive soft toys. Store them out of the reach of the pup. When the biting starts wave the toy at pup eye height in a figure eight to get attention. Then throw it away from you and let pup murder it. When done with retrieve and store toy again.

Hi yes, timeout is an area behind a gate where she can calm down. We don’t force her to play fetch, we let her meander around and throw a ball, if she doesn’t run after it we don’t make run or do anything. She was the most active of the litter and is a very active puppy. She normall goes out to play in the garden every two hours or so. She only goes on two walks a day if she is being especially active in the evening. We are not trying to over tire her but honestly she has lots lots lots of energy.

And all you will do by overexercising is make her fitter and more impossible to tire out.
Time out is pointless. Unless you need a break yourself. It teaches the dog nothing.