puppy only biting and tugging at me

[user120405]

DPuppy is 10.5 weeks old. We've had her since she was 8 weeks. She's a rough collie cross.

She has got to the bitey, tugging at clothes, jumping up and hanging on by her teeth phase very, very quickly. Our previous dog (also a rough collie) wasn't at this stage for a few months yet.

Oddly though she's only doing it to me. She has spent more time with me than any other member of the family and follows me around everywhere but literally as soon as I get up she will jump up and bite the backs of my knees and tug and rip at my clothing.

Is there a reason why she's doing this to me and nobody else? It's annoying and it hurts!

You need to have something to hand to give her before you get up.

What do you do that's different to other people?

Move quicker? Speak faster or with a higher pitch? Do you do anything that accidentally hypes her up?

I remember our puppy always going for DH but he basically brought it on himself by winding him up, lol. He never learnt and still does it now

I don’t think I do anything differently to anyone else other than perhaps the fact that I’m female or I spend more time with her than anyone else.

Shes manic at the moment. One minute she’s snuggling up and licking me and the next she’s trying to sink her claws into my wrist.

with our last puppy if we yelped like another puppy when the biting started he would stop. This one just ignores it and growls.

If you're female it could be the pitch of your voice.

Squealing and high pitched/excited voices made our puppy ten times worse. Lots of calm and removing ourselves when he bit were the only things that worked.

Our puppy only (used to) bite and jump up at me. It was very annoying - especially as he put a lot of holes in my clothes and gave me big bruises!

I put it down to the fact that he saw DH more as the 'boss' and me more as a friend because I spent more time with him playing and training when we first got him. DH also told him off more, I was less stern.

What clothes do you wear? He was much worse with dresses and big floaty tops so stopped wearing those around him.

He never really went for my daughter, but possibly because the few times he did she would just get sad / cross and go away!

Just to offer hope and say the phase did pass and probably lasted a lot shorter than I felt at the time. Maybe a month or 6 weeks?

He is still a bit worse behaved with me (at 7 months old) e.g. will chew on my hands if he is unhappy being blow dried, but sits very nicely for DH! But those instances are getting fewer and fewer.

I used to have the same problem as you - my puppy would always lunge, bite, yank, tug at my sleeves and was way less boisterous with my husband. I used to sit on the stairs and cry as his shark teeth would be so painful! I used to keep treats in my pocket to distract him by asking him to do a trick.

Now, one year later, I'm his favourite ❤️ he's super gentle with me and very boisterous with my husband. Remember, he's still a baby, I reckon he's acting like this with you as you're his favourite :)

Rough Collie crossed with what?

Basically though, diversion is the key. Make her do something else instead of biting you, be it a sit, down, wee trick. Tiny treats in your pockets to incentivise.

(The Barker & Barker little liver training treats you can find on Amazon are usually very popular, and really handy because they're dry - so you can have them in pockets easily - and tiny.)

She's a Yorkshire Tofty. Rough Collie crossed with Welsh sheepdog.

I wondered if she might be … she will be a very energetic and intelligent pup. Lots and lots of training to divert her forces from evil!

My advice above stands though - divert her from doing something bad, so you can praise her for doing something good. Carry toys and treats, or perhaps (ONLY WHEN 100% SUPERVISED) put a light lead on her.

update - she is indeed very energetic and intelligent. I'm starting to think she is deliberately plotting against me. I've never known a puppy be this hard work. I naively thought that she would be very similar in temperament to a purebred rough collie.

My dog, a Border Colie, was hell upon earth as a puppy. I was so caught out as my last had been an absolute angel throughout her first year. No particular 'techniques' worked for us, we just had to try and get through it day by day. Those tiny teeth hurt so much when they sink into you, I know! 12 years on my girl is now calm and lovely. It just took a while to get here!

Did you get her direct from Angela? Phone her for some advice before this becomes even more of a problem.

Advice stands though - you can't exercise a puppy physically when that young to wear them out, but using their brain will do it too.

Scatter her food (or the Barker & Barker treats I mentioned above), or use a snuffle mat so she has to work to find it. Hide treats or toys in scrumpled up paper. Teach her tricks and the start of obedience.

Importantly, teach her to settle - time out in a safe space with a safe and age-appropriate chew.

Yes we've done all that. She has a licky mat and a snuffle mat and kongs, she has a den which she likes (filled with all my favourite soft blankets which she's stolen and dragged in there!), she has lots of toys and things to chew, lots of outdoor space, lots of socialisation opportunities, she gets plenty of sleep, she's toilet trained and and general training is going fine in terms of basic things like sit, stay, lie down, come (she'll come to DH every time but with me she's just as likely to look at me, turn around and carry on with whatever she was doing) etc. However she is unexpectedly aggressive. She tugs and bites me constantly and barks and growls with her eyes narrowed and ears pinned back whilst doing it and has caused bruising and drawn blood a few times. If I say no to her or tell her to get down she also growls and bites. She's also very reactive with other dogs.

We'll get there I'm sure but it's really hard going at the moment. I think she's definitely worse with me because she's with me more than she is with other family members.