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Permalink Reply by Ginny and Diggory on April 23, 2009 at 11:50pm

I think a lot of people here can relate. It's a question that comes up a lot. And those teeth are so sharp! Sounds like you are moving in the right direction. Most common advice is when they bite you should make a loud, high-pitched yelp (like a dog makes when it's hurt) - or a big, high-pitched OUCH! Then immediately turn your back on him, ignore him, stop playing. If he continues, you have the ability to just stand up. This is for him to learn that biting = play STOPS. I wouldn't do the growling/holding him technique, because he's still getting attention from you and might think it's part of the game. When you can catch him being calm, calmly praise, offer treats and reward the good behavior. If you're playing, make sure you try to teach him to play with toys, and never with your hands. If he's starting to go for your hands, stick a toy in his mouth. He's going to need to chew on something, he's just got to learn what is and is not appropriate for biting.

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Permalink Reply by Christiane on April 23, 2009 at 11:58pm

My son began saying, "yipe!" really loudly when Teggie (10 weeks old) even touched his hands with her teeth. If she does it twice, the second "yipe!" is followed by a break from playing. Corgi pups learn not to bite each other through this yelping behavior, and it seems to be working for our Teg. Then we were reading a vet's suggestions, and found he recommends a loud yipe to discourage a pup from biting human hands. So I guess we are on the right track...
Hope this helps!
Christiane

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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on April 24, 2009 at 9:50am

My corgi, Sparty, also was a relentless biter. The yelping (as high pitched and dramatic as possible) worked for us too.

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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on April 24, 2009 at 1:59pm

I think Pinkwater ("Superpuppy") wrote that the rule you want to teach is:
OK for you to initiate tooth contact (put fingers in dog's mouth etc.); never OK for dog to initiate tooth contact.
He advised using isolation (time out) ONLY as a last resort only for extremely unacceptable behavior, and quite briefly (did he say 4 min max?). It's the nuclear option.

Our breeder wouldn't let us have Al until 12 weeks old. I have heard that puppies learn bite-inhibition from littermates during those last 4 weeks. We visited the litter at... 6 weeks? They were chewing EVERYTHING, nose ears fingers lips... I believe she said that was OK then... but eventually it has to stop.
It's uncanny how the dogs learn that it's OK to destroy their toys, and nothing else. They learn somehow.
A mistake I made with Al: I let him jump all over me when I came home from work -- hard to discourage such endearing behavior -- but you DON"T want a dog to learn that it's OK to do this with other people, or little kids. Make him express affection with 4 paws on the floor.
Another thing I wish I'd done -- make a list of all the commands I want puppy to learn -- a vocabulary for the dog -- this for ME, to keep me on-track. Get the agenda straight, human and dog on the same page.
You should warn us before posting pics of a puppy that cute; I need to be sedated first.

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Permalink Reply by Matt & Hilliary on April 24, 2009 at 4:22pm

Optimus was/is the same way. Earlier this week we started using a spray bottle (actually, one of those $1 plastic squirt guns cause we couldn't find a bottle). Any time they're misbehaving, just give him a little squirt (not in the face like I accidentally did once....). Optimus caught on to this VERY fast. Any time he sees me reach for the squirt gun, he immediately stops. Just make sure to pair each squirt with a firm "No", and hopefully after enough time he'll associate no to getting squirted, and hopefully won't bite anymore.

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Permalink Reply by Susan Stanton on April 24, 2009 at 5:32pm

When Bertie was a baby, my hands were COVERED in teeth scrapes and scratches. He was a super fast learner in every way, but it took a while for him to grow up enough to "get it" regarding the nipping -- maybe it's just too ingrained a puppy behavior to give up quickly. I did the yelp and turn away thing constantly, but it took him maybe 2 months to really learn to lighten up. The puppy kindergarten class was an ENORMOUS help. They all played and let each other know when the biting/playing was too rough. So don't despair! I agree with John above -- the "time out" thing is hard, because the pup most likely doesn't know what it did that caused the time out -- and also, the rolling on the back thing is not a great training device either. Consistent praising of good behavior and the yelping/ignoring of the bad/disliked behavior really does work, keep it up and be patient. And I love his name -- Bertie's full name is Bertram Wilberforce Wooster. Maybe the length of time it takes for them to learn the "soft" mouth is proportionate to the weight of their names? ha.

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Permalink Reply by Kendra on April 25, 2009 at 2:38pm

Gatsby wouldn't respond to any anti-biting behavior until about a week ago, so at around 3 months and a week. We tried everything and nothing worked, even a little bit. He didn't even have to be that wound up to bite bite bite like crazy. He still has the tendancy to bite when hyper, but at around 3 months and a week, he just sort of started realizing that we did not like it, and will respond to all the anti-bite treatments and behaviors that you read about. I think he just needed to be old enough to recognize what we were trying to tell him.

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Permalink Reply by Ross on April 26, 2009 at 5:28pm

The best thing you can do is teach him the appropriate times to bite, rather than not biting at all. A puppies mouth is like a toddlers hands, they want to explore the world with it. Atlas was a biter, it's the reality of having a puppy. We would praise him for "nice bites" (barely any kind of contact at all) and if he bit us hard during play we would immediately jump up and leave the room.
You can use yourself as a punishment for your dog. He wants to be around you and by taking yourself away from him you are punishing him. Encourage your dog to learn how to play with an appropriate level of contact, praise him over and over when he plays nicely and bites with minimal force, if he bites down hard, immediately get up, and leave the room for 30 seconds or so.

Remember this is going to take a lot of time, there is a reason why so many young dogs end up in shelters, suddenly things that were cute as a puppy aren't cute anymore when the dog is almost full size.
Nothing is going to happen overnight.

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Permalink Reply by Ann B., Scout and Summer on April 28, 2009 at 1:21pm

All I can say about the nipping is: THIS, TOO SHALL PASS! I didn't believe it would ever happen at the time, but Scout grew out of this! Our breeder, too, did not let us take him home until 12 weeks--but he still went through the biting stage. Scout can still be a bit "mouthy"; I think the advice about not letting the dog initiate the mouthing is good.

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Permalink Reply by Therese Hansell on April 29, 2009 at 3:42pm

I can also relate, our wee boy Finnegan is 10 weeks old and he exhibits the same biting/nipping behavior. He is especially bad at nipping the kids, I suppose they are just easier targets? They are more his size and and are less likely to discipline him a lot. We use the same tool, yelping loudly and this seems to be working; he has almost stopped nipping at me, but continues with the kids. I have also advised my kids to use disctraction when the yelping is no longer working. I have noticed he seems to develop a tolerance to the yelping noise when used frequently. My kids often get down on the floor to play with him at his level, and typically they end up human chew toys! I have told them keep an arsenol of his toys beside you and distract him with them when he gets in a nippy mood. When that fails, and it does, we stop engaging him and let him go off to do his own thing for a while.

It's been a while since I have raised a puppy, but if I recall we should see less of this behavior in a few weeks. In the mean time, I guess we put up with the tiny scratches and small cuts covering our hands and arms for a while longer.

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Permalink Reply by Marion and Vern on April 29, 2009 at 10:33pm

We just got through playing mad dash up and down the hall...dad at one end mom at the other then it is potty time and bed time. Sami is absolutely using her mouth as hands plus she is teething. We try to keep one of her chew toys close by and when she starts biting feet or shoes etc. we put what ever is handy in her mouth. Sometimes (most) it works, sometimes it doesn't. I will be so glad when this part is over for her (and us). Well I have to go stop the bleeding on my arm again, yes they are like little razors didn't even feel it when it happend. Boy sure did when I poured proxide on it! Good luck.

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Permalink Reply by Samantha on April 29, 2009 at 11:09pm

We've been having the same issue with our Isabelle who is almost 4 months old. Our Greek nickname for her is Isaronious No-Bitumus! haha If she bites, she is put on her back so that she submits and we hold her mouth gently (no pressure though because that can be read as aggression!). Once she is back up and playing she is usually fine. If she gets too mouthy and bitey and draws blood from a bad scratch, she gets a couple minute time-out with a mesh muzzle. This has worked wonders! It's the same as putting a child in time-out. It gives her time to cool her jets and relax. After that, she is back to her happy, playful self. I was hesitant to use it, but it has been really effective. The key is to use it sparingly.

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