It's a puppy made entirely of teeth!

[3Cats&aPup]

I'm a new dog owner. I rescued an 8 week old doxie mix pup from our local SPCA about 10 days ago. Up until now, I've only ever had cats, but used to work for a vet and did tons of dog sitting before I went back to grad school.

Overall, our pup Hamilton seems to have a good temperament. Everyone he meets is his BFF; he comes when called, has learned "sit," "paw," and "down;" doesn't torment my cats (though he's getting to be play-buddies with my youngest!); is quiet at night; isn't phased by loud noises (vacuum, food processor, ambulances) is housebreaking well -- it's just the teeth!! Why with the teeth?! The routine is typically play for a while, nip a bit, then play more, then chomp HARD, then turn into an absolutely frantic vampire piranha, then pass out for two hours. We've tried yelping when he bites, ignoring him, crossing arms/turning away (at which point he just goes after our ankles), and nothing seems to phase him. He'll sometimes stop for a second then launch right back into another attack. I think he just gets way overwound up, but it makes it really unpleasant to play with him! I'm worried that I'm not paying enough attention to him or spending enough time with him because I just can't sometimes without being bit! I have some guilt about the fact that my husband and I work full time, and he ends up in his pen for two 3.5 hr blocks during the day, which is why I feel extra bad when I have to ignore him at night. (fwiw, he gets 2 hrs of play time before work, my husband is home for lunch in the middle of the day, then he's out for about 7 hrs before bed)

I'm worried that I'm not doing a good enough job disciplining him and he's going to be a monster. I asked the vet about it, and she said his nipping behavior wasn't bad at all for a puppy (though honestly he was behaving quite well at the vet). How much of it should I worry is behavioral v. how much is just that he's a pup? Is he really going to grow out of some of this?? This is definitely the most trying part about puppy ownership. The housebreaking has been a breeze!!

 

[DeafDogs]

Bite inhibition is something most puppy owners struggle with. The absolute BEST thing you can do to stop the biting is to immediately stop all interaction the second you feel teeth. you stand up, cross your arms over your chest and stand perfectly still, not looking at him, not correcting him, nothing. the worst thing you can do to a puppy is remove attention from him. If he continues to bite your pant legs and/or shoes, put up a baby gate, then just step over it, and stand with your back to the gate, in the same posture as before... he will stop, and look at you like "what gives?" once he's calm, you go back to playing to reward him for the calm behaviour. He'll bite again, you just keep following the same procedure. if you do it right, he'll stop very quickly.

 

[3Cats&aPup]

Bite inhibition is something most puppy owners struggle with. The absolute BEST thing you can do to stop the biting is to immediately stop all interaction the second you feel teeth. you stand up, cross your arms over your chest and stand perfectly still, not looking at him, not correcting him, nothing. the worst thing you can do to a puppy is remove attention from him. If he continues to bite your pant legs and/or shoes, put up a baby gate, then just step over it, and stand with your back to the gate, in the same posture as before... he will stop, and look at you like "what gives?" once he's calm, you go back to playing to reward him for the calm behaviour. He'll bite again, you just keep following the same procedure. if you do it right, he'll stop very quickly.

We certainly pay a LOT of attention to him!! I think that's demonstrated by having a 9 wk old puppy who is having potty accidents less than once a day. It just seems when he gets into super crazed mode, nothing stops him. As soon as he's calm and you go back to him he's right back at a 10. I end up sitting on the couch with my feet up for 15 minutes or so until he's starting to get drowsy and asks to come lay down. Even then it sometimes takes a few times of come up, cuddle, bite, get put down, wait to be allowed back up (he has to sit to be picked up), repeat. We always have a toy on hand to give him to chew on, but it's just like sometimes he thirsts for human flesh or something.

I've read that you should only go through bite correction procedures when the pup is actually biting hard. Is there any truth to that? I'd really not like to be bit at all!!