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The doghouse

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Original poster

Puppy biting mostly me...

19 replies

Pupster01 · 19/08/2021 22:46

We are new dog owners, and welcomed a 9 week old puppy home on Monday. He's a border Collie, and amazing.
I'm finding that today especially, he's been lunging at me from the floor while I'm sat on the sofa, to bit me. He also bites my legs and feet as I walk.
I'm saying no, moving him away, distracting him with a toy, and praising when he does it to a toy instead.
Any ideas why he is mostly just going for me, and how I can discourage it please? He does nip my DC's, but no where near on the level as me.

OP posts:
Original poster
Pupster01 · 20/08/2021 06:48

Bump please. My poor leg this morning! Shock

OP posts:
BiteyShark · 20/08/2021 06:55

It was more DH than me. You need to distract or timeout when it gets too much and before it gets too much.

Normal bitey moments I would give a toy to chew instead of you. The more lunging bitey times suggests over hyped and I would do a timeout e.g. move her or you behind a baby gate until calm. I found the evenings bad as mine was over tired so we started to recognise the signs and enforced a nap.

icedcoffees · 20/08/2021 07:18

Is he getting enough sleep? Puppies need about 18-20 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period.

Fedinbed · 20/08/2021 07:25

They do this. Ours was particularly bitey with me and ds and it was quite disheartening.
Avoid it happening if you can:
Jeans and boots
Have toy ready to intercept before he bites so that he doesn’t get rewarded by biting then getting the toy
Enforce naps in crate or pen
Walk away without reacting if he does bite
Lots of praise and rewards when he’s being calm
Lots of chews and teething toys available

It does get much better by about 5 months

Original poster
Pupster01 · 20/08/2021 07:53

Thank you all. It's not so much the biting, I completely understand that that's what he'll do, it's more the fact that I am this land sharks target Grin
I've got some bitter apple spray coming today, as I've read they don't like the taste, so I'll see if that helps...

OP posts:
adviceatthislatestage · 20/08/2021 08:20

We currently have this with our 12 week old Vizsla puppy. It seems to be DD and myself who get the brunt of this.

I wfh and it can be quite disheartening as you say, when he's constantly jumping up and biting my leg/arm. Worse is in the evening when DD comes home from work.

It's not aggressive as such but he does sometimes growl at the same time, which alarms us.

Doesn't seem to do it with DH - might that be because he's bigger /taller than us and DDog thinks we're an easy target?

We've done all the distraction methods, with varying degrees of success and what seems to work best is leaving the room, then coming back in a minute later.

I am hoping (praying) that this period will pass once his teeth have come through. We have quite a few young children in our family, that we haven't seen since we got him four weeks ago. Can't bear the thought that he'll bite one of them if we don't get this under control.

We've had our first puppy training class, which he seemed to enjoy. We play with him a lot and he's just started going on walks (15mins or so).

Is there anything else we could try?

MisgenderedSwan · 20/08/2021 08:48

Our St. Bernard x targeted me when he was a pup. Now he is very much my dog, much more attached to me than the rest of the family. I showed him it was not ok by freezing then offering a toy and being super excited about the toy and praising him when he played with it instead.

Basically made myself boring and lots of treats and praise when he played with a toy. I had pocketfuls of treats that I would get him to do tricks for if he started nipping, 'sit' 'down' 'stay' 'come'.

Also made sure he had plenty of toilet breaks outside then into his crate for a nap/quiet time.

It didn't last too long!

PollyRoulson · 20/08/2021 09:05

Dont take it personally Smile

It may be you are quicker moving, have a higher voice than your DH for example, smell better (!) are in the position that he can reach etc.

It will pass but do look at bringing down the energy when it starts. So toys are fab but do not interact with the toys just replace the toy for your leg do not wriggle it and keep up the energy keep it slow and calm.

No yelping or saying no in an animated voice as that also tends to wind the dogs up more (hard to do when you have a puppy hanging off your arm!)

Original poster
Pupster01 · 20/08/2021 11:36

@PollyRoulson sorry, I had to laugh at being called potentially fast moving!!

OP posts:
Ponkypig282 · 20/08/2021 11:49

Oh and those teeth are like needles! I remember one morning, in my pjs and pup launched himself at me and nipped my boob. DH found me sobbing on the kitchen floor crying to take him back cause I couldnt cope anymore. I'm not usually so dramatic but the puppy blues hit hard. Anyway, keep doing what you're doing, they do grow out of it. Our boy is wonderful now.

boydoggies · 22/08/2021 22:35

I have a 5 month border collie and today i really do have the puppy blues. From day 1 he's been an absolute nipper. Constant bruises and superficial bites and scratches on arms and legs. It had started to settle but these last few days he's regressed and back to it. It's not always predictable and he gets really excited and as such does not get distracted from his onslaught. Apart from crying i just don't know what to do......

Claudia84 · 23/08/2021 11:02

They do grow out of it although ours still does nip when all else fails and he is just desperate for someone to play with him (he runs through his standard being a toy, drop a toy, bring a different toy as maybe she wants to play something else, okay what about it i paw her, bark? Etc).
Honestly it does get better and they do regress at times. Puppies just aren’t the cute bundles of joy that most people say they are but once they grow up and settle down a bit they’re fab x
I cried A LOT in the first six months.

Claudia84 · 23/08/2021 11:03

And I wore wellies indoors..

Original poster
Pupster01 · 23/08/2021 19:38

I've worn jeans and trainers in the house today. Hasn't stopped it, but at least I'm not in as much pain!

OP posts:
user1471453601 · 23/08/2021 19:48

People who say, leave the room!! It just wasn't possible when our puppy was going through the bitey stage. She's a Jack Russell and if you can out run a Jack, well hello Usain, what are you doing on mumsnet?

Seriously, the distraction toy worked for us. She's 13 months now and doesn't bite, rarely has zoomies, and is a little love

Ilikewinter · 23/08/2021 20:02

16 week border collie pup owner and believe me OP i feel your pain. Winterpup only attacked me, not DH.
What eventually worked for me was pockets full of treats and a tennis racket, every time he tried to nip my feet i blocked using the racket - putting it in front of me, not hitting him with it before anyone says that! .... and when he stopped i gave a treat, it wasnt 100% successfull but a trainer we know said that he saw me as a game because i was constantly saying no,stop, ouch etc. He got a reaction which made him do it more.
Glad to say hes mostly stopped but does it when hes tired but now ive learnt how to get him to have time out.

puginamug · 23/08/2021 22:53

Our 15 week old spaniel has been a bugger for this. Again, mainly me.

It's worse when we all try to sit on the sofa together with him on the floor.

For a while I would leave the room but that was just breaking up our evening. Eventually we would put him in the garden and he would sit forlornly at the patio doors watching us all on the sofa for a minute before he was let inside.

It's calmed down a little now. Also putting him in his crate in the evenings sometimes helped when he was clearly overtired. The key is for them not to think the crate is punishment but more lovely cosy nap time.

Original poster
Pupster01 · 24/08/2021 19:02

For anyone in the same situation, today has been a lot better. Lots of distraction with toys. He's slowly learning what's allowed and what's not.

OP posts:
Ilikewinter · 25/08/2021 20:32

Ah thats great, its awful when your the target and they wont stop or listen.....repetition is the key, they are quick learners so hopefully youve turned the corner 🐶

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