# 7 month old biting



## Cpc1972 (Feb 23, 2015)

First take a breath Everything will work out. Chloe still uses her mouth when playing and will still jump up and bite on my mom when they are playing. The good news is it doesn't seem to be aggression. Somewhere he doesn't think of you as a leader. I am not talking dominance. Maybe you can look up on YouTube some videos to work on being the pack leader.. My mom doesn't have a strong voice and it tends to come out whiny. My dad with a strong manly voice she listens much better. He has a stronger tone. The funny thing is she has bonded even more with my dad.


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## Anon-2130948gsoni (Apr 12, 2014)

Do you have access to a good puppy daycare? It sounds like he really needs to play with other dogs and is turning to you as a substitute. Griffey went through a few weeks where he'd try some of that with me and I just refused to participate...but I have another older dog he can get his play fix with.

The other thought I have is to have him drag a leash at all times and have hooks in the walls in rooms where you spend the most time. That way if he starts this up you can march him over, tether him to the wall, put him in a down and then ignore him until he's calm. I've been known to sit on the couch and read during Griffey's time outs...he hates that

There have been some really good threads on this...I hope some of those posters will chime in. But you are definitely not alone!

ETA: Found one...have you seen this thread?

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...722-jumpy-mouthy-resource-support-thread.html


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## aesthetic (Apr 23, 2015)

Noreaster said:


> Do you have access to a good puppy daycare? It sounds like he really needs to play with other dogs and is turning to you as a substitute. Griffey went through a few weeks where he'd try some of that with me and I just refused to participate...but I have another older dog he can get his play fix with.
> 
> The other thought I have is to have him drag a leash at all times and have hooks in the walls in rooms where you spend the most time. That way if he starts this up you can march him over, tether him to the wall, put him in a down and then ignore him until he's calm. I've been known to sit on the couch and read during Griffey's time outs...he hates that
> 
> ...


I just watched the video that Anele linked, and that's exactly what Kaizer does. I know that it doesn't stem out of aggressive behavior, just the need for play. Thank you for the tip about the hooks, I'll try that next. Hopefully it'll work:crossfing

About daycare - I don't know if there's any good ones near by (we just moved into a new area), but Kaizer doesn't really like unfamiliar dogs. He gets startled when they get too close too fast. Do you think daycare would still be worth it? I do think he'd benefit a lot from playing with other dogs.


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## aesthetic (Apr 23, 2015)

Cpc1972 said:


> First take a breath Everything will work out. Chloe still uses her mouth when playing and will still jump up and bite on my mom when they are playing. The good news is it doesn't seem to be aggression. Somewhere he doesn't think of you as a leader. I am not talking dominance. Maybe you can look up on YouTube some videos to work on being the pack leader.. My mom doesn't have a strong voice and it tends to come out whiny. My dad with a strong manly voice she listens much better. He has a stronger tone. The funny thing is she has bonded even more with my dad.


My voice is loud and strong though. I think most of the biting is my fault, I know when he's about to bite, and I generally tell him to sit, but then I touch him to keep him back out of instinct. I think he takes the touch as permission. I'm not sure if I do it every time, though, it's all kind of a blur honestly. Along with the hooks, I'm going to work on my immediate actions.


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## tessmk (Aug 30, 2015)

I'm sorry you're going through this. Yes, that deep breath, as advised, is priority and Cpc1972 is right; everything will work out. 

Quinsy seems to do that only with my DH, as well, and he has a very low intimidating voice and is 6'3". He wondered why it was always him and not me. I told him it might be because he physically reacts to it, which in turn can be looked upon as play, and it does get the better of him (stress), which may be taken to Kaizer as someone who doesn't have control, or isn't a leader. I don't know. We weren't sure either. My husband used to always play with her at her level (on the floor) and I told him it may bite him in the butt later (no pun intended) as she may be seeing him as a sibling/litter mate. What I have advised him to do was what I did when Q was younger. I turned my back to her, crossed my arms and said "sit" and wouldn't pay her any mind until she settled and sat down calmly, then I'd say good girl and pet her. He's been trying this and seems to be working, just not all the time. 

Good luck and let me know if something works for you, and I will do the same.


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## Wenderwoman (Jan 7, 2013)

I wish I had a lot of advice for you but not really. My first inclination would be to make sure he constantly has something in his mouth. He can't bite you if his mouth is full. I would constantly carry something to put in his mouth. I would also carry treats. My dogs become the best little angels in the world if they know I have treats. I just wave those treat around and down go their little butts. Finally, patience really does pay off. My girl was a big jumper for almost three years and she is just finally starting to stop. She would even jump on my back when I turned around. I just kept doing the same things you are doing; turning my back, telling her to sit, leaving the room, etc. I know you probably don't want to hear that it might take a long time but I just want you to know that if you keep doing it, it is working even though it's working slowly. I still have to work on her pawing at me though because that can hurt sometimes too. That's the same though, slow progress but progress nonetheless.

You can also try training him on a positive behavior rather than ignoring a bad behavior. Since you have the treats, ask him to sit.

Also, I will be honest and tell you that you can physically move him. Don't hurt him but if you're on the couch and he jumps up on you, move him off you and say off and keep moving him until he is on the floor. Then give him a treat and say "Good, off." He needs to know an off command or a down command that means all paws on the floor. So, I would work on finding a good training method for that too.


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## Rkaymay (May 12, 2014)

Remember, for Goldens, ANY attention is good attention. Yelling, touching, pushing... They're just thrilled you're close to them! Does he have a crate? Sometimes a time-out is necessary. If no crate, you can put him in another room to calm down. It WILL improve. He is in the joyous teenage stage now. I second a daycare or finding a puppy playmate. He will probably warm up to other dogs quickly, especially when he realizes how fun it is to chase and wrestle with them.


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## emhacy (May 27, 2015)

We are going through something very similar with our 7 month old.


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## Rundlemtn (Jan 16, 2015)

If you know for sure that he is trying to engage you in play, my recommendation would be to teach him to go get a toy when he wants to play, and make that game super engaging and fun. Rundle loves a combination of chase me, tug, and fetch. Sounds like he doesn't know how to engage you for play properly yet. Very fixable! This is actually how I got Rundle to stop mouthing/biting when she was a puppy. She was always so excited to play with toys with me, now she just brings me the toy to engage.


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## Coopersbro (Sep 14, 2015)

Sounds like he wants a piece of that... I'll go mature now, lol. Jokes aside, as others said the good thing is that it seems playful. I went through this with cooper since I got him, and it seems to be settling down a lot now. Did you ever teach him "No Bite" and "Kisses"? When cooper would bite me, I would tell him NO BITE, and then tell him kisses. If he stopped and gave me kisses, I would pet him and tell him good boy. If after three times it didn't work, I left the room and tried again in about 10 minutes. He learned pretty quickly. Hooks on the wall are a good idea, might help him learn quicker if he can see you but can't get to you. I honestly wouldn't worry about grabbing him and doing that either, two times isn't going to hurt anything. You didn't hurt him anymore than another dog would have if he bit another dog, if you hurt him at all. I've grabbed Cooper by his scruff more than a few times and he doesn't hate me for it at all. All the positive and fun times will more than make up for it. I know how hard it is to raise a puppy when you have little patience, I'm in the same boat. Sometimes you need to just walk away, do something to relive stress and come back later and try again.


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## aesthetic (Apr 23, 2015)

Thank you all so much for the nice comments and the excellent advice. It seems to get worse before it gets better, doesn't it? We're looking at a doggy daycare to send Kaizer to at least once a week. We got a recommendation from our vet today, but if anyone has any recommendations for a daycare in Delaware (the Newark area), please let me know. My mom's concern with the hooks on the wall is that Kaizer could rip them off and damage our walls. It's a new house, and she's not ready for it to be damaged yet.

For now, I'm upping his exercise even more (we found a fenced in soccer and baseball field today, so we're probably gonna take him there to run around a lot), and I'm upping his training sessions even more. Hopefully a combination of both of those will establish a hierarchy. I think, at this point, it's not even about play. Kaizer seems to think of me as a dog, as a playmate. There's no respect in our relationship so far, and that seems to be what I need to work on. I don't think it's aggression because the biting only happens to me (I'm way too lax with him - which is most likely the problem). He met a whole bunch of people today, he didn't even try chewing on them, he was his normal happy, loving self. This seems to be a me only problem right now. 

I'm going to keep working at it. Hopefully, I'll be able to convince my mom to put hooks on the wall soon. She said she'd rather have a pole.


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## Anon-2130948gsoni (Apr 12, 2014)

Well, another way to tether a dog leash is to loop the handle around a door knob, pull the leash through the open door (it needs to be a flat leash, obviously) and close the door on the leash so that you hear it latch. Easier than installing hooks...it just means you can't pick and choose the locations.

Best of luck with everything...I'm sure you'll get through this!


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## KKaren (Oct 29, 2014)

Hi Aesthetic, Hang in there. You will be able to work through this and come out on the other side. Sounds like you have already started with some additional exercise and training.

Our puppies are the same age and Glimmer certainly has her Jumpy/Mouthly moments. For me, I have to do different solutions depending upon the situation. When I'm in the house, I give her a "time out" in her crate. Often she's just over tired and I didn't catch the signals. 

She also gets Jumpy/Mouthy when we are outside walking, sometimes I can see that she is anxious, I noticed it particularly when we went to daylight savings time and we were walking in the dark after work. In those cases, I try to stay calm, quiet, and still and re-assure her with my voice. This has gotten better over time, but I also try to walk in places with street lights now, to help her.

Other times she's just a PITA and playing... similar to as you said where she views me as her playmate. I found in those situations any voice comments, or corrections increase her excitment so I stay still until she stops and sits.... and then we do puppy push ups, sit, down, sit, down,... until she's calmer and we can walk again. When I'm walking I always have treats and try to catch things early, not to let her get ramped up.

And you know, sometimes I'm not that successful, I'm sure that in those instances I must look like I'm in the middle of a circus act :doh: I just try to get it under control and move on, remembering she's just a puppy.... 

You have been doing a good job with Kaizer. It will work out.


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## aesthetic (Apr 23, 2015)

KKaren said:


> Hi Aesthetic, Hang in there. You will be able to work through this and come out on the other side. Sounds like you have already started with some additional exercise and training.
> 
> Our puppies are the same age and Glimmer certainly has her Jumpy/Mouthly moments. For me, I have to do different solutions depending upon the situation. When I'm in the house, I give her a "time out" in her crate. Often she's just over tired and I didn't catch the signals.
> 
> ...


Thank you so much!
I don't know if I'm just not patient enough to stay still long enough, but Kaizer doesn't give up easily, and he just ends up biting harder. I've started telling him to sit, if he doesn't sit by the third time, I walk out. If he sits, he gets a treat. I've also started making him wait at doorways. I taught it to him a couple months ago, but stopped reinforcing it. He already sits at mealtimes and for any other treats he gets outside of set training times. I think, and it may be too early to say anything, that it seems to be helping. He's currently sitting next to me, chewing on a stick. Before he had no interest in chewing that stick when he could chew on me. It's too early to call this a longterm victory, but its a victory for tonight


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## Harleysmum (Aug 19, 2014)

aesthetic said:


> Thank you so much!
> I've also started making him wait at doorways. I taught it to him a couple months ago, but stopped reinforcing it.


I was going to ask if you were doing this. We got a trainer out to help with Harley's recall. Most of what she taught us involved creating boundaries within the house - nothing to do with recall. BUT his recall improved out of sight. Since he was sick recently many of these rules that we had introduced were let go. And guess what - his recall is back to being abysmal again! I think it is these little rules eg waiting at doors for permission, waiting for food, only allowed on the furniture when invited, keep out of certain rooms or whatever that help create a relationship of respect. I should say that Harley is an adult dog and not a puppy but you get the idea.


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## aesthetic (Apr 23, 2015)

Harleysmum, it's amazing the difference those little rules make! 

Not a lot of biting today, mostly because I've gotten better at anticipating it and preventing it from happening, but he has started barking when I'm sitting down with something in my lap. He can't jump on me then (not that it was allowed before, but recently he's started doing it), and he just starts barking. I don't know if I should continue to ignore him, as I've been doing, or interrupt him and make him sit, down, etc. etc.

I'm kinda worried now, I took Kaizer upstairs to crate him, and as we walked towards the crate, he just sat and started drooling. He wouldn't take the piece of chicken I was holding either. He responded to his name, and the touch command. I was still worried, so I just sat there, petting him. After a minute or so, he got up and walked into his crate. I don't know if I should've let him go into his crate, but he needed a nap.


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## aesthetic (Apr 23, 2015)

Before i start this, I'd just like to apologize for this post. I feel like it doesn't make any sense, considering I'm typing as I'm thinking about it. I've tried to organize it. My only excuse is midterm week and all I'm thinking about is stoichiometry and psychology. 

I thought I'd update this. In the eleven days since the last update, things seemingly have gotten worse. We've gotten to the point where, no matter how much exercise he gets, he still wants to jump up and bite/hump me. I don't know why it's only me, I feed him, train him, walk him, etc. It's midterm week too, and I've been staying up until 1-2am to study so that's not helping either.

Kaizer's the hardest dog to exercise because he'd rather sniff around outside and pull up our grass than retrieve a ball. But he gets at least 1 - 1 mile walk a day (it takes us 45 minutes), then I let him run around outside while we practice recall (I hide, he seeks). Nothing in our backyard has changed since we moved in October, and I've taken him out to play at least once a day since we moved, but he still insists on pulling up the grass and sniffing around. We go inside whenever he starts pulling up the grass, which means we could be outside anywhere from a minute to fifteen. He won't play with the flirt pole outside either, but he goes crazy for it inside. Then we play with the flirt pole inside, which is better because he'll at least run around and jump around for 30ish minutes (not including the frequent breaks). We also take him to a public place at least once over the weekend and spend like four hours there, which tires him out pretty well for at least a day and a half afterwards.

Then we'll do training, but even that's getting annoying because now he won't sit longer than 5 seconds before barking at me and/or getting up. I know this is the teenage/brat phase, but it's very annoying. He's an absolute star in obedience class though lol, I mean, after we get in the ring and do some warmups. I've kept our at home training to inside, because he can barely focus inside, let alone outside. On the bright side, his loose leash walking is still pretty great and he heels automatically 95% of the time we're on a walk anywhere. Which is great because I haven't necessarily kept heeling at the top of my priority list. We're still working on the same things that we have been for the past month basically, polishing his mat command and improving his recall (which is pretty great right now - knock on wood), extending his sit-stay/down-stay time (he can sit-stay for 55 seconds, but at the moment, we're back down to 5 seconds), and his focus command. The mostly basic, easy stuff until I get a better handle on this. 

Okay, sorry, my point of all that, was regardless of training or exercise, he still bites. I realize that some of the time it's my fault (I have a bad habit of bothering him when he's being nice and calm, something I just recently realized). Obviously something I have to work on. But a lot of the time, he'll just randomly bite. He mostly bites my hand and forearm, so I keep those covered by my shirtsleeves so he grabs my clothes instead of my skin. I'm generally not that lucky though because he'll still make marks on my hands, through my clothes. Sometimes, he'll stuff my entire sleeve-covered fist into his mouth and just chew on it. 

It's ridiculous though, because even when I leave him alone, he won't play with any of his toys. He'll just walk around in circles looking for something to do, which ends up being chewing on the carpet. But in order to prevent that, I attempt to give him a toy. Sometimes he'll take the toy just to appease me, but then will turn around and bite me. 

So far, when he's bitten me, I've tried leaving the room, staying stock-still, causing a loud noise, tethering him to something, putting him in timeout, bitter apple sprayed myself, yelping, and yelling. When I leave the room, he'll behave for a couple of minutes, then he'll come and bite me. Staying stock-still just gets me bitten even worse, i have the marks to prove it. A loud noise doesn't phase him anymore, tethering him to something just made him bark and didn't prevent the biting for longer than a couple minutes. Same with the bitter apple spray and yelling. Yelping just makes him more excited. Redirecting with toys doesn't work, he'll take the toy and bite me with the toy in his mouth, or he'll drop the toy altogether. He rarely ever plays with toys on his own anyway.

I feel like it's important for me to say that he only does this with me. But he'll also let me touch his bowl while he's eating from it (he drops kibble all over the floor and I put it back in for him), he comes to me so I can flip his bone around so he can chew the other side, he'll let me take away said bone. It's a really big bone too. Whenever I get up or move, he'll get up and watch me until I tell him its okay and then he goes and does whatever. If someone else has to take him to his crate, he'll come to me and sit until I tell him to go with said person. If I'm not in the room with him, but he can see me through the xpen, he'll bark at me. I don't reinforce the behavior, but its nice to know that I'm wanted. He still sits and waits for his food until I dismiss him. If he had any doubts about who was in charge, I'm sure he wouldn't be waiting for me to tell him he can eat.

Again, I know a majority of the biting is probably my fault. I think I need to take a step back and think about what I've been doing when he bites me and try to prevent myself from doing it. Question though, what should I do if he's chewing on the carpet? Redirecting him won't work, he'll just ignore it. But I do know that he'll bite me if I physically move him. Also, what do I do about the pacing? And how do I exercise him? I'm wondering if I can successfully tire him out enough to the point where he doesn't even have the energy to pace. When he's bored, he paces. Which I don't understand because my house looks like the toy aisle of PetsMart. There are toys everywhere. Does the pacing mean something? Generally he paces when I'm not playing with him and I'm on the couch (which is, ironically, another time he bites me too).

The only good daycare near me has the 6 month neuter/spay requirement and Kaizer's almost 8 months and won't be neutered for awhile, so daycare is out of the question.

Tomorrow, I'll keep a record of when Kaizer bites me and what I was doing/what he was doing when he did. Hopefully I'll learn something from it.


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

Let me tell you that 7 months was our month of h*ll. I was at my breaking point with our dog at that point-- especially because of one of my kids who has special needs (which specifically made it more complicated relating to this behavior) -- I just didn't know if it was safe to keep him because of his biting.

He sounds SO much like your dog, got over the "landshark" phase fine but then this second arousal biting period happened. However, our dog was likely to bite anyone (though he seemed not to do it to my young kids-- either he had a clue not to or we just were good at preventing) and didn't do it inside.

I just want to tell you not to blame yourself. NOT everyone has this issue. It isn't that everyone else does x and you did y so this happened. Dogs are all so very, very different. 

Now, I know he is your dog, but can anyone else help you with him? In my case, it's pretty much just me all the time with our dog's care (minus feeding and some basic playing-- though everyone wants to pet him) and it would have been great to have help especially through the tough times. You need a mental break.

Next question-- how much rest is he getting through the day? If he is like mine he wants to be busy ALL DAY but he also needs sleep!

Does he like to chew? My dog will NOT play with toys alone but he loves bully sticks, rawhides (though we can't give them to him), stuffed frozen kongs, etc. Does he like these things? Does he have a lot of them? If he likes them, I would save them for his period of the day where he's at his worst. 

I would say that you leave the room every single time. Same thing, again and again and again. He bites, you say, all done or no mas or whatever you want, leave. Stay gone for 3 minutes. Come back. Bites, say your cue phrase, leave. Repeat. Every single time.

Have you been practicing soft mouth, where you hand feed? I would never give him food in a bowl at this point. Everything in a food puzzle of some sort. You can even do something like put it in a muffin tin and put balls over it. Your dog sounds very very smart. He likes to be challenged! I just got my dog this: marathon ball
and I put medium size Milk Bones in it. 

Basically, you want him to rest, be busy in a way that you want him to be busy (give him things to do), prevent problems, and make sure he understands that the consequences for biting are-- no more you-- and if he DOES bite, have a soft mouth.

Does he play tug? I would make sure he plays it every day, several times. This way he gets to bite, on your terms. Then teach him to settle during the game. 

I am not trying to give you suggestions so that you feel like there are things you "should" be doing to solve this-- I do not want to sound preachy-- I don't know at all if they will help . . .I am only saying that these are things to try if you have not already. 

I know how hard this issue is. I really do. But it WILL get better. It really will. Your dog is trying to engage with you and doesn't know what to do with himself. He isn't trying to hurt you, he isn't trying to be the boss though he IS trying to direct things, like "hey, pay attention to me!" 

So, you asked about the pacing. I would reinforce calm behavior at all times when you catch him being calm. When you see him being calm, try dropping treats from the sky. Carry the treats around all the time. Any time he is calm, TREATS. No words, just quiet treats. You can work on this, too. http://www.dogdaysnw.com/doc/Protocol_for_Relaxation-_Karen_Overall.pdf 

I think, with busy dogs, you have to work on creating the off switch. Yes, tiring them out is best, but some dogs push themselves (just like people)-- even if they are tired they want to keep going. Dogs also have to learn how to handle being bored, learning how to relax, learn to be alone and not "entertained." This comes from practice and is just one more skill if they weren't born with it. Like with my human kids-- some are naturally good at settling themselves to sleep and resting as needed, and some are always raring to go no matter what, no matter if they are overtired.

There is a new study out that says our brains are changed in just 10 days if we practice mindfulness-- so I would wonder if this applies to dogs, too? How quickly can we teach them that relaxing is a good thing?

For moving him when he is biting the carpet, use treats. Practice handling him at other times (moving him) so he knows that every time you move him, it isn't to get away from something. Is there any place he can be away from the carpet so that it isn't an issue, or is it wall-to-wall?

It can be very exhausting to have a busy dog. I know my dog would be so fantastic living with a groomer . . .he'd get to meet new dogs and new people all day and that would be his favorite thing ever. (I know this because when we took him to be groomed, he seemed like he'd already moved in and was the resident greeter!) But, alas, he lives with us and so we just try to give him the best we can! 

This too shall pass and in the meantime you will have learned WAY more about dogs than you would have had he been easy. Everyone has told me that the hard dogs they have had turn out to be their Best Dogs Ever. He sounds like a really smart dog who is so tuned into you-- you are doing a fantastic job. PM me anytime you want.


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## aesthetic (Apr 23, 2015)

Anele, you are very inspirational. I might print that out and stick to a wall, for when I need it. 



> Now, I know he is your dog, but can anyone else help you with him?


Not really, my parents are busy and it takes a lot of effort to get my brother to go on a walk with me and Kaizer (it takes lots of blackmail and threatening). I honestly don't mind taking care of Kaizer by myself, though. But I agree, sometimes I need a break. 



> Next question-- how much rest is he getting through the day?


Kaizer sleeps from 8am-3pm, on his own. Kaizer gets crated when my mom takes my brother and I to school and my dad can't watch him. My parents work from home, so someone's always in the house with him. He just prefers to sleep while I'm gone. Otherwise, he might nap a little on his own, usually at around 7-8pm. He sleeps at 9pm and we take him out at 6:40-7am. We're not at the point yet where he can stay downstairs without supervision for more than 5 minutes before he starts chewing something he isn't supposed to, so i have to crate him when I'm at school. 



> Does he like to chew? My dog will NOT play with toys alone but he loves bully sticks, rawhides (though we can't give them to him), stuffed frozen kongs, etc. Does he like these things? Does he have a lot of them?


Kaizer likes to chew certain things, I suppose. If he's in the mood, he will chew voluntarily on his squeaky toys. He likes his sticks when we're outside. Recently, he got a giant bone (it smells like bbq to me), and he does enjoy that. We got him a rawhide too, but I haven't given it to him just yet. Kaizer loves his kongs, I'll freeze a chicken broth + kibble, vegetables and sweet potato tonight. 



> Have you been practicing soft mouth, where you hand feed?


Would you believe that whenever I give him a treat, he takes it with a soft mouth? Biting doesn't exist when he wants something from me.



> Does he play tug?


He loves tug, and we do play it a couple of times a day.

Thank you for the links and the support, it does really mean a lot and help a lot


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

Well, today we had a very bad day so I am not feeling inspirational at the moment-- only very defeated, frustrated, and tired of it all.


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## Rkaymay (May 12, 2014)

My suggestion is - decrease. It is very possible to overstimulate your dog. When Zelda was young, I had to be very careful in how much we did, or she would become overstimulated and uncontrollable. Our training was focused on calm behaviors - waiting, sitting, focusing, settling, etc. A lot of impulse control. We had one good exercise session a day, and then maybe a few little ones, and a REEEALLY good session with other dogs once or twice a week. When she started to get mouthy, I worked hard to remain calm and even. "Zelda, no. It's time to lay down. Go lay down" in a pretty normal tone of voice. Of course, I wasn't always successful, but I worked at it. Zelda could work herself up - she just needed to learn how to access her off button. Lots of bones (sterilized ones from PetSmart or Orscheln, bully sticks - no Nylabones, as she doesn't like them, or rawhides because they're disgusting). It sounds to me like Kaiser needs help learning how to settle, how to turn off his energy and relax. It's also something that comes with age (I know, just what you wanted to hear ), but it can be worked on.


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

Rkaymay, how old was Zelda when she really calmed down and wasn't so easily overstimulated? My pup is almost 14 months and we are generally successful because of a lot of management. But, as I discovered today, while he has made a lot of progress, if we don't do the management, then he quickly jumps over into overstimulated land.

It gets tiring.


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## Rkaymay (May 12, 2014)

It was probably sometime in the last year (she'll be two next month), but it really depends on the situation with her. If it's just us at home, she's wonderful. If we go back to DH or my parents house, she struggles more. She can't lay down, and she paces. The mouthing really got better between 12-18 months. She still mouths, but it's very gentle and she doesn't actually WANT your hand/arm in her mouth, she just wants to pretend.

I also have gotten into a routine of management with her. I recognize her warning signs and can tell her to calm down before she gets overexcited. I'm probably constantly saying, "Zelda, go lay down." "Relax, Z." "You're fine, Z". I still feel anxious anytime we take her somewhere I know there'll be lots of stimulation, even though she's a million times better than she was. I know it's harder to get into a routine like that with kids. You want to watch your KIDS for signs of overstimulation and breakdowns, not your dog.


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

Thank you, Rkaymay! When did she get gentle with her mouthing even when excited? Our dog does it so rarely now and when he does, it's outside and I'm wearing my coat . . .so I can't tell. It's not like he's ripping it or anything but he has Scary Face.


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## Rkaymay (May 12, 2014)

I wish I could give you a closer estimate, but all I can say is it was in the last year. My DH wrestles with her a lot, and I don't, so I didn't notice it for a while.


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## stumped (Sep 9, 2019)

aesthetic said:


> I don't know if this is the right section for this, and I'm sorry if it's not. Also, please ignore the length
> 
> I don't know how to start this, at the moment I'm feeling all kinds of pain, frustration, and sadness. But I'll start at the beginning.
> 
> ...


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## stumped (Sep 9, 2019)

Did this get better?I am going through this right now,My 7 month old jumps on my back ,bites me and barks at me,He just started doing this .He also bites me while I am just sitting.Please let me know if he will outgrow this stage.


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## aesthetic (Apr 23, 2015)

stumped said:


> Did this get better?I am going through this right now,My 7 month old jumps on my back ,bites me and barks at me,He just started doing this .He also bites me while I am just sitting.Please let me know if he will outgrow this stage.


I'm assuming this is directed at me.

Yes it does get better! I honestly can't remember what I did (or didn't do) that helped - I've pretty much chosen to forget about that stage in my boy's life lol. I think that stage lasted from 7-10 months (that number changes every time, but that general age group anyway). I know that we went on a 3 week road trip shortly after he turned 1 and we weren't having an issue then. He is my first dog, so there was a lot that I did not do right at the time. 

I think the issue was that he wasn't getting enough mental or physical exercise. 7 months is a difficult age - they have a (mostly) adult body, but all the energy of a puppy plus some. I absolutely could have (and should have) done better giving him an outlet - I'm lucky he didn't take it out on any furniture! I couldn't drive at the time, so I was dependent on my mom to drive me and him somewhere. Naturally, my mom had a huge (unplanned) project at work, was possibly going to have to travel out of the country, and just didn't have the time to drive me to training classes or somewhere I could really thoroughly exercise him (she was working like 8am to 7-8pm and then would be exhausted). We had also just moved into the house, our yard wasn't fenced in, and my neighborhood is off a major road so I couldn't walk him to a nearby park either. Leashed walks weren't enough exercise for him and he would just get more and more over stimulated. I used to put a long leash on him and let him run in my unfenced backyard, but I got nervous because he'd go into my neighbor's yard (also unfenced) if I wasn't quick enough to stop him. They love him and buy him a Christmas present every year, but they take really good care of their yard and I didn't want to ruin it. Any kind of aerobic exercise would have been SO beneficial and probably would have helped decrease that behavior a lot.

The other part of it was just the lack of mental stimulation. I've never had a dog before and wasn't terribly great at training (I'm still not, but better than I used to be) so there wasn't a lot I knew how to teach on my own (never mind I also didn't know WHAT to teach). I knew mental stimulation was important, so I took online classes in an attempt to give him something. I have terrible follow-through though. I did (kinda) learn how to shape behaviors though and that was really helpful. It improved my training skills and also forced him to use his brain a little bit. Over the years I've taught him to go around a table (don't have a cone), spin in both directions, back up, wave, pick up items, hold items (work in progress), go to a mat, roll over, put his head down on cue, go on his side (helpful for vet visits), and a couple of other things. I just wasn't consistent enough about actually sitting down and having a training session with him - it was a vicious cycle of him biting/humping me every time I was behind the x-pen with him and me not doing something with him cause I was tired of getting bit and humped all the time. I was upset for a long time because I did everything for this dog, but I was the ONLY one he ever bit or humped. He was the sweetest dog with everyone else in my family.

Again, I don't remember exactly what changed - it's possible that his behavior got better after I got out of school and had more time to do things with him. Now he's 4.5 years old and I love him to death. I honestly cannot imagine life without him, and I always forget that there was a period of time where I really didn't like him. He is absolutely the perfect dog for me, even if I didn't think so when he was 7 months old. So yeah, it absolutely gets better. There's just a lot of work to put in first.


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## Emmdenn (Jun 5, 2018)

Yup. Denver is 15 months old now. 7-9 months were when we really had to amp up the exercise. Luckily the timing of his age was great with the seasons, because when he got to be 7 months it warmed up in Vermont and he was able to hike and swim a ton. We also sent him to doggy daycare a couple of days per week for maybe 8 weeks while we were super busy at work (he usually comes to work with us). He grew out of it. Like aesthetic said, both mental and physical stimulation helps a lot. As does having a great foundation of training.


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## stumped (Sep 9, 2019)

aesthetic said:


> I'm assuming this is directed at me.
> 
> Yes it does get better! I honestly can't remember what I did (or didn't do) that helped - I've pretty much chosen to forget about that stage in my boy's life lol. I think that stage lasted from 7-10 months (that number changes every time, but that general age group anyway). I know that we went on a 3 week road trip shortly after he turned 1 and we weren't having an issue then. He is my first dog, so there was a lot that I did not do right at the time.
> 
> ...


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## stumped (Sep 9, 2019)

Thank you so much for responding.I had a golden before and he never behaved like this.Hopefully it will get better.We take him for runs three times a day and when he feels like it ,he will turn and come and bite and jump on me.I am so ready for this stage to end.Thank you again


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## aesthetic (Apr 23, 2015)

stumped said:


> Thank you so much for responding.I had a golden before and he never behaved like this.Hopefully it will get better.We take him for runs three times a day and when he feels like it ,he will turn and come and bite and jump on me.I am so ready for this stage to end.Thank you again


I'm assuming you're running and he's running with you? Just be warned that repetitive forced exercise like that can cause wear and tear on growing joints and doesn't let the dog slow down when they get tired. If he's jumping up and biting on you mid-run, it's possible that he's just over-tired and acting out. 

You didn't mention anything about any kind of training you're doing with him. Mental stimulation is just as important as physical exercise.


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