I have a 7 month old weirmaraner who is an angel 90% of the time! However, she is a devil the other 10%! Since we got her (at 8 weeks) we have been concerned about her biting as at times it seemed more than just 'puppy biting'. She will have moments in the day when she will come up and bite and growl and run away. She seems to think it is a game and wags her tail, but I am really concerned. She does it to me more than my fiance, and even more to my mum. We have tried spraying our clothes with bitter apple, ignoring her, laying her down on her back but nothing seems to work, she enjoys the chase-but to ignore her is v.difficult as she really hurts!  She also has these moments when out on her lead. More so when walking on the roads rather than in the woods. She will suddenly jump up and start biting the lead and me. Often it is when you put the lead back on ( so I do a lot of putting on during the walk) but sometimes I cannot see the reason she starts. This morning it was because we walked past somebody! I am now trying turning around and coming home if she does it on a walk. It is getting a real worry as my arms are covered in bruises! Like I say the rest of the time she is really affectionate and obedient. Help!!

Sounds like she is playing to me, we had similar from our lab when she was younger. What worked for us was to yelp really loud as though she'd really hurt us (which she sometimes did!) and then put her in the other room behind a baby gate for a while and ignore her, and keep on repeating til she got the message. She is nearly 2 and a half now and still likes to play bite if we are playing rough with her, but it's amazing how gentle she has become using her mouth, she has learn't really well.

Thanks Joules. We did try yelping but it seemed to get her more excited! Also tried the putting her in another room for 'time out' which did seem to work (after a few attempts) but now it is quite difficult to get hold of her as she enjoys the chase! I think you are right, she thinks its a game, but my arms are not enjoying it much! :(  I am glad you had similar problem which you have solved, was beginning to think it was just us, as every1 we spoke to hadn't heard of behaviour like her! Thanks again. Will try the gate idea again.

Sounds familiar! Especially the chase bit... she was always picking up stuff from around the house and running off with it! Amazing how she would lose interest in it as soon as I'd stop chasing her, or would trade her for a treat. She still likes to fish the odd sock out of the laundry basket and looks at me with those "come on, chase me" eyes! But these moments are becoming less and less frequent, I think my monster pup is growing up! I never thought I'd say it, but I do miss those puppy days!

Goodness, it sounds like you are talking about my Barney! He is 7 months old and does exactly the things you describe. When I walk him on, or off the lead he will jump at me biting my arms. Off the lead, it seems to be because he can (LOL) and on the lead, it is if he gets excited by perhaps someone walking past! He mouths just about anyone at home or out. Reading this post has made me realise that perhaps he is not a problem puppy at all, but just being a typical loutish puppy. I am glad that others know what I am going through, and i'm sure that they will calm down in the end.

p.s. The yelping makes Barney more excited too.

carry a water spray and when he does it zap him lol

Did try the water spray thing which really worked but now she just thinks i am giving her a drink and licks it all up then carries on!!! We did leave it for a while, but think i may try again. We have water sprays in every room of the house and the dog walking bag!!

Ooh im so glad there is another bruised person out there! sometimes i think because she is so good the rest of the time that the devil behaviour really stands out!!

Yeah stealing underwear is Cleo's favourite!! She happily swaps socks for a carrot though! Sometimes I think she steals things because she knows I swap a smelly sock for a tasty carrot!!

Yelping does often get them more excited, i don't often recommend it now except for maybe very sensitive pups.
As for putting them out, keep a light lead on them in the house (but don't leave it on when you are out for safety reasons) and then you won't have the exciting chase thing by which time they will have totaly forgotten why they are being put out anyway.
Remember to be consistent ;)

Lindsay
X

Thanks Lindsay. By light lead, do your just mean a normal nylon lead? Also any tips for when out?!

Yep, just any light lead or line, it's very useful.
Make sure you know the boundaries you are setting and always praise and reward when the dog chooses to do the correct thing :) as we often forget to do this and it helps them learn quicker.

good luck
Lindsay
X

Thanks Lindsay. We kept her on a short lead yesterday which seemed to work really well! Thanks for all your help, I feel so much better knowing she isn't the only looney!!!

No problem, don't worry we all go through difficult times ;)

Lindsay
X

We did the leaving the lead on in the house (only while supervised though).  It helped a great deal.

 

My Hozi still plays like this now that she is five, but she is more controlled with the amount of force.

At 8 1/2 months when she came back to me she was an OTT adolescent and any physical attempts to stop her just made her play harder and be quicker at getting out of your grasp.

With her I found the water spray bottle worked.  I would spray her repeatedly in the face iwth it on jet, right at the eyse so that she woudl duck and weave trying to get to me but not being able to because the water annoyed her, so I was winning the game.

Since about 2 years of age I ahve been able to wind her up, and then simply say enough (the command used when using the spray) and she will calm down.  Until then I would simply never play rough or allow her to get over excited.  I even used to take the spray bottle in the ring (maybe I should restart this as she has taken the mick in the ring quite a lot over the last year :D) as she used to grab at my legs and clothes when she was moved around the ring.

I had similiar struggles with our puppy at that age. 

Is the weirmaraner getting appropriate exercise? 

When we finally gave our pointer an appropriate amount of daily exercise, I found things got a lot better.
(along with obedience classes, and leaving the lead on in the house, etc.)

Hi, yes she gets at least an hour a day (off the lead so she is running a lot, playing fetch etc.) We haven't tried leaving the lead on in the house so will definately try that! Thanks

P.s we do go to dog training once a week, where she is an angel!!

Is she doing any training?  Weimaraners need plenty of mental stimluation as well as the physical (Ihave 4).  Would suggest when out that you get her into a sit when people are approaching if that is one of the reasons she is having a tantrum.  Distract her from her goal by getting her into a control position. 
The water spray would have more effect if she didn't see it coming - it should be sprayed from behing across the back of the ears other wise it just becomes a game.  Set her up when someone else is there to do the squirting!

Thanks for your advice! Yes we go to training once a week which is really good. We also continue the training a lot at home. She has lots of kongs, toys etc and we leave treats in bottles etc to challenge her. This evening I walked her (before your reply) and did exactly what you said and she was much better. Every now and then I asked her to sit or lay down to calm her and she didnt bite once, so think I will definately keep up with what you said. Also will try spraying the water from behind! Thank you!

Hope things settle down with her.  What are you feeding her on?  Sensitive digestion of this breed can make many commercial products unsuitable.

Yes we have had lots of problems with her tummy! She colitis, we have tried a few foods, and are now on naturediet which she loves!! (she never really ate when we gave dried foods) She is also on probiotic medication which really helps. We also give her mainly vegetables as treats which luckily she loves! I may well be back to you for advice, you must be very brave having 4!!! ;)

Not brave I think mad would better describe living with 4 weimaraners in doors!!  But I wouldn't change them for the world.  They provide so much enjoyment to me and actually do earn their keep as I am a trainer and sometimes need them to help me with problem dogs.

As your girl  matures (in about 6 years!!!!!) you will realise what a wonderful dog you have.

I would also suggest that you make sure that you are brushing her from head to tail at least once a day - it is a very important social control exercise and with their short coats it is something many weimy owners neglect.  Grooming is not only about making the dog look good as I said it is an important social control exercise.  If you cant touch her all over without her wriggling  email me direct and I will explain what best to do.

Mail@k9solutions.org.uk

Thank you! We do realise already, she is such a character and apart from he biting she is so affectionate and looks after me when my fiance is on nights! The trainers at her classes actually comment on her attention span for such a young dog, so I think we are very lucky!! We don't groom her that often but will definately start, will let you know how it goes! Thanks for your advice! All tips very welcome!!

deaks, would you post on this social control exercise of brushing....

I have a rough time toweling off our dog after her run.   She wants to turn the towel into a tug toy.   Drives me crazy.  She will let us touch her all over, but if we have brush or towel.......      Right now, I have to step on the lead to hold her to get her dried off.   But, that is not working great.  I'd be interested how to train this while not getting her all hyped up.

Hope someone will give us tips on the grooming drying problem. Towels and brushes are just toys to my GSD bitch as well. She will do a down/stay no problem but as soon as the towel or brush come out, she will stay there but try to bite either the brush or towel. I brush every day but need to do it late at night when she is a little calmer. I do this every night as she is a long coat. This works for most of the time although I have to put up with a bit of mouthing which is getting softer the older she gets. She is 14 months old.

Well, going back to the beginning of the thread, and my previous comment, I can say that whilst walking Barney round the road at lunchtime today, he got a bee in his bonnet that decided it was time to test me! He kept jumping up/lunging at me biting my left arm (has left some lovely purple bruises!), and was so persistent that I had to escort him home by holding his collar. He is not small (31kg at 7 months), which is more than be said for me at 5ft! As you can imagine, it was not fun!

I too have problems with towelling and grooming. Being a very long haired breed, he needs to be groomed every day and towelled off after walks. Like the other posters, he bites the brush and me, and the towel and me!

I only hope this gets better. I have seen some real improvement over the last week, but I dont know what to think after today's little episode. :-o