Puppy Teething/Biting

[Rockhopper81]

We have an adorable 9 week old Bordoodle puppy (obligatory photo attached!).

He is firmly in the teething phase, but his teething 'nips' and gnawing is turning into biting at times, and I'd be grateful of any advice or help people can give. I've attached a photo of the top of my foot and the back of my knee, but there are similar marks on my other leg/ankle/foot, as well as my hands and arms!

We have a multitude of 'teething toys', including one that goes in the freezer; we have a couple of knotted socks to chew on; we have balls and softer toys; I bought some 'teething treats' today, but I'm not sure they've made much difference?

We've tried standing still and ignoring so it doesn't become a game (although this can be impossible when he has a mouthful of skin); we distract with a toy as much as possible; I've even picked him up a couple of times to get him away from my lower limbs (although I'm conscious of not rewarding the behaviour with attention).

Most of the time his nips are from teething (or residual herding instinct from the border collie 50%), but sometimes he seems to bite intentionally.

Does anyone have and tips that might help him? Or do I need to invest in a Kevlar outfit until the teething phase passes?!?

Unfortunately that's very normal for such a young puppy - they do grow out of it but mostly it's just a case of management.

We have a beagle and did a mixture of shoving toys/chews in his mouth, ignoring him until he was calm and making sure he was getting plenty of sleep.

The most useful thing was making sure he had plenty of rest and giving him access to a wide variety of natural chews to help keep him as calm and relaxed as possible. He's four now and still gets a chew everyday!

Thank you @coffeecupsandfairylights - I shall look for some natural chews in the hope it occupies him. He seems to sleep a lot, but I'll make sure he's getting plenty. He's got up this morning having seemingly chosen literal violence, but is now arguing with his reflection, so who knows what today will bring...

Ouch I don't miss this puppy nibble days! Hopefully it will soon pass. I trained our Lab to pick up a toy basically as soon as she saw anyone, just to keep her mouth occupied. She's nearly 2 and still does it! She gets overexcited every time she sees me or any of the family and that came out as nibbles when she was small. Now it's just mad bum wiggles haha. We found that a knotted up dressing gown cord was the perfect texture for her - she didn't like socks or normal puppy teething toys you might need to have a variety of toys and textures available.

If you have a baby gate say a firm no straight away and move him to the other side of the gate and walk away. He will learn there's no more attention soon as he nips

Ooh what a cutie!, weve got a 12 month old collie and his nipping was awful so I feel your pain, I always had a toy in my pocket, or within reach and just tried to swap biting me for a toy .... honestly it will get better 💐

bitey normally means a time out/ sleep is needed? When our pup got like that we knew they were overtired.
Natural chews like yak bars, olive branch/split antlers are your friend
be consistent that the pup must not ever mouth on you, try and and have a toy to hand if they go to bite you to distract them.
it does get better!

Aww what a cutie! I have a 10 month old springer and can remember teething time vividly.

This is all pretty normal but we found a frozen carrot helpful. Also, if you have an old one, put a damp/wet tea towel in the freezer for a different texture.
Alternatively, may I recommend a pair of wellies and gauntlets, sorry!

Thank you all for the suggestions!

I have bought some 'teething gel', which the jury is still out on, but he seems to like it.

I've ordered some split antlers and cow ears, which will hopefully help. I also bought some venison sticks today, which whilst they didn't take him absolutely ages to get through, he seemed to enjoy the chewing it provided. He also seems to have latched on to a particular teething chew, which is promising. He's had several decent sleeps today too.

I've knotted a couple of socks and put them in the freezer too.

We've had one major episode of biting today, with a couple of new 'wounds', but we've been able to redirect him a lot too, which is good.

I'll still be finding my wellies out for tomorrow though!

Thanks again for the advise though, we'll get there!

I’d say as soon a they get hyped up and it’s starting to become major it’s time for a time out in the crate to calm them down
But it def gets better!

I've knotted a couple of socks and put them in the freezer too.

I hate to be "that poster" but please be really careful if you're going to encourage him to chew socks.

I know plenty of puppies and adult dogs who have chewed socks and ended up in the vets with blockages (requiring surgery to fix).

Personally I really wouldn't recommend encouraging them to chew on something that could make him quite unwell in the future.

Thanks for this. A couple of different places recommended the knotted socks that has been put in the freezer - he only has access under supervision anyway, but to be honest he wasn't interested in it today at all, so think I might just strike it from the list.

He is loving the cow ear though, as well as the Nylabone teething keys, so we're calling both of them a success!