About two weeks ago, almost three, my family got a new Australian Shepherd. Jasper is 2 months old, turning 9 weeks soon, so definitely about to begin teething. He was bred by very responsible, knowledgeable breeders, and was raised with nearly 10 other puppies as both his mother and another Aussie litter were raised together up until 7 weeks old. He's an extremely sweet boy, is super smart as well. However, there are some "major" biting issues that he is exhibiting. Jasper loves to bite, and it's often sporadic as well. I know many people have been talking about certain biting triggers, but I can't seem to detect any in him besides his general need to bite. Keep in mind that Jasper is normally very calm and quiet. However, we can be playing with him or just stand there, and Jasper will begin to bite. He'll sink his teeth into me, especially, and keep dragging and dragging. This most always occurs with the feet. Jasper will latch onto my socks and pull with all his might while growling and circling around me, never letting go once. More often than not, his teeth will also be right up against my skin, scraping the surface of my feet. He will also suddenly jump up and nip my legs, and seems to love to come up from behind, jump, and nip my butt. Obviously, these are all very painful. What unnerves me the most is that Jasper will not let go unless someone physically breaks the contact between his teeth and human clothes and skin. I see so many people talking about just standing up and walking away into another room, but seeing as he will unrelentlessly drag my clothes, this is not an option for me. I can assure you, my family has done practically every method offered online. We have done barking inhibition, using key words such as "Ouch!", using Bitter Apple, giving him short time outs for 1-2 minutes, distracting him with other toys, and ignoring him. I am strongly against physically punishing my puppy, but my parents will sometimes pinch his ear, push him away, or literally slam a soft toy onto his face. I understand that in the long run, these will not hurt the puppy, but still, I feel that it is too harsh of a punishment for behavior that should be expected. My dad is becoming increasingly upset with Jasper, and refuses to be patient with him. He has become so frustrated that he is threatening to send our beloved puppy back to the breeder, despite only having him for two weeks. Honestly, my main frustration is his inability to give Jasper time to correct his mistakes, as it is natural for a puppy. However, I too am becoming very annoyed with our puppy as well. We keep up with a method for several days to try to be consistent, but any method almost always loses effect after the first time. Yipping, yelling, or making loud noises especially riles him up and encourages him to bite more. If anyone can offer ways to quickly correct this behavior, I would be sooo grateful. Any help is welcome!
@jasper_aussie . I'm reading you post and I can feel your despair. I am waiting and will follow the ' thread ' with great interest. I sadly cannot offer any useful advice, but, be patient because someone will, there are some very knowledgeable and helpful people who have given me good advice whilst raising my pup. I hope in the meantime your family will persevere and keep him. If you have the time put a little message on this site of your progress. Oh and well done you asking for help - Philippa
Its normal puppy behaviour and yes, it can be very trying but persistence and patience do pay off, It doesn't happen overnight, it can take months depending on the puppy but I can assure you it ‘does get better. Have you tried redirecting with a toy, get the toy moving and re-direct him to the moving toy and not your hand/arm/legs etc.. I think the goal is not so much to stop them from biting, but to teach them inhibition/having a soft mouth. The Bite Stops Here (Ian Dumbar) http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=64170.0;wap2
I have just read with great interest the link above. It really makes sense to me, Yoji is 6 months old, sometimes he holds his mouth open whilst hovering on my arm or knee - no pressure. I have noticed the times he jumps about and mouths me with pressure, it seems to be a sign he wants the toilet. Do you think this is ok and will stop over time or should I try to eliminate this behaviour. We are so pleased with his progress I just want to keep on top of him
Haha yes, we've definitely tried to redirect his attention with toys. This is our main method, but it almost never works. Even his favorite toy has lost its effect after the first few times. Unless we really shove it into his face, he will not let go, and usually he will release his mouth for a few seconds to play with his toy, then immediately go back to playing tug-of-war with our clothes. Thank you so much for the link- I will definitely be reading it!
I'm not entirely sure that I'm in a place to respond to your comment on Yoji's (by the way he's absolutely adorable) biting-for-the-bathroom, but I think that if he constantly does mouth you when he needs to go out, it is definitely a sign. I don't really know how to eliminate this particular method, but for Jasper, we trained him to ring doorbells whenever he needs to go outside. There are several online you can buy, and we purchased this one: https://www.amazon.com/FOREYY-Doorb...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=4V9NVCX2KY5T0D6M8DEK. You can easily teach your dog to ring these if he needs to go outside by training him to touch it whenever you go out to potty, and soon he'll learn. There's a full guide that comes with these bells for further clarification. I hope this helps in some way!
That's sounds an amazing way for Jasper to ask for the toilet, so cute. Thank you for the advice, I will look into it
We have had to house train a six year old kennel dog, and I also found the bells useful. I reduced my set to two bells though as we found them quite noisy. They are still in use as my other dog is inclined to let himself out. The bells now let us know that the door is open before all our precious heat has the chance to escape.
@jasper_aussie Now a few days haves passed after your original post I'm interested to hear how your family is getting on with Jasper
Oh my gosh I'm so sorry! I totally forgot about this! I think the situation is getting a little better, but he still bites a lot. Since the last post, he's made me bleed two more times. My sister and I have taken to wearing snowpants tucked into knee high leather boots to protect ourselves, which is absolute torture in this current weather. He will still gnaw and pull at our feet, but the boots protect our skin from breaking. Unfortunately, the information from the link that was sent to me didn't prove much help. We have tried barking inhibition before, and it has always lost effect on him. However, we got him a new lamb plush toy, and I feel silly to say this, but the lamb seems to be the best way of controlling his biting right now. We have tried distracting him with toys in the past, but he never cared much for the options we offered him. Jasper, however, absolutely adores this lamb and the second we pick it up he will come running. Right now, that seems to be the only way to curb his biting. I will try to keep updating!
@jasper_aussie - Oh dear, the thought of wearing snowpants tucked into knee high leather boots sounds horrendous, as being in the middle of a diabolical heatwave even flipflops make my feet feel like they are on fire, so I really feel very sorry for you. Even if it does keep your toes away from Jasper's teeth. I love the sound of Jasper and his new best friend the lamb - does it squeak? Please post some pictures of him and his bf!
