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Need help: my 3-month-old puppy mouths me during harnessing and I have sensitive skin

Hi everyone, I have a 3-month-old Cockapoo and I’m struggling with putting his harness or jacket on before going out. I can just walk him with a collar but it feels cruel to let him go out like this during cold weather. Outside of harness time he’s honestly fine — when I let him out of the kitchen in the morning he greets me, rolls over for belly rubs, lets me cuddle him, and only does a tiny bit of gentle mouthing. I’ve sort of successfully redirected him to only chewing at toys instead of my skin by using a stern ‘No’ and give him another toy immediately. But the moment it becomes “harness time,” everything is stressful.

As soon as I try to slip his paws into the holes or lift his leg even slightly, he gets really overstimulated. He wiggles, pulls his legs out, mouths my hands harder than usual. Today he barked at me when I was struggling with the zipper. If I try to hold the jacket steady to zip it up, he twists around and tries to mouth me again. It’s like the second the harness comes near him his whole behavior changes.

What’s confusing to me is that he let the owner at the local pet shop put on the jacket/harness with minimal resistance — no mouthing, no barking, no wiggling. She did it in literally three seconds. With me, it takes forever and turns into wrestling.

I’m calm when I do it. I use a soft “puppy voice,” I try tuna pâté or lick mats, and I’ve tried putting the harness on the floor instead of the couch. Sometimes he’s calmer, sometimes he’s not, and I still end up with scratched hands and teeth marks.

I’m just getting overwhelmed because this happens every morning the past few days and I don’t want us to start the day stressed. Has anyone had a puppy who ONLY gets bitey during harnessing? Is there a way to make this easier for both of us? Any tips would help a lot

I have a 10 month old American shepherd, male that has been struck by puberty hard. It has been very much up and down, I love him very much, but today was the worst.

He was so whiny all morning, then we went for a walk and he was lovely for the first 30mins, smelling all the smells of pretty ladies, then he absolutely lost it. He went full werewolf mode, jumping biting and running. This all happened next to a pretty high trafficked road, so I was so scared his leash would snap or something.

Usually when he gets like this ( I guess overexcited or tired) , I can command him and train him out of it by distracting him. But not today, he knew I was out of treats and was not having it. I had to hold him to calm him down, all people passing by in cars probably thought I was being mean, but I wasn't I just had to controll him. At home he dosent listen anymore, unless he k own i have treats, and he acts like a spoiled brat (he is lol), and right now I feel like a failure, a shifty dogmom. We exercise, we play and we train, not super much everyday, but a bit of everything everyday. Some days are long walks in the woods , and less play and training, and other days are the other way around. Guess the balance is hard to find right now.

Just needed to vent.

My new puppy has been a hassle to deal with. I got him this past weekend and ever since I have been feeling tied and frustrated.He was calm in the beginning but now he has been hyper to the max and I can't calm him down.I play with him a give him exercise but he can't seem to get tired.I have tried putting puppy pads but he seems to not understand it. I have tried walking him but he doesn't want to go potty outside. He is ripping up my couch and tries to eat everything. He cries when I am not in the same room as him.I can't watch him all the time because I am a college student. I can't stay up late trying to get him to bed because I wake up at 6 AM.I live in a one bedroom so I keep him in the living room so I can't escape him. I knew it was going to be a lot of responsibilities but can't stand watch him all the time I am free. I know there's been called the puppy blues but this feels different like I can't sustain this for a long time. I can see the light at the tunnel but it's getting further and further. I've been thinking about selling him or putting him up for the adoption but I've already sunk too much money and it seem like a waste just to sell the puppy. I have an emotionally connected with him I feel more resentment towards him but I don't take it out on him. I just can't have him running my life for at least a year. Summarize I just can't keep them in my lifestyle.

**Introduction** 1) Will this be your first dog? If not, what experience do you have owning/training dogs? * This will be our first dog that we own. We both grew up with family dogs but we were not the primary caretakers. 2) Do you have a preference for rescuing a dog vs. going through a [reputable breeder]( http://ownresponsibly.blogspot.com/2011/07/identifying-reputable-breeder.html )? * Reputable breeder 3) Describe your ideal dog. * Our ideal dog is medium in size, trainable, able to go on runs and hikes, and get tired enough to relax with us in the evenings :) 4) What breeds or types of dogs are you interested in and why? * Brittany Spaniel: This is the dog we've done the most research on and are most interested in getting. We love the trainability, size, and *think* we could keep up with its exercise needs (but we may be off). We also have some concerns about leash training. * English Springer Spaniel: We feel similarly about this breed compared to the Brittany and from our understanding, this is a lower energy breed than the Brittany. * Australian Shepherd: Beautiful dog. Just not sure we can keep up with its exercise/mental needs. Plus we have read that herding dogs tend to be pretty vocal. * Corgi: Another cutie but are weary of the barking and health concerns. * Some breeds we are not interested in are poodles, golden retrievers, and labs (we grew up with them and want to try something new.) 5) What sorts of things would you like to train your dog to do? * Beyond basic obedience, we would like a dog to be well-behaved off leash. 6) Do you want to compete with your dog in a sport (e.g. agility, obedience, rally) or use your dog for a form of work (e.g. hunting, herding, livestock guarding)? If so, how much experience do you have with this work/sport? * No, we are just looking for a pet. **Care Commitments** 7) How long do you want to devote to training, playing with, or otherwise interacting with your dog each day? * We would be happy to devote an hour or two each day to training and playing with our dog (including exercise). I'm hoping we "interact" with our dog much more than that :) 8) How long can you exercise your dog each day, on average? What sorts of exercise are you planning to give your dog regularly and does that include using a dog park? * See above. 1-2 hours. Between the two of us, we each run about 4 or 5 times a week. We would love for the dog to accompany us on our runs once it is of age. Other forms of exercise would primarily be walks, weekend hikes, and fetch. We are both active people and want to bring the dog into as much of our lifestyle as possible. 9) How much regular brushing are you willing to do? Are you open to trimming hair, cleaning ears, or doing other grooming at home? If not, would you be willing to pay a professional to do it regularly? * We would be okay brushing the dog once per week at home. Could also handle doing a daily "ear wipe" to avoid infections. If needed, we could afford professional care. **Personal Preferences** 10) What size dog are you looking for? * Medium (20-40 lb) 11) How much shedding, barking, and slobber can you handle? * Of the three, shedding is the least concerning (as it's something we have some control over). Some barking is okay but would like to avoid particularly vocal breeds. A little bit of slobber is okay but we're not looking for a bloodhound or anything. 12) How important is being able to let your dog off-leash in an unfenced area? * Important, we would like to be able to hike off leash with the dog. **Dog Personality and Behavior** 13) Do you want a snuggly dog or one that prefers some personal space? * We would prefer a snuggly dog, but giving some space is okay too! 14) Would you prefer a dog that wants to do its own thing or one that’s more eager-to-please? * Eager-to-please, please! 15) How would you prefer your dog to respond to someone knocking on the door or entering your yard? How would you prefer your dog to greet strangers or visitors? * We would like for the dog to be welcoming to strangers and not feel too anxious. Occasional barking and enthusiasm is okay. 16) Are you willing to manage a dog that is aggressive to other dogs? * No 17) Are there any other behaviors you can’t deal with or want to avoid? * None that we are aware of **Lifestyle** 18) How often and how long will the dog be left alone? * One of us works fully remote and the other is hybrid, so the dog will only be left alone when we leave the house during the evenings or on weekends. Maybe 4-6 hours at a time, a couple days a week. 19) What are the dog-related preferences of other people in the house and what will be their involvement in caring for the dog? * It will just be us two in the house 20) Do you have other pets or are you planning on having other pets? What breed or type of animal are they? * No 21) Will the dog be interacting with children regularly? * No, not yet at least ;) 22) Do you rent or plan to rent in the future? If applicable, what breed or weight restrictions are on your current lease? * No, we are house-hunting and don't plan to get a dog until we move into a home. 23) What city or country do you live in and are you aware of any laws banning certain breeds? * We live in Massachusetts. Not aware of any laws banning breeds. 24) What is the average temperature of a typical summer and winter day where you live? * Summer days frequently in the 80s (F) and humid, while winters consistently in the 20s-30s (F). **Additional Information and Questions** 25) Please provide any additional information you feel may be relevant. * None 26) Feel free to ask any questions below. * I think our biggest question is whether or not we can handle a higher energy dog. Is 1-2 hours a day enough for the breeds we are interested in? 

Our pup (now 1 yo 7 mo) crate trained and potty trained pretty flawlessly when we brought him home at 8 weeks. There was a time when he started marking in the house when he came of age. We gutted it out for 3 months (lots of enzyme cleaner and constant monitoring) before we were finally able to get him neutered. Whew.

That being said, hubby WFH but has always left him in his crate so actual work can be done. He lets the pup out for a couple shorter pee walks and a long one at lunch (jogs a couple miles with him). Pup always been fine in his crate in between, since he was 10 weeks old.

On the occasion I WFH, he goes NUTS. (I'm also his person.) Won't settle in the crate and just barks nonstop. Eventually, I let him out and he sits dutifully by the stairs, waiting for me to take the occasional break or finish work. He doesn't go anywhere except to drink water or bring over his toy to play with next to the stairs.

I feel like….we can trust him out of his crate during the day, right??? Any cautionary tales? Tips?

Hello, my maltipoo is 13 weeks. He signals when he has to potty by either circling in one spot (very briefly for pee) or biting our hands and face if we happen to be holding him. How do we train him to alert us? How do we convert him from doing those things to letting us know by barking by the door to the outside? Thank you