question on bites and going out for the 1st time

Hi All

As mentioned few days ago in another post , my Polly (8+ weeks old) has been just over a week with us.
All is going fine as we have learned thanks to the forum what is a normal puppy behavior.
Most of all when it comes to bites.

I have one or two questions though:

I am a bit concerned of her staying at home (she is getting fully vaccinated on Sat, so a further week to be allowed out) and not socializing with other dogs.
Obviously she's got so much energy that she passes from a sleepy mode on her cushion to a super alert one running around like a mad :-) .... playing and jumping etc.. she needs to get it out!
In those cases she starts over exciting (I know we must calm her down speaking not loud and not getting agitated too)... and snaps without control basically... sometimes she runs away and has another go running from far, jumping at my hands or legs.. with the intention to bite.
Is that normal behavior? My wife is a little concerned she might be too aggressive... I play it down saying that she is just a pup... and needs guidance!
the problem is that you must stick a toy in her mouth to stop her biting you, like distracting her more and more times... then finally either she starts channeling the aggression towards the toy or I must walk away, outside of where she is, until she stops following me.
Normal such a STRONG energy?
I must say that we spend a lot of time at home... my wife works from home.. and when she needs to have errands out, we make sure she's never more than 1,5/2 hrs alone.
And we keep alternating each other not to let her stay in the crate for long.
Still... she bites a lot.
I take her to the ground and caress her tummy, whispering at her and she sort of calms down... but sometimes this thing is just unstoppable.. then she collapses to sleep!

I must say that it is not always easy not to shout at her... most of all when it hurts... my hands are a mess.

I take her from the top of her neck, like I have been explained her mother would do, and move her away... but it looks like making her even more excited, like if I am playing a sort of game...
Practical Solutions?

Re the walking out, I know she is dying to get out and see the world... just worried she will go away when I let her in the park... without coming back.... do you suggest not to let her free until I am sure she can't run away?
The public parks are wide open, but still she could get out in the streets or i do not know.. maybe I am too apprehensive.
Advice?

Last question: how do you teach her not to bite you when she get her reward from my hand? sometime she get the reward and my finger:-) ... I would like to teach her to be gentle in such situation....


Any idea will be very welcome!
Thanks!

Marco

Thanks

The biting can't possibly be aggression so don't worry about that. She is too young to have devolped aggression yet. The best solution is to turn around and ignore her and walk away. She is trying to get your attention and initiate play. If she gets the opposite response each and every time she will learn that biting isn't how she gets attention. She may chase and bite a little but she will grow out of it with patience and training.

She should never be allowed of lead in an open area until her recall is 100% even with distractions. We never let ours off lead unless she is in a closed in area and we know she will be safe. We use a long lead instead which gives her th efreedom to run and explore and gives us the comfort of knowing we can get her back to us if needed. It would be helpfull if you put her collar or harness on in the house so she can get used to it before she goes out.

To help her stop biting your hand while giving her a treat she will have to learn patience. Have her sit and wait a little before you feed her a meal. Also it's best to feed her with an open palm and not your fingers.

Many Thx.
It makes a lot of sense the extension lead..
Feeding her with fingers.. well.. I guess I learnt my lesson.. Ahah.
Will follow your advice.
many Thx

I'm with Jstaff Rolo is now 18 weeks old and we went through the same as you.. it was family rule that if his teeth made contact with skin... we yelped "OW" and walked away... he learnt very quick and he tries to be very careful now, we also found that when we sat on the sofa and he liked to try gnawing on our hand that the nylabone was great, he gets a lot of teeth relief from that. Good luck

Same as the others, really. It isn't aggression, it's what puppies do when they play with their siblings. You just need to get her to understand that it isn't acceptable with humans.

I wouldn't grab her by the scruff. Yes, her mother would, but you're not her mother & she knows it! All you'll do is make her struggle & heighten the excitability. When she bites, say "No!" & stop all play immediately - turn away, don't look at her or talk to her. If she carries on, don't say a word (you've already told her no) just pick her up & either put her out of the room, or in her crate for a few minutes until she's calm again.

You'll probably have to do this a lot! But eventually she'll realise that biting=no fuss & not biting=fun.

I found squealing when my dog bit me too hard made him realise he was hurting.

Well I got Gabbi at 12 weeks and have had her for 2.5 weeks now and the behaviour in your opening post is an exact replica of how it was for me! She had improved a lot but it takes patience and sticking to your plan.

Biting is reducing gradually and as above I let out a Yelp! and a NO before ignoring her for a few minutes, whether it hurts or not and she seems to be getting the message.

You will probably also see that once you can take her out for walks and burn off some of that energy that the in-house behaviour increases dramatically... this good weather has been a god send!!

Good luck.