6 month old pup suddenly becoming very bitey

hiya,
im completely new to the forum, but really at my wits end with my pup and need some advice.

i've had her since she was 13 weeks old, she was very ill with demodex when i got her, as a result she was very 'babied' for the first month or two as she was on alot of antibiotics and treatment which seemed to distress her quite alot.

she has always been a mouthy pup but its always been in a sort of an affectionate way as she got carried away with licking and shes never done it aggressively or done any damage with it.

there has been the occasional play bite, which i have stopped with a firm no and sent her to her crate for 10 minutes.

all of a sudden a couple of weeks ago she started jumping up onto the sofa (where she is not normally allowed) and biting both me and my mother. she's really biting quite hard and is completely ignorant when shes told not to do so. she will bite and bite until i move towards her (to grab her collar and move her to her crate, as she is paying no attention to commands) then she will run behind the sofa or under a chair.. which results in me scrabbling round on the floor trying to catch her and avoid her very hard bite to move her to her crate.. if she isnt sent to her crate she just continues to bite. most of the time she is biting she is wagging her tail, but sometimes she is very challenging becomes very vocal and snarls.

is this normal puppy behavior that she will grow out of? or is it something more? im at my wits end and really dont know what to do with her. i live near lots of young children and im very worried about her escaping from the house or garden and biting one when shes older if this is not a problem she will grow out of. please can someone help as i really dont want to have to get rid of her but its getting to a point im becoming very concerned at how this will pan out

Hello and welcome to the forum

Ive not had any experience with puppy's before so I can't offer any advice, but someone will be along shortly to help!

Would love to see some piks

Nikita & Shéara

Hi & welcome from darcy & me. Darcy as periods were she can still be bitey, but your doing the right thing with the firm no, don't think you should use her crate as a punishment perhaps pop her in another room rather than the crate (one were she can't make any trouble) she sounds like she pushing your boundaries to see how much she can get away with.

Why not come and introduce yourself.

https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/f7-new-member-introductions

It's not only puppy behaviour, it's adolescence. At about her age they enter their teenage phase where they test the boundaries and act annoying. You just have to continue with your training; she's stubborn but you have to be even more stubborn. She'll get there. Loki used to be terrible with the biting, but with consistent training, he's gotten over it just have to carry on with your training and know that it's just a rebellious phase and she'll get better.

However, I wouldn't put her in her crate. The crate is meant to be a nice, safe place, you don't want any negative associations with it at all. If possible, I'd send her into another room for a little while, so she knows biting means no affection or contact, but definitely wouldn't use the crate.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Keep doing what you are doing with the firm NO and turn your back on her. You may find the link below very useful:

http://staffy-bull-terrier.com/stop_your_staffy_puppy_biting

i will persevere. unfortunately atm the house is half turned upside down as we're swapping rooms around so the crate will have to do for the next couple of days, but i will bare in mind to use a separate room asap. thankyou for the replies, its reassuring to know that its just a phase

Had the same problem with Blue, in our case we found a "fix all" punishment. If he's being bad and wont calm down i grab him and roll him on his side and put my hand over his eyes and gently hold him on his side until he stays still. I think he was getting over excited and this seems to settle him. Eventually we've got to the point where i can put him on his side and cover his eyes and go back to what I'm doing. he will lie there until he's told Okay.

I figure this works well because its his choice to stay on his side so he can prove that he's learned his lesson

thefyst wrote:Had the same problem with Blue, in our case we found a "fix all" punishment. If he's being bad and wont calm down i grab him and roll him on his side and put my hand over his eyes and gently hold him on his side until he stays still. I think he was getting over excited and this seems to settle him. Eventually we've got to the point where i can put him on his side and cover his eyes and go back to what I'm doing. he will lie there until he's told Okay.

I figure this works well because its his choice to stay on his side so he can prove that he's learned his lesson

I wouldn't really advise that though, not for anyone else to try at least, because depending on the dog, it can make them feel uncomfortable or they could see it as a game and get even more excitable.

You're doing everything right, just keep at it. When I first met Ebony she'd mouth your arms and stuff but just saying no, and telling them to sit then just simply ignoring them for a while, then when they've calmed down reward them with attention and fuss. Like Tara said, your pups growing up and they're just testing the boundaries to see what they can do and get away with; almost so they can establish themselves and learn which behavior is acceptable or not, but it could be because he wants attention and biting gets him a response, it might not be a response he wants but since you said you'd mothered him any vocal and physical response (carry him to his crate ect) will make him happy to an extent as he got a reaction and he gets a reaction every time so he continues to do it. As you said he was very mothered so now he's got over his problems you don't have to mother him so much, so when he's not getting all attention he may turn to bad/excitable biting behavior to provoke you to speaking and making contact with him. If that is the case, using the ignoring technique and rewarding him with attention and fuss, which is what he wants, should help him. He might not know he's doing anything wrong either, so make sure you enforce the "NO" so he gets that it's naughty. Using the crate for him is a bad thing though, it's teaching him that his crate is bad when it should be shown with a positive light to give them somewhere to get away from everyone and have their own space; especially if he's crate trained for when you leave him when you're out. Just stick at it and be firm, it may be hard ignoring them at first but hopefully it should help!

we had slight problems with her behaviour before such as jumping up etc, and we completely ignored her then, only paying her attention when she was sat down and behaving. we have tried doing it again with this problem, but its so difficult with how much damage she is doing with her bites and scratches. thankyou for all your replies, i need as much info as poss to try and find something that works for her! finding it so difficult atm, as we want to be happy having her, and ultimately have a happy dog which she cant be when shes constantly being told off ! x

heatherb93 wrote:we had slight problems with her behaviour before such as jumping up etc, and we completely ignored her then, only paying her attention when she was sat down and behaving. we have tried doing it again with this problem, but its so difficult with how much damage she is doing with her bites and scratches. thankyou for all your replies, i need as much info as poss to try and find something that works for her! finding it so difficult atm, as we want to be happy having her, and ultimately have a happy dog which she cant be when shes constantly being told off ! x

If she carries on when you ignore her, that's when you put her in another room for a little while. Don't worry, we've all been here. Loki used to be horrible with the biting, honestly, if he can stop biting, then any dog can with the right training and consistency, so try not to get down. If you're feeling upset or frustrated about it, try to focus on all the good things that she does, all the good things she's learnt since you first got her, that's what I did and it'd make me feel better about it. She'll get through it, you all will

Mine is now 11 months old, so an adolescent. She still bites and jumps up on the sofa to do this.. she isnt being aggressive, i think it feels worse than it is because they are so strong...
We have been advised to stand up as soon as she starts biting, and face a wall, dont say anything, and she should eventually get the idea. louby usually sits or lays down behind us.. then we sit back down...they apparently dont like being ignored as they are very sociable. It is working with Louby, but is taking some time, plus you feel a bit of a wally facing the wall in your living room, but if it works....x

I had the same thing with Alfie, started of very gently and got worse. I put it down to him being more confident and comfortable in the house, so he starting pushing his luck with me. Nothing worked for me apart from shutting him in a separate room - which he hates. It takes a lot of time and I was up and down all the time at one point but it has got so much better. I still get the odd bite but it is no where near as bad. Just keep at it, they aren't stupid, Seti will soon get the idea

I am going through the same thing with Dutchess.
She is now six months old and even though she was mouthy when she was younger, we trained her not to bite.
Then all of a sudden out of the blue she started biting again, and sometimes it hurt.
I've been told by a lot of dog owners that it could be adolescent behaviour as they can get a bit rebellious.
Just be consistent with what you are doing and she will get the message xx

Hi and welcome from us and Suki. Agree with the advice already given and it will get better

I emphasize with u guys as im going through exactly the same with Butch. He's a nightmare at times and if i say no to him he just continues with grabbing my arms so i too put him in a room alone and leave him for a while.He's gotten worse since my daughter moved back to live with me, though i put it down to him being a little jealous along with his age, even though he shares my affection as well as sleeping under my duvet! Hes a boisterous 1 1/2 yr old dog but i wont give up on him until he sees its my way or the room alone. We have a new addition to the family a 13 week old staffie x boxer pup, which he doens't mind, though he does play rough with her.I just reassure Butch he's still my main man.

Educating your puppy that teeth on human flesh is not acceptable is hard work and will take some time because after all she is just a baby and like all babies they explore with their mouths. The fact that she is wagging her tail shows that she is just playing like any other pup, and if she gets upset when being chased around under sofas and chairs after being told off, and knows from experience that when she is eventually grabbed that she will put into a cage then she will be a very confused and scared little girl.

Please try to be patient and understand that at 6 months old she IS still a baby and just wants to play and have fun! Bite inhibition training is important with all puppies - they need to learn how much is too much and at 6 months she is not too old to understand a high-pitched yelp from you and immediate withdrawal of attention (even if it means getting up from the sofa).

She WILL get better with time with patience, taking advice as above and from http://staffy-bull-terrier.com/stop_your_staffy_puppy_biting so don't despair!

Oh, and if you are worried about her escaping from the house or garden, please ensure that this is not possible, by means of adequate fencing in the garden and baby/puppy gates in the house, as no dog of whatever age or temperament should have the opportunity to wander free.

Stick with it, take a deep breath and try not to worry - puppyhood can be a very trying time but it's all too soon gone ><