# Springer Spaniel biting issue



## AimeeRad (Aug 26, 2015)

Hello
I have an 8 nearly 9 week old springer spaniel pup. 
He has been with us 4 days now. 
He is very bitey when playing it's very painful. 
I know it's normal for puppies to nip and he is young however I'm not sure what to do to stop this behaviour. He doesn't seem to be listening to the standard and he is young however I'm not sure what to do to stop this behaviour. He doesn't seem to be listening to the standard "no" is this something that he will grow out of all is this something that I need to teach him not to do. Thank you


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## StokieShinobi (Jun 26, 2015)

At that age we found howling 'ouch' or 'oooooww' worked - in a sort of tone they would when you accidentally stand on them lol


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## Brannybear (Apr 16, 2015)

We also have a very bitey crocopup at the moment and we have found the thing that works the best is as soon as he starts to mouth you make a high pitched OUCH and immediately stop any attention. The noise should make him stop anyway, but withstanding attention will make him realise there is no fun or attention if he bites  it's a long process but if everyone in your family sticks to it it is very effective


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## AimeeRad (Aug 26, 2015)

Thanks so much will try  
Hoping he will get the message as No doesn't seem to! X


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## AimeeRad (Aug 26, 2015)

Thanks so much. Seems to be best option so wish me luck


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## Fluffster (Aug 26, 2013)

Do bear in mind that some puppies can get even more excited when there's a noise being made! With Daisy, I preferred to redirect her onto an appropriate bitey device, such as a toy. If she was persistent, I would get up and walk away from her - puppies are desperate to play, so they quickly learn when behaviour stops a game.


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## AimeeRad (Aug 26, 2015)

Thanks so much.


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

AimeeRad said:


> Hello
> I have an 8 nearly 9 week old springer spaniel pup.
> He has been with us 4 days now.
> He is very bitey when playing it's very painful.
> I know it's normal for puppies to nip and he is young however I'm not sure what to do to stop this behaviour. He doesn't seem to be listening to the standard and he is young however I'm not sure what to do to stop this behaviour. He doesn't seem to be listening to the standard "no" is this something that he will grow out of all is this something that I need to teach him not to do. Thank you


Puppies do chase, jump on each other and bite in the litter in play and to instigate play with their littermates, so can carry on doing it to humans.

They can tend to do it worse or more, when they become over excited, too hyped up, and also even when they become over tired that's another occasion bad behaviours you don't want often happen too. They sometimes will try to do it to get attention and a reaction, much like they will do in the litter with littermates to instigate play too.

Puppies should learn a good degree of bite inhibition in the litter, if they have learned it well, when one pup bites the other too hard the other pup will normally yelp and the offending pup should if lessons learnt stop, things you can try with this and the other things in mind are.

When he goes to bite or makes contact yelp like a pup in pain, if he has learned bite inhibition he should cease. Then quickly fold your arms turn your back, and as your turning say off, stay turned away and still and look at the ceiling, you should find he will stop, stay that way for a little longer and if he stops and stays stopped, then you can call him to you, get him to sit and give him praise and even a treat. If he starts again repeat the whole thing and keep repeating it.

If he is persistent any time, then just yelp, walk off and leave him, return still ignore him for a minute more and if he doesn't start again, then again call him to you get him to sit and then praise and even treat the calm sitting behaviour.

If he gets really bad anytime, or nothing else works, often removing them to another room leaving him to calm down, and then letting them out but ignoring them a little longer then calling to you, asking them to sit, and then praising and rewarding often works, again you may need to repeat it and even keep repeating it at first.

Really you need to pick one, and be consistent with that at first and give that a fair trial. Sometimes you find the first way you try if your consistent enough will be all you need, but if you need it there is several methods to try.

Re directing onto something he can bite and chew is another way too, again yelp, get him to sit and if he sits and doesn't start biting then re-direct onto a toy or chew. Its better if you can get him to halt and do a behaviour instead first before giving the treat, as just giving him something good can inadvertently accidently reward the biting which is what you don't want.

Later you can teach him with a game, if you get a soft old towel or piece of material and tie knots in it, you can offer it for a game, if he plays nicely and doesn't start biting hard and getting too wild then game continues. If he starts to bite hard then you, yelp say off and you cease the game. When he calms down you reinstate the game, he bites hard game stops and so on. Until you finally stop the game and put it away.


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## silvi (Jul 31, 2014)

Saying "Ow!" and putting the puppy down gently has usually worked with us, as long as we did it every time.
But that wasn't particularly difficult as puppy bites usually do make you go "Ow!"


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## Muttly (Oct 1, 2014)

Fluffster said:


> Do bear in mind that some puppies can get even more excited when there's a noise being made! With Daisy, I preferred to redirect her onto an appropriate bitey device, such as a toy. If she was persistent, I would get up and walk away from her - puppies are desperate to play, so they quickly learn when behaviour stops a game.


Just as I was going to say, Muttly never responded to the ouch either. But stopping play, he got that quick


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## Gemma/duke (Dec 21, 2015)

Mine does this we shout owww an turn away from but then he just jumps up an bites your head, more to the point he is biting my two children's feet hands and legs he is only 13 weeks old but he has a hard bite, someone suggested putting stones in a bottle and shake it to distract him when he bites but then he starts biting at me for the bottle help


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## Bugsy77 (Dec 21, 2015)

Gemma/duke said:


> Mine does this we shout owww an turn away from but then he just jumps up an bites your head, more to the point he is biting my two children's feet hands and legs he is only 13 weeks old but he has a hard bite, someone suggested putting stones in a bottle and shake it to distract him when he bites but then he starts biting at me for the bottle help


I'm having the same problem. Someone said they hate the smell of vapour rub so might rub some on the kids!


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## Gemma/duke (Dec 21, 2015)

Let me know if it works might try it too


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## A springer girl (Dec 25, 2015)

My springer did this. Nothing worked to cure him. I tried everything. Every tip on the internet I could get my hand on and nothing worked. And then one day I realised I had not been nipped for a few days. He can still be a bit mouthy every so often ( he is 11 months) but the nipping has all gone. Not sure if it was something I did or he just grew out if it. 

One tip. I found that Raffles would always nip people in the part of my stairs that turned a corner. It is bigger than the others and he could turn around and jump. For a few months I placed a drawer unit there which made the space smaller and he didn't have as much room to move. A few months later I took it away and the biting had stopped. He had totally forgotten what he used to do there.... Shame I could have not done that all over the house lol


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## Gemma/duke (Dec 21, 2015)

Hopefully my duke will grow out of biting as he seems to think the children are easy targets we literally cannot stroke him or play without him biting and if u say no he goes mental not gonna give up on him just wish he would stop


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## LoopyL (Jun 16, 2015)

My Lupin was a terror as a pup but she grew out of it & so will Duke if you make biting the end of the game & ignore him til he's calm again.


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## Gemma/duke (Dec 21, 2015)

Thanks hopefully he will he isn't to bad with me more my little ones and if we ignore him he tends to jump at us biting, iv been told by a lot of people to hold my hand out flat and just say no but this seems to pee him off and starts barking ha, but thanks for all ur advice I'm just glad it's not just duke like this x


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## LoopyL (Jun 16, 2015)

I would turn your back on him & fold your arms out of the way. Holding a hand out is likely to invite chomping, better to stuff a toy in his mouth.
Reward him when he is quiet & not biting


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## Gemma/duke (Dec 21, 2015)

Thank you loopyl as the whole talk to the hand just isn't working it just makes him want to bite ha


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## smokeybear (Oct 19, 2011)

Here are some articles on this subject by qualified, reputable trainers and behaviourists

http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=64170.0;wap2

http://cleverdogcompany.com/tl_files/factsheets/Puppy biting.pdf

http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/puppy_play_leads_to_nip_marks_on_hands_and_arms/

http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/teachingbiteinhibition.pdf

http://www.apbc.org.uk/system/files...t_1_Puppies_-_Mouthing_and_biting_low_res.pdf

http://www.apdt.co.uk/content/files/training-tips/Playbiting_000.pdf

DVD








Your Clever Dog: Puppy biting, chewing and over-excitability with children

Sarah Whitehead

All puppies bite! They come with a set of needlesharp teeth that a shark would be proud of. This behaviour is perfectly normal, but needs to be prevented in order for the dog to become a calm and social member of the family.

This DVD is specially designed to show you exactly what you need to do to reduce and then stop your puppy from biting and mouthing using only kind and fair methods, and the secrets that top dog trainers know.

This DVD also covers the essentials for making sure that your 'puppy chewing machine flexes his teeth on all the right things, and leaves your shoes, the kids' toys and your furniture alone.

Sarah Whitehead also gives advice on puppies and children, and how to ensure they grow up happily together.

Including:

• Why biting is an integral part of your puppy's development

• How to control your puppy's biting

• How to keep kids safe with your puppy

• How to play with your puppy to help control biting

The pack contains: A clicker, tab handle, training manual, instructional DVD, 55 mins approx running time including Bonus trick, Bonus Training Session, Intro to Clicker Training, Q & A with Sarah

http://www.dogtrain.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=78&osCsid=um0q4450ktrhrjcm95q8efp015


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Gemma/duke said:


> Mine does this we shout owww an turn away from but then he just jumps up an bites your head, more to the point he is biting my two children's feet hands and legs he is only 13 weeks old but he has a hard bite, someone suggested putting stones in a bottle and shake it to distract him when he bites but then he starts biting at me for the bottle help


I wouldn't use the bottle of stones at all.

Some dogs can get more excited by a stimulus and some can be frightened by such a "device" and see it as a punishment.

My lurcher would have a nervous breakdown if I used such a method.

SDH and Smokeybear have given lots of info and tips which will be much more effective (and kind)


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## Gemma/duke (Dec 21, 2015)

Thank you will have a look now


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## Gemma/duke (Dec 21, 2015)

Yeah I agree on this we tried it and it made him more excited and just wanted to jump at you for it so that hasn't been done again, think a lot of things is going to be trial and error, think a lot of it is because of my children's ages they want to play with him but cos they have high pitched voices and shouting he thinks their playing then just bites and doesn't let go of them, all the advice I'm getting is brilliant and very welcoming just hoping one of them will work soon


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