Help, Bradley The Terror strikes

[Sir Bradley]

Bradley is almost 10 weeks old and has gone from nipping our hands to full on chomping... in the morning and the evening particularly. (He also likes to bite hair/our carpet/our walls/our feet...) I walk him at least once a day for about 30 minutes or more and he is an angel for an hour or two afterwards. He has a play pen with a Kong, Ball, sticks, a treat dispensing ball and his favorite pine cone to chew on. He is being crate trained and rarely makes a mistake as I take him out at least every two-three hours.

Typically I have been trying to redirect his biting to a toy or say "No" while gently pushing him away. This worked a little bit with biting at our feet but he would then test what other limb he could attack. We used the bitter apple spray on the carpet which made him less aggressive towards the carpet, but didnt work completely. (oh and now the spray sound from the bottle causes an uproar)

...But the past few days have been frustrating. We love him but our walls/hands can't take the daily Sheltie Spaz. Is this his age? Any advice?

 

[Caro]

I think you also have a teething issue on your hands. Although pups dont loose their milk teeth until around 4mths they can still have teeth pain into adolescence - firstly as the milk teeth settle in and adult teeth start forming and then as the adult teeth settle into the jaw once they come through. Thats why pups are such dreadful chewers.

You're lucky it just limbs - Tully chewed through most of my underwear and Deska though my socks.

You are doing the right thing with redirecting his mouth and stop play completely if he brings the teeth out. He just needs to learn what he can and can't chew on, you wont be able to stop the chewing so try some puppy chew toys - mine loved the ones with the squeakers in them, I also got rope chews (not that popular) and things like the nylabones, plus they loved cat toys -small and easy to fit their teeth around. You can also improvise and give fash washers or bits of cloth - anything he can get his teeth around and just chew.

 

[mbfrench]

Bradley is almost 10 weeks old and has gone from nipping our hands to full on chomping... in the morning and the evening particularly. (He also likes to bite hair/our carpet/our walls/our feet...) I walk him at least once a day for about 30 minutes or more and he is an angel for an hour or two afterwards. He has a play pen with a Kong, Ball, sticks, a treat dispensing ball and his favorite pine cone to chew on. He is being crate trained and rarely makes a mistake as I take him out at least every two-three hours.

Typically I have been trying to redirect his biting to a toy or say "No" while gently pushing him away. This worked a little bit with biting at our feet but he would then test what other limb he could attack. We used the bitter apple spray on the carpet which made him less aggressive towards the carpet, but didnt work completely. (oh and now the spray sound from the bottle causes an uproar)

...But the past few days have been frustrating. We love him but our walls/hands can't take the daily Sheltie Spaz. Is this his age? Any advice?

Just as Caro said,redirection is usually the way to deal with a teething puppy. One thing that did work with Earnhardt,was a loud "ouch" from whomever he was latching onto.

If Bradley were chewing on one of his siblings,they would let out a loud yelp,and that usually deters the pup from biting.Same differance here.

After the bite,do a loud "ouch" and walk away.Soon he will realize,that he is getting no attention because you have ignored the behavior.
Work with Earnhardt,heaven knows he was a terrible ankle biting puppy.

I haven't seen this behavior really other than some normal mouthing from Trapp or Jasper.

Trapp is past this,but Jasper is still young.When he does try to bite on us,we give him a firm "no bite",redirect him to something acceptable to chew on.

 

[JamCrackers]

Good advice mbfrench. A 10 week old pup needs to learn that it can hurt a human. Mouthing on your hands should be stopped with an "Ouch" in the sound of pain or a yelp, not as a command and a big frowning face and then walk away.

Chasing feet, nipping, attacking things that are not to be attacked and chewing things that are not to be chewed should be stopped with a voice that portrays an indisputable "No"

At 10 weeks old, now is the time for the pup to learn "No" is non negotiable and dead serious. Teaching him right now, No means no, time and time again will set the stage for a better relationship in the long run.

Remember to judge softness or harshness of the "no" to the individual personality of your pup. One sheltie pup may be extremely biddable, another not so much. Learn your pup.

 

[mbfrench]

Remember to judge softness or harshness of the "no" to the individual personality of your pup. One sheltie pup may be extremely biddable, another not so much. Learn your pup.[/QUOTE]

Do you ever just have to "give the look"..and they know just what is expected! I know all we have to do is give Earnhardt "that look"..he knows~

 

[Sir Bradley]

Good to know that he can start his teething process now. We weren't sure when to expect that and honestly weren't even aware of it.
There are days he is much more content to sit and chew on one toy and be an absolute angel. He is definitely a playful one though. My biggest concern is the small holes he has put in our wall. He seems to need a lot of playtime to keep him out of too much trouble.

And thank you on the "tone" and "look" suggestions. Bradley is definitely sensitive to our tone of voice, an energetic good boy will send his spirits sky high for sure.

He got a frozen strawberry for being good during thunderstorms this morning... he is a little spoiled.

 

[SheltieChe]

Che used to wake up and go for our hands or feet, but we fast learned to have tons of "pacifiers" around the house, he mostly likes things like Merricks flossies, braids, pig's nose, some rawhide, pigs tail, some ligaments etc.
we learned to have full supply in every room and the moment he goes for hands or feet or something else inappropriate he gets chewy in his mouth from us... one long chewy would last him for while though...
eventually it lessened about 3-4 month and almost completely stopped between 4 to 5 month, then we found few teeth falling out and now we back to intense chewing again when he would just go for my sleeve or arm, so we back to chewies, ice cubes and even marrow bones...
yeah and I would up it to 3-4 walks during the day if possible, what we did is to try to establish rules that house is quiet time and outside is playtime... tired dog is a happy dog.... training sessions make dog tired as well...

 

[Chopper]

I use tabasco sauce on chopper.
When I find him chewing on anything that he shouldn't be, I just apply some tabasco sauce on that object. He takes one sniff and never touch that thing again .