X-Post from /r/dogtraining EXTREME Puppy Play Biting and Jumping

[moonstar2024]

My boy is an Australian Cattle Dog, about 7 months old. We've had him since he was about 8-12 weeks old and he's always done this behavior, just to a lesser extent. He's done puppy training and knows some commands, but he frequently doesn't seem to take me seriously and won't always listen.

His biggest issue is jumping and biting. I'm pretty sure that it's not aggressive, but play driven, but there's nothing I've been able to do that stops it. He jumps up to my shoulders and grabs me on the way down. He's torn a lot of my clothes and I'm getting scarred up because of this. He's got all of his adult teeth now and my arms and hands are covered in bruises and cuts. I keep losing feeling temporarily in my arms and hands and I've got two permanent scars.

When he does it it's random. He doesn't do it in the house too often though, he'll do it when I try to take him to the crate for bedtime. It's like he goes berserk, he'll start growling a little (like a rumble) and just keep jumping and pulling and biting, like he's playing tug-of-war with my body.

I just had a really bad experience with it today, we went on a nice long morning walk and when we were in the home stretch it was so bad I could see the house but couldn't get him to budge because he was charging me constantly and trying to take the leash. It doesn't always hurt so much as pinch when he bites me, but today it really hurt.

And nothing seems to help. He won't go for food or treats when he's like this, he doesn't respond to 'stop' or any noises (in fact they seem to make him more crazed), and I've also given a reactionary light butt smack to release my hands but that also incites him to do it more. He catches me off guard some times with how much it hurts and I gasp and that also increases his intensity.

I'm just so tired of this. I love him, but it's like living with a monster. And I'm so worried about lasting pain and scars, also he is ruining a lot of clothes. Has anyone else had experience with this? We do see a trainer but he never does this behavior with her and we talked about distracting him but nothing seem more fun to him than biting me. As far as I know he's always done this and I've always tried to discourage it. And I've had little luck looking it up because he's not just biting, he propels himself up to do it, so he jumps up and grabs me hard and pulls on the way back or down. So I'm getting bit all over my upper half, he almost never bites my legs or ankles.

 

[lost_little_one]

@moonstar2024 Yes, my acd puppy was nippy but I started very early to address it, when he was tiny and manageable. You need some remedial help here, I think. When my acd goes bonkers we get back to basics, prong collar, leash, heeling, sitting, stay, etc. until he regains himself and minds his manners. No freedom to run until he behaves. I suggest a strong dose of remedial training as soon as you can. A 7 month old dog of any breed should not be putting its teeth on a human, please get professional training help.

 

[alfielove]

@lost_little_one Exactly. If your dog isn't taking you seriously clearly you need to get more serious

 

[revemeritus]

@moonstar2024 TL;DR = adolescent ACD is out of control jumping/biting when excited, breaking skin and ripping clothes. Anyone have experience diminishing this behavior?

 

[lovedajesus]

@moonstar2024 Oh gosh my Tommy was exactly like this!

Not aggressive at all, but utterly relentless. He just didn't seem to understand that we wanted him to stop.

What worked for us was an e-collar.
(Not the "shock" setting, all it does is vibrate like a pager.)

I seriously only needed to page him once & he calmed right down. I can't overstate how amazing it was.