# 16 week old puppy biting



## Olivia Maddison (Oct 1, 2015)

Hi, we have the most wonderful lab spaniel mix puppy who we've had for a month. He really has been as good as gold, sleeps through the night and is a delight to have around except one problem, he's still biting and it's really hard! I know puppys are supposed to mouth but this feels like full on biting, as hard as he can and since he still has his puppy teeth it's breaking our skin regularly. He hasn't displayed a single sign of aggression (he's actually very submissive) and he's a very loving, friendly dog, he just bites when playing. We've tried everything we can think of, high pitched yelping just gets him more excited and he bites harder, we walk away from him all the time when he bites and he'll just sit wherever he is and wait for us to come back and resume. I'm becoming more concerned that he still hasn't grown out of this and he'll be getting his adult teeth soon. We actually got him from the litter quite late at 13 weeks so I would have thought his bite inhibition might have been more advanced. Any help would be greatly Appreciated. He's walked the recommended twice daily for 25 minutes and he has tonnes of toys!


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## Little P (Jun 10, 2014)

At 4 months old, he'll be teething. Re-direct his biting onto a suitable toy which will help any teething discomfort that he may be in - you want something made of tough rubber with some give - have a look at the kong range of toys


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## steveshanks (Feb 19, 2015)

Its hard to tell without actually being there and having a bite, but it does sound normal for 16 weeks, I think pip was about 6 months when he finished teething and it was like a switch went off and the biting stopped, I actually had to buy thick slippers he used to bite my feet so bad and my ears, nose and hands always had a scab or 6 on them LOL. We used to shove a rope toy or whatever was at hand into his mouth to distract him. Just focus on the day all the new teeth come in and the nightmare will be over LOL......Steve


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## Katalyst (Aug 11, 2015)

Olivia Maddison said:


> Hi, we have the most wonderful lab spaniel mix puppy who we've had for a month. He really has been as good as gold, sleeps through the night and is a delight to have around except one problem, he's still biting and it's really hard! I know puppys are supposed to mouth but this feels like full on biting, as hard as he can and since he still has his puppy teeth it's breaking our skin regularly. He hasn't displayed a single sign of aggression (he's actually very submissive) and he's a very loving, friendly dog, he just bites when playing. We've tried everything we can think of, high pitched yelping just gets him more excited and he bites harder, we walk away from him all the time when he bites and he'll just sit wherever he is and wait for us to come back and resume. I'm becoming more concerned that he still hasn't grown out of this and he'll be getting his adult teeth soon. We actually got him from the litter quite late at 13 weeks so I would have thought his bite inhibition might have been more advanced. Any help would be greatly Appreciated. He's walked the recommended twice daily for 25 minutes and he has tonnes of toys!


I have a lurcher puppy just a handful of weeks older than your pup and the biting is a pain in the butt but every puppy this age I have met has been much the same so I don't think it is anything we're getting wrong. 
Like you, I tried high pitched yelps and squeals and the result was a puppy on crack for the next 5 mins. Clearly it was exciting rather than conveying "p**s off, that hurt!!".
I have found that a stern "NO!" and immediately removing myself from the room/space for 30 seconds works really well. 
I can now go whole days with minimal nipping and it is usually quite gentle. 
Then I will have a random day like yesterday when it feels like I have taken thirty steps backwards and am right back at square one with him wondering what triggered hard play bites again. 
I have found that immediately offering a good chew toy when he is in a playful mood means that my poor mangled fingers are never in the equation to start with and then I can practice controlled bite inhibition training by play with hands when he is much calmer later in the day. 
He definitely got worse (having initially got better) at about 14/15 weeks and he is constantly chewing still now at nearly 20 weeks. My home is littered with assorted textured and sized chew toys. I am also giving him raw rib bones and frozen duck necks on days that the teething is especially apparent. This seems to help a bit too.

I have no idea if any of this is useful. I am far from experienced in the matter but this is just what appears to work for Logan.


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## Olivia Maddison (Oct 1, 2015)

Katalyst said:


> I have a lurcher puppy just a handful of weeks older than your pup and the biting is a pain in the butt but every puppy this age I have met has been much the same so I don't think it is anything we're getting wrong.
> Like you, I tried high pitched yelps and squeals and the result was a puppy on crack for the next 5 mins. Clearly it was exciting rather than conveying "p**s off, that hurt!!".
> I have found that a stern "NO!" and immediately removing myself from the room/space for 30 seconds works really well.
> I can now go whole days with minimal nipping and it is usually quite gentle.
> ...


No thank you, it's all very much appreciated, it's nice just to know that we're not doing something awfully wrong! He's just such a calm little pup most the time but has the worst bite on him! Hopefully as he gets older this will all calm down.


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## redroses2106 (Aug 21, 2011)

have you tried soaking a cloth or towel and putting it in the freezer and giving him it to chew on? if he is teething this will help, I think it sounds like you are doing everything right as far as training goes and persistence will pay off for you in the end  maybe keep a suitable toy close to you to redirect him before he nips you if you can. you can also buy teething puppy toys that may help


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## Chrisheathcote (Jul 10, 2015)

Sounds completely normal. I am far from an expert, but our 18 week old is exactly the same. Out of curiosity, is it all the time or at specific times of the day. The reason I ask is Luna is fine most of the day but come night time. She turns into a baby T Rex for about an hour, before eventually falling asleep. It seems like she gets tired and cranky and can't settle. Just a thought


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## Wiz201 (Jun 13, 2012)

reason that puppy bites often seem worse is that the needle sharp teeth can break through skin a lot easier than adult teeth.


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## melannie (Sep 4, 2015)

Olivia Maddison said:


> Hi, we have the most wonderful lab spaniel mix puppy who we've had for a month. He really has been as good as gold, sleeps through the night and is a delight to have around except one problem, he's still biting and it's really hard! I know puppys are supposed to mouth but this feels like full on biting, as hard as he can and since he still has his puppy teeth it's breaking our skin regularly. He hasn't displayed a single sign of aggression (he's actually very submissive) and he's a very loving, friendly dog, he just bites when playing. We've tried everything we can think of, high pitched yelping just gets him more excited and he bites harder, we walk away from him all the time when he bites and he'll just sit wherever he is and wait for us to come back and resume. I'm becoming more concerned that he still hasn't grown out of this and he'll be getting his adult teeth soon. We actually got him from the litter quite late at 13 weeks so I would have thought his bite inhibition might have been more advanced. Any help would be greatly Appreciated. He's walked the recommended twice daily for 25 minutes and he has tonnes of toys!


I have and am still going through a similar scenario as you and he is over 8 months old now, your not alone, most mutts are the same at these ages I guess.

What I done was I bought a 'cheap' pair of heavy duty welders gloves similar to these >> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Langley-WEL...446328087&sr=8-4&keywords=red+gauntlet+gloves

Then he could bite down on them and I could feel just how hard he was biting and if it was just too hard I would keep letting out very big yelps just as his own canine
brothers/sisters/Mother/Father would do too (I could only feel the pressure, not the sharp teeth), the good thing and the point of the gloves was to stop the biting hurting me and/or breaking my skin you see, plus I use them
sometimes to hold his rope type tug toys, keeps my hands safe from bites most of all and clean from all the yuk too, lol, they do look daft but its just for in the house, no big deal, he is learning though which is good, used to be worse when he would nip everyone's legs and backside's lol, he doesn't now though, maybe the neutering helped that, I don't know, either that or I have managed to train him myself with the help of my dog trainer etc, I dont know, I dont even need to use the daft gloves now much, I just make sure to wash my hands after play time etc.

I learned that if I keep myself down lower to the dog rather than tower over him then he doesn't feel as intimidated etc, then I show him my open palms of my hands infront of his face and talk nice and gently and tell him he is a good boy etc etc etc he then seems to know then I am not a threat, and then I move my hand very gently and slowly under his chin and chest and give him a good old rub/scratch and he soon relaxes, I know it is a rather tiresome time though and a bit of a pain and needless to say It will carry on with me/you for quite a long time yet.

I think its definitely got something to do with guiding them to what's a sore bite and what's not and just stick to it, there are lots of other things you can do though as you will find in this
website and lots of others.

Edit, p.s, I have all the toys too like you said you have, they would occupy him for a while then he would start up again with the nippy biting etc, so yeah I know what you mean with that too, I do find that the tug toys are best though but it means you need to play the game too if you have the time, that way it keeps his mind off trying to bite, he is much more interested in trying to tug the rope and win the tug of war, have to be carefull though not to tug the teeth out, lol.


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## Olivia Maddison (Oct 1, 2015)

redroses2106 said:


> have you tried soaking a cloth or towel and putting it in the freezer and giving him it to chew on? if he is teething this will help, I think it sounds like you are doing everything right as far as training goes and persistence will pay off for you in the end  maybe keep a suitable toy close to you to redirect him before he nips you if you can. you can also buy teething puppy toys that may help


He has a stag bar and a kong he loves but I'll try the frozen towel, thanks!


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## steveshanks (Feb 19, 2015)

I was chatting to a lady the other days whose trainer told her to give the puppy ice cubes, she says it works great.......Steve


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