[iamswiss]

This morning I am so frustrated with Bailey. Since almost 2 hours she's in the jumping and biting phase. I put her a few times in the crate to get some peace. I opened the door again and she seemed fine for a few minutes and then she just starts again and tears up my clothes. It's very hard not getting angry when she bites holes in shirts I liked. I usually get always in some old clothes with already existing holes from her when I am at home, but this morning I needed to get changed to leave the house.
What do you usually do when your puppy is in this never ending jumping and biting phase?
Yelping doesn't help at all and redirecting to toys helps for a few seconds and then she jumps up again. She started also to bite really hard and I don't know how to teach her to bite less hard. What saves me often is the Sit command, she really reacts to it promptly even when she's totally excited.
But when I need to have things done the only thing I can do is to put her in the crate as she's usually in our kitchen/dining area and that's the place where I have to do a lot of things. Our downstairs area is unfortunately not as big and I can't always go upstairs and leave as my little son is most of the times in the living room area (gated).
I am just so frustrated of having so many clothes destroyed by her and I don't see many improvements with her jumping and biting. At least she has these phases only 2-4 times a day.

 

[pburchins]

That is a mischievous photo of her, LOL Her eyes shows she is ready to take on the world. I am sorry that you are going through this. Our pup did the exact same thing. It is tough to get close when they are biting on you. For what it is worth, it does eventually stop.

Good Luck

 

[Ambesi]

We have this same problem with Winchester. The instructor at puppy kindergarten told us to grab his head and look into his eyes and give him the command for not biting. Our is "no bite!" You have to make sure and achieve eye contact and be stern. It's taken quite a few times, but it's working with Winchester. Patience and consistency is the key.

Another method that was recommended is a squirt bottle. I'm going to get one of those for barking and counter-surfing today.

For what it's worth, yelping and the toy thing hasn't worked great for us either.

 

[Noey]

Our vet said each time pick them up and put them in teh crate. It works. Might take work but it works. I had one session where I'd put Scout into the crate, take him out and put him right back into the box. After about 20 times he was like "wait a minute...this sucks..." It's hard. These little guys know how to push buttons and look cute at the same time.

 

[Mssjnnfer]

Another method that was recommended is a squirt bottle. I'm going to get one of those for barking and counter-surfing today.

LOL, good luck... I tried this with BOTH dogs, and I seriously think they enjoyed the water.

"OHHH? WATER!? SQUIRT ME AGAIN, MA... SQUIRT ME AGAAAAAAAAIN!!"

 

[Mssjnnfer]

Our vet said each time pick them up and put them in teh crate. It works. Might take work but it works. I had one session where I'd put Scout into the crate, take him out and put him right back into the box. After about 20 times he was like "wait a minute...this sucks..." It's hard. These little guys know how to push buttons and look cute at the same time.

This is what worked for us! It was almost instant, too. When he would bite we'd say "NO BITE" while we carried him to his kennel. He was only in there maybe 5 minutes at a time.

 

[LuckyPup]

I wish I knew what to tell you! Lucky is in the stage and he is 10 months old....I sure hope that is normal. His trainer seems to think so.

We have tried redirecting...nope. We have tried sit and lay...works sometimes. We tried ignoring...he just ups the ante and bites harder. We try walking away....he will just lunge and get our feet! MOST of the time I know he needs something (it is close to walk time, dinner etc). We try having him "touch" then sit and lay..sometimes works. But sometimes he just goes to psycho mode (is all I can call it) and NOTHING will stop him! I just put him in the bathroom for timeout. Go back make him sit and make sure he is calmed down.

Oh! And now he is really found something fun! He likes my chest! OW!!!!

I really wish I knew of a better way! Good Luck!

 

[Florabora22]

LOL, good luck... I tried this with BOTH dogs, and I seriously think they enjoyed the water.

"OHHH? WATER!? SQUIRT ME AGAIN, MA... SQUIRT ME AGAAAAAAAAIN!!"

Lol, that's how Flora was! I tried squirting her once for biting, and she got SO riled up and excited about it. That was the end of that!

I've actually found (and I hope no one thinks I'm mean for doing this) that a can of compressed air, squirted AWAY from the dog but in a short, loud burst, is enough to interrupt Flora (in this case, I use it when she's trying to get on the couch) so I can step in and redirect her.

 

[Minnesota Rosie]

Rosie goes through these little fits, too. She is almost 16 weeks old. About 2-3 weeks ago, she was relentless! Lately, it seems to be a little bit better. She still does it, but it's not a daily thing. I wish I knew why they did this biting. I also have holes in some of my clothes from her. I've been wearing long pants instead of shorts for the second half of the summer to protect my legs from her little teeth!

 

[Minnesota Rosie]

One more thing...Rosie's little biting fits seem to be directly primarily at me. Is that because I'm her main caregiver? The kids and my husband are mostly her playmates, but I'm the one doing most of the training and discipline. They do their part, too, but I'm the "leader" of the pack so to speak.

 

[pburchins]

Riley would bite and bite and bite while we were sitting on the couch or in the chair. One day I asked him he had to go out and he got quiet and went to the door. He was just trying to communicate. Personally, I wish he would find another method but we are starting to pick on the signal now.

 

[Ash]

I would take her under the chin and give her a firm "NO" or "knock it off". Also, step up her exercise there is no reason she cannot get out and have some good exercise on the grass or other softer surfaces. But to me it sounds like you need to drain some of her energy.

 

[Minnesota Rosie]

I would take her under the chin and give her a firm "NO" or "knock it off". Also, step up her exercise there is no reason she cannot get out and have some good exercise on the grass or other softer surfaces. But to me it sounds like you need to drain some of her energy.

I agree with what you're saying about burning off some energy. I also think that my pup tends to have her little biting fits when she's over-tired.

 

[Heidi36oh]

I agree, get them tiered, a tiered pup is a happy pup!

The good thing is it will get better, I always called mine little land sharks...LOL

 

[Lucky's mom]

Patience....it will get better. Keep redirecting with a toy. One day...that will click and she will get a toy instead of bite you.

Lucky was in and out of the crate CONSTANTLY throughout the day because he was out of control in many ways...biting, chewing, eating toys etc. Yep...I utilized the crate. But I never kept him in there long...just 30 minute to an hour and then I took him out for "training' which was more like "frustration time" for me.

Use this time to practice bite inhibition. Use treats and try to communicate what hurts and what doesn't. I stuck my arm out and let Lucky nip it...soft bites were praised, hard bites got me "upset".

Treats help communicate "gentle" and "off". If you control the mouthing through commands ...then you will have it easier. Good luck....I know its horribly frustrating.

 

[Bock]

also, step up her exercise there is no reason she cannot get out and have some good exercise on the grass or other softer surfaces. But to me it sounds like you need to drain some of her energy.

agreed.....

 

[iamswiss]

It's like there is always something. First few weeks we had her she had internal parasites and now she has the kennel cough.
Her coughing is fortunately not so bad but her nose started running and that's why I can't really do much exercise with her.
I just did a short walk close to our house and she had some of this major jumping and biting phases... my tshirt looks bad.
When I notice that her symptoms are decreasing I will increase the walks again.

 

[Maya's Mom]

When Maya was in the clothes-biting stage, one thing that really helped us was a braided fleece toy with a loop at one end. Our trainer suggested that I always have it around my wrist. They way, Maya could bite it instead of my clothes. It was more fun than biting my clothes because when she bit my clothes, I said "game over" and turned into a statue with my arms crossed, looking at the ceiling or I left the room (once she could be trusted). When she bit the fleece toy, I would praise her and play with her. She learned really fast that if she wanted to play, the fleece toy was the thing to bite. Because it was on my wrist constantly, it was always there as an option as something appropriate to bite instead of my clothes.