[Tinaweena]

well probably not but......Does anybody else get the feeling that their puppy hates them?
All the nipping, jumping, attacking?! I mean sheesh...I try all the things I know. When the puppy starts to nip, stand up and ignore the dog, act like a tree. But what do I do when the starts to nip at the trees butt and thighs?! OUCH!
I do what the vet said, to pin him down and only let him go when he stops struggling against me, but he's a strong little thing, and it's really exhausting when he doesn't wanna give up for 5 mins.
He walks by me and just gives me a "chomp" whenever he wants, it's like he's harrassing me.
I know it may be part of the dominance thing, and him trying to assert himself, however, I'm the one that feeds him, I make him work for his food by doing tricks, and obeying commands so he should know who is higher on the ladder. He doesn't do this with my boyfriend at all, so I don't get it. Also he has tried hump me, and I know at his age it's not sexual, it's just dominant behaviour. I will be starting puppy school in mid february, but until then I wish I had my loving puppy back!
I love to snuggle him, but it always turns into a battle with us, and I feel that I'm doing nothing but disciplining him, and I hate that.
It's a rough time, but I know we'll get through it, it would just be nice to have somebody to sympathize with.

 

[wannadoodle]

He DOESN't hate you. It sounds like he thinks you are his littermate. I don't know the answers......it seems you are doing the right things. Have you tried wearing him out with play before you try to cuddle?

 

[Jac]

Good morning!
I realize that your comment is in jest and yet I understand how frustrating it must be for you.
I found an interesting article on dominance and as I read, many things popped into my mind. Lots of people write in with similar questions and I realized that we all have different training methods...but I respectfully disagree with your vet and I wonder if holding your puppy down has had a negative effect. Scroll down this article and read about dominance with humans and see if it doesn't provide an alternative to your situation. I hope so. I wish you all the best with your puppy, I know you love him very much!
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Conten ... C=0&A=1723

 

[Tinaweena]

Thanks Jac...I'll give it a read.
I'm giving up on the "alpha roll" anyways, it does nothing but make me feel like an awful person, and gets him frustrated with me. I know this is all stuff he will grow out of as long as we keep doing the right things with him, but for now (as silly as it sounds) it hurts my feeling sometimes when he nips at me constantly.
I'm such a dog dork!

 

[angelakj]

I am so far from an expert but I can tell you what has been working for us. Cody is a big chewer and biter. I read somewhere that when you puppy is biting you to put your finger into his throat and cause the gag reflex. Do not do this if you have long nails. It is suppossed to cause a bad association for the puppy with biting. It isn't 100% but it has helped a lot. Also, I give Cody a treat and when he snaps at my hand I cover up the treat and say "no biting" after a few tries he will gently pull the treat from my hand. It seems to be helping him to know that biting hands and flesh is not acceptable. That big teddy bear we bought Cody to sleep with has been a life-saver. When he's feeling rowdy he literally attacks that bear. He rolls it and bites it and growls and just plays his little heart out with it. Try that! Cody is much worse with my boys. They are almost 4 and almost 5. In Cody's defense, they play very rough with him despite my warnings. He basically thinks they are puppies so they get bit in the butt a lot. I did the thing where you hold the puppy down too. I've only done it about three times total. Twice when we first got him and once when he got a little too aggressive with me. I just pinned him down gently until he looked away from my eyes. It only took a minute and he got the message that I was the boss. I've also read that you should make the puppy wait for you to go first through a door. After I enforced that a couple of times Cody will wait for me to go first on his own. I think a lot of the alpha techinques are very heavy-handed and unnecessary. Those few little things have made a difference believe it or not. Cody does love us because he cries if we're all in another room and he wants to come too. Most of his annoying behavior is just from being a hyper puppy. He'll grow out of it and so will your's. In the mean time - pad your pants with toilet paper!

 

[2doodsmom]

Wow. I had the exact same experience with my George. In fact the behavior you describe is so close it's amazing. Sometimes when I tried to walk away from him he would bite me in the butt, on the back of my arm and once he snagged my hand and, well, it wasn't pretty.

I agree with the folks who say he's treating you like a littermate. This is exactly how I see George interact with his sister. But he needs to learn you're not a littermate. However, I also agree that the heavy handed alpha techniques can backfire with certain dogs. When I tried it with George he got more and more frustrated with me until I got my feelings hurt so bad that I asked my husband to pack him up and take him back to his breeder. (Sweet husband said, "We'll talk about this later," and left me to take a nap!) Anyhow, in my experience, George was mouthing and biting out of frustration, not dominance and certainly not aggression. He had to learn to control his frustration a little, which just meant growing up some and having his little problem respected a bit. I took him out of every situation (crate) that started the frustration ball rolling, except for the jousting he did with his littermate. And we made it a practice never to give him any attention or affection or treats until he was calm. I watched him carefully and as soon as I saw him start to get that frenzied excitement going, I pulled the plug on whatever we were doing. It worked very quickly. And now he's as sweet as pie. He's 5 1/2 months.

One more note. (sorry this is so long.) I would get really clear with my kiddos that rough housing with a puppy who has this issue is a total NO-NO! He'll be able to play with them soon enough when he's overcome this tendency (which he will) but until then I would stop it completely.

And when he really hurts your feelings, take a nap! Best of luck.

 

[Doro]

My 2nd doodle (Nero/3 months) came to us not biting at all. His breeder reads these forums and tried a suggestions from another breeder to train pups out of biting. When the puppy tries to bite, take your thumb and apply pressure (NOT enough to hurt, only pressure) to the area where the upper jaw meets the lower jaw in the back of his mouth. A couple of times doing this, and the pup stops biting. I'll tell you, Nero has NEVER tried to nip us although he chews everything else he can find! Just a thought...

 

[Digbydoodle]

We had a dalmation that bit everthing, we did the thing that Doro said. I had been taking the dal to a obedience school to do agility with him (dals are not made for agility at least this one wasn't) the trainer there said to do the same thing.

The doddle we have is 13 mtns and he doesn't nip at us as much as he used to. But still nips, we use the same method and he seems to get it.

Hope that works for you.

 

[Tinaweena]

Ok guys I'll give the thumb at the back of the jaw thing a try. I'd love to be able to tire him out with walks....but he refuses to leave the house. He won't walk out the front door (which I don't really mind at all, gives me peace of mind when we have guests) and even when I carry him outside, he just sits there.
I've tried luring him with every treat in the book, but I guess he just isn't ready for the big outside world yet...well at least not on his own four feet.

 

[Molly]

Stanley Coren has a wonderful book out there "How to talk dog". I hightly recommend this book. It is difficult to get into, but he has some wonderful comments. I went though all of that with my Aussie and he has turned into a wonderful dog. He ruined all of my clothes from bitting teeth wholes in them while i wore them. At 10 weeks it was all i could do to put his collar on b/c he would literally attack me. He is an amazing dog now, just needed to learn he was not boss. Which was not easy and did not happen overnight. Keep up the good work, it will pay off.
Terri Lynn

 

[Tinaweena]

Thanks Terri Lynn
My boyfriend actually got me that book, and another from dr. coren for christmas. Now it's just a matter of finding puppy-free time to read them!

 

[keywee]

Sawyer likes to play rough and nip sometimes, but something that I found that works is shaking a coin filled can and saying "no biting" when the situation gets out of hand and other things do not work. His trainer also suggested holding him tight mimicking what his mother might do and giving him a belly rub with soothing words when he sttles down. This does work but I have to be in an aerobic exercise sort of mood. Also putting one of his toys in his mouth when he nips or mouths furniture works although it takes constant repitition, like everything else! He is starting to develop a soft-mouth.

I found that the best time to cuddle is early in the morning when he just wakes up and the house is quiet. Try cuddling Boone while he has his favorite toy in his mouth.