Puppy Biting Pants

[Mandy L]

Hello,

I've recently got a new puppy, (an adorable Japanese Spitz @ 9.5 weeks old) and generally he's been pretty good except for two main things.

1. He likes biting my pants (the part on the bottom that swishes when I walk) and my slippers (that I wear around the house), when he does this, he deliberately walks/jumps infront of me and 'attacks' my feet. He is in danger of me stepping on him... and my mom has actually stepped on him once accidently. It's cute to have a puppy follow you everywhere (which he does),but not so much that it disables you to walk properply!!! He also tends to latch onto the back of my legs; so far I've been ignoring him and continued walking, but recently I've started to stop moving, I"m not sure which direction I should be heading...

Note: I have also tried giving him a chew toy instead, but when I move he usually tends to drop the toy and head straight for my pant legs.

2. At night, he sleeps in the laundry room and in the morning he is crazy and rushes out to greet me. As soon as I've opened the door wide enough for him to squeeze out, he's jumping on me. (He doesn't jump on me much during the afternoon and evenings) Should I let him?

Any help is great, thanks!!

Edited December 28, 2008 by Mandy L

[dogon]

Hi Mandy L

I'm new at this puppy thing too. We're going through the biting legs and pants stage atm. I just roll up my pants and I get others to do the same. Myself and other family members (small child included) have been *instructed* (coz I iz the boss) to either

1.remove themselves from the pup if he bites

2. make a high pitched yelp and remove themselves

3. replace leg with a fave toy

I always try to return after about 30 seconds and reward him with pats if he leaves my leg alone.

Like I said, I'm trialing this atm so hopefully it will work for you as it seems to be going well enough for me.

Hope this helps and good luck.

[je33ie]

2. At night, he sleeps in the laundry room and in the morning he is crazy and rushes out to greet me. As soon as I've opened the door wide enough for him to squeeze out, he's jumping on me. (He doesn't jump on me much during the afternoon and evenings) Should I let him?

Any help is great, thanks!!

Hi Mandy... congrats on getting your new puppy!!!

I'm not sure about the first problem, but it's good to teach your pup good manners when opening doors from day one. Teach your puppy the 'sit' command (with food luring... you'll learn this at puppy pre-school) and ask for a sit every time you open a door. This will be when letting him in a door or letting him out. We tried to be 100% consistent with Geordie when she was a puppy and didn't fully open a door until her bottom was firmly on the ground. As your puppy gets better, you can ask for a longer sit and a release command before letting him through the door.

Good luck and remember it's never too early to start training!

[Cockerlover]

Hi mandy ,congratulations on your new baby ,most puppies will do this if allowed ,but it must be nipped in the bud, so to speak ,a firm NO ,will help but if this fails, try stamping yr foot very hard with the NO command ,if you keep walking whilst pup is latched on it will see it as a game ,it must be taught this is not apropriate behaviour ,persistance pays dividends .

[Mandy L]

2. At night, he sleeps in the laundry room and in the morning he is crazy and rushes out to greet me. As soon as I've opened the door wide enough for him to squeeze out, he's jumping on me. (He doesn't jump on me much during the afternoon and evenings) Should I let him?

Any help is great, thanks!!

Hi Mandy... congrats on getting your new puppy!!!

I'm not sure about the first problem, but it's good to teach your pup good manners when opening doors from day one. Teach your puppy the 'sit' command (with food luring... you'll learn this at puppy pre-school) and ask for a sit every time you open a door. This will be when letting him in a door or letting him out. We tried to be 100% consistent with Geordie when she was a puppy and didn't fully open a door until her bottom was firmly on the ground. As your puppy gets better, you can ask for a longer sit and a release command before letting him through the door.

Good luck and remember it's never too early to start training!

I do do that, but I can't tell if he's sitting on the otherside of the door. I generally wait 'till he's quiet until I open it though and he still rushes out...

[becks]

and when he rushes out what do you do?? You should be as boring as possible, don't even look at him until he has calmed down - then you can go mad as you like with the morning hello (you are then rewarding him being calm when he greets you). Once he learns that the welcome on the other side of the door isn't so exciting until you say, he will be less likely to barge through the door.

With the jumping up - allow it if you are happy for the adult dog to be doing this to everyone he meets, even if he has muddy paws or sharp claws. Certain behaviours are cute in a young puppy but when the adult does the same thing it suddenly isn't as cute but it can be so much harder to re-train the dog to do something else instead.

With the trouser legs, just bellow 'no' in a deep voice, excited high voices just make most dogs even more excited with the game! But follow this up by ignoring the dog. The vocal noise warns the dog they have gone to far, the ignoring is the consequence of their action.

[IZZY]

We had the same problem with the pants and slippers, I was told at puppy school to use your bunch of keys and just drop them on the floor near your foot the noise stops the pup and it worked for us

[Danois]

Many people find AH! (deep, sharp, gutteral) more effective than NO particularly as NO is an every day 'conversation' word.

[Dogsfevr]

With trouser grabbers & slippers just be patient & stick to a calm routine.The more you dance around,use your voice,drops things the more fun the whole game becomes.

When our litters hit 6 weeks some do it more than others ,we dont encourage it but we dont play the game of making a big deal.We do what we have with no form of reaction.The novelty wears off & they start to learn our voice tones & expectations.

As for jumping up it doesnt worry me but all are dogs are taught when its allowed & not.If im dressed in non specific clothes & im ready forthe onslaught then i will happily allow the privelage of jumping up.If its not the right time then they are fully i have granted them permission.

Dont over confuse the pup with different forms of "no"

We find alot of our puppy owners read so much that they end up so confused & forget the very basic commen sense approach.Dogs dont need complicated reactions & expectations,they thrive on simplicity & learn very uickly when its black & white

[Mandy L]

and when he rushes out what do you do?? You should be as boring as possible, don't even look at him until he has calmed down - then you can go mad as you like with the morning hello (you are then rewarding him being calm when he greets you). Once he learns that the welcome on the other side of the door isn't so exciting until you say, he will be less likely to barge through the door.

With the jumping up - allow it if you are happy for the adult dog to be doing this to everyone he meets, even if he has muddy paws or sharp claws. Certain behaviours are cute in a young puppy but when the adult does the same thing it suddenly isn't as cute but it can be so much harder to re-train the dog to do something else instead.

With the trouser legs, just bellow 'no' in a deep voice, excited high voices just make most dogs even more excited with the game! But follow this up by ignoring the dog. The vocal noise warns the dog they have gone to far, the ignoring is the consequence of their action.

thanks for the reply. I do say 'no' camly and stop moving, but then he sometimes proceeds to hump my leg...

[Mandy L]

oh and I forgot to mention, he barks randomly too and I don't want it to become a problem when he's an adult. What should I do?

He barks at the window at moving branches outside (I think, because when I go there, that's all I see) and then sometimes proceeds to lick the windows... dunno why

He also randomly barks at my mom's slippers while she's wearing them and gets down into what I think is a submissive position (he looks like he wants to play, but his but doesn't wag and he tends to flatten himself to the floor) it only happens with her and we don't know why...

any help is appreciated!!

[Danois]

I do say 'no' camly and stop moving, but then he sometimes proceeds to hump my leg...

Saying no calmly will not stop the behaviour - you need a sound/word which identifies/marks the behaviour as inappropriate and which distracts them from what they were doing.

[lovemesideways]

You cant use a calm voice to tell a dog off. A puppy wont listen to your words and think "Oh gee mum said No, so I better stop." It has to be a sharp sudden sound

Try Clapping your hands together accompanied by a loud "Ahah!".

Also using a water pistol of some kind is effective, entice him to go for his usual pant attacking and when he moves in, shoot with the water pistol.

Humping should Not be aloud.

Are you going to puppy school? I would recommend it! Its a great learning experience for every puppy owner, good for socialisation and learning those helpful basic manners

[lucylotto]

Many people find AH! (deep, sharp, gutteral) more effective than NO particularly as NO is an every day 'conversation' word.

Our pup WAS doing the trouser thing.

I also found stopping walking and simultaneously uttering the gutteral low growl 'no' most effective as it is mimicking the mother's growl of disapproval

we recently acquired a second pup and worked with her too.

good luck

[poochmad]

We have a 7 month old that has recently started doing the pant biting again. It's really frustrating as he had stopped completely. The only thing we can put it down is to hormones as he is heading into 'teenage' period.

Stomping or clapping hands doesn't work. It only makes him more excited. We tend to give a gluttural UH AH or a growly NO and stop moving. By continuing walking excites the pup as it is chasing a moving object. We also give him a command such as drop (lie down) and do this a couple of times until he's calm. By directing his actions towards something that he's praised for, is working a lot better than just telling him off.

You could always try that and see how it works.

[Mandy L]

We have a 7 month old that has recently started doing the pant biting again. It's really frustrating as he had stopped completely. The only thing we can put it down is to hormones as he is heading into 'teenage' period.

Stomping or clapping hands doesn't work. It only makes him more excited. We tend to give a gluttural UH AH or a growly NO and stop moving. By continuing walking excites the pup as it is chasing a moving object. We also give him a command such as drop (lie down) and do this a couple of times until he's calm. By directing his actions towards something that he's praised for, is working a lot better than just telling him off.

You could always try that and see how it works.

thanks. will try