# HELP PLEASE Puppy barking and biting me when i sit down



## hunggaur (Oct 7, 2013)

Hi folks i hope you can help me i have a 12 week old working cocker spaniel

we have only had him a week but i am getting a little concerned over his biting and barking

if i or my daughter who is 8 sit on the floor with him her starts mouthing, we say ouch when it get to hard and try to move away but them he jumps up and starts biting us hard enough to draw blood. we keep doing the ouch and then leave the room for about 30 seconds. 

when we come back in and he comes over and starts mouthing we say gentle and or kisses

we have also tried ignoring him if he starts to get to existed

Over the last couple of days this has escalated 

he has started biting so hard he his biting holes in our clothes

also now whenever i come into the room and site down on any of the chairs (he is not allowed on any at all) he starts barking jumping at me and biting me or my clothing.

when he has bitten me or my daughter hard enough to draw blood about 4 times I have had to pin him down so we can move away.

am I doing the right thing or is these some thing else i could do 

someone has suggested shaking a tin of coins just when he is barking at me and trying to bite when I sit down

Need help

cheers

jon


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## Lauren5159 (May 28, 2013)

Ahh, the joys of a puppy 

Firstly. DO NOT pin him to the floor. 

Dominance and Alpha theories are outdated and do not work. 

I found that butter helped with my puppy. Smudge butter on to the back of your's and your daughter's hands... This encourages the puppy that hands are for licking and not for biting. 

Mouthing is a difficult thing. There are so many options when choosing what route you are going to go in regards to teaching your puppy that biting is not acceptable. You could try a very high pitched squeal, like another puppy would make, stand up and walk away. 

Another thing that worked with my pup was placing him in another room. If he bit me, I would pick him up and shut him in the bathroom. Count to fifteen and let him back out. As soon as he does it again, back in to the bathroom he goes.

As for the breed. Is there any particular reason you went with a working Cocker as opposed to, just a Cocker?


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## Wiz201 (Jun 13, 2012)

I'd toss him a toy or get him to rag on a toy instead of biting you. Have you got a crate or a play pen for him? I'd suggest you put him in one of those when he's getting too much with a chew bone or a toy.
Do some training with him and indoor play games until he's ok to go out on walks - you can get him to search for a hidden treat or toy, do the basics with him. Even walk him round the garden on the lead.


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## BeauNoir (Sep 16, 2012)

Great advice ^^

Also, I found when Pixie was a puppy that not pulling my hand away was important. If we pulled our hand away quickly then she would chase it and it would become a game (especially as she was a sighthound and her eyes are way quicker than my hand!). If we stayed where we were, made a loud scream then walked away calmly she actually stopped.


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## Nicky10 (Jan 11, 2010)

Puppies who'd have them . He's just like a baby and exploring the world with his mouth what you want to teach him is bite inhibition. Cockers can be very mouthy. It might be better to leave the room completely or put him out until he calms down.

The bite stops here is very useful for teaching this but I can't seem to find the link.


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## Lauren5159 (May 28, 2013)

Lol, can't believe I forgot about distraction...

It's always a good idea. Squeak a toy when puppy is biting you and play with him. With my puppy, his chase instinct is so strong that if I threw a ball or a toy, he would immediately stop biting and chase whatever I had thrown. 

Tired puppies are less inclined to chase you through the house and bite too... Start training indoors. Tire him mentally. Play hide and seek. 

Is puppy allowed out for walks yet?


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## Hanwombat (Sep 5, 2013)

My pup is 12 weeks and is like a crocodile  If she gets too bitey and all else fails i.e. distraction with a toy etc, then she goes in her pup pen for a time out for 5 - 10 minutes.


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## AOTN1984 (Sep 17, 2013)

We have had the same problem with Tess, our boston Terrier puppy. She is 13 weeks now and, thankfully, the biting is getting better.

We say a big "ouch" whenever she bites us. Rather than pulling our hands away (she thinks it is a game), we try and distract her with a toy. We ignore her for a bit and, if she continues, she gets put in her 'room' for a timeout. Just for thirty seconds or so. 

As I said, she is getting better and I am hoping that she is learning!

With other puppies, this hasn't always worked. We had an English pointer a while ago. Beautiful dog but loved to bite. The only thing that worked on her was to stick her hand as far into her mouth as you could so that it was uncomfortable (never painful, just enough to make her think "I don't like this"). She learned quite quickly. 

Other things you can try: glove with a bitter tasting spray on it. She will bite your hand and dislike the taste and, fingers crossed, learn not to do it.

As for the barking, don't react to it each and every time. She needs to know that she doesn't always get what she wants. Hard when they look at you with those big puppy eyes! 

Good luck x


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## Alice Childress (Nov 14, 2010)

AOTN1984 said:


> We have had the same problem with Tess, our boston Terrier puppy. She is 13 weeks now and, thankfully, the biting is getting better.
> 
> We say a big "ouch" whenever she bites us. Rather than pulling our hands away (she thinks it is a game), we try and distract her with a toy. We ignore her for a bit and, if she continues, she gets put in her 'room' for a timeout. Just for thirty seconds or so.
> 
> ...


Just wanted to say that I would certainly not advise doing the bit in bold.

What you describe hungguar is perfectly normal puppy behaviour and nothing to worry about. If you are consist with saying with training, as your pup grows up this will stop (although be prepared that it may not stop completely for a year or more, it will however get much better than it is now before then).

In terms of training, I would say 'ow' whenever her teeth touched me, and get up and turn my back on her for 5 seconds. I repeated as many times as needed. If she was totally crazy and mouthing and jumping a lot, I would leave the room and close the door on her for 5 seconds. Again, I repeated as needed.

On top of that, as others have said, I just tried to manage the behaviour by trying to watch that Maggie did not get too tired to begin with, and learn to recognise the warning signs. If I saw any sign, I would enforce rest (by putting her behind a play pen). I used distractions, and if she were biting my clothes, I would swap for an appropriate toy instead (again, this sometimes needed to be done many times!). If I new she was likely to jump up and mouth (such as first thing in the morning), I would take a big fluffy toy with me, and the moment she came, gave it to her. She now wakes up and finds a toy herself before coming to say hello in the morning.

It's also worth remembering that your puppy is not being naughty, or vicious, he/she is just trying to play and that is how puppies play. Like a young child, puppies get over tired and over excited.

Puppies are hard work, and a working cocker is VERY high energy!


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## sezeelson (Jul 5, 2011)

This is very normal puppy behaviour but yours sounds very bored :/

My girl is 11 weeks and has drawn blood both my hoodies have holes and tears in the sleeves too. You have to remember that puppy and dogs skin is a lot tougher then ours, your puppy has no idea he is hurting you. It's all just about having fun for him!

What do you do with him on a daily basis?

Up his training to three times a day and provide him with stuffed kongs, chew toys and make sure you spend time draining his energy. Take him out everyday, if he hasn't completed his vaccinations and your not comfortable walking him then carry him. 

I hold a flannel in my pocket and use it as a tugger to distract from hands and is working well. Do not use scarey or startling methods with him! It's very easy to confuse him and you only want to reduce his mouthing, not scare him from coming near you.


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## Ann Elizabeth (May 12, 2013)

Have to agree with sezeelson it does sound as if he's bored and apart from it being normal puppy behaviour, it is possible that he is getting the attention he may be craving by continuing to mouth, but I also agree that he needs to learn to curb it. 
I have 3 ESS from working lines, Shoki is now 20 weeks old and is forever playing with her mum and aunt, watching them Shoki mouths them continually and when she goes too far she gets told by them! And on the odd occasion (now) that she does it to me or my daughter we "yelp" .
At the moment all three are laid about sleeping after spending about an hour on training this morning they are worn out, I haven't done anything exciting, just concentrated on not 'rushing the door' to go out, waiting whilst I went out of the door first. (The older two of course know this but the past couple of days have forgotten their manners so felt it was best to remind them). 'Training' can be incorporated with usual daily activities I never allow any of them to snatch food from my hands and they have to sit & wait for their food at mealtimes until I tell them to take, if I get up to let them out into garden they wait until I stand back to let them pass, of course they do forget sometimes and Shoki is still learning, but keep going it's worth it! Good Luck


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

hunggaur said:


> Hi folks i hope you can help me i have a 12 week old working cocker spaniel
> 
> we have only had him a week but i am getting a little concerned over his biting and barking
> 
> if i or my daughter who is 8 sit on the floor with him her starts mouthing, we say ouch when it get to hard and try to move away but them he jumps up and starts biting us hard enough to draw blood. we keep doing the ouch and then leave the room for about 30 seconds.


Pups with litter mates, bark, chase, jump on each other and nip and bite in play and to instigate play. If you sit on the floor with him down at his level, then likely he is just getting more over excitable and doing to you what he would do with a litter mate to him its just game on, sitting on the floor at the moment is probably making you an even bigger target.

Pups should learn bite inhibition through play and with Mum, they bite too hard the other pup yelps and it should stop them, they bite mum too hard then mum will teach them its not acceptable too. Some pups don't learn bite inhibition with mum and litter mates, so that may be part of the problem too. If he has learned it then an high pitched yelp like a pup in pain should make him cease and that alone will be enough, if he hasn't pre learned it, then it wont be enough and you need to pair it with other things to make him realise, some gung ho over the top ones, it can infact make them do it even more.



> when we come back in and he comes over and starts mouthing we say gentle and or kisses
> 
> we have also tried ignoring him if he starts to get to existed
> 
> ...


Pups tend to bite more in several situations, they do it to get owners attention and to instigate play, do it more when excited, and the more excited and hyper they get the less they will listen and control themselves still. The other time they do it is when they get over tired and often bad nippy behaviour starts more then.

Mistakes people often make is waiting until they are too hyped before doing anything and they are past the point of any self control or listening. You need to do something before he gets past the completely loss of control stage or at first anyway. Give the high pitched yelp like a pup in pain, then fold your arms, and turn your back on him, and as you are turning say OFF, stay turned away, and look at the ceiling stock still and stay like that until he has ceased and you know he isn't going to start again. Any looking at him, making eye contact, repeatedly saying no trying to pull your hands out the way, it all acknowledging the behaviour. You need to make sure he gets nothing in the way of a reward or attention for it. You may need to repeat the whole thing, but you need to follow through, until you know he has ceased and calmed down before giving him attention again, then get him to sit and then give a treat and attention for the calmer sitting behaviour.

If that doesn't work, then yelp, and silently remove him, and leave him to calm down in another room. Let him out, but ignore him completely for a little longer, if he stays calm, then again call him to you, get him to sit and then give him praise and a treat for the calm sitting behaviour. Again repeat it if you need too.

As sometimes a lot of it can also be over tiredness, also ensure that he has wind down and self amusement times, with a safe chew or stuffed kong, it will also give him something to do with his mouth, and you should find he will take it out on the chew and then rest inbetween periods of activity.


> when he has bitten me or my daughter hard enough to draw blood about 4 times I have had to pin him down so we can move away.
> 
> am I doing the right thing or is these some thing else i could do


Don't pin him down, a dog may do it to another dog, when they have had enough or to reprimand another one, but humans can never do it in the same way or have the same effect. In fact a lot of breeds often do it in play too, so he may even make him just bite and nip more as soon as he is free which often happens, which may well be why the problems getting worse not better.


> someone has suggested shaking a tin of coins just when he is barking at me and trying to bite when I sit down
> 
> Need help
> 
> ...


Again rattling and shaking a tin of stones or coins, may seem to stop them, but usually that causes other problems, it causes a shock/fear reaction which may make them cease. Pups in the first 16 weeks of life go through a lot of critical stages of development, including fear periods, and canine and human socialisation, as its a shock/fear reaction, you can actually end up with a fearful or noise sensitive dog using these methods or one that will start doing defensive snapping and biting.

You can start to teach him too through play. Get a soft towel or piece of strong material tie knots in it or even a ragger, and you invite him to play. If he isn't losing control and mouthing nicely without biting down hard the game continues. If he starts to lose control and starts to bite hard, then you say off, and put it away, and leave him to calm down. When calm you invite him to play again, controlled mouthing and play it continues, he starts to lose his bite inhibition, say off and the game ceases. Finally you decide when to put the game away completely.


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## MrsGiggles (Feb 12, 2013)

The "ouch" at high pitch voice did nothing for bernie,only got him more excited,the distraction of toys did nothing,the only thing he did was spit it out and go for my hands or what ever he could get,the walking away didn't do anything as he would lunge the back of my legs,he was a nightmare,I've found the cut of point when the games stop and let him calm down but sometimes that doesn't work,so I have 2 other things that help,I distract him with training,get him to sit,lay down,back up,and then reward with a treat and if that doesn't help,he's got a collar on with a house lead and I just get hold of that so he can't bite me or the kids and say in a firm voice "no" it all seems to be working


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## hunggaur (Oct 7, 2013)

Thanks for all your advice and help.

It is nice to hear that we are starting to do the right things. i must admit i did not like pinning him down and will not do this again in the future.

he is a great little dog and does have a wonderful personality. I am just concerned that my little ones who are 8 and 10 may get hurt or will not be able to go near him.

i also think one of the problems at the moment is that he is bored as we have had to re do his vaccinations and cannot taken him out for another 2 weeks. 

will keep persevering with the ouch option and pulling our hands away, standing up turning our backs and giving time outs 

cheers

jon


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