Dog Owner Chat V. 5

[Blue_Aussie]

^aww, what a pretty pup!

[dawnrunners]

That’s a great idea! The biting should stop or at least get better within the next couple months. Puppies usually become little dinosaurs typically at 6 months and are in their “teen” faze until about 9 months old. I wish you luck c;

Also, when she starts biting your hands, don’t acknowledge her (no petting, no talking, no eye contact) and replace your hand with something she can chew on like one of her toys. When she chews on the toy, praise her and give the attention back. If she continues to bite you walk away and don’t give any attention until she stops. If she will listen, while she’s biting you, tell her sit or another command to distract her.

Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately the biting has gotten to the point that she'll sometimes go for my hands instead of the toy/replacement. If I walk away she'll follow me and start biting my feet. It's only when she wants to play, but jesus I have so many scratches and bite marks. I've had her for around 3 weeks, and I think I may have somehow encouraged this behavior. Guess I gotta be super consistent with the don't give attention when she bites and stuff. Oh when she bites my hands she sometimes doesn't let go :') trying to get her attention with another toy doesn't work, so I end up having to wiggle my fingers out while she pulls on em :'))

[Blue_Aussie]

^Oh no! That must not be any fun! Try teaching her “drop it” and/or “leave it”with toys or other objects so when she bites you, you can use the cue instead of wiggling your fingers out, she may view that as play too? If nothing helps, it may be best to close her muzzle with your hand and so “No” firmly. It may seem a bit harsh but you definitely don’t want a dog biting at 2-3 years old.

I’ve also tried yelping when puppies start to bite my hands. It really worked with our golden when he was a puppy, Mazie never mouthed me though. Just a high pitched yelp/squeal to tell your pup know you are in pain. That’s what their siblings or mom did when they were little and bit them.

[fairytale.]

Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately the biting has gotten to the point that she'll sometimes go for my hands instead of the toy/replacement. If I walk away she'll follow me and start biting my feet. It's only when she wants to play, but jesus I have so many scratches and bite marks. I've had her for around 3 weeks, and I think I may have somehow encouraged this behavior. Guess I gotta be super consistent with the don't give attention when she bites and stuff. Oh when she bites my hands she sometimes doesn't let go :') trying to get her attention with another toy doesn't work, so I end up having to wiggle my fingers out while she pulls on em :'))

I find that sometimes the crazy biting can be due to them getting overstimulated. I like to have a crate or playpen nearby to put them in when that happens. Not as a punishment, but as a safe space to decompress. If it is due to overstimulation, walking away (especially with herding breeds), yelping, etc. usually won't do anything but get them more riled up. The key is figuring out signs that she is getting to that point and stopping before it gets there. The *less* you can allow her to bite, the better.
Just like with treats, your best bet is to pick a high-value toy for her to redirect to. Figure out what her favorite toy is and use that when you think she might be gearing up to get chomp-y. She will be less likely to go for you when there's something way more fun offered!

[.Middy.]

The crew the other day. With their friends Ace and Ameera! It’s so nice getting to visit dog friends, even if it did mean 26 hours of driving 😂

I may or may not be adding to the pack in the next few weeks too 👀


Fairytale is right, it sounds like overstimulation. I’ll type up some of the stuff I do later on, my personal puppies are raised in a way I wouldn’t suggest y’all copy but I also puppyraise for other people often enough to have some good tips when my brain is less foggy. (Came off a horse yesterday, so may be tomorrow before I can get my head working again lol)

[Blue_Aussie]

^adorable pups!!!

[ChunkyChad]

Hi I have an old dog who currently weighs around 80 pounds and has quite severe arthritis in her back hip and leg and can't maneuver that well especially up and down stairs. Currently its a struggle to get her back inside as my house is lifted above the ground and thus she has to go up 5/6 steps to get from the lawn into the house and I've noticed her trip coming up as she doesn't lift her back leg which along with worrying me about her getting hurt has also caused her to become tentative about coming up the stairs and with her weight and soreness its difficult to safely lift her to get her inside and outside the house. I was thinking of building a ramp but I built one for her to get into the car but she wouldn't go on it even with treats she wouldn't go all the way up the ramp(I think this is linked to her fear of slipping as she did agility for a short time years ago and had no fear of ramps back then). Anyways I was wondering if anyone here has any ideas of how to get her to use the ramp or possible other ideas as to how to get her up the stairs?

[beautifulglitter]

Hi I have an old dog who currently weighs around 80 pounds and has quite severe arthritis in her back hip and leg and can't maneuver that well especially up and down stairs. Currently its a struggle to get her back inside as my house is lifted above the ground and thus she has to go up 5/6 steps to get from the lawn into the house and I've noticed her trip coming up as she doesn't lift her back leg which along with worrying me about her getting hurt has also caused her to become tentative about coming up the stairs and with her weight and soreness its difficult to safely lift her to get her inside and outside the house. I was thinking of building a ramp but I built one for her to get into the car but she wouldn't go on it even with treats she wouldn't go all the way up the ramp(I think this is linked to her fear of slipping as she did agility for a short time years ago and had no fear of ramps back then). Anyways I was wondering if anyone here has any ideas of how to get her to use the ramp or possible other ideas as to how to get her up the stairs?

For the ramp, what is the surface? I know someone with an elderly arthritic terrier who picked up some carpet samples to put on her ramp so the dog had enough grip to be comfortable. She also started practicing on the ramp before it was inclined, and gradually raised the incline. If you still don't have luck with that, maybe a longer less steep ramp might work too.
If the ramp doesn't work out, you might try a sling to help out her back half- I've never used one, but have seen them marketed for helping larger dogs up stairs/into cars before. You would have to always help her though. I hope you can find something that works for you two!

[Blue_Aussie]

Hi I have an old dog who currently weighs around 80 pounds and has quite severe arthritis in her back hip and leg and can't maneuver that well especially up and down stairs. Currently its a struggle to get her back inside as my house is lifted above the ground and thus she has to go up 5/6 steps to get from the lawn into the house and I've noticed her trip coming up as she doesn't lift her back leg which along with worrying me about her getting hurt has also caused her to become tentative about coming up the stairs and with her weight and soreness its difficult to safely lift her to get her inside and outside the house. I was thinking of building a ramp but I built one for her to get into the car but she wouldn't go on it even with treats she wouldn't go all the way up the ramp(I think this is linked to her fear of slipping as she did agility for a short time years ago and had no fear of ramps back then). Anyways I was wondering if anyone here has any ideas of how to get her to use the ramp or possible other ideas as to how to get her up the stairs?

Not necessarily helping with the ramp idea, however, I’ve heard that canine message can help a lot with arthritis. There are a lot of YouTube videos on different exercises to try on your dog. I’ve personally never tried this but it may be worth looking into? Good luck with the ramp as well!

[dawnrunners]

Sorry for the huge wall of text

^Oh no! That must not be any fun! Try teaching her “drop it” and/or “leave it”with toys or other objects so when she bites you, you can use the cue instead of wiggling your fingers out, she may view that as play too? If nothing helps, it may be best to close her muzzle with your hand and so “No” firmly. It may seem a bit harsh but you definitely don’t want a dog biting at 2-3 years old.

I’ve also tried yelping when puppies start to bite my hands. It really worked with our golden when he was a puppy, Mazie never mouthed me though. Just a high pitched yelp/squeal to tell your pup know you are in pain. That’s what their siblings or mom did when they were little and bit them.

Yeah she does view it as playing, I have no idea how to teach her "drop it" or "leave it" but I'll try. I also haven't really tried yelping, it feels sorta awkward trying to raise my voice high enough to sound like a yep lol. If nothing works then I'll try closing her muzzle.

I find that sometimes the crazy biting can be due to them getting overstimulated. I like to have a crate or playpen nearby to put them in when that happens. Not as a punishment, but as a safe space to decompress. If it is due to overstimulation, walking away (especially with herding breeds), yelping, etc. usually won't do anything but get them more riled up. The key is figuring out signs that she is getting to that point and stopping before it gets there. The *less* you can allow her to bite, the better.
Just like with treats, your best bet is to pick a high-value toy for her to redirect to. Figure out what her favorite toy is and use that when you think she might be gearing up to get chomp-y. She will be less likely to go for you when there's something way more fun offered!

Yes sometimes it's due to overstimulation, but it's also when I don't play with her/give her attention. The more I try to leave/stop her the more she reacts. It's probably cause I jerk back or push her away. It's really hard to stop doing that. I think I'll try ignoring her biting my hands; it doesn't hurt as much anymore :'). Usually she comes nip me when I'm on the couch and if I ignore her she'll try biting a different part of me. Basically doing anything riles her up more, standing up, saying no, or even just moving my hands. Raising my voice also doesn't work (I try not to do this). Sometimes when I'm playing with her she'll go for my hands instead. Hmm, maybe I could teach her to sit and stay while I go get a toy. She also stays in the living room most of the day, I could stay in a different room more so there are less chances she'll go for me. Sometimes to tire her out my dad will rile her up and play and run around with her (zoomies time xd), if her attention is redirected to me then she will definitely bite me. It's why I don't play with her much, if she gets real excited she goes a little crazy. I will have to work on redirecting her, and I'm gonna need better treats for that. And a more interesting toy than my arms, haha.