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Sunday 11 September 2011

His Bite is Worse than his Bark

So here I am, week 13 of being a full fledged puppy owner.
We've been through 2 crates (he's grown so quickly, he was out of the 1st crate in 5 weeks!!)
We are currently on leash number 6 (chewed through the 1st 5)
His new toys barely last him one hour (he completely demolishes them)
He's gone through 6 weeks of puppy training school.  Passed with flying colours.

But here's the thing...although I am the only one who feeds him, and I am the only one who walks him on 3 out of his 4 walks (yes 4!!  Darned pup walks 8 km/day), the one who picks up his poop, takes him to the vet, and pets him, this lovely sweet gentle puppy BITES me.  Yes BITES.  I'm not talking gentle playful nips.  Full fledged bites.  There have been times when I'll be standing with my back to him.  He'll come up behind me and take a chunk out of my leg (usually my thigh).  It HURTS.

Usually, the biting pattern begins like this...I'll calmly be reading on the couch.  The 2 other males in my home will not be in the same room as me.  (Pup would never dare try this behaviour with so much testosterone in the room)  So there I am, calmly reading on the couch, not even aware that pup is around.  Pup puts his paws on the couch (he knows he's not allowed on the furniture...so he does this on purpose).  I remove his paws from the couch..he puts them back on.  He thinks this is a game.  I stand up to show him my authority (hah!). PWD's are notoriously agile.  Pup stands on his hind legs for about 10 seconds..all the while pawing at me.  I push him down.  He crouches, starts barking, and begins to bite my ankles.  I try to use canine body language, try to ignore him (hah!)  He sneaks up behind me and tries to take chunks out of my arms and legs. I give him a chew toy to distract him, he spits it out and lunges.  I try to go back to the couch, but he's way ahead of me..he's jumped on it and proceeds to annihilate the cushions.

I don't want to put him in his crate, but the temptation is too strong.  I feel it is the only way he will calm down.  In the 13 weeks that I've had him, I've been bitten more often than a lifetime of mosquito bites!  Because I don't want him to see the create as a punishment, I start tossing all his favourite toys in there all the while faking a smile and moving closer to the door.  I want him to see it as a happy place (hah!).  Once he gets close, I nudge him in and lock the door behind him.  He's got all his toys in there and is super happy. He immediately lies down and goes to sleep!!  Yeah, after a good meal I like to sleep too!!


For more blogs, please visit http://cluelesspuppyowner.blogspot.com/ and http://thecluelesspuppyowner.blogspot.com/

5 comments:

  1. I'm going through this right now. She is 4 months and can me a witch with the jumping, bitting and ripping my clothes. Does it go away? How did you get it to stop?

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  2. We also have a 13-week puppy. He is half PWD and half Standard Poodle. He acts exactly the same way with your pup! We are trying to figure out the way to stop him from biting us because it really HURTS... I have scars everywhere on my arms and thighs... It seems like "yelp" doesn't work. Have you found any other way to stop him besides putting him in a crate? (we do that too) Same questions with Tori, does it go away...?

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  3. I have a 4 month old portie who does this too. He rips my jeans and makes me bleed. It comes out of nowhere and he growls and bites repeatedly like an attack. He has completed puppy kindergarten and is now doing intermediate obedience, but training does not help with the attacks. Do they grow out of this?

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    1. Hey I have a solution!
      .. I tried pretty much everything to get my pwd to give up on biting and attacking me, both in the backyard and on walks! He would target me and repeatedly try biting me at random times, for two reasons 1.he was hyped. Here's the trick... Leave the area the second it starts.... Leave wherever you are and head to another room/area without him. Leave him for 1-3 minutes and come back and ifnore him then reward him for something but only when he is filly calmed. It takes a few goes and at first he will attack again and again! If your out on a walk and he's on leash , wrap leash around a tree or something and leave ! If he is off leash and attaxking you just wrap the leash around his neck and slowly walk a few steps here and there and he should eventually settle , then stand completely still until he is 99% calm. Get him to do something like "lool at me, then heel. Treat/reward for calm compliance... This was the only thin that worked for me

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  4. You already showed the answer. "He won't do it when the other males are in the room... too much testosterone." Give him the same 'this is unacceptable' types of cues as the older dogs would. Obviously the human version. A whopping loud "no"! Walk away, get a chew toy and offer it to the dog. If you continue to let him 'think' it's a game then it 'is' a game in his eyes. Make him see it differently.

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