Restless Furbaby = Tired Furmommy

JillSara85

Looking for some advice!

I have a 6 month old GSD/Black Lab mix and we have had her since she was 9 weeks old. She gets taken out for walks multiple times a day, is played with constantly as my husband is home all day and she has started working on more cognitive puzzles etc so she is getting more mental stimulation. I still know she is a puppy and for the most part she is fantastic but she still nips and does this puppy nibble which hurts like crazy. All dogs get their hyper moments and where she is only 6 months it is understandable but does anyone have any tips to help?

I know that people say to say "OW" etc as they will realize it hurts and to walk away as the pup is seeking attention. Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

 

hillysuze

Have you tried a squirt bottle of water or bitter apple? When she nips, spray her and say "no" or "ow". We did this with ours and we only used bittle apple once - in fact, I never sprayed it at her, I sprayed a little on my finger and let her smell it and she backed off, now all she needs to do is see the bottle and she stops what she was doing.

straymo

I don't "do" puppies, but I think they go through a bit of a growth spurt around that time. You are right, teeth touching = fun stops immediately, every single time not just if it hurts. I know some have had success with a squirt bottle too. Be consistent, puppies can be subborn. Working on obedience training (positive reinforcement) and impulse control with "leave it" are also helpful at working that growing brain.

aaf10

We have a 6-mo old golden. The teething times sucked, and for some reason he likes to bite DH more than me. The "eh-eh" or a high-pitch "aw" followed by us leaving the room if he does not get the eh-eh/aw. He still does it once in a while when he gets too excited but I always leave get up and walk away or turn my back on him. Like PP said, just be consistent. I would say he's barely ever bitten me, as I watch him like a hawk when he is being playful near me and never really given him much an opportunity to bite (that is, I move away or move my hands when I see his mouth coming towards me). He is a lot better now than just 2 months ago

TheLinkBride

With mouthy/bitey puppies, you have to find the method that works best for your puppy.  If you find that this happens during times of excitement or play, I found that saying something like "ow" didn't work.  What worked for us was to get up and leave immediately so that play time and any contact immediately ended.  You need to time this right, but this is what worked for us. If you can't leave the room, you can stand up and walk a few steps away and turn your back to the puppy.  Take a break in the play and when you return, only keep playing if you are getting the behavior that you want.

I would prefer to try a method like that first than using a spray bottle as when you have something like flea/tick spray in the future the puppy can associate that as a bad thing.

JillSara85

Thank you for the responses. I have tried the bitter spray and my dog must be the random one that actually likes it!  I keep working on positive reinforcement but she is so darn mouthy. Thank you all for your suggestions, I am just going to keep at it and hope that in a few months she will catch on as she has caught on with everything else.

HB's Girl

JillSara85:

Thank you for the responses. I have tried the bitter spray and my dog must be the random one that actually likes it!  I keep working on positive reinforcement but she is so darn mouthy. Thank you all for your suggestions, I am just going to keep at it and hope that in a few months she will catch on as she has caught on with everything else.

I had a doglike that too. She dug holes in the yard, which she would redig. We tried bitter apple, red pepper, hot sauce, she liked it. My current dog chewed on kitchen cabinets and when we tried hotttttt sauce, she licked it off.

You just have to be consistent. Yelling "ow" did no good, but consistently leaving worked for the most part. We practiced "be nice" too during calm times with kibble. This is fun for me because some dogs interpret it as being very careful and using their tongues or lips, but mine interpreted it as go.verrrry.slow. Then during play time when she started getting rough, we would say "be nice," she would calm down a little, and we would allow play to continue.  She is four and a half yo now, and still gets overly excited with us and this is a great tool, and it is great around kids too (she is very good around kids and adapts her play, but having this command is great and kids can use it too).