I am in desperate need of some advice, we have a 14 week old lab and he thinks biting your legs, feet, hands, or any part of your body he can get hold of, is great. he's had chews, bones, cold things. we have tried so many different things, tapping his nose, distracting him, saying no in a loud deep voice, yelping, putting him out the room. but no matter what you do he seems to do it again, even when it gets you really mad and saying NO , he's wagging his tail!! this is not doing my partner and i relationship any good as we both want to deal with it in different ways, him being more heavy handed than me, which in my opinion doesnt seem to make any difference. the pup is even making grunting noises and barking, not sure if this is aggression as he's still wagging his tail. please any advice that would help would be very much appreciated.

I think your pup is seeing this as a great game,this is a good link on teaching bite inhibition The Bite Stops Here

Oscar barks and grumbles at me when he is like this but his tail is still going so i think it's just excitement.

If he gets skin then i do just very calmly and gently pin him to the floor by standing over him and laying on him (GENTLY) until he calms down. Also i find sometimes when he is barking at me i just kneel down and look at him really calm and he eventually stops. There again he is a bit smaller than a lab.

Have you tried teaching him the "off" command.

Might be worth putting him on a light nylon lead round the house. I found that if you try and push them off with your hand it is just an invitation to play but if they are pulled off by the lead (gently but firmly) and then say "off" treat once they have 4 paws on the floor.

I think Labs are famously boisterous and love this sort of play. Are you taking him to puppy training?

I'm sure there's plenty of advice on the net, sounds like oral fixation. Quite a comman occurance in young dogs, it's a good thing your sorting it now as it can obviously get increasingly difficult as the dog matures. That's when it becomes a major problem.


Sorry I don't have any advice for you. Hopefully you'll battle through it. I know it can be stressful on a relationship especially when you have different ways of trying to deal with the problem.

Good luck with it.

I'll have a scout round for you x

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Just found this site

Labrador Retrievers: Does Your Lab Have An Oral Fixation?!

It does have an outline of your problem but it has a blog section. There maybe someone on here that can help?

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Hi
Sounds bit like our Archie used to be! I'm sure he's playing although it doesn't seem like it to you

What worked for us was yelping loudly (which you say you do) but then immediately stop playing and ignore for a minute, then try playing again, if he bites again repeat. Archie hated being ignored.

Also have toys handy to give him to chew so he learns what he can bite.

We also did the time out like you - out into the kitchen for couple minutes to calm down.

So a combination of what you've been doing but think secret is, be consistent, every time he bites do the ignoring/time out even if you seem to be doing it every 2 minutes!

If he bites while you're walking, stand like a statue with arms crossed and out of reach so again you are ignoring him.

Don't try and push him off, he'll think you're playing and come back for more. I wouldn't tap his nose either.

Good luck

wow! quick responses! i think he does see it all as a game, have tried hold him down and even stroking and calmly massaging him but he doesnt seem to calm down. haven't taken him to training, and after reading a lot of advice online i think what he needs is socialisation. he has met other dogs and we didnt get him till 8 weeks but maybe other pups could teach him what we're struggling to do. the off command doenst work when he's excited, will try the lead. the biting mostly occurs through excitement so i am going to suggest not so much rough play to my partner. it's at the stage i dont want to take him to other peoples houses in case he nips them! when he's not nipping he's great.

This is perfectly normal puppy behaviour - labs can be particularly mouthy as they were bred to carry things in their mouths.

Sallyannes link is excellent, but think the best thing would be to take him to puppy classes. You will be able to find local trainers on this site

Welcome to APDT - Association of Pet Dog Trainers UK

You probably won't think it now but it is a good thing, your puppy play biting.
It is how the pup will learn bite inhibition.

Our Golden was terrible as a young pup - she wrinkled her nose and all sorts trying to have a good chew on us.

However she is turning into the most placid, gentle dog.

Just be patient and he will be the loveliest dog ever.

Sonny is a bitter, but i know this is normal puppy behaviour, although it drives me mad.

In the last few days I have been really calm with him, and if he is ignoring me distrating him with toys and yelping I sit anyway from him until he has calmed down. When he is nice and calm I play again and make a big fuss of him being "such a good boy!"

My hubbys patients was also running out, but have told him that he is only a baby and to always stay nice and calm. Now he is doing this Sonny seems to being picking up on it and is not as rough at all. He is still very young, but I am already seeing results.

I have also found if he is constantly attacking my feet (a great game of his) I growl at him (in another thread) and he stops - this is something I do as a last resort.

Good Luck!

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