Puppies and biting/teething

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BBP

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I’m curious about what age your pups were when they were at their bitey/mouthy/teethingy worst?

I have a friend with a husky pup that is about 12 weeks now and she said it bites her constantly with his little needle sharp teeth. I remember this well from my old dog when she was a little puppy and into adolescence (I was a kid). I was constantly getting the needles used on me.

My little pup on the other hand is now 20 weeks old and hasn’t hurt me with his teeth once, he is incredibly gentle if he mouths your hand. Same if he is playing with other dogs, he can look like he’s playing rough but there is never so much as a yelp or whine from his playmate.

So I’m curious about whether it is yet to come as his grown up teeth come in?
 
I think the Rotties nibbled between 8 and 12 weeks but they soon learned that it was unacceptable. Perhaps your dog knows that too. One of ours, as an aadult, will take a very gentle hold of your hand if she wants to take you somewhere/show you something but no pressure ever comes from the teeth.
 
I’m wondering if, because we didn’t bring him home til he was 12-13 weeks old, he had already had that discussion with his brother, that teeth hurt and play is more fun if you are careful? And that the other two (husky and my old dog) hadn’t had a chance to learn that lesson from littermates as they came home at 8 weeks and possibly hadn’t tried much bitey play, so had to learn those lessons with testing teeth out on people?
 
It's possible it's breed specific - sibes are notorious land sharks. I've only had one from a youngster, she arrived at just shy of six months and was still shredding my arms until about a year old, despite every attempt at intervention.
 
my collie cross never went through this stage and nor did my lurcher, however my little terrier cross was very bitey and i had to get tough with him as he took no notice of gentle reprimands. my tough action was to pick him up by his scruff and give him a little shake same as his mum would have...it took a couple of times and now he only thinks about it if he is very excited but responds if i say no biting, he then licks me ...i think it can be very breed specific and they all respond to correction differently.
 
Yep it can depend on breed and breeding. I got mine at 14 weeks and he was just in the midst of it and was a nippy little so and so. I reprimanded and then redirected once he was calm...you absolutely cannot bite me but if you want something to bite, have this.
However it wasn't so bad considering. I know someone who's hands are covered in big red nicks...they do the squeaky 'ouch' thing...for me, doing that with a large prey driven dog just makes you...prey.
 
I think because my old girl was a collie and so is my new pup I had expected him to be really bad. It’s such a relief that he is lovely. He chews ‘stuff’ if it’s left around and he isn’t supervised properly, but my hands are scratch free!
 
Tallulah pup was very bitey from 9 weeks when I got her, until about a year or so old! :eek: (Border terrier cross something bigger :rolleyes:) She had a set of teeth a Great White would be proud of. It hurt sooo much :( but she gradually acknowledged toys and chews were OK to bite, humans? not so much) Now, only now and again she (very gently) mouths hands or just a finger, when she gets excited to show and lead you to something.
 
We got Luna at 10 weeks. She went through a period about a month later of being very bitey. We used to swap our arms for her toys, and if she was persistent, she would get growled at and told a sharp ah ah. Went on for a couple of weeks I think. She’s not particularly mouthy now at 10 months, but does have bones, toys etc to chew. She will occasionally if lying next to me, try and chew my finger nails? I like my nails, bit them for a long time, so am quite protective of them.
 
my friend's whippet and collie tbh are both awful-if they aren't biting they are scratching/pawing-it would drive me mental. for all of my last few dog breeds the squeaking and turning away has worked and nipped it in the bud pretty instantly, I don't expect them to be still mouthing people at 12 weeks tbh although that obviously depends on the breed.
chewing and teething is a different issue-their teeth aren't fully bedded in until they are 12-18 months old (breed dependent) so they need to chew on stuff during that time.
I expect Luna is telling you your nails are too long TW :D but all of my collies have done it-like a mutual grooming thing.
 
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