Very Bitey Pup

[Cactusali]

We have a (mostly) adorable 9 week old Border Terrier. She is massively intelligent - almost always wees and poos in the garden, can follow simple commands, enjoys ‘foraging’ for food in a rolled towel. Loves her toys, antler etc. But she bites me, really hard, and attacks my clothes, ankles and - particularly excruciating - the upper surface of my foot. I try to be calm and to offer alternative things to chew, but she’s frighteningly determined to sink her teeth into my quite elderly and tender flesh. I do all the ‘right’ things, freeze and turn my back, remove myself for time out, but she just starts all over again and doesn’t bloody let go. Any wise words?

That's puppies for you, I'm afraid. That's how they explore the world. With their mouths and particularly their teeth.

She will grow out of it, but in the meantime... there will be blood.

Wise Words? Not really!

Tentative suggestion is to keep doing as you are doing, and hope the message gets across.

Plus wear boots (if necessary getting another pair from a charity shop to be your indoors wellies, or just designate a sturdy pair you already have as indoors boots for the duration)

If there's no progress in a couple of weeks, then think about getting a behaviourist's opinion. I wouldn't rush to that as this still sounds normal puppy behaviour.

Have you had a terrier before?

Our lab was a dreadful biter until he was about 6-7 months and all his adult teeth came in. A gentler boy you couldn’t find now. Don’t worry, he will grow out of it. He is so young still.
Btw he is absolutely gorgeous. 🐾

Love the wellies idea and you could expand on that by wearing oven gloves when she's really bitey - the little fuckers darlings can be very quick. What worked for me in the past is roaring (in the best Irish fashion!) "NO" in their face and then trying not to laugh when they give you that 'why not?' look back.

As as aside, soaking a tea-towel, tying it on a knot and then freezing it is a wonderful chew toy.

Thank you for solidarity. Yes, this is our fourth terrier so not unused to biting, but it was a long time ago and I had blanked out the early stages. May well resort to wellies. Frozen tea towels also sound good. I do a Maggie Thatcher style ‘No, no, no’ but it falls on stony ground.

My advice is to make sure she’s getting enough opportunities to sleep. When our Border Terrier puppy got nippy it meant bedtime! Crate worked for us

Please, please don’t give antlers to chew.
We see terrible slab fractures of even strong adult carnassial teeth in dogs because antlers are stronger than thigh bone. Here’s an article which may help explain.
www.veterinaryirelandjournal.com/images/pdf/focus/focus2_dec_2019.pdf

Agree with the sleep! When my pup was at her worst, we'd leave the room which would result in an enforced nap.

Ours was terrible. She shredded all of both my sons pj's... they ended up wearing them constantly so she didn't ruin their clothes. Both started to look like extras from Oliver Twist 🙈 She did end up singling out my youngest son in the end and I even got pulled aside by his teacher to question me about all the marks on his hands 😳

I remember on the many occasions I had to pick her up to bring her in from the garden, she'd be thrashing her head like a snapping turtle trying to take a chunk out of me, with an unnerving, crazed look in her eyes!

Nothing really worked, apart from separating ourselves from her. I can't remember when it stopped either... perhaps around 6 months or so but it tapered off gradually so it wasn't horrendous for all of that time.

Yes to the wellies and enjoy your pup. She's absolutely gorgeous!

Could I just ask if you have the same thoughts regarding yak milk chews?

I stopped given them to my dog as I'd read about tooth fractures but she really did love them and they're the only chews that lasted longer than 5 mins (big dog).

I would say 'no' or 'stop' (be consistent with one or the other) and remove her from you or you from her (crate, pen, utility room, whatever you have). A few seconds (10?) apart and she should start to get the message.

'No'/'stop' will become associated in her mind with separation and boredom.

And chew toys, to give that bitiness somewhere to go.

Our dog was a bitey little shark, he only started improving at about eight months and it took until about 18 montha for him to stop completely.

Tiredness can be a big cause, enforced naps/quiet time can help to reduce biting.

Frozen flannel or tea towel and agree about being over stimulated!

It does get better! It won’t feel like it now or possibly even in six months, but it really does - remember that when she was with her litter mates they learnt not to be too harsh with each other through literally ‘learning on the job’.’

She’s beautiful though!

The snapping turtle analogy is absolutely right!

And, yes, tiredness is definitely a major factor. I need to get tougher on time out when it all gets a bit frantic for both our sakes.

I do all the work with her and my husband does bugger-all except make occasional encouraging remarks. Needless to say, she absolutely adores him, sleeps happily on his foot, follows him around. Maybe I’m the bad cop in all this.

Is she getting enough sleep?

https://tibetandogchew.com/blogs/blog/are-yak-chews-too-hard-for-dogs

This website that sells them lists dental damage, choking hazard, digestive issues and allergic reactions…

As I said earlier, ours went for our youngest mainly. I always assumed it was as she deemed him the easiest target/smallest. She humps occasionally too and it's only ever him she does it to!

It's maybe as she sees you as the weaker one, rather than the bad cop. It may even be the male/female thing. We had a female cockatiel for years. I did absolutely everything for her, my partner isn't a bird person at all. It was him she wanted to perch on all night though. He'd constantly return her to me and try to avoid her when she was flying towards him, so she'd sneak along the back of the sofa and gently hop onto his shoulder hoping he wouldn't notice 😂

Ignoring the behaviour does not help, it only makes them more determined to get your attention. Have you tried making a loud squeaking noise when he bites you? That's how they learn bite inhibition from their siblings - when another puppy squeals, it means that it was too rough, and either the game ends (=not fun), or the sibling even bites back (=NOT FUN). Now it's your job to imitate this behaviour. Make an absolutely shocked squeak and end the play.

This only however works if your puppy doesn't play with squeaky toys. That's why you're not supposed to give them any at this stage, otherwise they'll associate the sound with play and then you'll end up with an adult dog with no bite inhibition towards puppies.

Ignoring the behaviour does help - you just have to be really persistent and work through the extinction phase (which is where they'll try absolutely everything to get your attention and you basically have to wait it out).

However in my experience the only thing that really solves the behaviour is time - they will grow out of it, you just have to do whatever it takes to manage it until then.

Thank you for some excellent advice. I was nervous about using her crate for ‘time out’ because of all the guidance to make it a lovely safe space with no hint of punishment. But a couple of minutes in the crate when she’s a bit frenzied has worked really well. I’m sure I’ll be criticised for being too draconian but there’s a significant difference in her behaviour even over 24 hours. Early days though!

I did the squealing when my puppy used to bite. It worked almost immediately. I’ll never forget the look of shock on his face.

I’m raising a guide dog puppy at the moment & they recommend Yak chews for their puppies so I’m guessing they are fine.

@Cactusali the solution to the biting is mainly just time passing.

My Lab puppy drove me to distraction with biting but he’s much better now ( 5 months). I think they generally improve as they lose their little puppy teeth.

Forgot to say @Cactusali but what a beautiful puppy ❤️

Had the opposite effect with ours; she thought us yelping was hilarious fun and bit us more. It depends on the pup.

The yelping noise definitely stimulates her, so not continuing with that. A crazy half hour before bedtime so maybe I was too complacent too soon. Tomorrow is another day closer to a well-behaved dog!