Puppy biting really getting me down

[HandSeaSky]

And he's only nine weeks old so teething has so long to go! He has toys in different textures and plenty of sleep - he goes in the crate for naps and isn't up more than an hour at a time then sleeps all through the night from 9ish til 6.30. He's making really good progress with training and I can see his development and responsiveness get better every day. He's such a sweet dog.

But the biting feels relentless! He wants to play with us, and redirecting him to toys doesn't work. He finds it far more exciting to tug on clothes than tug toys. He loves to bite legs - it must be the movement as we walk. It hurts and I hate it so much, especially when he gets frantic. We freeze, step away, turn our backs and end play. Step back in and he just starts again immediately. I feel pretty bleak at the prospect of weeks and weeks more of it! In my head, I feel worried it will never stop even though I know it's a stage and I know it isn't aggressive. I am just so, so sick of it already. If you have been through this, how did you survive it? I love him and I am dedicating a lot of time and effort into training. I'm committed and obviously I knew this would be part of it. I just want to know when it will get better.

It's hard when they're exploring with their teeth, we always squealed "OW" and turned away. And some breeds are worse than others. Our cocker spaniel never really chewed us but our sprocker was a test of faith! By about 14 weeks you should be able to swap toys easily - we went through a lot of deer antlers (the split ones) and Yak chews.

Give this video a watch Source: YouTube

It is absolutely soul-destroying isn't it? Our girl is 6 months now and is massively better, although still has her moments! Those weeks do zip by though. So do the years actually. It feels like a minute ago it was my previous girl. She was an absolute piranha as a pup! She died last Easter at rising 13, by which time she was my best friend and the absolute light of my life. What I'm trying to say is, it's horrible and relentless and painful right now, but in a few months you'll be saying 'Remember when was a puppy how he went for our ankles?! What a nightmare he was!' and laughing about it fondly.

Firstly it gets better, honest.

We found time out helped when it was really bad. Literally quietly stepping out if the room,shut tbe door for 2 or 3 seconds and it resets them.

Also, you say he sleeps, but they need loads more sleep than you or they think....

I found when ddog was a pita it was because she was overtired. They need a ridiculous amount of sleep but it will get better and will take less time than you think.

Wear welly boots in house. Use food from daily allowance and scatter to make sniff it out.

I always let my dogs bite me. I would say ow and remove them if it hurt but otherwise I’d ignore them or treat it like a game. I know that’s not the advice but I found once they were older they knew how to ‘bite’ to play or take things out my hands with the right amount of force, in comparison to friends dogs who weren’t allowed to bite at all and then could be a bit clumsy, like it was an unpracticed skill.

If he’s biting your legs is there anything particularly attractive about them? I had one dog that went mad for bare legs or feet, she was about 2 before anyone could walk around with shorts on. Another dog that couldn’t resist a flappy trouser leg. See if you can spot a pattern and try remove temptation.
mine were always more bitey if they needed a sleep. At that age I forced a nap about every 1.5 hours like they were babies and the biting really reduced.

I second the advice to squeal like a fellow puppy every time they bite.

As soon as he bites stand up and walk away, turning your back on him

Count to at least 30 before interacting again

In a month he'll be trained to never bite again

Thanks for all the advice. His saving grace is the amount he sleeps to be honest. The worst biting is the early evening witching hour when I know tiredness is the issue - but it comes on so fast! He woke at 7pm from a two hour sleep and by 7.30 was in full on hideous toothy barky mode.

Thank you for sharing about your lovely girl @SnugglyJumpersMakeItBetter it puts it all in perspective. I cannot wait to be looking back on this phase!

I think the leg thing is reinforcing because we move away and that activates the chase instinct but it REALLY hurts. If we're out in the garden for a toilet trip there doesn't seem a way out of it except to walk grimly back into the house with a demented puppy hanging off my jeans by his teeth having the absolute time of his life. I think tomorrow I will put on my knee high boots and stand still when he does it to see if he loses interest.

17 week old puppy and it got a lot better from around 14 weeks. It will pass.

Nothing to add that hasn't been said, just wanted to reassure it will pass. Puppy blues aren't talked about enough, you will get through it 🤗

Oh and this was amazing https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bamboodles-Y-Bone-Chew-Toy-aggressive/dp/B0BRNPJJBX/ref=sr_1_13_sspa?crid=308E3XWZ1H2MO&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.B6XpS2KlXbvq1sugy1aoFfsbvulPlRIfqXrFIjW9SSNzkaTFG5thVH9hNvtt5G7TiZ4vzYHzrLx5dcoTUa-96t2YnwmHEzq24mEphYLuoY0YRtnhcB4EluGu1Z-V4sTnA7Dv6beO6XfW02ZxNl6WIZDoXYljHT3t6zBs2mqE0Km40eX0PqxYEm60sX6SnNS3IycCe_V0YOod7SdK4-KiI_HVCE_GPDQRt33q0HjS8mmi5ySBkFPSvXj_Lnbj8V1Wpc3tX9aUwF2zlo_jZnq8AJ_CjTU0whX0cGO_XF2T59c.eGOtceCp8Jn7CIDFuXYbZS2JY735z9aO5qdHztkY6aE&dib_tag=se&keywords=puppy+chew+toy&qid=1772921851&sprefix=puppy+chew%2Caps%2C306&sr=8-13-spons&aref=7NYtPBjOMb&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGY&psc=1

didn’t help with hanging off my feet when walking about but it saved my fingers when sat down.

Fingers crossed we see an improvement by then too! I have ordered the chew.

Thank you! All the other stuff like toilet training doesn't bother me, it really is just the biting. My husband and kids are pretty stoical about it but because I am doing most of the work (I wfh so am with the pup more than anyone else) I feel responsible and like I need to fix it. We just need to get through this bit.

Our pup is 14.5 weeks and reading this thread had made me realise we don't have this problem anymore!

A couple of weeks ago we were still having the evening witching hour you describe, with biting anything that moved. Seemed to spend all our time redirecting to toys or disengaging but in all honesty I think pup just grew out of that phase in the last week or so.

It is awful, but will pass!

Our dog bit us until he was 18 months old, we were absolutely at the end of our tethers! He was the exact same, if you ignored it and turned away he would bite our legs! If one more person had said “have you tried redirecting to a toy” I would’ve screamed; the only thing that worked was any time he bit we led him out of the room by the lead so he didn’t get any physical interaction and he had a long time out so he got fomo

Get some old tea towels – soak, wring out, tie in a knot and freeze. Perfect for puppy teething. When he does bite (your wellies – wear them for the next few weeks) stare him out and say "what are you doing?" It's a phrase that, if done right, will stop him in his tracks for the rest of his life!

Eighteen MONTHS 😱😱😱😱

I love this phrase

Pup needs to be more like Biro's and less like user's or he will find himself with his bags packed on the breeder's doorstep!

The wellies are saving my shins at least. Cannot wait for this phase to be over.

Oh poor you, it is horrendous! Having longed for our lab puppy when she arrived it was such a shock. We couldn’t cuddle her or even play with her easily because of the constant biting! The only thing really is to get through it and it is so worth it! She stopped around 4 months-ish and although there have been a few other challenges since - nothing compares to the biting! At 18 months she is adorable and would never bite us even in play. The only things that helped were distraction- hiding food, frozen Kongs with peanut butter or yoghurt in. Milk chews. Wooden chews. Pizzle sticks. Something in her mouth always helped! Also lots of naps as you are doing. And ignoring when she bit if possible, squealing definitely didn’t help. I wore wellies and shorts (it was summer and I found if I didn’t wear trousers it was harder for her to get a grip!) anyway do hang in there because it will be worth it. It is a horrible phase though and you have my sympathies!

Thank you! He loves Greek yoghurt. I'm allergic to peanuts so can't use peanut butter at all. I think I am finally figuring out that he needs different textures at specific times. We are getting to know each other better and I can sort of see it will get easier and we will both learn but it is such a challenge.

I feel your pain! When our lovely working cocker was a pup I remember locking myself in the utility room for 5 mins and literally crying I was so fed up with the biting! I felt I was being targeted 😂 DH and the children didn’t seem bothered by it! Honestly it does get better and a few weeks after that particular incident he was my best friend! Hang in there!