# 6 months old - lunging biting me



## sarahbalzer (Jul 27, 2015)

Hey Everyone,
Me again! 
So Charlie is almost 6 months old.... we love him but we are exhausted haha . Almost every day around witching hour we call it 5.30pm-7.30pm Charlie is crazy. This is fine however once he has had his run/walk/play during this time around 8pm he gets over tired and lunges at me biting my hips, stomach, or if I'm sitting on the lounge he grabs hold of my arm in his mouth and tries to shake it back and forth. His tail is wagging so I think he is just playing but it actually hurts and I dont like it. Any tips, its hard to ignore as its painful, however if I yell no, he gets even more excited and barks, and thinks its a game? Any help would be appreciated. 
This forum is amazing, you all have helped so much with raising my Charlie so thank you.


----------



## lord brush (Oct 22, 2015)

We're having similar issues with our 6-month old Wirehair also. Constant mouthing, and head-butting! We're trying to use the "OUCH!", and walk away/ leave the room approach so we'll see how that goes....


----------



## Pecan_and_BB (Jun 15, 2015)

I have found pushing them down with your hands or yelling gives them the idea that you want to play as much as they do, so I try to stay away from those types of actions.

What has worked for me over the years with my dogs is a leash on a door knob in a separate room. When they begin this behaviour (jumping, mouthing, biting, etc...) I issue the command "off" just once, if they stop, I then issue a "sit" command and then reward with praise or treat. The reason I don't issue the praise right after the off is because it can instigate their actions again since they are still in that mind set of jumping/biting and your praise could include your hands touching them which they can interpret as more play time. 

If they do not listen to the command within the first 5 seconds or so, I walk into the room (doing my best to ignore them) with the leash on the door knob. Attach them to it, and leave the room (no commands, no talking to them, no eye contact or looking back). I give them 30 seconds to 1 min on the leash and then wait for a pause in their barking/rooing to go back into the room. I wait for that pause in the barking/rooing so that the dog doesn't associate me coming back with their noise, but they associate me coming back when there is quiet. I stand beside them and ensure they are calm and then issue a "sit" command. Once they sit, you take them off the leash and release them.

Repeat as necessary. I find that after a few times of walking towards the leash after the initial command of "off" they learn really quick as they do not want to be tied up in that room and left alone. If you issue the command and they don't stop and you start your motion to the room with the leash and then they stop because they know what's coming, you HAVE to follow through with putting them on the leash if your expectation is to get them to a point where they listen to the command and not your motion into the room with the leash.

A few more tips on this: Do not use their crate as an alternative to the leash as it could enforce a negative with the crate. Use a different door and a different leash than the one you use to let them outside and take them for walks on so they do not associate outside or walk time with a negative.

Hope this helps.


----------



## Banquopack (Oct 8, 2015)

Awesome tips, Pecan. 

We have similar issues with our younger 4 month boy. Rohan is wonderful, except that he leads with his open mouth when it's time to greet or play. His mouth is very soft and has never bitten down, but we would love to eliminate it entirely. 

In your awesome puppy post, I think you said at 15 weeks pecan was still leading with an open mouth. Did this door process help you eliminate that as well? 

Thanks!
Angela and Rohan


----------



## Pecan_and_BB (Jun 15, 2015)

Banquopack said:


> Awesome tips, Pecan.
> 
> We have similar issues with our younger 4 month boy. Rohan is wonderful, except that he leads with his open mouth when it's time to greet or play. His mouth is very soft and has never bitten down, but we would love to eliminate it entirely.
> 
> ...


I found the technique to be useful to stop the unwanted behaviour once my pup had already started. Leading with an open mouth is gone, but I think it's more of a function of her being through her teething stage and her drive to chew on everything has subsided.

One more thing I will add that my wife and I do with Pecan now, is carry a toy of hers at all times so when she did still grab my wife's or my pants or jumped up at us to play, after we issued the off and she complied, we pulled the toy out and played with her since that is what she was asking for her reward. They are very smart dogs and what she has now learned from this is that we hide her toys in our back pockets so if she now wants to play with us in the house, she will sneak up behind us and push us with her two front paws on our behinds.

Off-topic: not sure if anyone else has these toys for their V, but the flingshot screaming monkey has become the household favorite http://www.amazon.com/Flingshot-Slingshot-Flying-Screaming-Monkey/dp/B000OEUUG6


----------



## gingerling (Jun 20, 2015)

I agree with all of the above, but perhaps the easiest one is....CRATE TIME!

If your guy gets wound up at the same time every night, try putting him in his crate 15 minutes before the witching hour...so it's not seen as a punishment, you don't want his crate to be experienced as a bad thing...with a piece of new rawhide and let him chill in there?

I always say a well trained dog begins with a well trained owner: If you tune into your dog and get into his head..this is not only easy, but very bonding, you really get to know him and love him deeply...you get to understand what he does and when, and then intervene BEFORE the problem behavior begins. Avoidance is always easier than remediation!


----------



## sillybluecreature (Oct 6, 2013)

Anytime my pup is too mouthy I ask her to "go get a toy!" and I'll only play with her once she brings a toy back. It gives her a moment to actually stop and find a toy, and it reduces any biting because it's hard to bite with a toy in the mouth. It's easier than carrying a toy around but you do need to teach them to go find a toy on command (I walked over to her toy box and encouraged her to pick one up and she soon understood). She now bring toys over when she wants to play. Anytime she shows interest in toys now, I give her 10 seconds alone to play with the toy, then come and play with her, then leave her for 10 seconds more and repeat. Overtime she's learned to play with toys when I'm busy and she also knows that she gets more attention and playtime when she goes and starts playing by herself.


----------



## sarahbalzer (Jul 27, 2015)

Excellent..... thanks so much for all the advice everyone.
Great suggestions.


----------

