Hi everyone!!! I hope someone can give me some good advice.

I bought a Cocker Spaniel puppy 3 weeks ago (he is 12 weeks old) and although
he is as good as gold in the day when he sleeps the most, for some reason at night
he turns into a nightmare.

He has a habit of biting peoples trousers nothing else just their trousers and when
I tell him off he sometimes growls at me and tries to bite my trousers again. I have
tried the sturn 'NO' but with no luck i also sometimes tap him on the nose and this does calm him down but i have been told not to do this as it will lead to the dog being nasty. I clap my hands loud next to his hears and then tell him 'NO' and although it works sometimes he still does not get it into his head that what he is doing is wrong.

Can someone please tell me a way to calm this down. Other than that he is fine and really friendly even with very small children he is gentle he just gets a bit excited and loud.

Is he biting and growling because he is bored and wants to be played with. If so is their some other way i can teach him to get my attention as i don't like it when he growls and bites me and i don't want to encourage him by playing with him so he thinks that this is accepted behaviour.

Sorry to go on.

Amy
XX

Welcome to the Forum Amy

Hi Amy

Relax - you have a perfectly normal puppy All puppies go through this "play biting" phase - if you watch puppies playing together in a litter, then you will see lots of quite rough play complete with growling & nipping. Obviously, your pup will have to learn that you & your family are not "litter mates", but he is still a baby & it takes time to learn these things so be patient. In addition to saying "No" in a v firm voice when he bites your trousers, have you then tried diverting his attention on to a toy & then praising him when he starts playing with the toy? The aim is to teach your pup to play with toys rather than your trousers - if you get a copy of "The Perfect Puppy" by Gwen Bailey, there is quite a lot of info on how to stop play-biting & games with toys you can teach your pup.

Have you thought about contacting your breeder too?- most good breeders will be only too happy to help you through these first few weeks if you are new to owning a puppy & need advice.

Regards

Jane

Hi Amy

Congratulations on your new and very normal Cocker pup. As Jane has said he sounds like a normal happy healthy pup. However, I know how exasperating this biting can be - almost all pups do it and it is part of their development. I experienced it last year with my cocker pup. It got to the stage where my little boy could hardly walk around and he started to not like the pup very much. That pup is now almost a year old and is the biggest softie you have ever seen and my little boy adores him. We have just brought another Cocker pup into the family. He is now 12 weeks old but does not do the biting that Jasper did - partly because he spends his time swinging on poor Jaspers ears :D

Do you have a crate or a room where you could put the pup for a "time out". I found this worked very well with Jasper. They desperately want to be with you so being taken away from you when they do something wrong can help re-inforce the message that bad behaviour gets them taken away from those they want to be with. I would only put him either in the crate or a seperate room after you have said "No" etc a few times and only put him there for a few minutes.

Some will say that you should not the crate as a punishment. I do agree but only in part. It should not be the place where you put your pup everytime he has done something wrong. But as a relief for you all when "No" etc has not worked, it can be a very useful place. Allows you to calm down and for the pup to change his thinking by diverting his attention.

Another thing you might need to think about is how other members of the household are when the pup does this. Does anyone egg him on, or does everyone consistently say a firm "NO"? If anyone treats this behaviour differently, then he will be confused and not learn that it is unacceptable behaviour.

Finally, and I'm sure you do this but just in case, when he is being good - give him lots of praise and attention. He will learn what it is you like and do that more than the stuff that gets him in bother. But it takes time. Persevere and you will have a happy pleasurable young dog in just a few months.

Do let us know how you get on.

best wishes

Pam n my boys

Hi Amy

I agree with the above answers, Ihave a slightly different aproach to pammy which is to leave the room when the pup nips at you. This is great as my Banya puppy loves to come back at you and thinks it's all a great game, and that Des and I ae her new squeaky toys!!!!!

Sometines too if you are quick enough, you can swiftly but gently pick her upp and pop her out the room, we have kept her outside for say just 2 minutes and then back in, again 2 minutes and then back in, and 2 minutes and back in. After the third time she was nticeably gentler and is now gettinig better every day.

The key point i think is to IMMEDIATELY end all contact with the pup, voice, eyes, etc, total withdrawal, so that she gets the message withoout any confusion. Then once she is gentle, just praise her and tell her she's good. (Sorry IJ don't have your post in front, Iapologise if he is a boy!).

But as the others have said, your puppy is very normal so don't worry. Have fun and take lots of photos because they soon grow!!

Hi Amy

My cocker spaniel pup is 12weeks is exactly the same.