She keeps biting me and just wont stop...

[Karma]

The flannel soaked in yoghurt sounds like a great idea.... we used to put wet flannels in the freezer to let her chew them (especially when teething)...
Kongs are great - any natural simple food can be put inside... as she is she young, I'd avoid anything too strong in flavour or with additives etc.  Yougurt is great, as is tuna....
Also some of the food you give her...

 

[stuffster]

Ally is just a few days older than Purdey, and I have to say that I think this is perfectly normal puppy behaviour. I just keep a chewy toy with me all the time so when she starts biting and nipping I just give her the toy instead. She will hardly ever sit nicely with me, WITHOUT trying to chew my fingers or bite my chin, so having a little rope toy ready gives me something to bite while I get to enjoy the cuddles!

It is more of a worry for my kids because they dont understand that it is play biting, and it obviously hurts them much more than it does me.

I found that yelping in the sad noise that pups make (when you accidentally tread on their tail - oops, bad mummy  ) when they are biting you gives them a shock and often she will apologise with a sniff and a lick, but I reserve this for REAL bites rather than just the playful ones.

[Beth]

They do all go through this stage unfortunately. but it DOES get better.

Jarvis was HORRIBLE at that age, i genuinely didn't like the little monster , but once he was allowed walks, things improved drastically. Agree with all the suggestions, playing fetch kept me sane!

[PennyB]

It is maybe because your feet and legs are moving which makes them infinitely more desirable than a toy that doesn't. 

I was about to say this as well. I've just fostered a cocker pup for a few days while he was en route to rescue. He reminded me soooooo much of Ruby at that age, aka welsh tasmanian devil. I took him walking on the park and he's managed to rip my trakky bottoms in several places as it was so much fun (for him ) to throw himself at my legs and hang on while I was walking along.

Give your pup time and work out the times when he is at his worst (usually when they have their mad half hour --- I do this then stand well back so I don't get in the way of teeth!) --- Ruby is now a lovely adult who wouldn't dream of ever biting anyone.

I also found with my cocker foster pup, aka Freddie Kruger that when he was biting if I was trying to put his harness on or similar I would get the harness ready so i knew which bits were going where rather than faffing around, gave him a biscuit and did the 1st bit then gave him another and so on. My 1st attempt at doing the harness without treats was like working with a snapping alligator and my hands were shredded in places, the next time I used treats and result it was like a walk in the park. I'd forgotten this was the way I was taught to work with Ruby as a pup but that was 5 years ago so the pain was forgotten from then. I did the same when I gave eye stuff and thornitts in ears etc.

[mharriss]

It WILL get better, the others have given briliiant advice and sounds like you are following it.  Ii may get better even more when you can go out for walks to wear the little one out too. Good luck.  Stick with it. x

[noisypup]

Yeah thanks guys...today has def been a better day for both of us as she has only bitten me and my trousers twice and both times I managed to take her attention to something else and get her off my trousers...she has still tried to bite my ankles a few times but the boots saved me! So a better day all round..but then we have been out in the garden a lot more as I have been gardening when it has stopped damn raining! She loved to help me garden...I was trimming the tree in the back garded and she was helping me by picking up the branches and running off with them..needless to say making a lot more work for me then clearing the garden afterwards..but it helped ware her out and she is now fast asleep in her bed in her crate so very happy for the break now!

Oh and by the way...I did the flannel in yoghurt in the freezer and she LOVED it...she sat in the garden playing with it, altho dragging it through the house twice and making a real mess, it took up a good 15 mins for her to lick it all so I swiftly put more yoghurt on it and back in the freezer for when she wakes up!!

I also have a dog trainer coming round for 1.5 hours tommorow to observe us and help us out a little...for £30 I think its well worth it if she can help out!!

Kit xx

[lopey99]

All I can say is I totally sympathise with you, at 20 weeks (today!) cassie is still a nippy puppy but its to be expected. When she was smaller she would get a mad time where anything and everything would have to go into her mouth and arms/legs/trousers etc were much more interesting than toys. We learned that a good play session helped, she loves tug-like games basically where we trail something along the ground in different directions and she loved chasing after it, when she caught it we never pulled, just held it and let her play kill (when she shakes her head from side to side) and when she stopped the game would begin again. It seemed that trying to follow what direction the toy went in soon tired her out.

Like your pup, flapping trousers are a pet fav for cassie, I've lost count of the many times I've almost fallen down the stairs because she has been attached to my trouser leg. As soon as I come home from work now I change out of my good clothes, I've learned the hard way that tiny puppy teeth do a lot of damage to nice clothes.

Once your puppy can be walked it'll make a difference, even though sometimes a 25min walk for cassie seems to never be enough she can still be a bit bonkers when she comes home. Mental games are good too, have you tried putting some treats inside an empty toilet roll tube with the ends folded up, cassie loves trying to tear the tube apart to get them out. Or if you get fed up lifting chewed bits of cardboard off your floor (I have!) you can try putting the treats in a empty water bottle with the lid off, generally the more noise it makes the more interesting it is to cassie.

You can try the loud ouch when she is chewing but we found that it just seemed to spur cassie on and she got really excited and chewed harder. So we try and do 30second time out where she gets put in the hall but that really isn't always practical.

From what I've heard on here it does get better but to put a dark cloud on it cassie has gotten worse since being 10 weeks although I think it has been down to her teething over last week or two so fingers crossed it can only get better from here on it, I'm sure one day we'll be missing our little energetic monsters when they are calm controlled adult dogs!

[noisypup]

Yeah thanks for that - Lopey99 - tell me about it...my trousers are RUINED! She has made holes in all my good linen trousers I wear for work and always in the thigh area too the little monster, it wouldnt be so bad if it were round the ankles as you wouldnt see it so much,

She has been better this week, but I had a trainer come round monday for an couple of hours and she taught me to put Ally out a bit more than I do, so I am trying to put her in the garden for 10 mins at a time throughout the afternoon/evening now on her own as she needs to try to learn to play alone instead of needing me to be there with her all the time as this just isnt practical for me.

I really do hope it will get better when we can walk her, we are counting down now as we had her 2nd injection yesterday so we are going to take her to the beach next weekend for her first outing - which we hope should wear her out when we get home, we have a park right at the back of our house too so walkies should do her good daily now too...

I got her the kong chew yesterday with the chicken filler but she wont play with it unless I am holding it for her, same as the rawhide cigar chews I got her, she loves that but only if I hold it for her so she can chew the other end.

We also learnt from the trainer to stop her in her tracks each time she starts to bite and tell her down, then sit, then reward her so she associates the reward with good and being calm and not the biting as the trainer thinks the biting is to get my attention as im not paying her enough....so now we have more time together but I make sure its fun and energetic,..then I put her back in her crate for a while or let her have the run of the kitchen - which gives me time to myself then too. It seems to be better for us both as since Monday evening she has only 'gone' for my feet and trousers a handful of times, whereas before she was literally hanging off my legs like you say Lopey99!

I'm also going to change her food as at the mo she is on chudley puppy as per the breeder, but after doing my research is a cheap and nasty feed, so switcing her to Royal Canin - just need to remortgage the house to buy it for her each month now - how expensive is it!!

Anyway...thanks for the advise/help again!!

Kit xx

[Sheryl]

Why not try Burns, JWB, Autarky or some of the others.  Just as additive free and you don't need a second mortgage!   Kali's trainer told me that it is all to do with response.  They jump up, you push them away, they think 'great game' and jump again.  She said that the only response to negative behaviour is no response.  It definitely worked with Kali and her whining/squealing/screaming/howling, although she is still a work in progress

[Hurtwood Dogs]

Only just seen this thread or I would have written earlier.. she is doing everything my cocker pup did last year and continued to do until he was 6 months old... it was a pain in the wotsit and I really disliked him a lot of the time. Telling him 'no' was a waste of time as it just aggravated a full on attack every time and he was more determined than I was. He was a truly hideous pup.. much much worse than my previous cocker pup. But he is now a complete softie and a joy to own. I can't recommend enough that you just continue with time out and no confrontation at all.. Dave (my pup) spent pretty much 6 month behind bars (a baby gate across the kitchen ) as I have a 5 yr old son too and another dog and they were both sick to death of him as much as I was and very scarred! The sooner you can start puppy classes and more games and training with her the better too.

Lots of luck, hang in there. It's a sh*t time but you will be rewarded with a lovely dog in the end - you won't believe how she'll change into a sweet natured wonderful companion and you'll forget all about these awful few months and the scars will fade - trust me it's just unfortunate that it isn't instant and they don't come as 'nice mature doglets'! 

Good luck just get your head down for a few months and keep posting!

Hannah xxx

[MegandMolly]

Think you need to learn to love wearing jeans, and flip flops are a definate no-no! (unless you like pain!) 
They do outgrow this stage of life honestly!

[noisypup]

Thanks Hannah....yeah, I have to admit, Ally spends most of her time behind bars at the mo too! She is let out, we go in the garden, play for 20 mins, she starts to get rough, I try to 'tempt' her away with the ball or a treat, she stops for 5 mins, then goes back to rough play, so I put a stop to the playing and we go back in the kitchen, I go in the lounge and she cools down in the kitchen, if she doesnt calm down enough or play quietly, she goes back behind bars. Once in her crate she wins a little then sleeps for an hour, till I let her out and again and we start all over again.

It is a bit harder for me at the mo as my partner is away till Sunday night, but when we are both here we take it in turns to play with her, there is only so much fetch the ball I can stomach in a day at the mo..hehe!

I love her when she is playful or cuddly (which isnt that often anymore it seems   ) but othertimes I absolutely want to strangle her (in the sense of the saying - not a case for the RSPCA I promise!) or take her back and swap her for the cuddle monster we got at 8 weeks old! Where have all my cuddles gone, as the ones I get now involve teeth on my chin or nose - which actually does make your eyes water belive me!

Yeah no no confrontation at all def seems to be working as when she was hanging from my thigh and trying to kill her prey, no does absolutely nothing...its just sometimes hard to get across the kitchen with a little furry alligator hanging off my thigh - and not respond or SWEAR loudly!!

I read somewhere that having a dog was supposed to lower your blood pressure, but I am certian that if I went to see a Dr at the moment, I would instantly be admitted to hospital with complete the opposite!!..

Oh yeah - Meganandmolly - I am a flip flop girl and live in them usually, but I have succumbed to jeans, turned up and my OH's boots, which I am sure wont be a fav of mine in the heat of the summer, so will have to try and come up with something else to protect my tootsies!

Kit xx  

[PennyB]

Oh yeah - Meganandmolly - I am a flip flop girl and live in them usually, but I have succumbed to jeans, turned up and my OH's boots, which I am sure wont be a fav of mine in the heat of the summer, so will have to try and come up with something else to protect my tootsies!

Kit xx  

I still wear boots in the summer (mainly as most of the terrain I walk on requires them) but I wear the more expensive coolmax socks from the walking/climbing shop that aren't too bad when its hot

[SwanJack]

You are not alone and I'm glad I've another soul getting as desperate as my household.  Our nine week working cocker seems to bite as if her life depended on it.  She will play fetch for ever but as soon as we stop, the biting returns.  We have tried numerous toys, some work for around 10 seconds and some not at all.  What does seem to work is those dried pigs' ears, they keep her occupied for hours.  We give her one in the evening and a sense of normality returns until bedtime.  She does sleep through the night though and did so from day one, so things could be much worse. The day that she is able to go out for walks seems along way away at the moment.

[noisypup]

Hi guys...I thought id update on here as Ally is getting better with her biting so the light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer day by day!

She is 12 weeks old this week so I am hoping is growing out of it a 'little' bit and realising it doesnt get her rewarded!!

So...thought I would post a few pics of her for you all to see the terror!!