Biting

[Busters Dad]

This thread has my full attention.
I was going to post a new thread regarding puppy biting.
The problem we have is that Buster seems to have the jaws from hell, he wants to bite anything that is near enough to grab hold of.
We have tried the usuall " NO !!! " but that has little or no effect whatsoever.
I do not have a problem with a young puppy mouthing, I do however have a problem with a puppy that jumps up and nips the nearest thing he can grab hold of.
Should he suddenly jump up and bite the face of anybody who tries to get close to him, then we have a real problem.
Any advice would be gratefully recieved.
Mike.                    

[picklesmum]

Hi there - you have my full sympathy, as Pickle was a real wee biter, and when he was really little I felt like my hands and feet were permanantly covered in puncture wounds.  How old is Buster?  Now at the grand old age of about 18 wks, Pickle has pretty much grown out of this nasty habit, so it does get better, believe me. My advice is to keep reinforcing the 'NO!' message, and makes sure he has lots of toys to chew on, oh, and and follow the other advice on this thread!
Good luck
Emma and Pickle xx                    

[Busters Dad]

Thanks for your advice and support.
Buster is now ten weeks old so lets just hope that it is all down to puppy chewing.
He does seem to get worse when he is tired so we have taken to putting him in his basket when he starts biting hard.
Mike.                    

[PennyB]

I thought Ruby was the pup from hell when I got her. Now I realise it was something I had to go through like everyone else. When I got Wilf it went like a dream as he turned his puppy biting attention on to Ruby  

You'll find this is all normal behaviour from a pup.                    

[shonajoy]

I wish Indie would stop. He's 20 weeks this week and still biting. I'm getting annoyed with it now, to be honest.
I've tried shouting no, ignoring, time out - nothing is working, and I'm sure he's a sockpuppet of satan :twisted:

shona                    

[picklesmum]

Poor Shonajoy, you sound fed up.
Have you tried really yelping when Indie bites you, as if you are in agony? This has worked well with Pickle - didn't always stop him completely but he always stopped in his tracks and took notice! (Goodness knows what the neighbours must think though - we really yelp like we're being tortured!) Apparently they recognise your cry as a cry of pain, and it makes them less bitey. Worth a try? Good luck!
Emma and Pickle xx                    

[shonajoy]

Hi Emma, yes we have tried yelping, and I've personally tried screaming like I'm being murdered by an axeperson at the top of my lungs, so loud that my neighbour phoned to ask if everything was ok! We are detached but she still heard me.

He stops for a minute, stares at you, then starts again. The worst one is my daughters pj legs - he goes for them every time, clingiing on to her leg. She won't wear them anymore!

Shona                    

[picklesmum]

Oh dear. Have you tried using his lead in the house when he's being bad? Pickle's trainer recommended this - so you can give him a quick yank when he goes towards his 'prey', and shout 'no', then at least you have direct control of him. It has certainly helped Pickle in terms of throwing himself at the furniture and biting at my feet.
It can be so demoralising when they just don't seem to improve - sometimes I find it hard to believe that Pickle is of the same breed as all these lovely chilled, docile adult cockers I meet. Maybe one day.....
Emma and Pickle xx                    

[Katherine]

Barnaby is getting better now (at last :roll: )but the best thing we tried was simply standing up and walking away when he bites. If he's really bad just put him in another room. He'll soon understand that when he bites, it ruins everything and people are angry with him.                    

[Dunton4]

I don't know if this will be reassuring, but Tilly too was a dreadful biter when younger.  Yelping and ignoring her seemed to excite her more (I think she was a bit of a bully!) but putting her out of the room for "timeout" seemed to calm her down.  We also found forming fists with our hands, with the thumbs inside meant that she couldn't get a good grip on fingers, although knuckles got a gnawing!  Although we did not see quick results from any of these techniques, I am pleased to say that at 10 months Tilly is a reformed character and has the gentlest of mouths.  Like you, I didn't think she would ever get better, but she has and a firm "no biting!" works now when she gets a bit excited.  She quickly turns her biting into a lick, as if to say sorry - it's very sweet really.  So, I hope you will find, like me, that persistence and time will solve the problem.

Sympathies over the pjs.  Tilly loved flapping trouser-legs and managed to rip my daughter's favourite trousers beyond repair - took a while for her to be forgiven for that one!

Sue                    

[Colin]

I was taught to teach a puppy bite inhibition by putting it in the relax position on your lap...... sit down in a chair or on the floor, legs together holding the pup vertically against your body and cupping your hands gently around it's chest making sure it's body weight is properly supported by your own body.... much the same way as you would hold a toddler. If the pup moves let out a loud "aargh", eventually it will calm down and stop wriggling. Once the pup has relaxed you then gently put your hand sideways all the way into it's mouth, if it starts to bite you scream "aargh" again to let it know it's actions are hurting you. Whatever you do, don't pull your hand out when it bites. Every time you feel pressure from the pup's jaw on your hand you give a loud, short, sharp "aagh".  

It worked brilliantly for both Jimmy and Misty. The relax position is also useful if you need to calm the pup down if it gets too excitable.... with Jimmy he'd let out a deep sigh and fall asleep within about a minute or two of being held like this.                    

[maureen]

Cooper is impossible - he bites everything and everyone - he is 6 months old and is not getting any better.  I shout No, I have tried the agony screaming and as many have said, he just looks for a few seconds and then bites harder.  My hands are full of cuts and when he bites under the arm it is really painful...I have tried the 'time out' routine, but he comes back in the room with us even more excited.  He is worse in the evenings than during the day.  He is also impossible when we sit and eat, jumping up constantly and never stopping until I put him out of the room till we have finished.  I have tried feeding him just as we sit down, but he gulps it down so quickly that he finishes and then starts jumping up at us..we have had him for 6 weeks and I am seriously thinking of buying a crate for him, but is it too late...any comments on this!                    

[*Jay*]

Maureen,

Its never too late to crate train but some dogs adapt to them quicker than others. As long as you make the crate a nice place for Cooper, he should be quite content. I'll try and find a previous thread on crate training as I'm sure its been discussed before.

Reading about Cooper took me back to the days when Vegas was a pup(not a time I want to relive thank you :wink: ) as he was a holy terror till he was about 7 months. He was being fed on Pedigree Chum and I think this made him  hyperactive to a certain degree. Once I changed him over to a hypo-allergenic diet, he calmed down considerably and actually listened to what I was asking him to do  The mouthing/biting also stopped too.                    

[PennyB]

Its never too late to crate train but some dogs adapt to them quicker than others. As long as you make the crate a nice place for Cooper, he should be quite content. I'll try and find a previous thread on crate training as I'm sure its been discussed before.

As long as you also never use a crate as a form of punishment so its usually better to put them in there beforehand if you know there's going to be a problem.                    

[maureen]

Thanks for a quick reply.  I think we will put Cooper out on the balcony just before we sit down to eat, rather than after he starts jumping up. Living in Turkey, the crates are very expensive, so rather than buy one which I feel bad about using, this could be a better solution.  We have put him out there a few times and he makes no noise and just sits by the door waiting to come back in.  The biting was solved last night...my husband banged his slipper on the floor and told him to sit still and stop...which he did....and he eventually fell asleep.  He obeys my husband more than me...so I will try and do this myself during the day and see how it goes. He is such a good boy in all other aspects..100% clean, lovely disposition, bold and playful with other dogs and quiet when out, so without the biting, he would be a perfect pup...and is there such a thing!