scary behavior

lisa

My 4 month old puppy who is usually very sweet just started to bite. Do puppies get overtired which makes him get "crazy". It started out of the blue and it seems to happen when he gets over-excited or tired. It actually seems like he is being intentionally mean toward me but I don't know if he even knows what he is doing himself. Is this a sign of a potential. Is he really trying to be mean or just over stimulated?

squirt1968

From my limited experience I would say it is primarily from teething. My dog did do it more when she was excited I would suggest when she starts biting or mouthing tell her no and give her something else to put in her mouth and chew such as a small chew toy. That is what I did.

xoxluvablexox

I don't think dogs get mean they either just bite out of fear or protection. What your describing sounds like play biting that just needs to be controled by training. Also it's probably do to teething so just make sure there are a lot of toys around. If he starts biting you then replace your body with a toy so he understands you aren't something that he can bite to take out his frustrations.

BoxMeIn21

What's more important is to teach him how to bite; so you can teach him to stop...Follow the link below for an article on teaching bite inhibition.

The Bite Stops Here

lisa

great article on puppies biting, however that works fine to walk away when you are in a room that you can leave. what happens when you are outside and he is on a leash, you can not possibly get away when you are holding the other end. you can't let go, you cant walk away, you pick him up and put him inside. what do you do then?

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BoxMeIn21

Okay - you can modify this. Can you elaborate a little more? Give me a scenario?

lisa

here is the scenerio, you are outside playing in the yard with the pup, all is fun and fine then he becomes a little to "wound up" and starts biting at your feet, ankles, pants and jumping up to bite any part he can. you can't leave him and walk away because you are holding his leash. you can't pick him up to put him inside because then he will bite your hands.

xoxluvablexox

What kind of dog is it?

lisa

He is a maltese and a yorkie mix.

xoxluvablexox

Oh okay. I have a poodle and when he was a puppy he used to grab onto the bottom of my pants and play tug of war with my leg and he used to jump up and down trying to bite onto something. He's gotten a lot better as he's gotten older but it's taken a lot of work and he still sometimes goes back to his old ways.

lisa

thanks for the encouragement. I am willing to do whatever and however long it takes. he's so worth it.

BoxMeIn21

That's easy enough - when he's attacking the pants, take up a little slack in the leash and take the arm that's holding the leash and extend it out to your side, take a step back away from him where he can't get to you and ignore him - turn your chin up and observe the sky for a minute. He might fuss, but the minute he calms down return your attention to him and praise. Make sense?

lisa

I will give that one a try. it makes perfect sense, thanks.

BoxMeIn21

Good luck!

Jen D

If I were you I would make a loud ouch, then turn around and ignore the dog. You can also make a loud ouch then replace you rhand with a toy and redirect him. Good luck he is still young.

lisa

I have tried the ouch thing, he seems to completely ignore it. sometimes if i find just the right pitch it works for a second. the only thing that seems to work is to leave the room when we are inside. I think it is definitely related to being tired. he seems to crash right after he behaves that way. I guess it's like a tired baby, they get out of control. thanks for all the tips. I will give them a try.

mattmania843

When he nips you, say NO, firmly and give him a chew toy, once he goes to town on that say good boy, eventually hell get the pattern. Repetition is extremely important with dogs, if he sees this happen a few times hell realize, well I am not going to bite again!

BoxMeIn21

I actually disagree with using the word "No" - "No" is the most overused and abused word in dog training, and it's better you not say it at all.

The problem with "no" is that the dog has no earthly idea of what it means. And we people are FAR from clear. We say "no" when what we really mean is "stop biting so hard". "No" when we really mean "leave the cat alone". "No" when we mean "don't chew on the rug". "No" when we mean "don't jump up". "No" when we're trying to teach the dog where they should potty. And the list just goes on and on and on. Unfortunately, the dog doesn't learn a thing from "no", most especially when it has hundreds or completely different meanings.
What dog training requires is clear instructions. "No" is not an instruction. "Leave it" (once taught) is an instruction. "Sit" (once taught) is an instruction. "Come" is an instruction. They all tell the dog what TO do. But "No" tells the dog nothing at all, except that you don't like them.

If the dog is doing something that you don't like - by all means, let them know it. "Uh uh" is better than "no". Not because the dog has any better idea of what "uh uh" means - but because we understand that we haven't actually told the dog anything with that sound - we have merely expressed displeasure. So it is for OUR benefit and prompting that "no" is a word best eliminated completely from our training vocabulary.

lisa

that does make sense, what if you said "no bite". can they differentiate between no bite and no jumping? I don't know much about dog comprehension.

xoxluvablexox

I think a lot of dogs just consider the word "no" to mean "stop whatever your doing" if it's jumping or biting "no" works either way. It's not really the word though but the way you say it. The tone of your voice tells your dog everything.

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