General Question Puppy biting ~~ your experiences?

[MelanieK]

Hi all,

our puppy, Potpie, is nearly 4 months old, and she's a sweet little girl who brings us such joy!

We notice this behavior though, and we're wondering if it is usual or something we should be worried about:
All day long, Potpie is calm and gentle and pretty laidback. She lets anyone pet her without trying to bite or nip. And she plays with her toys without trying to bite us as we play with her. But in the evenings, for about an hour or two, it's like a switch gets turned on inside of her, and ALL she wants to do is try to bite us and be growly. Her toys she'll go for, but also our hands, ankles, fingers.
Is this a puppy thing? How do you calm a bite-y/growl-y puppy down? Or do you just let them "get their ya-ya's out"? She eventually settles down and goes to bed at bedtime and sleeps all night.
I work from home, so she's with me all day, except for when she goes in her crate if I have to leave the house. I make a point of playing with her outside as much as possible. She's happy to chase a ball, a frisbee, any flying thing that she sees. So she's getting exercise during the day.
But the little wild time at night ...I guess I am just wondering what tales you all might have to tell about similar experiences with your puppies and what suggestions you may have for us on how to deal with it.

The other thing we've noticed: our daughter's 8-yr old dog comes over, and Potpie is relentless with her, jumping on her, trying to bite her.....doesn't matter what time of day. What do we do when Potpie does this to Max, my daughter's dog? Do we let them sort it out, or should we intervene? Max is really patient with her but when she's finally had enough, Potpie knows it and accepts the smackdown from Max. This stops her for a few minutes, but then she starts right back in and doesn't stop until she is just too tired to keep it up. Again, is this normal puppy behavior?

I'm going to read every thread that is even remotely related to my topics. But thank you for any feedback, it will be completely appreciated!

Melanie.

 

[CCandMurray]

Hello Melanie! I love your baby's name by the way pot pie is super adorable and a perfect name for a bulldog! My pup Murray who is 8 months today definitely has moments like you described- he'll be fine and pretty laid back for the most of the day and then usually in the early evening but sometimes in the afternoon he has like an hour where he runs around like a little crazy man running and jumping all over the house until he tired himself out and relaxes again as far as the biting, believe me I know how frustrating it can be but I promise it does get better as they get older. Try to keep redirecting pot pie with a toy or maybe an antler they can chew on them for long amounts of time or you can try giving pot pie an ice cube or freezing a nylabone it feels good on their teeth. Have you guys tried going to a puppy class? They can be very helpful introducing your pup to socializing with other dogs. Good luck!!! There are a ton of wonderful people on this site and they are great resources. If you have any questions that I can help with please let me know! ...and welcome to EBN

 

[Manydogs]

When mine were puppies, twice a day,they would go into the "zoomie" stage. The would run around,chase each other and the grown dogs and just be wild. That would last about an hour. They had these zoomies twice a day! Since they had each other to bite, I didn't have too much trouble. When the came after me, I would tell them "no bite" and stick a nylabone in their mouth and said "here, bite THIS!" Your pup is getting close to the teething stage, so it will go on for a month or two. You must keep after her, and not let her bite you! I think the antler is a great suggestion! Hang in there, it will be over soon-if you keep after her. Your sis' 8 year old dog will let her know when he's had enough!

 

[MelanieK]

Thank you, Carolyn and Lynn.
Your bullies are adorable, and Carolyn, I love the name Murray!

I've been reading threads in different Forums here for the past hour or so, so much great info, I adore this site and the helpful people on it.

Just knowing that the behavior we are seeing with Potpie is pretty usual is reassuring. We researched the breed before we adopted, so we read about puppy teething, etc. But it's nice to have this resource where you can get other bully owners' input firsthand.

Re-directing with allowable chewies, absolutely good advice. And I would love to find a puppy daycare or kindergarten for Potpie, even if it's just a couple of hours a day for a couple days a week. I want her to be a good dog around another dogs. She seems to have no troubles with being around crowds or people. (Tractor Supply, her favorite place to visit!)

I love my little smooshy-face girl madly! I'll try to put a photo here ~ if it shows up at all, just an FYI - turn your viewing device sideways, haha.

Thanks again.
Melanie

 

[2BullyMama]

Thank you, Carolyn and Lynn.
Your bullies are adorable, and Carolyn, I love the name Murray!

I've been reading threads in different Forums here for the past hour or so, so much great info, I adore this site and the helpful people on it.

Just knowing that the behavior we are seeing with Potpie is pretty usual is reassuring. We researched the breed before we adopted, so we read about puppy teething, etc. But it's nice to have this resource where you can get other bully owners' input firsthand.

Re-directing with allowable chewies, absolutely good advice. And I would love to find a puppy daycare or kindergarten for Potpie, even if it's just a couple of hours a day for a couple days a week. I want her to be a good dog around another dogs. She seems to have no troubles with being around crowds or people. (Tractor Supply, her favorite place to visit!)

I love my little smooshy-face girl madly! I'll try to put a photo here ~ View attachment 93634 if it shows up at all, just an FYI - turn your viewing device sideways, haha.

Thanks again.
Melanie

What a beautiful little girl! Night time spaz-attacks can be trying -- Lambeau is now a year old and every night right around 8:30-9:00 he starts up... pulling on blankets, going after my socks, grabbing toys and running all over --- it is a like a 2 yr old toddler that does not want to go to bed --- I redirect with one of his bones and he settles in for some last minute chewing.

 

[g8erjackie]

Bulldog puppies are like little sharks. I used to think my older bully, Ruckus, was a biter as a puppy, until I got Regina. Regina is just shy of 8 months and her nibbling is finally fading, but she would chew on you anywhere that was available when she was just a little younger. Fingers, arms, ankles, toes, anything. One thing that was really helpful was something called a "Chilly Bone." You soak it and freeze it and it's a little squishy. They can chew on it and it soothes their gums and distracts them from your fingers.

 

[violetmac]

I got one too. She is 9 months old and usually has her moments early in the morning while I'm trying to get into the shower.

 

[Corine Pesantes]

Mine are like that in the evenings. As long as weather permits, I walk them as soon as I get home in the evenings- which usually helps -A LOT! But I recently got a laser pointer, and that thing is AH-MAZING at both wearing Them out and redirecting their "zoomies". They try to go after one another and start bumping and rolling into things- as soon as I pull out the laser pointer, they go where I want and all attention is on that. After about 10 mins they are pretty worn out. Or get on the floor with them and play around for a little bit. The nipping gets better as they get older, just stay consistent with re-directing. BTW- little Potpie is absolutely adorable!!!


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[jdblodgett]

I have been going through this with our new puppy. She is 5 months now and does the same around 6PM and again at 8PM almost on a schedule. Sometimes in the morning as well.

We let her bite and coach her on soft mouth using words like "Softly"and others and she does very well now. If she bites to hard we say " Ouch" and push her away and ignore her. She is getting it and we are very consistent with the commands. If she doesn't get it quick enough for our liking or bites in an overly dominate way we bear hug her to assert dominance and let her know who is stronger, give her a big kiss and some sweet talk and place her in her crate until she settles down. The 10 year old is good at this now and she is a very tiny girl. Same size as my friends 7 year old at 52 lbs.

We noticed recently she sometimes does this when she is trying to tell us she needs to go out. Usually she spent her outside time playing instead of handling business, so we take her out by herself without the other dog and she immediately poops and comes back in to lay down. If i could get her to ring the bell like the other dog that would be awesome sauce.

We are learning there are several reasons from just being playful, to testing boundaries and pack position, to mouthing and affection, to teething (insert antler here), to pain getting rid of the baby teeth which are mostly gone now and sometimes she is trying to tell us something. At 5 months the accidents in the house are very few and far between now. We are really happy about that. Our little girl is smart and the patterns were there, we just needed to look for them.