The many holes in my pants attest to the skill of the 10+10 in grabbing at ankles/pants. Normal puppy behavior and not a sign of anything sinister.
In fact, nothing a puppy does is sinister — they are just babies, after all.
Moonshadow Porter Buck
But it is also okay not to want new piercings on your ankles or more rips in your pants.
So what to do?
Moonshadow Obi Hunter
Two words: Prevention and Diversion.
Start to notice when the puppy is especially likely to ankle bite — mornings are prime ankle biting time around here. Once you know when the behavior is likely to happen — or where it is likely to happen — you can work on prevention.
They grow out of ankle biting too quickly! Wildflower Buttercup at 10+ months.
When I get up — in order to prevent ankle biting — I immediately do some training games with Capella. I grab a handful of kibble and we practice spins, her name, chasing kibble pieces, sit, down, following, etc. These are short sessions but they prevent/divert her ankle biting tendencies.
Since I know she needs to chew, I make sure that her early morning activities include chewing — Capella gets a bone every morning but you could use a bully stick, a kong stuffed with peanut butter and kibble, or whatever creative thing gives the puppy a chance to use his/her mouth in positive ways.
Capella
So, I prevent the ankle biting through alternate activity when I suspect it could happen and then I give her a lot of chances to chew in the morning. What if she ankle bites at another time?
I have A LOT of experience with this as you would know if you saw my pants! The first thing is to stop — don’t run or even walk — just stop. If you move, a great game of tug ensues.
Ask the attached puppy for an alternate behavior — a hand touch or toss a piece of kibble or say their name or ?? Think about what behavior is incompatible with ankle biting and just make that happen. Train the behavior separate from ankle biting so it is easy and accessible to the puppy when you need it.
Finally, understand ankle biting for the endearing intention — the puppy wants to interact you! That is so awesome!! Yay! Relationship is developing!
Bright Star McCovey Sirius and one of his humans
If you think of it that way, you will know not to be annoyed, upset, or concerned but rather to feel good about where you are in the puppy’s world. And then you simply redirect the puppy to a more desired way to interact — easy peasy.
All that said, it is a good idea not to wear expensive pants around puppies because you will no doubt mess up and be inattentive and the puppy WILL grab your ankles or pants. No worries — you are only human, after all. Just keep practicing — you got this!