Hi everyone,
I've been lurking on this forum since before we brought our puppy Oscar home (at 8 weeks old; he is now 13 weeks)-- everyone always has such great advice SO I'm hoping there is some out there for us! Most of the time he is such a GREAT puppy; super energetic and friendly, he knows many commands (sit, lie down, shake a paw, go to your crate/bed, etc), and seems SO smart and happy!
Now Oscar frequently has overexcited-puppy-syndrome to the MAX... i.e., mouthing, nipping, biting, barking, snarling, thrashing, zooming around... I know these are all really normal (not aggressive, but over-excited) puppy behaviors, and the best thing to do is to say OUCH!! when he bites, and then to get up and IGNORE him to deprive him of your attention (which is what he wants)... or let him burn off some energy with his toys instead of your arm/pants!
However, this ignoring/redirecting seems to work just fine for my boyfriend, but not at ALL for me (who in Oscar's mind seems to be more playmate than anything else) -- he has got it in for me BAD. He is now BITING and SNARLING on/at me frequently throughout the day, especially when I am sitting on the couch or my desk when he obviously thinks I should be playing with HIM instead... he will line me up in his sights and LEAP at me, snarling and biting my arms and legs and BARK BARK GROWL GROWL THRASH BARK BARK. I was initially able to redirect him to another toy or get up and ignore him by going to another room, but it is now almost impossible to ignore him because he will JUMP, SNARL, & BITE me, hanging off my pants and shirt and shredding my hands, arms, and legs.
I realize this is a pattern of escalation, which hopefully indicates he is just trying harder to get my attention (perhaps a good thing, indicating my ignoring was working?), but I am getting SHREDDED in the process and he is BITING HARDER and harder, and as it stands now, I cannot get away from him without ending up backed into a corner by a barking, snarling, jumping, biting 20lb puppy!! If my boyfriend comes over to that side of the room... BOOM we have a quiet, sitting puppy -- but unfortunately it is sometimes just Oscar and I home alone SO I am quickly becoming a large, mobile chew toy! :doh:
SO-- my question is more about my physical response: should I (a) layer up with clothes and just sit/stand there until he gets the picture? (how long will that take?), (b) remove myself to another room (if I can extract his jaws from my clothes/skin) until he ... is quiet? The problem there is he definitely gets quiet soon but he is right back at the biting/snarling very quickly, or (c) try to get him into another room (bathroom?) for a time-out (very hard to do without dragging him, which I really don't want to do!). (And should my boyfriend come over and quiet him down, or is this something Oscar and I need to work out by ourselves?)
He does get LOTS of exercise and play time with us (at least one of us is able to be home all day), and tons of chew toys/nylabones/kongs for him to chomp instead. I think I know what to do in principle (REDIRECT, IGNORE, PRAISE GOOD BEHAVIOR) but the actual implementation is SO difficult that I quickly become so overwhelmed... that I feel like he is just getting SO egged on when he sinks in that first/fiftieth bite!
Sorry this is SO long!!! He is just getting big so fast that I am concerned that he will hurt himself or someone else when he gets bigger if this keeps up. He has NEVER showed any of this crazitude to anyone else (visitors, people on the street, people or puppies in our puppy class), but I am concerned he will think this is the way to get people to play with you if I don't convince him otherwise soon...?! THANK YOU for any advice! :crossfing
- Alison