# puppy biting



## claire5439 (Oct 7, 2008)

I have a 8 week old puppy, and hes really getting me down. whenever anyone moves hes bites their trousers. if your sat down he bites their trousers/ankles. if he has something hes not allowed and you try and take it off him he gets really aggressive. 
I have read a few things online and some say its natural for puppies to bite but I am just getting worried about his aggressiveness. also i have read because we had him so young, his mother didnt teach him its not acceptable to bite or something. 
i am really feeling bad about this because i feel like i have done something or am doing something wrong. 
i have read a few things on here about ignoring him, so when i am playing with him 9 times out of 10 he will bite and i will stop playing with him. then resume after so many seconds. i have also tried putting him in a separate room for a short time. 
nothing seems to be working.


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## finoni9 (Sep 5, 2008)

I've found to say "ow" loudly, stand up and walk away and ignore him for a few minutes - it soons sorts it out. Same for the aggression - Rocky seemed to do this a bit at first and I used to just stand up, turn my back on him and ignore him and he soon stopped.


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## boodlebear (Oct 13, 2008)

Sounds like he's acting like a typical 8 week old puppy imo! 
Try distracting him to mouth on something else that he is allowed i.e. one of his toys. If he is intent on mouthing you then I agree with Finon do the loud yelp which is what sibling puppies would do or tell him firmly NO and then place him in another room and ignore him for a few minutes. Distracting my GSD's with toys usually worked, they begin to learn that they are allowed to bite the toys and not you.


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## Guest (Oct 20, 2008)

Hi Claire 

If pup was given to you too early it means that he didnt have long enough to play with his littermates. During this play, the puppies would learn from each other how hard is too hard to play-bite, and would gradually learn to nip softly.

Even if your pup had come to you at the recommended 7-8 weeks be under no illusion its mother would have taught it not to play-bite lol thats your job I'm afraid. Whats important is to gradually phase the biting out so that the pup learns to bite softly. Then if for whatever reason he was to bite as an adult he wouldnt do much damage. Only when he has learnt to bite softly should you forbid him from doing it at all in play.

Zach was a big biter when he came to us, it took us a good couple of months to phase it out. In fact now at almost 6 months, at exciting times he still will mouth softly to get your attention... grr... lol. I'm afraid its all part of having a pup.

You say you have tried many techniques which is great but unfortunately it will take a while for the pup to learn and so you must pick one technique, get every family member/ visitor to stick to this technique, and stick rigidly to it for a number of weeks. A week or so of doing it all the time (it no doubt is becoming frustrating for you) is unfortunately not enough.

I would recommend the squeal & timeout technique. When pup bites with pressure, squeal loudly as if you are a fellow littermate and you are telling him "ouch that hurt". If he comes back for more squeal once more. If he comes back a third time, calmly take him to his time-out area, a safe area away from you (we used the kitchen which is separated from us by a baby gate). 

He should eventually see this as you saying "its time to calm down". After a few minutes of quiet from him, go and let him in with you again. Carry on from step one.

The most important thing to remember is dont shout, hit, or do anything other than squeal/calmly take him to time out. All of this is giving him attention which is what he is after. Even when he is driving you crazy, resist the urge to do anything else.

If after time out he comes out and doesnt bite within a few minutes, then I'd recommend you start up a game with him so he realises that calm no-biting behaviour leads to fun and biting-behaviour will simply end up with him in time out.


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## Guest (Oct 20, 2008)

Play biting is a good thing - albeit painful for you initially. Your pup will learn bite inhibition therefore a nicer dog to be around.

My 17 week old pup was a terrible play biter - and now although she still does it she does it soft.

For instance we are looking after a young baby and Lily will pull his socks off. Now imagine how small a wee baby's feet are. Well, she dont hurt the baby and there are certainly no teeth marks.

So rest assured your pup will grow out of it with the right 'teaching'.


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## gilly145 (Oct 19, 2008)

Hi there - we have a 3 month old puppy and he is biting alot too! I have tried lots of things to try and stop it - we now have a water spray bottle and I have used this a couple of times which have stopped the biting there and then!

I don't really like using the spray bottle, but so far it seems to be the most effective thing to stop him. I am using it sparingly as I dont want this to turn into a game.

Your puppy is very young and you probably will need to give him a little time. Good luck though, blimey, its quite hard work with a little puppy isn't it, but I honestly wouldn't be without him!!

Gilly
x


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## mrsaarvark (Oct 18, 2008)

Hi we have a nine week old yorkie, who is teething, and thus biting. We substitute a dog toy, instead of our fingers, it works most of the time. 
I think I will try the ouch method though, that sounds, very logical.


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## Dundee (Oct 20, 2008)

The Bite Stops Here

Have a read of this... it has some great tips and explains why you need to teach bite inhibition rather than getting them to stop... and for that reason, I would not use a water spray.

It is perfectly normal puppy behaviour, not aggression.... and as has been said, he may have missed learning from his littermates that his bite was too hard if you got him too young, but he will still have been playbiting and need to be taught.


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## Merry (Oct 24, 2008)

I need even more help please.
Our 5 month old golden retriever, Daisy, was removed from her mother at 5 1/2 weeks. she also did not learn proper biting inhibition.

She started out biting my ankles and tugging at the leash. 

Now, when I take her for a walk, she jumps up bites, grabbing at my clothes, and even growling.

As a "last resort" I got a prong collar. It is OK once we GET walking, and I "check her gently", but if the walk is interrupted for any reason, (like a dog behind a fence), the jumping and biting starts all over. 

Daisy is not mean an aggressive in other ways. She now plays gently with other dogs, and us, in the house. 

Her behavior is not so aggressive with my husband. He says it is because I "babied" her too much in the beginning and he was stricter from the get go.

Your advise will be much appreciated, and is much needed.
Merry


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## Shane (Oct 24, 2008)

Remain calm, the more you respond by pulling in the opposite direction and so on the more excited the dog gets.
You need to ensure that the dog is not being rewarded for this behavior, for the dog the reward could just be the general excitement. I would first try totally ignoring the dog, stand still, do not look at the dog, don't speak, dint move. As soon as the dog calms down, you can reward for calming down and being quiet.
You can also use training disc's to drop on the floor, this distracts the dog and they normally dont like it. If you over use this method though you could end up getting the dog accustomed to the discs so they stop working. also they are not good to use with nervy dogs as you may make them worse


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## esiteans (Oct 25, 2008)

Maybe you can try to ignore the biting (just do nothing). Once he find it boring, he'll probably stop doing this.


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## Merry (Oct 24, 2008)

Remaining calm. Great advice! The tugging and pulling HAS become a game.
I don't know what training disks are but I'll figure out something.
This morning, after a few tries, my husband got her walking and then handed the leash over to me, and we kept going. (He has MUCH better results.) 
This worked this time, but I did not go very far, because I feared if I got too far off, I would have to deal with the problem alone.

I will remain open to any and all suggestions! Thanks for this advice.


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## annax (Sep 21, 2008)

my pup is 3 1/2 months old and bites my hands, my arms, my feet and pulls my trousers. i have tried ignoring but to be honest the older hes getting the harder he is biting so now ignoring is not an option as it really hurts!! if i give out an 'ouch' he just ignores it. the water thing works for a min but i dont think its right to be chucking water all the time!! 
im hopeing he will grow out of it as he is still very young. and just use his toys to try and distract him. i just dont think he realises yet that it actually hurts!!

does anybody agree with this?


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## Chance (Jul 8, 2008)

We had this problem with Chance and as much as you hope it will, there are moments when you think "Will she be like this forever?".

Well, she is now 6 months and although she feels the need to wrap her teeth round my hands, the biting has vastly reduced and the licking has started.

Persevere and you WILL get there.


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