Is this puppy biting normal?

[newusern99]

18 week male cavapoo.
when we are sat on the sofa he will sometimes jump up and immediately start biting us quite hard on either the arm, leg or side. He doesn’t always do it but it doesn’t seem to me to be misdirected play biting. It
seems much more purposeful but I don’t know if it’s just because he’s tired: teething or whether he is maybe resource guarding (although we are usually sat on the sofa before him rather than sitting down next to him). No growling or snarling or barking at all. We stand up and cross pur arms. If he does it three times I then put him in his crate and he tends to go to sleep. It’s not just evenings when he does this though. It’s both sofas in both rooms which have sofas. Any suggestions for how to deal with this?

Obvious question but does he have chew toys? Small antler horns? Encourage him to use his teeth on something he's allowed to chew and praise him for it

I wore the same clothes every day while DDog was a puppy - they're covered in holes from all the biting!!

Yes, normal, and always liked to ‘attack’ me than dh. I had quite a few clothes I threw away with holes in.

We’ve had a few dogs, different breeds. My Lab was a land shark, bit bloody hard, drew blood, bruised us, air snapped.
A firm ‘NO BITE’ then ignored for ten mins did it. Reward good, ignore the bad.
Provide chew toys etc

If it’s only on the sofa he’s resource guarding- so he doesn’t get to use the sofa. At all.

Don’t have him on the sofa - if he’s only doing it then it’s the easy solution. He needs to be 100% trained before he goes on any furniture - both for his safety but also to ensure you get a rounded dog.

You also shouldn’t put a dog into their crate as punishment…which it effectively is if you’re doing it when he’s done something naughty.

Yes he has chew toys and an antler. I redirected him onto a rope toy but he still launched himself at me when he got back on the sofa. His favourite chew toys are fabric though but he works his way though the fabric and then chews the small pieces. I’m worried about him swallowing them and getting blockages so I have taken some of his favourite toys away once he started chewing them into bits.

Absolutely normal, it’s a stage, he’ll grow out of it. Redirect with chew toys every time, firm no and don’t ever make it a game.

My puppy is 22 weeks old and spends his entire life either sleeping, eating, toileting or biting. He bites to play, bites for affection, bites for whatever reasons. I give him long lasting chews like pigs ear, chicken feet, bully sticks to try keep him busy.

How do we train him not to use the sofa? One of his favourite things to do if we’re not in the room is jump on the sofa.

I do give him some biscuits when he goes in his crate. I know we’re not supposed to be punishing him but sometimes I think he need to settle and sleep?
hard to ignore him for ten minutes unless I stand up for the ten minutes. If I sit down he just does it again. Unless he goes in his crate.

He has a tendency to swallow chew sticks when they are still pretty huge 😫

We have a puppy. He’s 6 months now so completely out of the biting stage - yay.

Buy he was definitely bitey in the early days.

Maybe we should get him a cozy bed for the lounge?

It’s not just on the sofa by the way. Does it if you sit on the floor with him or on a chair. Sometimes also in the garden jumps up and bites

I could never ban my dog from the sofa!

It's just a phase op. Lot of chew toys and I promise it gets easier

In my experience it's quite normal for puppies to bite, but responding with a firm yelp and a cross look, usually makes them understand it's not welcome

It's totally normal and most of how you deal with it is just management until they grow up and calm down.

I would look at how much sleep, exercise and mental stimulation he gets though, as too much or too little can cause problems with behaviour.

It’s a phase they grow out of but can come and go all the way to adulthood.

We kept shoving a toy in and now have a young dog who brings us a toy when she wants to play 🙂 No telling off or ignoring just redirecting. Mine will still do it if overstimulated but the same applies. I just give her a toy. That need to bite has to go somewhere.