I know that puppies mouth, but this is getting out of control. Everything I do, doesn't seem to work and it is really upsetting me. She doesn't misbehave with my OH, but she plays me up something rotten. I try using several tones to say ouch or no, but this just gets her more excited.

At lunchtime today, I actually screamed really loudly at her (must have scared the neighbours) and told her is she doesn't behave, then she is on her way to finding a new home, and her big brown eyes looked really sad, don't think she was expecting me to scream. She layed down in her pen and that was the end of it. I know tonight will be the same. I am not sure why she does this to me

I am not expecting a miracle at 5 months, but thought it would have got a little better by now. She has loads of toys to chew while she is teething, but she loves getting hold of my trousers. I don't want her doing this when she is fully grown and need to try and combat this now. I do training sessions with her and she is very good but she is so hyperactive.

What am I doing wrong? I know she is a baby, but I feel so low and don't want to spend as much time with her because of her behaviour towards me.

Sarah, I think we have all felt like that at one time or another. "When will they grow up".

Rather then just playing with her, try to get her to focus on some training.  Little things like sit, down, stand.  Fetch a toy to you.  Use treats and a favourite toy that only comes out at training time.  Try her with a few tricks, shake a paw, touch my hand, anything to make her focus on you rather then bite you.

It does get better, but it never feels like it at the time.

Sandra

Hi Sarah,

I know it can feel like treading water sometimes and it's frustrating - we've all been there at some point ;)  Sandra's advice is good and will pay off.

Try to avoid doing anything with her if you're feeling stressed out or emotional.  If things are getting on top of you have some time out from each other and try again with a few play/training sessions when you've had time to relax a little.

Best wishes, Teri :)

Our puppy mouths and bites a lot. She has even ripped clothes. She does this more to me than to my partner. She doesn't mean to, it is just her way of learning about the world, and more than that, it is her way of saying 'I want to play with you', as that is what she would do to incite another pup to play with her. It doesn't make  it any the less upsetting or annoying though, and there have been times I have taken her behaviour personally. I found one way of stopping this when it starts is to get her doing her training routine. One of the first things we taught her was 'watch' which is when they stop what they are doing and watch you. I do this with a treat, which I let her sniff, then I say 'watch' as I hold it to my eyes. Now she doesn't need a treat to do it. Once I have her attention, I use treats to get her to sit, lie down, high five my hands (juvenile I know but it keeps her thinking), lie on her side, leave etc. (she is 11 weeks old). This gets her brain onto something much more interesting, as I am not only interacting with her but she is learning. I am not suggesting this has stopped her play biting, as she still does when she gets excited, but it does help to focus her mind. Also, we have started to write down when in the day she gets excitable, and we will organise to do something constructive during these times - so first thing in the morning, when she will bark and bite for attentio nand play, we take her for a 10 minute walk (no longer yet because of her age). She loves this, and she gets loads of stimulation meeting new people and seeing new things, so when she comes home she is usually a bit cleepy and crashes out, and again when she gets wired in the evening she gets another walk. I am going to ask the instructor at puppy class about her opinion on the best way to minimise play biting, and so I will pass on to you what she tells me. I hope that helps.

I use a similar thing to Nanyogg only I use "look" .... to begin with holding the treat next to my eye and within a short period of time you will nolonger need the treat just say "look" during heelwork or whenever you need thier attention brought back to you.

~Roni

Thanks for the advice. We do the sits, lies, waits etc every day and a few times a day and she is very good, but she has the attention span of an ant..... :) I am going to try the 'look' command tonight and see how she goes on that. She is doing really well on 'stay' which she has just grasped. Heelwork, well thats a non starter...... even though I try, but there are too many distractions in the park and I was hoping that doing this in the new garden would be better, but we are now not moving for another fortnight and my current garden is a little too small.

I didn't know if it was usual to feel so useless and distant and although I love her to bits, sometimes I just don't like her very much.

Sarah, I promise I have been through this. There have been times when she has bitten my legs for the umteenth time in the day and I have been seriously upset and felt she is attacking me, have felt unable to cope as an owner and have questioned how good an owner I can be. I have seriously been there and my pup is only 11 weeks! Since starting training classes, I have become a lot more confident, and I have felt able to teach my pup new things, like 'leave'. Training session are short and swet with us - 4 times a day for 5 minutes a time - any longer than 5 minutes and she will just wander off or start making mistakes because she doesn't really want to do it, so it is always a good idea to end on a high - the last thing should be something she has done really well, and then I praise her to high heaven, give her a treat and she is rewarded with some play - usually chasing her ball or something to burn off those last vestiages of energy. Something the instructor said really stuck with me, and that was '10 minutes of mental exercise can be the equivilent of 20 minutes physical exercise'. When we divert all that energy put into nipping and pulling at clothes into training, not only am I helping myself (hopefully!) get a better dog, I am getting her to associate praise with proper behaviour. As I said, she still does play bite, mouth and pull at clothes - she is a puppy - but this is just my way of dealing with it (and maintaining my sanity!)
With the 'watch' or 'look' command (and the same with leave), in the beginning, give her a treat na dpriase her if she manages just 2 seconds of eye contact, and gradually you can work on extending this. My pup will sit down, and you can see her shift her weight now as soon as she hears the command 'watch' because she knows she might be in for the long haul! I is also good to get them to associate eye contact with praise and is a great way of instilling that when you ask them, they need to give you their 100% attention. Good luck with it, and remember every dog owner goes through this, so there will be lots of sympathy here!

A training tip is to always make something perfect in a non distracting environment and then carry it slowly after weeks of practice into gradually more distracting areas, but you must use the right motivation for that particular dog. Also maturity helps but you need to train on and through the adolescent times ;)

Do you go to classes? a good clicker class would help. Try www.apdt.co.uk for one near you :)

Lindsay
x

Dear Sarah,
In my garden we have a hedgelined secluded spot with a lovely Maple tree in the centre.You cannot get to this spot only by going a certain way, as here our old dogs are all buried.In the middle is the grave of my beloved Alice who died a few years back.Alice was the most beautiful and loving and obedient bitch who used to come everywhere with me on my local business trips -- she loved meeting all the people and going to new places.She was a big dog,but a very gentle and devoted lady.
Now my point in saying this is that I have a diary written about the time Alice came to us as a gangly pup,and, when she was the same age as your pup is now,the diary entries read exactly like you are saying here. eg.,"Can't take any more of Alice being so naughty,she has ripped all my skirts and my petticoats,I am despairing!!" Indeed I still have one of those ripped petticoats,as a sort of keepsake in memory of Alice,bless her! LOL.
Another entry says that Alice was the naughtiest pup we had ever had,she never listened to anything I said, and I wondered if she had faulty hearing!!.
I know you are fed up and think it will never end, but believe me it will end, and, one day you will think back,just like I do, and these bad times will sort of blur into the good times that I know you "2" will have together.Just be patient and you will also eventually have a little Angel,but the Angelic phase comes after the naughtiness,and I KNOW this can be very,very tedious and tiring.

Anastasia
What a lovely perspective to put on this. I too kept a diary of my last pup (now the older of the two dogs) as I was so sad that I couldn't remember some of the puppyish things that previous my old girl Blue used to do as a pup!

Now with a 6month old idiot in the house, I look back at China's diary, and compare what he's up to with how she was - and she was terrible. She is now nearly three and is the most fantastic companion.

When I do remember some of the really 'bad' things my past dogs did, they are the happiest of memories

Kat

If it makes any difference our pup is just over 6 months.  He's a TERROR.  He still occasionally follows me around the room and tries to bite my feet (Arrggh) and has been known to tug on my trouser legs.  At the moment his favourite thing is to hang off his lead with his teeth and joyfully swing himself around whilst I try to take control of him!

But its not constant, its slowly improving, his constant need to chew, grind, yap, nip, rip, pull, tug and mouth is on the wane (he's turning his attention to his furry winny the pooh, who is now sadly blind and almost headless)

I went to puppy class last night and spoke to the instructor. She is a hige advocate of the 'Culture Clash' method, and is very tough and uncompromising, but you can tell she loves dogs, and is pasionate about dog ownership. She said that whenever my pup bites/nips/pulls at clothes/barks when I eat I should remove her to another room immediately - ideally having her behind a dog gate where she can see me but can't be with me. She said to provide her with a toy or a chew and then just ignore her regardless of what she does (she said 'even if she learns to walk and uses a mobile phone to call you up, don't give any attention, eye contact or acknowledgment at all') Once you have either finished what you were doing that was being distrupted, or once you have given the dog a suitable 'punishment' time (which she said is entirely up to you how long you would like - 2 minutes, 5 minutes, etc) you can then let them have access to yo, but don't overfuss them. Only let them have access to you once they are displaying acceptable behaviour - i.e. have stopped barking, have settled down etc. She said that although this sounds harsh, and the tempatation with a puppy in particular is to want to fuss and nurture them, she said such training is essential in having a good, well behaved dog. I am going to start this method today and see how my pup responds to it. Good luck and let me know ho you get on - believe me, I am learning as I go along! Love xxx

I have a spare panel from her pen I can put in front of the kitchen door. I had the evening off from her last night and let hubby do all the hard work and I am pleased I did as she was a terror with him too.

She was absolutely lovely with me this morning. When I came down she jumped on me to say good morning and didn't try to bite my clothes. Then I took her for her morning walk and she was not too bad. I have to walk her and our staffie seperately as I have a hard time controlling her as she wants to run with him, plus I do some training on our walk too. In the middle of the park, I get her to sit and wait, then recall (I have a long lead) and I can't do this with the pair of them. Once she has been properly lead trained and learnt not to pull me, then they will go together. Is that the right thing to do?

Its a good idea about a diary, I shall get one today. Being my first puppy, I have nothing to compare her to as my last dog was 4 when I got him and never had one problem with him, he loved me from day one and followed me everywhere.

I can really emphathise with you as my dog was still 'mouthing' us at 6 months and my OH gave the ultimatum of sort it out or the dog goes.  Not very supportive I know but at this age their bites are really painful.  We tried yelping and shaking by the scruff (that's apparently what the mum dogs do) which did stop her at that moment but she would always end up coming back with the same biting for play.  She had all the usual toys for chewing, tugging etc but this distraction didn't seem to help either.  I tried dominance by telling her to sit to try to disract her and assert my authority over her and eventually I did what your trainer advised.  I would shut her out for short periods (10 minutes or so) and that did seem to have the desired effect eventually or perhaps it was a mixture of all these things and the fact that she was growing out of it as well.  Apart from this the other thing that used to really upset me is that she would pull the washing off the line and drag it about the garden and the clothes would be ripped where she had yanked it with her teeth.  One day when I saw her dragging my daughter's brand new white jumper through dog poo I snapped and shouted at her very loudly and put her in the crate for about half an hour.  I didn't speak to her when I let her out, I couldn't I was too upset at my failure and my anger but this had amazing effect as she has never done that since.  All I can say is at one point I thought this puppy was a terrible mistake but now at 20 months she is beautiful, well behaved, loving, playful and quite obedient (no she's not perfect) and I am glad I perservered.  I think you get differing advice and you have to find what suits you and works for you and your pup.  These are trying times for you but you are not alone, many of us have been there and survived and amazingly so have our dogs!  It's well worth it in the end.

OK, so far for me on the shutting out method, this morning she soon degenerated into biting the backs of my legs and biting my hands, so I gave a stern 'enough' and shut her in the study, which has a dog gate so she can see into the living room but can't get to me. I left her out there for three minutes, while I watched TV and pointedly drank my tea, then I opened the gate still with no eye contact and I ignored her. She came skulking in, ears down and head down, and started trying to worm her head under my legs and wriggled herself so she could lie between the sofa and my feet. No biting or mouthing at all then until about 10 minutes ago when she started again, and I have done the same thing. Hopefully this will work, although I am not counting on this first early success setting a pattern - I had tried this last night and she ended up running off with the telephone and dialling '9' - I think she wanted to report me to the authorities!

lol, you've still got your sense of humour (dialing '9').  I think it sounds like she's definitely got the message that something wasn't right if that's the response you got after only 3 minutes.  However even though she might have realised you weren't happy with her she might not have yet realised the exact reason why.  She might keep doing it but if you repeat the procedure each time she will eventually understand what's causing you to be unhappy with her and the time between episodes will hopefully lengthen.  Be consistent, you'll get there.

Dear Kat and all, Yes,please do keep a diary of all the trials and tribulations of your different pups,I keep a diary going for each and every one,and as it is Sarahs 1st pup it will be so helpful  to get  things into perspective.Put all the "bad days" down,the "better days"and all the frustrations and joys you are feeling.Also the little triumphs!
I needed this "perspective" outlook myself lately, as I had the misfortune of having to let an older pup go through a mental problem it sadly had inherited.I tried everything I could but the unpredictability of the attacks were too dangerous for myself and my family.This was how I came to re- read all our old diaries of the other dogs now sadly passed away, but it did help me to realise that I had done everything right and this time it was sadly out of my hands.
It is normal for pups to be boisterous,noisy,tiring,extremely tetchy on teething days,and sometimes destructive.BUT!,thankfully,they all stop this "daft" pup behaviour by the time they are 12 months but sometimes it has to be stretCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhed to 2yrs!! Sarahs pup sounds just about normal,although she will need the patience of a Saint, many times over.
Unfortunately now and again a pup with hereditary bad temperment problems emerges and this is - as I said earlier - sadly out of our control.
Anyway, I have another pup now,aged nearly 5 months.She is a dear little thing,full of mischief and naughtiness,but oh so loving also.She sleeps on my bed, and it is lovely to have her near,although I know many do not like or want to have their pup on the bed! this is just my personal choice.This one has her own developing diary,and her name proudly sits on the cover >"LOTTIE" 2005

Hi Sarah,

I haven't read all of the replies you've had to this post, so sorry if I repeat advice - but I've gone through this exact same problem with Kiera.  In the end I took my OH's advice and decided to show her that I was in fact the boss - both bigger and stronger than her and I shoved her over onto her back a few times when she jumped at/mouthed me.  It worked within a couple of attempts and now she has found her respect for me again.  I thik she was just testing whether or not she was higher up the chain of command than me!!!  Little monkey.  Hope things work out for you soon as you sound a bit fed up.
Nx

Hi

I havent read the entire post but I get the gist as I have been through the same with Sox. He is a Staffie and really quite powerful and I was covered in bites and scratches. He used to curl his lip and just launch himself at me for no reason at all. In some respects you are lucky as you are able to use this website to vent your frustration. When Sox was doing this I was a first time owner and thought that there was something wrong with Sox and secondly that I was being mean for feeling that I really didnt like him very much. I didnt know sites like this existed so I just soldiered on!

Luckily I managed to be consistent with my approach and it almost stopped overnight. He is the most sweet and loving little boy now that I am quite sure wouldnt bite anyone if his life depended on it. He is confident in a lot of respects but in others is also scared of his own shadow which is funny considering how he was!

I know it sounds like I am boasting here :) but what I am trying to say is that if you keep doing what you are doing and using this site for support im sure you will enjoy the benefits of a lovely pooch very soon.

Good Luck x

Thanks for all your replies. For the last couple of days she has been fantastic not tried to mouth me once. When she got a little hyper in the lounge, we gave her a time out in the kitchen in front of the panel so she could see us, we didn't look at her until we let her out a couple of minutes later. Had to do this a couple of times, but she got the message very quickly.

Even our walks for the last couple of days have been an absolute pleasure. The only thing I need to tackle is lifting her up into the car but soon I may not be able to do this as I have had back problems and she is already 25 kilo. I am sure its not her but more my problem of not showing her I am the boss, which I am now doing.

I am taking her to friends tonight who has kids and a dog and she loves going there. I don't like to leave her at home when I don't have to especially at the weekend. The more time I can spend with her without hubby may also be a good thing.

Hi SG

Glad things are getting better.

When you say lifting her into the car, will she not just jump in? Does she like the car?

Fantastic news Sarah....good luck :-)