# 6 months old puppy jumping and biting



## Lilli_123 (Aug 31, 2021)

In case this matters: he gets about two 15 mins intensive play sessions a day, including running (him and me both 🙃), tugging, fetch plus a few calmer activities such as searching for a food dummy and obedience exercises in between (out, sit, stay etc)...


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

There have been several thorough discussions on this topic recently and if you read through those threads I think you will get a lot of really helpful suggestions through them. One thing I think of in direct reply to your current posts would be to use your "intensive" play sessions to double down as meaningful training sessions. Instead of just over the top crazy time use the tug sessions to install impulse control. You need to control all of the tug session, including especially, putting short time out breaks into the play time.


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## Basil_the_Spoo (Sep 1, 2020)

Does he get enough sleep?

When I found myself mumbling, "_Basil, your being a naughty girl"_ then it usally meant "you need a nap".

A puppy with a full recharge is WAY better behaved than a tired one. For example, puppy always follows directions better in the morning then in the evening (100% recharged vs ~30% battery)... So, sometimes you just have to plug them in, like a phone and voila.


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

It’s great that he will walk on a leash. I have a small dog with stranger danger issues, when people come into the house he barks and growls the whole time, even if I shut him in a room. He does get very excited when I grab the leash and collar. He loves walks and acts like a different dog with his collar on. So when people come to my house I put his leash and collar on him. He still barks a little at first and I tell people not to look at him and ignore him. Having the leash in my hand certainly helps control the situation. I’m not sure if it will help with your pup or not, but getting him to understand that the collar means it’s time to work and no collar means it’s time to relax could be a good way to communicate what you expect to him. My spoo pup is 3 months old now and he looks at my hands like toys. When he jumps and bites and tugs on me and I’m just done playing I hide my hands behind my back and tell him “all done!” My guy needed that verbal cue that play was over or he will just keep going until he conks out lol. When he gets so over excited and won’t listen and bites real hard and all done cue is ignored I give him a time out. I take away the attention until he calms down. I don’t have a crate though, I use one of those fold out kennels and block off the kitchen and laundry room. We are still potty training so he isn’t allowed on the carpet without supervision, but I spend a lot of my day in the laundry room I don’t want it to sound like I just lock my pup away all day or anything. He is like my shadow lol. 
you sound like you’re working hard and I’m sure you will figure this out.


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

A six month old poodle puppy is still going to have naughty-bitey moments. It may seem deliberate and naughty but it is really just that the puppy finds the behavior really rewarding and not because they want to hurt you. They are just high on life and find it thrilling to make a person jump and move quickly and yell and don't have impulse control installed. (Uh, my sixteen month old poodle still tries jumpy-bitey with me pretty regularly... sorry 😬). At 6 months, my dog would do a fun trick of opportunistically doing jumpy-bitey when we would cross the street at a light... I would have no choice but to bounce/drag her across and then deal with it on the other side. It did seem deliberate but I think it was just that the traffic got her over aroused, and it became a habit at that location. I stopped it by feeding her a treat down low (so she was not tempted to reach up/bounce) in the middle of the intersection and eventually only rewarding her when we got to the other side with no jumping.

I don't think you're wrong to have high expectations for your dog but I don't think it's reasonable to expect it not to happen at all or not to need any management. I think your friend should learn some strategies to prevent and de-escalate the behavior as quickly as possible. What are the triggers for the behavior - does it happen in certain places or after certain things happen? (my dog tries it at predictable spots on our walk or to release energy after something exciting happens that she has had to use self control for, like passing another dog) If you can figure out the pattern and anticipate it, it may be easier to manage - ie, you (or whoever) can engage him in something else before you get to that spot, pull out something he is allowed to put his mouth on, or drop treats on the ground after an exciting interaction (a dog picking treats off the ground can't jump and bite you).

If it has escalated to the point that Oona can't listen at all, I will give her a time out by stepping on the leash to restrain her. Sometimes she gnaws on my boots but as soon as she stops I tell her 'good' and give the leash slack, and we see if she's ready to walk again. If she continues jumping and biting we stop until she can sit beside me and not get mouthy with the leash or my sleeves. It is a work in progress. I sympathize with wanting to be able to have others handle your dog without coaching, but I don't think there's a good way around it especially with a puppy so young.


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## Lilli_123 (Aug 31, 2021)

lily cd re said:


> There have been several thorough discussions on this topic recently and if you read through those threads I think you will get a lot of really helpful suggestions through them. One thing I think of in direct reply to your current posts would be to use your "intensive" play sessions to double down as meaningful training sessions. Instead of just over the top crazy time use the tug sessions to install impulse control. You need to control all of the tug session, including especially, putting short time out breaks into the play time.


Sorry, I feel like I used intensive wrong here. Please excuse my English, it is not my first language.
We actually do all those things already. He has to out the toy and wait for realse to continue playing, stay in a sit while I throw the ball, stay while I hide his dummy and so on. He knows to wait at doors or for food, leave a treat that is on the floor etc. I have tried working on his impluse control from the beginning, because he has always been so "hyper".


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

No worries! So many poodle puppies are pretty "hyper".aka highly energetic. Keep up with what you are doing and your baby dog will figure it all out. It will get somewhat easier once teething is done with.


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## Lilli_123 (Aug 31, 2021)

Oonapup said:


> A six month old poodle puppy is still going to have naughty-bitey moments. It may seem deliberate and naughty but it is really just that the puppy finds the behavior really rewarding and not because they want to hurt you. They are just high on life and find it thrilling to make a person jump and move quickly and yell and don't have impulse control installed.
> (...)
> It is a work in progress. I sympathize with wanting to be able to have others handle your dog without coaching, but I don't think there's a good way around it especially with a puppy so young.


Your dog sound really similar to mine. He also does the jumping in the middle of the street thing. It helps to hear that others have similar issues, even if they put in a lot of work. Somehow I am surrounded by well behaved dogs in my daily life, so I always feel bad when mine isn't. 
About the deescalation strategies: I had actually given her some options that usually work for me (have him carry a toy, make him touch a hand, look for treats in the grass) but I think she needed more instruction. Before next time we should probably do some practice walks so she gets more comfortable with those.



Basil_the_Spoo said:


> Does he get enough sleep?


That may be an issue some of the time as well. He will not sleep unless I and anyone else around is calmly sitting down. I work from home, so this is actually at least 8 hours/day during the week, but less on weekends. I researched what to do about this and the current plan is to get him used to relaxing in a crate, so he cannot follow people who are moving around him and hopefully learns to relax in spite of it. We are not there yet though...


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

Lilli_123 said:


> Somehow I am surrounded by well behaved dogs in my daily life, so I always feel bad when mine isn't.
> ...
> He will not sleep unless I and anyone else around is calmly sitting down. I work from home, so this is actually at least 8 hours/day during the week, but less on weekends. I researched what to do about this and the current plan is to get him used to relaxing in a crate, so he cannot follow people who are moving around him and hopefully learns to relax in spite of it. We are not there yet though...


Poodles are slower to mature than many other dogs and are notoriously mouthy puppies. Try to let go of comparisons and feeling bad! I posted recently about shameful feelings around behavior perceived as "aggressive" in this thread by @lily cd re : Why do so many people think their puppies are aggressive?

Relaxation is also a perennial challenge for us. Oona sounds like your pup, she also sleeps well when I'm beside her but gets up when I get up and follows me around, follows my daughter around. Enforced crate naps and down-stay practice on her mat, while doing other things around the house both help.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Dogs get riled up with high pitched, squeaky voices. Ask your friend (and you and your family for that matter) to use a calming voice at all times. I also found myself letting my dog meet other dogs (and people) during our walks, I thought it was good social exposure for him. Once I figured out (with help from PF) that I was training him to actively seek out other dogs and people (he would excitedly pull towards them), I stopped our meeting other dogs and now we just continue on giving a brief hello to the passersby. I know neither of these address your specific issue, but it's possible these actions will make your situation worse if you happen to be doing them.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

Poodles mature very late. I think some of his naughtiness is simply because he is young and energetic. He will grow out of it if you keep up the good work. Continue to practice manners and impulse control.

At this stage, however, I would also try to set him up for success. Don't put him in situations where he will fail. It sounds like the walk he went on with your friend was too long, and your friend wasn't equipped to deal with an over-excited puppy. Take him on shorter walks, and don't let him walk with people who will let him rehearse bad behavior.

What is the weather in your area like? My dogs have short haircuts right now. They are, therefore, very frisky and reactive when the weather is breezy and cold. My younger dog, Ritter, is especially prone to prancing and dancing when he gets cold. I have started making my boys wear jackets on their walks, as our temperatures are around 0 C.

Finally, my older boy, Galen, really enjoyed playing with other dogs when he was 6-12 months old. (Not every dog enjoyed playing with a rowdy adolescent poodle, however!). Getting him out on a few play dates with well socialized and compatible dogs made him less desperate to wrestle with humans.


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