Hello from riverdee and Daisy!

[riverdee]

Hi all, from me and Daisy our 10 week old black show cocker.  I had two blue roan cockers back in the 80's so I thought I was well versed in puppy behaviour.............but this one has me stumped.  She is a dreadful biter, yes, I know all puppies bite but this one draws blood!!

I have tried loud noises, putting her in another room, the clicker, using the word leave (she obeys when chasing the mop) and now am at my wits end!  She goes for feet on the move which is also painful, and I have a 9 year old who, whilst not frightened of her, keeps his toes and fingers well out of the way.

I was lurking here before I got her, so I'm hoping someone has some helpful suggestions before I start to wear gloves.  I so much want to cuddle her but it always ends in tears, please help!!!

[JennyBee]

Congratulations on your new addition . I went through the same thing with Brodie - best thing to do is stop all interaction and ignore her, if she continues then give her a short time out. Also redirect her mouthing onto her toys as much as possible - the most important thing is to be consistent, she is still very young and it will take time for things to sink in . There are quite a few threads on play biting on here if you do a search, including the excellent Iain Dunbar article pinned at the top of the board

[Geordietyke]

Hello and welcome!  I have a 6 month old golden show boy called Odie.  Odie was (and still is occasionally) a major biter with me especially.  My OH obviously has his respect because he never gets it   I spent weeks being attacked every time I got up to go anywhere in the house (yes, blood too)   I tried all the suggestions on here and gradually bit by bit (no pun intended ) Odie stopped doing it.  He only bites when he is in his 'mad cocker wall of death' half hour each evening and I'm hoping as he matures, he'll stop completely.

Good luck, you could be on here for hours just reading previous threads   Lesley

[riverdee]

Thanks for your reply, at least now I know that someone else has suffered this problem!

I know she is still very young but I am concerned that as the problem is bad now it will get completely out of hand as she gets older.  I do try to redirect her biting onto toys, sometimes this works and sometimes not. 

I will try the no interaction trick and see how this affects her behaviour, thanks for the suggestion

[riverdee]

Haha, I like the 'mad cocker wall of death', I've been there too!!

Maybe she will grow out of it   Its interesting that your OH doesn't get it.  My OH does get it but not as bad as me.  I feel a complete idiot cos its taken me 9 years to persuade him to get a puppy and now she's attacking him I feel terrible, and he is NOT HAPPY!!!  We have to 'nip this in the bud' especially for the sake of my 9 year old.  She has just attacked my feet and has been put in another room where she is crying pitifully, unfortunately as soon as she comes back the routine starts over

[JennyBee]

She definitely will grow out of it . It's perfectly normal, and how puppies learn bite inhibition - as I said, Brodie was very bad and I know how hard it is, but she is now the sweetest, gentlest dog (apart from doing the wall of death every night, that hasn't stopped ). There are people on here who have been through the playbiting stage who also have children so hopefully they'll have advice for you. Although it wasn't the case with Brodie (as she was in quite a bit of discomfort due to having some problems with her jaw that I think helped prolong things) usually things start getting better once teething is over and done with

[Ninasmum]

Congratulations on your new addition . I went through the same thing with Brodie - best thing to do is stop all interaction and ignore her, if she continues then give her a short time out. Also redirect her mouthing onto her toys as much as possible - the most important thing is to be consistent, she is still very young and it will take time for things to sink in . There are quite a few threads on play biting on here if you do a search, including the excellent Iain Dunbar article pinned at the top of the board

This is really good advice. 
I promise you, she will grow out of her biting phase, it is just a normal stage that most puppies go through (and their sore
owners  ).  It will probably start tailing off when her adult teeth are through, so unfortunately it will be a while yet. 

[Manchester_Spaniel]

I can only echo what everyone else has said, i know it feels like its going to go on forever but it wont - it will slowly little by little calm down.

I found ignoring and time outs the best remedy for this, but every dog is different - if I use yelping it has to be v. high pitch to have an effect. I also have started to pick up when freddie is in a 'bitey' mood so I ensure he has a good strong cardboard box to chew on. What is brilliant is a cardboard box, with another cardboard box inside - stick treats inside the . smallest box - close the boxes and let them rip - literally - its a good 30 mins of intense chewing and playing - double bonus.

Good luck and you are not alone in the 'ahhhhhh i have a demon pup' phase - just drink some vino and collect cardboard!!!!