Puppy biting tipping me over the edge

[landsharkr]

I got a new puppy 2 weeks ago, he's a lovely little thing and I love him! We already had 2 dogs and 3 cats and he has settled in brilliantly.

His house training is going fairly well, he hasn't got the full grasp of it yet but he's getting there.

The only thing that is driving me absolutely insane is the puppy biting stage, I honestly feel so overwhelmed and can not cope with it.

He is constantly biting which is so so painful, he will bite on to my trousers when I walk, bite my hands, bite my shoes, bite my hoodies. As well as trying to chew absolutely everything, cables, sofa edge etc. I am finding it so exhausting right now.

I know that puppies bite and it's completely normal (I've raised two puppies already) but I just feel deflated right now! I guess I am just looking for some support and advice on the puppy biting stage (and how to discourage it) or even for someone just to share their experiences so that I know it gets better!!!

No advice but am right there with you. First puppy for us and I keep getting told it will get worse and then better but oh my good sometimes it is just relentless!! I try to divert to toys, remove myself and in extremes put him in his crate ( this works when he is over tired/ winding himself up)

It’s an awful phase they go through, but it is absolutely normal and does stop.

You need to make sure you have plenty of distraction toys always at hand to offer instead of parts of your body.

I have read the a quick verbalisation like Ouch or No, then offer them a toy to bite is best. But someone else may know better.

Dont let anyone in the family play any biting games ie waving hands around or putting something in front of them then snatching it back.

Look online to refresh your memory on best tactics.

Having a puppy is a bit like giving birth, you alway forget the worst bit.

@Gizlotsmum I'm so glad I'm not the only one! It's exhausting, he has mad bursts when he's a little menace but then the next minute he's fast asleep on my lap like butter wouldn't melt!

hoof
antlers
yak chews
bulls pizzles

that’s the route we went for our land shark.

@Isheabastard thank you so much for the advice, I will try these suggestions. I've read quite a bit about the loud "ouch" which I have tried and initially it stops him, but then he continues biting a few seconds later.

You are so right about that, you forget what they're like until you get another pup! I just keep thinking that it doesn't last too long in the grand scheme of things, and a few months down the line I probably won't even remember this awful stage. They are definitely worth it

@mintbiscuit thank you I'll try these! I'm just dreaming of the day the biting stage is over lol.

My little land shark inspired my username!

Shove toy in gob when he bites. He’ll grow out of it. Ours stopped virtually overnight at about 5 months. She still mouthes a bit at 7 months but it’s nothing like it was. I looked like a torture victim

When they get to the stage where they're uncontrollably biting and jumping everywhere, it generally means they're over-tired and need a nap.

Is he getting enough sleep? Honestly, the only thing that worked for us was enforcing LOTS of regular naps. They should be sleeping a good 20 hours a day when they're small.

I made sure I had a toy to shove in his mouth whenever he was leaping on my head and biting ( which was all the time) then at about 4 months he just started mouthing instead of biting. So then I let him mouth my hand and suck my fingers. He learnt really quickly to be so gentle. Now 7 months and he hardly ever opens his mouth at all. He likes to have a gentle mouth and suck fingers first thing in the morning and a cuddle, but he's not even that bothered about jumping all over me any more. He likes a snuggle but mostly is asleep or chewing his antler on the floor. They grow up so quickly !
When he was little I wore thick joggers, long sleeves and the same trainers for about 2 months ( so they got boring for him) I only risked a dressing gown in the last few weeks! It definitely helped wearing non-flappy clothing!!
The puppy biting was awful, but honestly it does stop and now my boy is an absolute joy. Totally worth it.

Yakers! Can't recommend enough. Stay strong

You can’t discourage it, it’s a normal developmental stage that they have to do. Give plenty of things to bite on, play with long toys to keep his mouth away from your hands and plenty of naps.
Gardening gloves and tight trousers he can’t get a hold of work well.

This video is all you will ever need

Oh painful.

Mine is now 2 1/2, so well past the biting stage. It really does seem like it was such a fleeting phase now. Once it stops, that’s it altogether, and they’ll never do it again. You’ll be past it soon, I promise.

Thank you all for the advice, will take a look at that YouTube video.

It's exhausting I can't even sit down for a break at the moment because he's biting my legs, chewing on cables in the living room, annoying the other pets. Doesn't help that his teeth are so sharp lol

My guy is 6 month old
a) he doesn't bite anymore
b) now I realised how quick those last 4 months together went
It really DOES get better.
When he was 4 month old, I even treated myself with a manicure, before that my hands looks like I was living in a war zone and abused drugs.

But anyway, for now, it mostly management, there's no way escaping it altogether but you can mitigate thr effect it has on you: what saved my sanity were enforced naps in crate (or pen), puppy proofing and loads of toys. And interesting podcasts, sometimes I was just spending 1h shoving a toy in a little monster's mouth and it was a bit boring to say the least.

good luck OP, you'll get there!

@FastFood thank you so much, I really needed that comment this morning!
I have ordered him a puppy pen which should be arriving any day now so am hoping that'll help.

I've got the serious puppy blues right now, feeling like I've lost my normal life and that I will never be able to leave him alone or go anywhere with friends etc again (dramatic I know!!) So I'm glad to know it gets better, all this stress hey, but they're so worth it 😊

Hi lanrsharkr, our pup is coming up to 6.5 months now and it honestly has got better. A few months ago I felt exactly like you, I was actually really down at times. The adjustment to the pup in general but then the biting on top - my kids were hiding upstairs and could not bond with him, we could not walk from one room to another without getting bitten.
Now he has occasional bitey moments but it is not constant. When he gets like that I say 'Gentle' and if he doesn't stop I leave the room for a minute. We also found a particular chew that seems to help a little too (he was very fussy with these, we tried so many, and he would just turn his nose up at them!). More and more he is learning to stop. I had very limited luck with toy distraction, 'OUCH' etc., so it has been more a case of waiting it out here, he has lost loads of his milk teeth now too which has helped.
But it will get better, a few times over the last month or so I've suddenly thought 'oh my goodness, I'm wearing my baggy pj bottoms and he has let me walk straight past him without launching at me and hanging on for dear life!'

This was such an interesting watch. Thank you for sharing.

@ToBeOrNotToBee that video is really interesting, thank you for sharing.

Tiny sharks that’s what they are, make sure he can go somewhere quiet to sleep, pups sleep for 18/20 hours so he’s perhaps overtired.
redirect when he does it, he sounds particularly tenacious i would walk away when he’s doing it, baby gate for another room so he can see you and when your pen comes he can go in there. It’s not unusual for them to bite but they need to learn what they can chew /mouth/bite and it’s not your hands or legs and those teeth really hurt. I used lots of long lasting chews/licky mat etc for mine obs need to be puppy safe a frozen kong with their mushed up food used to be popular with my retriever. Kept him busy for ages then he’d sleep.

it doesn’t last forever though long as you are consistent just feels like it’ll never end

It is relentless while it lasts, but it is a phase that will end - though it can be quite a long one.

Here are some of the things that I remember working:

• wearing boots indoors
• wearing old clothes
• making sure the puppy has lots of naps through the day. We have a selection of vets beds, beds, cushions in different rooms.
• lots of different things to chew on - cucumber, frozen carrots, yak chews (from memory they need to be a bit older for these)
• scatter feeding on the lawn
• licky mats with peanut butter
• puppy kongs stuffed with something tasty
• find a place to sit where your puppy can be near you but not reach your feet. For me this was a stool at the kitchen island. The minute I sat there, she'd flop down for a nap at the base of the stool.
• Get someone else to take over and do their share
• wine

I'm going to add playing with tuggy toys