OK, we have no idea what to do but we are pretty sure this can't be normal so I thought I'd seek the wisdom of you guys on here :)

We have a four month old lab pup. She's pretty well behaved with most things, comes back when called, sits etc etc but for some reason she bites...all the time...whether she's playing or not, no matter what time of day, if she can't get an arm or a hand then a foot will suffice. At first people kept saying it was because she was teething, which I could understand, but this is really vicious biting (arms look like dragged through a prickly hedge!). Her top and bottom middle sets of teeth have changed - do the 'fangs' change? The vet said could take up to seven months of age for her teeth to change completely to the adult set.

We've given her plenty of toys and chewy things and a nice bone that you fill with water and freeze thinking it would help if her gums hurt but don't know what to do next. We send her to her bed when she's really relentless with the biting but if we put her in it every time she bites she'll never be out of it!!

Any ideas please?

Ali

Replace the body part with a toy every time and if she persists, turn around and ignore her completely. I thought it would never work but realised when I got a nasty nip today that it was the first time in weeks, before it was probably 20-30 times a day! Good luck!

Sounds very normal to me.........  One good thing to offer a teething puppy is a tea towel soaked in water, knotted, and then frozen in the freezer - take it out for 5-10 mins before you give it to her, and tempt her by trailing it up and down the floor - she'll soon get the hang of it.  Always try and distract her from play biting, making a sharp 'OW!' can stop her in her tracks - then offer your choice of toy and play and praise her to playing with the toy.  Keep this up, and she'll learn that biting you gets her no reward ('cos you won't play!) but not biting means you keep playing :)

It's a very testing time at that age and the biting can really get you down.  As digger says, make the ouch as distracting as you can every time and make sure everyone does it each time the biting happens.  Also try turning your back on the dog so that she realises that she has just stopped the play and then when it gets really bad, do as you've been doing and put her in a separate room for a few minutes to cool off.  She will realise that the biting doesn't lead to playing because at the moment, your hands and feet are objects of play.  All of these things will work eventually, just keep at it. 

i went through the same thing with my dane pup just a month or so ago, but now i think about it she has stopped almost completely, i did try the substituting a toy but it did not work so i ignored her and took all her toys away, not sure if it was right but she does seem to have stopped, she is 5 months now :-D

With Millie at six months, I can now look back and say "oh, those were the days.....! :-D

Thanks for the replies. Have started getting up and walking away from her...she looks a bit miffed so hopefully it will click with her that it's unacceptable!

Thanks!!

Just thought I'd add to the patience theme - our (now 7 months) black lab chewed hands/feet/trouser legs for weeks when we first had him and though it seems out of proportion looking back, we were considering rehoming cos we couldn't cope and nothing we tried seemed to help. It took several weeks to stop it by the 'ignoring' method but you WILL suddenly realise one day that she's not doing it so much, if at all. And then she'll start on the furniture... :-)

Gosh, I remember the bitey days too!

Saying 'no' or giving any vocal reaction when Cam got bitey didn't work for us, as he seemed to think it part of the game. What really worked was (a) distracting his attention onto a toy, or (b) immediately putting him out of the room for a few minutes, without reacting vocally or making any eye contact.  I think the thing to remember is that this is perfectly natural doggie stuff, and that you never get results overnight or even over weeks - you have to allow time for a habit to form.

Until this happens, drink a large glass of wine every hour or so. :D

Ah, the glass of wine bit sounds like a good idea to get me through! We've really gone to town on the ignoring and it does seem to have some effect so will stick with it. It certainly has got me down on occasion though to the point where I wondered whether we had done the right thing (not that I could/would give her up, I'd never forgive myself).

Thanks again everyone!

It does get you down alic - it isn't easy and it is wearing. Take heart by looking at all the thousands of other posts on the board which all start with "Help, my puppy's biting me!!" and you'll see that there are other people out there who are going through exactly the same thing. :D I was lucky with Cam because although he did mouth (like any pup), it was never really a problem ... but then I suspect that dobes might not be a hugely mouthy breed, compared to say, labs, that are programmed to use their mouths alot.

Just be patient and consistent, and remind yourself that you're doing a tough job well.  Your pupster will grow out of it (eventually!) and it'll be all down to your hard work and training. :)

I think I read somewhere that you can paint your arms with some type of anti-bite solution, as a sort of added deterrent. Not sure how practical or effective this is but it might be useful to look into it.

Keep it up

Jo :)