Biting Cocker Spaniel

by Claire
(London)

I have a cocker spaniel puppy who in nearly nine weeks old. I've had him for a little over a week and at first he was settling in really well. In the last couple of days he has developed a habit of biting, nipping and it really hurts!

I have tried everything the experts say to do - yelping out loud, ignoring him, saying no sternly, clapping my hands, banging a pot, etc.

He might stop for ten seconds but then starts again right away. It's also hard to ignore him when as soon as I disentangle him from my leg he's straight back on with his razer teeth. How am I meant to deal with this? I have been reluctant to use his crate as a time-out because he is very good in his crate and I don't want to have him equate it with being in trouble, so that the crate becomes a problem too.

However, ten minutes ago I snapped after repeated attempts to stop him nipping and put him in his crate. He is now quiet after five minutes crying - have I done the wrong thing?

I feel that he is a little understimulated, but he won't listen or pay attention when I try to introduce new training tips to stimulate his mind, no matter how patient I am with him (he just runs around crazy and nips when he comes close to me), so all I end up doing is throwing a ball around which he loses interest in soon enough.

How can I teach him more stimulating games if he won't listen at all? We can't go on walks for another three weeks until his innoculations are finished.

I am going crazy! What can I do to stop this behaviour before it becomes permanent? I know it's only been a week and I never expected training a puppy to be easy but I feel like he is worse behaved now than when I got him, and I want to deal with the behaviour as soon as possible.

I feel like all I'm doing is shouting at him right now and he will grow to hate me!

Help!

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