Playbiting

[Hurtwood Dogs]

Aw don't worry, it's very hard to know what's best to do when a pup is seriously hurting you! Most pups bite and some are real wotsits.. I've one ok-ish pup and one that I disliked very much until he was 8 months old  There are different ways to address biting but hurting the pup could cause trust issues - showing kindness takes longer for results, but delivers you a really sweet dog and ultimately a lovely trusting bond.

Saying 'ah ah' didn't work with my devil pup - I ended up quietly removing him and popping him in his own space (which was the kitchen with a baby gate across it). This way he eventually learnt that biting = no play. But it was never done in anger just quietly removing him. He HATED any conflict at infact, even saying 'No' to Dave caused an aggressive reaction as a pup so I just timed him out every time I needed to. He is a very sweet and trustworthy dog today and his best friend is my 6 yr old son (who he savaged relentlessly as a pup )

Try and keep focused on the fact that your pup WILL grow out of it and you will have a lovely kind dog, if you show kindness and consistency and above all else patience now. It took my 'bad' pup 8 months before he stopped biting but it seemed to happen overnight

Good luck!
Hannah x

[grunty]

i think ive made a major mistake our puppy is biteing i was told to pinch him that was a bad move then my mate said tap him on the nose with a rolled up newspaper that was even worse , what have i done he growled at me today our lovely pup who was an angel less than a week ago is turning nasty and its my fault i didnt know ive ruined everything can this be reversed

[HarveynMax]

I am a complete novice too!!! but I think you should not be so hard on yourself and not try to worry about rights and wrongs.  Just sit back and enjoy having your darling pup!!!! I am sure you can reverse everything, but it all takes time.  Try playing and enjoying, not worry about whether its right or wrong, if it works in your house, its right!!!!! Keep your little girls always supervised, and try and get them to be as calm as poss around your pup.  Good luck!!! Fingers crossed.  I am on a steep learner curve with a 13mth (Harvey had him since 8 wks) and a 13 wk pair of boys(Max had since he was 9wks). 

[bajoleth]

Yes of course, try hand feeding him for a few days, so that he knows he gets nice things from you and he will not become hand shy. lots of praise when he does the right thing , you have just been led down the wrong path by wellmeaning but misled people You have to change your own behaviour and attitude first and then Chester will learn the right way and I am sure you will have a great relationship. Try and take some time out to read various threads here on positive training methods. At the moment he is not being naughty he is just doing what pups do when they are teething etc, you just need to let him know that his behaviour is unnacceptable just in a positive way as described in the posts above. Take a deep breath put what you have been told and what you have done behind you and start again
Good luck

[Rats and Dogs]

I'm going to be brutally honest here, but you are going to end up with one messed up and aggressive dog if you keep hitting him. He is a baby, and is learning how to play and you have to teach him, and the only way to do that is through kindeness and with patience. Do you hit your children when they don't know exactly what you want them to do?

You have been given lots of good advice on here, and you choose time and time again not to take it. All your research should have been done before getting your pup.

The only solution I can see to this is for you to rehome him to someone who will treat him with love and kindness before that lovely dog ends up ruined.

[grunty]

my wife treats him well i was just in the garden with my daughter we took him to see if he could go the toilet i was told if he tries biteing you stand still my daughter was scared but i put my hand over her eyes and told her not to look at him or take any notice of him he kept biteing her feet her crocks really got bit bad bless her she was brave , ive been told hes trying to be dominent , im the pack leader and he keeps chalenging me im going to respond not by previous methods but by ignoring him outside and set bounderies inside not walls or doors but different bounderies that i will learn when we go to puupy classes

[Karma]

This can be reversed, but you MUST stop all forms of harsh handling... surely the reaction of everyone here about the pinching advice told you that hitting your pup was not the way to go...    

As I said before, you are going to have to rebuild your pup's trust in you - that means he needs to associate you with fun, nice things... hand feed him, play with him...

If you are going to keep taking the advice of people who want you to bully and dominate your pup, you could very easily end up with a scared dog - and a scared dog can become an aggressive dog.

If you read the various posts on here about puppy-biting, you will find tonnes of good advice on how to manage it... kind, positive methods may take longer than harsh handling, but they are far more likely to result in a happy, well-balance dog.

And forget all this pack leader, dominance stuff... he is not trying to dominate you, he is being a normal puppy... 

[JennyBee]

Completely avoid ANYTHING to do with dominance and pack theory - you have a perfectly normal pup, he's doing nothing wrong. Pups bite and growl - it's all part of their learning. I think if your daughter is not coping then you need to separate them until your pup is out of this phase. I'm afraid I agree with Rats and Dogs, if you do not start ignoring the bad and praising the good behaviour there is a very good chance you could end up with a very mixed up pup .

[joanne_v]

my wife treats him well i was just in the garden with my daughter we took him to see if he could go the toilet i was told if he tries biteing you stand still my daughter was scared but i put my hand over her eyes and told her not to look at him or take any notice of him he kept biteing her feet her crocks really got bit bad bless her she was brave , ive been told hes trying to be dominent , im the pack leader and he keeps chalenging me im going to respond not by previous methods but by ignoring him outside and set bounderies inside not walls or doors but different bounderies that i will learn when we go to puupy classes

He's 10 weeks old, of course he's not trying to dominate you! He's being a perfectly normal puppy showing natural behaviours. You really really have to do a hell of a lot of research and reading if you are going to raise this pup well or 6 months down the line I promise you that you'll have a dog with issues caused by your lack of knowledge. I know you mean well but you're needing to learn a lot about puppies and dogs in order to help your wee boy. Why dont you have a good read through all the puppy board topics to get a better idea of how puppies behave? They are hard work and its a steep learning curve if you haven't had one before The first few months of a dogs life are so vital to its future so I really hope you can make some headway with this  

[Nicola]

Grunty have you done any reading on puppies and puppy care? I would suggest you get yourself a few books such as The Perfect Puppy by Gwen Bailey, The Complete Idiot's Guide To Positive Dog Training by Pamela Dennison and/or Before And After Getting Your Puppy by Ian Dunbar and have a read of them, I think you'll find it useful. As Jo suggests having a good read back through the puppy board on here is also a good idea.

[Karma]

I also hope your daughter doesn't become frightened of him after her experience... I think it would be better to distract Chester away from your daughter rather than expect a child to go through that (especially with her eyes covered).  

Once Chester is getting the hang of things, it will be easier for your daughter to join in the ignoring approach, but it's a bit much to expect this straight off (puppy-biting generally reduces most adults to tears at some point in the process, so IMO it really is too much for a child).

[grunty]

my wifes in bits here crying her eyes out this is no game major problem please help

[Jeanette]

Definitely read some books, puppies playbite and thats a fact even though they look cute and cuddly, they can be an absolute nightmare.   Pinching, wacking him on the nose with a newspaper are not going to work, I had the stupid advice to pick mine up by he scruff of her neck and shake her like a ragdoll      I'm a sensible person and knew this advice was rubbish even though the person had done it to their dog.     Raising a puppy involves common sense, please just think about what you are doing.   I never hit my babies or shook them so why would the crap advice to pinch a puppy or hit it on the nose make sense to a normal person.

Your puppy is not trying to dominate, it is playing and thats what puppies do.   You need to teach your puppy what is acceptable and believe me it can take months and months, there is no quick fix after 2 weeks.   Mine stopped playbiting and chasing my son altogether at about 6 months old and that is with a lot of work and training constantly for it to eventually sink in that he wasn't a plaything for her.   

Don't be under the impression that you are going to learn all this at puppy classes either from my experience and not sure what boundaries you are expecting to learn at a puppy training class. 

BTW how old is your daughter?   If its that much of an problem at the moment with your puppy biting your daughter then commons sense says to limit this, theres no way your daugher should be subjected to a puppy biting her feet especially if the puppy is biting hard, if the puppy isn't responding to the ignoring then seperate them.   Why let the puppy bite your daughter - yes she was brave but she shouldn't have to deal with that if she is really young.    They need to mix but not when the puppy is biting like that.   

[Nicola]

my wifes in bits here crying her eyes out this is no game major problem please help

What is she upset about? His biting or the pinching etc.? You need to be more specific before anyone can advise you... If it is the biting then read the advice on here - it is normal puppy behaviour, it is what puppies do and it does stop but you must be kind, patient and consistent in your handling of it. If it is the pinching/newspaper well that's unfortunate but he's very young and as long as you only use kind, positive methods in future more than likely it will have no lasting effect on him. Forget this dominance/top dog idea - none of this is him trying in any way shape or form to be dominant and it is not aggression either - he's a tiny puppy and he's just doing what puppies do.

[Jeanette]

my wifes in bits here crying her eyes out this is no game major problem please help

Your puppy is a baby, there is no overnight fix and they don't come pre-conditioned - that sounds harsh but its going to take a lot of time and repetition with positive training method.  

What is the set-up in your house, can you have a time out area i.e. dog gate at the kitchen door for when the puppy is going manic.?

Please don't despair and don't give up, it just takes time and you need to start from scratch.  

Oops, posted same time as Nicola.

PS How old is your child?