Is it normal for a BC puppy? Biting during walks.

[S Blue]

First of all, I know that BCs may instinctively nip at ankles/legs and I wouldn't worry about it if not for how far it can get with Blue. Usually she's a cutie, learning almost everything quickly, understanding she's not supposed to pull on leash, playful (she has a lot of chew toys and toys in general to play with), sometimes she does get her puppy zoomies phases, not often. 

In the last few days she started to behave in a strange way when I'm walking with her (or my family, since they take care of her while I need to go out alone). Out of a sudden (after she's been walking as usual), she runs up to me and starts grabbing my ankles with her paws and biting them, I don't mean playful puppy nipping, it hurts, I already have some marks on my skin. If I'm alone with her I can't possibly keep her away from my legs, she won't stop it, I have to pick her up if I want to move without a puppy attached to my leg and two times after I've picked her up she went for my chin and neck. It makes me unnerved, I'm trying to stay calm and not shout, but I'd rather not end up with something worse than small bite marks.

Blue is 3 months old now, she gets her walks, training and human company. Is it normal for a puppy to act like that? Is it just nipping and I'm being oversensitive? How can I make her stop if she's not listening to my commands then and keeps going for my legs? I have no problems with anything else, outside of these "biting devil" phases she listens to me and I can see that she understands what I want from her...

Sorry if it came out a bit too messy or if I'm just paranoid, I just need to know!

[GentleLake]

This has recently been discussed in a couple threads. You might want to do a search.

And, no, it's not inherently "herding" behavior. It occurs in all kinds of puppies of all sorts of breeds or mixes. It's predatory play behavior.

ETA: Try this thread:

 

[jami74]

Gosh! It keeps coming up! I find it reassuring now to know that it wasn't just us that went through this but found it worrying at the time. It must have been over quickly as I'd forgotten it was a thing (nearly six months).

S Blue, I noticed that my puppy started doing it after we had been walking for a while and put it down to tiredness. I tried to avoid it by shortening walks, but if he did start to do it I'd pick him up straight away and carry him home.

If my puppy can do something nicely, but then suddenly changes his behaviour I assume he's trying to tell me something.

[Lawgirl]

If these are distinct episodes, then it sounds to me like an overstimulated, overtired puppy, as was the case in some of the other threads.

[gcv-border]

On 9/14/2018 at 9:15 AM, S Blue said:

 How can I make her stop if she's not listening to my commands then and keeps going for my legs?

I agree with the strong possibility that she may be overtired. Particularly if she is "not listening to your commands." On the other hand, I wouldn't expect most/many 3 month old pups to have the mental wherewithal to listen to commands when in an overexcited state. Their little brains are overwhelmed.

[S Blue]

Thank you all for the answers! I may have not noticed the other thread because I just came back from a rough walk and tried to look for threads that would scream literally "biting puppy!", so I could have missed a lot!

After observing Blue's behavior I believe she's indeed tired when she starts biting, she hardly ever does it at the beginning of a walk (and when she does, she calms down and keeps walking really quickly), it almost always happens after some time. I've probably won an argument with my family about how long should a puppy walk before coming back home, guess I was right with shorter walks?

1 hour ago, gcv-border said:

On the other hand, I wouldn't expect most/many 3 month old pups to have the mental wherewithal to listen to commands when in an overexcited state. Their little brains are overwhelmed.

I'd say it's unpredictable with her, sometimes she'll come to me when I tell her to or pay attention to me, but still, she often won't and you're right, that's what I expect from her. For now it's enough that she can behave well on a leash!

[GentleLake]

45 minutes ago, S Blue said:

...sometimes she'll come to me when I tell her to or pay attention to me, but still, she often won't and you're right, that's what I expect from her.

Be aware that if you don't enforce compliance at these times when you ask for something from her that you're setting up a pattern of her not having to respond to your cues. She may not be learning to do what you ask her quite yet, but be assured she is learning . . . in this case probably that she doesn't always have to do what you ask her to do.

[urge to herd]

Take this w/a grain of salt, as I haven't raised a pup, but here goes anyway. Something that MAY add to her fatigue, as well as the physical exertion, is over-stimulation. 

So much to see! Commands to respond to! Smells, sounds, big noisy things rushing by . . . on and on and on. She might get 'tired' less quickly on a quieter route, or 'tired' more quickly on a busier route. You might want to notice such things in the environment, and see if they make a difference.

All of my dogs, (adults when I got them) have come home from a walk in a new-to-them environment and slept deeply. Even after a good long nap, they'd seem extra relaxed for the rest of the day.

PS ~ We all love puppy pix, so if you haven't posted any  . . .

Ruth & Gibbs