Rehoming puppy

[Hellin301]

Please help me.

My puppy is 8 weeks (golden retriever) and I’ve came home today after family were minding him. He was calm enough with them but perhaps overly tired. I was just sitting on the floor beside him - not playing. He came running over and bit the side of my chest; hard. I was in a lot of pain and shouted at him to leave. I wouldn’t have shouted at him if it wasn’t really bloody painful. He wouldn’t listen, I then went to stand up and he grabbed my arm. Again, biting very hard. Harder than he has done before.

I’m covered in bites, which are actually bleeding. I have been working on telling him to leave which he can do, with shoes and clothes but for some reason if he gets a hold of an arm, foot, hand or another body part he will bite very hard and refuses to listen when I tell him to leave.

Someone please help me as that biting is beyond what should be tolerated. I can’t have a puppy that is actively and in my opinion aggressively chewing me to bits. I wouldn’t be so worried if I thought it was play but I actually thought it was aggression as he was growling so loudly.

If this is going to continue to happen I think I need to hold my hands up and say I’m not the right owner for him which will break my heart

When they're in the zone, it can seem aggressive and a bit of a shock from your fluffy bundle of innocence - also a small percentage of puppies do not develop and adjust normally, can have specific care requirements , and may genuinely need to be returned to the breeder.

OP has come here for help - stop over-analyzing and judging, and contribute something helpful! You really don't know the true situation.

@GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman You beat me to it! As a fellow GMAW, I concur ☕💐

Puppies are hard work. I remember the second week of having ours, almost crying, thinking 'what have I done?' You just have to keep going, being 100% consistent with your training, and gradually it gets easier.

We had 14 happy years with the lovely dog my pup became, and we still miss him every day since he died.

My little dog nipped as a puppy. But I can imagine it would have hurt more if she was a big dog breed. We'd do a very loud, very high Yelp and she would let go in surprise. We'd then give her a chew toy (just quietly put it beside her so it didn't seem like a reward for the biting). After a while she stopped.
We also had a tin with coins in it which she hated so soon learned what behaviour was associated with that noise and I think we only used that a handful of times.

@Hellin301 Our 13wk old ESS - from a working line with lots of FtCh's - left me in tears on a few occasions in the first few weeks as I was exhausted, had no time for anything else but her care, and felt she needed more than I could give her in the way of outlets - bitey jumpy unruly monster. The children didn't want to get too close to her.
She has gradually learned some manners and self control and is an absolute cuddly bundle of fun. We all love her very much now. She is currently murdering her blankets and any other toys she can find, but will come over and lie on my feet to be close to me.

I truly hope you can get through this and be able to enjoy your pup.

I'm always astounded on this board that people who are 100% pro positive training for dogs can be so brutal to humans
Absolutely this. Reading this thread has made me so uncomfortable, some really disgusting, horrible replies to someone just crying out for a bit of help.
I'm a first time dog owner, puppy has been with us 4 weeks, settling in well but this will certainly put me off asking any advice on here if I need it

I also agree with GDW. And I love the attempts to shift blame onto the OP. It’s her fault for not wording her post in the approved way, is it?

This thread is utterly vile and why I would never post on this forum for advice. Too many people willing to stick the boot in and berate a struggling owner for not using the right language.

Some of those people even claim to be vets, trainers and pet professionals. It makes for such grim reading.

Some of the comments on here are nasty and unhelpful. The OP is asking for help. I hope the OP returns because there are some really lovely people on here who offer good advice.

When I first got my puppy I thought about sending him back every day for weeks. I was stressed and overwhelmed and thought I was doing everything wrong. It was my first dog (and doesn't everyone have a first dog once in their lives?!) and had serious regret and puppy blues. OP, I am so thankful that I persevered and have a lovely family pet now. Not a GR, but similar breed.
I can't believe someone said you "make them sick". How totally ridiculous.

Speak to a trainer urgently for proper advice. It's normal behaviour you need to train out. Their teeth are so sharp too. If you are in the Leicestershire area I can recommend an excellent trainer/behaviourist, pm for details.

@LilyLongJohn

I've had 3 puppies and that doesn't sound like normal puppy nipping. That sounds like aggressive biting, especially if he's shaking his head. Mine would nip but clearly wanted to play, buying feet and trouser legs when walking, plus the occasional finger.

Could you look at investing in a local trainer to come and advise you?

I used to click my fingers near their ears and say 'no' sternly. When they stopped I'd praise them. You could try a clicker and a stern 'no'

They have razor sharp teeth at that age. Sounds painful and a bit scary too.

What breed were your pups lily? I was shocked at how our bad our puppy is but everyone I have sort advice from says it is normal behavior for retrievers such as labs and golden retrievers.

We had a big improvement around 14 weeks but the biting is back with a vengeance now at 19 wks as he is teething. I am hoping we will turn a corner soon

I’m thinking about a puppy and researching lots, and already know my children at 5 and 3 are too young at the moment, for many of the reasons mentioned here, but Christ, this thread has scared the shit out of me

@changedmynameforChristmas

I don't care what anyone else says. I would not take a puppy at 8 weeks. I bred Cocker spaniels and they went at ten to twelve weeks. They were like my babies. They went with full papers and food and advice. 8 weeks is too young.

I agree with you.

*sought advice

Our dpuppy is now 13 months old. Got her at 14 weeks. Me and dh have vowed no dpuppy ever again...

I’m a few weeks on for you op my GR boy is 16 weeks and mouths a bit and more so with kids it can be quite full on. When you’ve never had a puppy before I can imagine it’s daunting to say the least even I was and I’ve had dogs all my life and puppy walked for guide dogs so lots of experience with puppies and teeth.

This is just what puppies do. Your pup is Poss overtired possibly over stimulated could be many things. Praise good calm behaviour, have a key word you use when he’s being calm and well behaved we use nice, some kibble from his meal allowance and lots of praise. When he starts the biting replace with toy as you’ve been doing but if it continues withdraw yourself (leave the room or stand up and turn your back don’t speak or acknowledge him - it’s hard I know when they hurt you I’m scratched bitten etc but much less. Just the kids to work on more now as he sees them as playthings I think. Do enrol him in classes ASAP
Get him out in arms to see the world a bit
And make sure he’s sleeping enough.

As I’ve been told time and time again this is what puppies do, they are learning.
Do some training with him, games etc to help him learn you are the boss and build a bond - absolute dogs is good we do drop a treat run eye contact key word and continue to start with it’s great fun if you’ve got a decent space to do it in and go on from there works their brains. Scatter feed, kong - freeze it and carrots/flannel as he’ll be teething soon and the mouthing etc Ramps up.

You need someone to lift your confidence as it’s easy to get down and feel like it’s all going bad and not know what to do - if you can get 1:1 with a decent trainer do it. My sister runs puppy classes (works for guide dogs) her husband is also v good and they really helped me understand why he was behaving the way he was

Sending lots of positive thoughts and I really hope you can ignore the negative and rise up and move on with your pup
Goldens are lovely dogs and you’ll enjoy him eventually I promise!!!

@MabelMoo23

I’m thinking about a puppy and researching lots, and already know my children at 5 and 3 are too young at the moment, for many of the reasons mentioned here, but Christ, this thread has scared the shit out of me

I think if you have read this thread you will be miles better prepared than I was! The first few weeks can be torrid - I got my beagle at 8 weeks old (yes, with full paperwork, and his first round of vaccinations, excellent advice from the breeder etc) and to say the first few weeks were hard work would be an understatement. DP and I were totally shell-shocked - and I had thought we were well prepared.

But that all passes. Just three months on I sometimes wake in the night and have to come out to his crate to check on him - I love him SO much.

Don’t be put off. I don’t have any regrets. Just be mentally and emotionally prepared for it to be a bit rugged for a month. And don’t plan to be doing any hand modelling photo shoots until he/she is at least 4 months old!

Don't underestimate the nap schedule for puppies. I had to pup my show cocker puppy down for naps or he would be very unpleasant!
The puppy biting is awful and my dds struggled with it. The first 5 months were so hard with my boy. Once we hit 12 months all was well. We have a lovely cuddly and tolerant family pet the kids adore.
Hope you are ok op?

@MabelMoo23

I’m thinking about a puppy and researching lots, and already know my children at 5 and 3 are too young at the moment, for many of the reasons mentioned here, but Christ, this thread has scared the shit out of me

There's a lot of good advice out there about kids and puppies at them same time.

I was ready to rehome ours at 9 weeks. it gets much much better. She's a little sweetie now.

Oh my life, some of the responses on here If someone posted that they were really struggling with their 8 week old baby you’d get lots of sympathetic nods and encouragement not jumped on telling you you should have researched having kids better or that you’ll mess the kid up for life if you keep it!

OP, I have a 17 week old golden pup. We went with a golden because of the breed characteristics, good with kids, gentle, nice with small animals etc OMG, the horrific biting never came up in anything I read. Mine still bites but she is clearly teething (has lost a few) and it’s more manageable as we’ve got to know her triggers and how to deal with her. My oldest is terrified of her though and that’s very sad.

I would say, you’ll get a lot of advice and it can be overwhelming and some of it conflicting so don’t try to follow everything. Personally we found the yelping made it worse. Walk out of the room every time it happens, be consistent, yak chews and pizzles are a life saver as is the puppy pen where you can put pup with a kong or lickimat. We invested in a pup buggy to take her out before her vaccinations and that was great. We got so many compliments about her when out that it made me feel better about her and improved our relationship.

At 8 weeks, my golden was up every 2 hours for the toilet in the night and the tiredness we had made coping with the biting much harder. This does improve quite quickly so hang on in there and pm me if you need to chat or join the puppy survival thread!

just in case OP is still reading or for anyone else in similar situation. I only made it to night 3 of trying to get her to sleep in her own bed before I read on the Dog Training and Advice FB group, from several of the trainers /behaviourists - get them in bed with you and they sleep much better. Still need toileting at some point through the night of course. My girl was up 6-7 times for 3 nights and I was exhausted, the school run was undoable the final day.

Reading that I was "allowed" to get her in my bed was a revelation!

They're babies at this age and still need comfort and as we are now their mums and their entire world, it makes sense not to be separated from them.

People will come along and be horrified by allowing a pup in bed, but I've had mostly unbroken nights since. We go to bed at 10.30 and she's up at 5.30 mind you 😂

There are some truly horrible comments on here which is uncalled for!

OP, you're doing a great job! It's good you've let family members look after your pup as it builds the dog up to realise you're not going to be there all day, everyday. People have to work to pay for the puppies food, vet bills etc but some people on here don't seem to understand that.

As for the biting, it does get better, I promise! We tried 'ouch!' which did bugger all for our pup. We ignored him, turned our back on him and still nothing worked. However, we upped his nap times through the day which massively helped.

He's now not as 'bitey' - still has his moments, don't get me wrong - but when he does, he gets put in his crate for some quiet time and usually falls asleep within a couple of minutes.

I'm glad you said that NotYourReindeer because after almost 2 nightmare weeks of no sleep for puppy, us or the neighbours we abandoned the crate, plonked her at the end of our bed and have had blissful sleep ever since. He lets us know if he needs to get up to pee but mostly now sleeps straight through. Wish I'd have done this from the start.

But 10 years on they still sleep on your bed 😃 and hog the space. And wake you up with sighs and whimpers chasing rabbits in their dreams.

Wouldn’t have it any other way though 😍