We’ve had our puppy for two weeks now. We brought him home at 9 weeks old and is 11 weeks now. He is a rescue who was brought up north at 6 weeks old, and stayed with a foster family for 3 weeks. He is thought to be a basset or spaniel mix of some kind but nobody knows. He has taken potty training reasonably well, rings his bells to go out, and knows how to sit. We got him a crate because the foster family said he liked his. They didn’t lock him in it, and we don’t.
We both work during the day but my fiance stops home on lunch for an hour to feed and take out. He isn’t home alone more than 3.5 hours during the week.
Since the night we brought him home he has relentlessly bitten everything he can that’s attached to a person and more. Biting pants and feet when walking, hands every single chance he gets, lunging at faces, stalking and attacking feet and legs. Pretty much anyway you can phrase it he has bitten us everywhere, all the time.
Things we’ve been consistently trying since day 1:
– Ignoring him (rarely possible, he just bites more)
– Rewarding when good for any amount of time (treats, words, petting)
-Replacing with a toy when he’s biting (works for 10sec max)
-all types of chew toys for teething
-Short timeouts, behind a closed door or in his gated area
-burning energy w calm walks around the yard
-limited play time (he bites so we stop when he does)
-yelping like a litter mate (he couldn’t care less)
We didn’t expect him to make drastic changes in this time but also didn’t expect it to be this difficult. We made the teeny tiniest progress in week one. It was hour by hour if he was good or not.
We deep dived and read a lot. Learned to try and identify WHY he’s biting. Overstimulated, attention- seeking, frustration, teething, too much energy. Along with this we started implementing new strategies.
Week 2 we’ve tried:
-scheduled naps (helped a lot…when we can get him to nap which is rarely)
-interrupt his behavior, ignore briefly, reward when good
-giving command he knows (sit) to redirect
-dimming lights with calm music in a calm area
-overall being more consistent with how we handle biting
And here we are at the end of week 2 with not much to show for results. He is the tiniest bit more controllable, but once he starts biting we just can’t stop him no matter what we try.
It’s been incredibly defeating. My fiancee and I are drained within a few hours of getting home from work. He bites and bites and bites. Some nights have been way better than others, but it only lasts for so long.
We very much understand that this is going to be a long road ahead. We’re as patient as we can be, but something needs to change. We don’t expect anything to be immediate either.
Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read and help.
submitted by /u/NKNDP
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