Lab Puppy Problem

As stated twice. I too grabbed the snout hard and said "NO bite" hold on for a bit to make sure the dog knows your not going to accept that. Make sure there's lots of things for her to exercise her teeth on.
 
My trainer always frowned on any shock collar on any pup under 6 months.

I fall under this category. I'd start teaching the dog "Settle" when they start to get a little wild and nippy. I roll them over on their back with my hand on their chest and calmly repeat settle. With a little luck the dog will learn to slow down a bit. If no results from that, I'd probably toss them back in the crate each time they nipped.

I taught the settle command from day one. Even when they were behaving perfectly. It comes in handy whey you are trying to clip toe nails, at the vet, etc.
 
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The Alpha/dominance scenario is the ticket. EVERY puppy, especially any dog that you are going to expect to obey commands, needs to have the puppy "hold down" performed on them. Also, it needs to be done early in life (at weaning). You do it even if the dog has not exhibited any undesirable behavior up to that point. This simple act reduces training time, e-collar time, yelling time, unacceptable social behavior ....all of that stuff. It does not break your dog's "spirit" or make them a "pu---", it establishes your relationship with them. When everyone knows their position/function, everything goes a lot better. We demonstrate this technique to the owners of every new puppy who enters our clinic, especially if the pup is of a breed that tends to be aggressive.
 
Seems like you have plenty of good advice here. One thing I would definitely echo is that you really need to show her who the alpha is (not in a machismo dictatorship type of way). Dogs (obviously) don't think like humans, so even if she links a reprimand (i.e. shock collar) with the act of biting, it won't make as much of a difference on her character as if she knows that you are the leader of the pack. One trick that I learned from a seasoned dog trainer is to bite them on the nose.

I have used this trick on all of my dogs and it has worked well. If you love your dog and show her attention and affection, then this will be even more effective as a means to show disapproval. And don't hesitate. She needs to know immediately that biting is not ok.

Watch subordinate wolves interact with alpha and beta wolves. The instant a subordinate does something that is not ok, they are nipped on the nose. This is a proven way to correct canine behavior.
 
I'll echo what others have said about basic dog physiology. Peace through superior fire power. Our current lab was the worst rough housing player I've ever had. This was not good with a 4 year old in the house and after the cuteness wore off everyone was bothered by it. My wife was at her wits end but what really bothered her was why everything was fine while I was around but once I was gone the ruff play started again. So I showed her and my oldest son how to role the pup into a submissive position. After things had settled a trip to the crate usually followed.
 
One of my pups responded well to pushing in his lip or cheek in so he was biting himself, once he figured it hurt he quit biting hard. With the other one the lip-pinching technique didn't work on, so when he bit me I'd stick my fingers in his throat and gag him, also worked.
 
I will echo a couple of earlier posts. First establish Alpha role, this can be done without beating or E-collar. Secondly firmly announce NO or similar command.

My personal way to deal with puppy biting was command no and hold the dog's tongue down with my thumb as my hand is firmly holding lower jaw. This was uncomfortable for puppy and solved problem pretty quick.

Finally before its too late get a book or DVD or some type of plan and stick to it. I used with great success the methods of Wolters's "Gun Dog" or "Water Dog" for all my retrievers

Guys will argue best technique or training methods like politics. I believe pick a system and stick to it, consistency is more important than specific technique.
 
I will echo a couple of earlier posts. First establish Alpha role, this can be done without beating or E-collar. Secondly firmly announce NO or similar command.

My personal way to deal with puppy biting was command no and hold the dog's tongue down with my thumb as my hand is firmly holding lower jaw. This was uncomfortable for puppy and solved problem pretty quick.

Finally before its too late get a book or DVD or some type of plan and stick to it. I used with great success the methods of Wolters's "Gun Dog" or "Water Dog" for all my retrievers

Guys will argue best technique or training methods like politics. I believe pick a system and stick to it, consistency is more important than specific technique.

+1, on all of the above. We have a litter of lab pups every year and we always deal with like questions the same as above. Great post BucksnDucks!!!
 
What has work for me is a stern no and grabbing the dogs mouth and making the dog bite its own lips. I would go as far as making the dog yulp. It only took a few times for my dogs.

Worked for me on a couple of labs as well. The pups learn pretty quickly just how sharp their teeth are.
 
Nothing but labs here - my little lady is 1 and was probably the worst biter I've had. She is an alpha, tough and the most athletic.
Needs to stop biting tonight.
Grab the top of that snout and with index and thumb and roll that upper lip over and on those sharp teeth and tell her NO!
No jumping up! Knee to the chest
No biting! Grab snout and don't let go until she knows you mean business!

What he stated :)

good luck to all
the dog
 
How about a few pics of the offender. I had to put my lab down a few years ago and can't get another puppy for a few years. I meant to say I don't think we can give good advice without seeing the prepatrator😎
 
Here is a picture of the offender, Brook. I know what you're thinking..."how could such a sweet little girl be such a problem?" Picture is about a month old, tried to take one this evening but she won't hold still long enough haha
 

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Gorgeous pup! Mine pup is the same age, but a different breed, and I will second what the others have posted in establishing dominance. When mine gets mouthy I grab him by the scruff, jerk him up and then pin him to the floor and get right in his face with a firm NO! He's a bit less responsive to my wife as she's not been as consistent with the firmer correction, but she's coming around. My 8yo is big enough that he's starting to be more assertive with backup from the wife and I and the pup is minding around him better. For our 5yo it's a bit tougher as he's not physically able to control the dog as well, but a bit of re-inforcement from the wife or I and pup is starting to get the point. He still gets wound up, but the biting is much less frequent and intense.

A former poster here whom I corresponded with on dog training told me that the pup has to learn his place on the family totem pole and that place is below the humans, even the kids. It's a bit tough, but I think if you are firm and consistent that beauty will start to get the point.
 
I did and do exactly what putm2sleep suggested about rolling their lips over their own teeth. My gsp responded well to that. Great looking pup!
 
A former poster here whom I corresponded with on dog training told me that the pup has to learn his place on the family totem pole and that place is below the humans, even the kids. It's a bit tough, but I think if you are firm and consistent that beauty will start to get the point.

You're exactly right Pointer. What starts as nipping now will manifest itself as outright disobedience later if the dog does not understand the totem pole hierarchy. Especially with kids, it's not a bad idea at all to have them walk over and pin the dog for no reason at all at completely random times.
 
You obviously are mistaken about your puppy being disobedient and causing problems. I can look into her eyes and see she would never do that... :)


Great looking pup!
 
Thanks again everyone. Making her bite her lip seems to be working, but I'm not ready to declare victory just yet. Whenever she bites I grab her lip and push it into one of her sharp little teeth, she gets weird and keeps biting but after a yelp or two generally the bite gets much softer. I'll keep working her.
 
Definitely this. We are on our fourth lab. 16 weeks is still really young. She will grow a out of this. Stick with it. Young labs are a lot of work.
Nothing but labs here - my little lady is 1 and was probably the worst biter I've had. She is an alpha, tough and the most athletic.
Needs to stop biting tonight.
Grab the top of that snout and with index and thumb and roll that upper lip over and on those sharp teeth and tell her NO!
No jumping up! Knee to the chest
No biting! Grab snout and don't let go until she knows you mean business!
 
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