Three month old LabX biting & snapping.

easyeason3

Three month old Lab X biting & snapping during play in an aggressive way. I'm sure he thinks it's play acting but hands have been bitten & a small bit of blood has been drawn.
He seems to get a kick out of biting ankles, clothes etc to try & drag you along like a game of tug 'o war.

What can be done to sort this problem pronto?

andreac

Im afraid thats what puppies do. They nip and bite so you need to teach them not to do it. A 3 month old pup will not be aggressive even if you think the nipping and biting is, its just normal puppy behaviour.

Best thing to do is let out a high pitch yelp when they nip and walk away and ignore the pup or put it out of the room. They will soon learn that this behaviour is not acceptable.

mymo

Agree with above, I found a squeal and ignoring the pup(if it continued putting it out of the room) worked really well. But neither of mine were bad biters, the older one was worse but think the younger had him to teach her.

Also praise good interaction, like when the pup is playing gently, a little mouthing can be ok, so long as the teeth don't bite down.

I also gave the pups lots of chew toys, sometimes their teeth are at them and they're looking for something to bite.

easyeason3

Thanks for the advice but from what I know this mostly happens outside, so there is no room to walk into.
I know they can go into the house but he keeps running around playing so thats not really effective.
And while I'm sure it is playing to him the bites are sore enough. Skin is torn & blood is drawn.
They want to resolve this ASAP because they have their nephews coming over to stay for a few days in the next few weeks.

So any other suggestions?

I told them to spray water in his face but that only works while they have a hose or a bottle of water nearby & it doesn't work after that even though they give him a command to stop.

mymo

Can you get hold of an old playpen or something to contain him?
Maybe like a timeout would work, put him in to calm down.

Also could they start clicker training, and use it as a distraction then praise the good behaviour?

theghost

Try yelping and saying "no" very firmly, put him on the lead and bring him indoors, then let him off the lead and ignore him for a few minutes. When he's calmed down bring him out and play with him again and repeat the procedure if he bites again.

Graces7

Thick gloves/gauntlets will help during training. Make life easier.. and help to concentrate rather then dreading the pain..Is he getting enough exercise also? That is a high energy breed.

i-digress

If I was outside with my lab when she bit I just made a high pitch squeal turned my back to her with my arms crossed and ignored her. She soon got the message that biting equals being ignored, and labradors love human contact. She doesn't do it anymore and she's four and a half months.

Now if only she'd stop shredding paper....:rolleyes: