Won't stop biting!!!

[Londongirl]

I really appreciate reading other people's views on this problem. Some days, I feel like giving him to a dog home to find someone who can cope with him. He is 16 weeks old now and this week at puppy class he had forgotten all he had learnt. At home he keeps urinating on the hall carpet and on the kitchen floor. We feel as if we are wasting our time. Branston is apparently at a teenaged phase now so we are told and so we have been advised to go back to square one with everything. He attacks us, especially my husbands feet, slippers, hands and legs and occasionally my legs. Think we will have to get a cage for him in the car as he goes wild in the front and bites. How long will this last? Not until he is 4?? Dont think we will still be together by then. We have had cocker spaniels before but nothing like this. He also has separation anxiety. We leave him for 30 minutes in his crate every day so far but he barks and whines. Please help us to keep him!

It does sound as if he's a bit late in getting the hang of housetraining, but I'm sure some people here have had the same experience. You do just have to keep up with the basics.

Not really as it can take up to 6 months for a dog to be completely housetrained - there are no hard and fast rules as to times/milestones really. Plus unfortunately if you clean up with certain things it leaves a residue of their urine - you won't smell it but he will - I use something like a bio-based soap (powder/liquid bio in warm not too hot water) then use disinfectant if need be

It will happen but may not just yet

Just as with the other things all pups or dogs no matter the breed or gender and patience is something one needs

You're right, Penny, and I shouldn't generalise based on my own experience.

We used Simple Solution Odour Removing Spray for dogs from Pets At Home to clean up accidents. It comes in two formations, one for hard floors and one for carpets and is designed to stop re-marking. Just for speed and convenience we find it really effective.

Daw - you made some really good points there. We had a few episodes of submissive urination with Henry when he was feeling unsure.

[tenaille]

Hope things start to improve soon for you, 16 weeks is just a puppy and to be honest doesn't sound that unusual. Probably key is to stay very calm and don't let your frustration transfer back to the pup. Martha is the same age and can still wee a bit in excitement or submission - she will even wee in her pen and rip newspapers up in frustration when she hasn't got her own way or has been particularly bitey and got a 'time out'. She generally collapses asleep after naughty episodes. We just grin and bear it with a large glass of vino and think of how lovely and cuddly she will be when she wakes up 

[daw]

I think someone mentioned 'disinfectant'? PLEASE be careful...anything chlorine-based is really not good- gets onto puppy feet, ends up inside puppy. It's toxic. My vet also said anything that turns white when you add it to water shouldn't be used around dogs let alone puppies. Definitely try PAT for dog-friendly products.

 

[Mandymlc]

Since starting this post nearly four weeks ago, there's been a marked difference in effie's behaviour - she still jumps and bites but it's much less than it was. She's not as needy now and is happy to go on ahead at walks rather than running up my heels - in fact she bites at the lead in her excitement to be off! She's able to entertain herself much more and has become more respectful when told to stop jumping up - learning to sit and lie down has helped enormously as I get her to do this now and it both distracts and focuses her attention.
We've been going to puppy training classes for the last four weeks and one of the trainers told me on Tuesday that Effie was a credit to me and she's a lovely confident little dog - I can't tell you how much this meant to me after the initial struggles we had. It just goes to show that even in a short time their behaviour can change so much, and although it feels like a struggle now, it really is all worth it. Watching Effie race into a stream at 100 miles an hour, dunk her head underwater and pick up a rock then come charging back out to jump all over me is the best feeling 

[lescef]

Sounds like she's training you well. Enjoy the puppy stage, it soon passes. X

[Valcattell]

An update on Branston. We have managed to solve the housetraining and have had no accidents for about a week now. He was 4 months old on 7th June and has two more weeks left at puppy classes. He is easily distracted at the class but at home he will sit, stay, come and go down. His main problem still is biting. He can be OK for most of the morning then all of a sudden he will go into bite mode, biting hands, feet slippers, legs anything he can get into his teeth. If you say no he answers back and snarls and bars his teeth. He rolls over so that you can't get hold of him to control the biting. The only solution at the moment seems to be putting him outside into the garden to calm down for a few minutes. We have been given advice from many dog trainers and experts who differ in their views and we have tried all their ideas but to no avail. I know we are told to be calm but this is difficult when he is biting viciously at hands or feet. Last week at the dog training, the instructor actually held him by the scruff and held his mouth shut and said no to stop him but it took several repetitions of this to have any effect. Any more ideas we can try? He sleeps all night in his crate in the bedroom without a problem and we can leave him in his crate in the kitchen for up to 2 hours now without a problem so things are improving. It's just the biting!

[Londongirl]

All I can say is that they DO grow out of it, and at four months you don't have too long to go. I remember the snarling and rolling on the back. I don't think it's 'answering back' as such. Cockers are quite sensitive. I can't tell Henry off by raising my voice - he backs up, growls or barks, butt in the air, head low. He's not being aggressive, he's upset. Took me a while to realise this (not that I shouted at him often, but puppies do sometimes drive you insane!).

The rolling on the floor and growling with biting sounds like he's trying to initiate play. It's a frustrating age - for him as well as you - when he finds it hard to entertain himself and doesn't understand why you aren't always ready or available to play. A quick time out in the garden is something I used to do too, just to let everyone calm down. And persist with redirecting play to things other than your person! Our best toys at this age were really long tuggy toys. Played with gently, it gives him something he's allowed to bite and play growl at, and saves your hands.

[daw]

All I can say is that they DO grow out of it, and at four months you don't have too long to go. I remember the snarling and rolling on the back. I don't think it's 'answering back' as such. Cockers are quite sensitive. I can't tell Henry off by raising my voice - he backs up, growls or barks, butt in the air, head low. He's not being aggressive, he's upset. Took me a while to realise this (not that I shouted at him often, but puppies do sometimes drive you insane!).

The rolling on the floor and growling with biting sounds like he's trying to initiate play. It's a frustrating age - for him as well as you - when he finds it hard to entertain himself and doesn't understand why you aren't always ready or available to play. A quick time out in the garden is something I used to do too, just to let everyone calm down. And persist with redirecting play to things other than your person! Our best toys at this age were really long tuggy toys. Played with gently, it gives him something he's allowed to bite and play growl at, and saves your hands.

Absolutely! This is a young puppy trying to adjust and cope. Most behaviour in dogs is anxiety induced- yes even biting. It seems your puppy is going in the right direction and really trying to trust you so enjoy the small triumphs. It gets better- and it's easy to get trapped into concentrating on the negatives. I had a really challenging puppy and found I needed to let go a bit and get some fun out of the chaos and anarchy that had taken over our house. Sadly it's soon over. When he was a staid middle aged dog I'd have loved Mr Crazy back.

Just on another point I'm really shocked a 'trainer' would grab a puppy's mouth and hold it shut. This is counter-productive behaviour and teaches a dog a terrible lesson: human hands are weapons that can hurt and overpower you. Really not good.

[Archie bean]

I agree with Daw. This trainer does not sound like the type I would want to work with. His methods could do more harm than good.

It's a trying time and you have my sympathy. My boy Archie was a NIGHTMARE biter as a pup. I had puppies before him but not in the same league as him. It took time and consistency but even he grew out of it. One thing I found that worked to calm him down was putting a baby gate in the doorway of the lounge. I had him on a houseline most of the time and if he was in a biting frenzy I would quietly lead him out of the room (often with him trying to bite my ugg boots.....I lived in ugg boots) and I shut him behind the gate and went and sat down, totally ignoring him. Once he was quiet, I let him back in. I often had to repeat this many, many times but because he could see me through the bars he was able to see, and therefore seemed to pick up on the fact, that what I wanted to be doing was just sitting quietly watching TV or reading or whatever. Once he settled down he could stay in the room with me. The houseline was just a very light puppy lead and meant that I never had to try to pick him up or get my hands near his bitey mouth. He wore it almost all the time as a puppy.