# Border Terrier pup biting advice



## Maggiee (Jun 25, 2020)

Good Morning,

Iv joined the forum for some grateful advice with our Border Terrier.

We have a beautiful little pup called Maggie who is tiring us out mainly with her obsession with biting, we look like we have been self harming with the amount of bites on our arms and feet. 

I’m sure this subject has been covered before? I’d just like to make sure it’s normal behaviour? We are doing puppy classes for obedience etc but that only just started so it’s early days. 

We understand puppies mouth & bite but it’s to the extend we can’t really enjoy her, the amount she’s biting, sometimes she seems relentless also “aggressive” but I’m not sure if that’s just frustration as I pick up her to stop her biting me.

We have plenty of chew toys around, goats ears, lamb spaghetti, chews and lickipads but she’s will be board within 2-3 mins of having it, not much that keeps her busy then she’s back to us for attention.

We keep her mind busy by training, she can do sit, lay down, stay and paw which is good at an early age.

If all this sounds normal I’d just like to hear from other owners to make sure Maggie is normal in her biting and it’s a stage of her growing up and not an underlying issue? 

Thanks in advance 

Paul


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

What do you do or say when she bites you?


As I’m sure you’re aware she is trying to play with you in the same manner as she would have done with her siblings. She doesn’t know that humans don’t want to play like this and she needs to be taught that humans don’t like teeth on their skins.

What I found worked best was to totally ignore my pup whenever she tried to nip me. This meant getting to my feet and standing facing the wall with arms folded and out of reach totally ignoring her. She will persist, perhaps jumping up, pulling at clothes, but will give up after a while which is when you go back to her. You and anyone else in the household will need to do this every single time so that she gradually understands that biting means play stops and she is ignored. Puppies don’t like being ignored.

It will take time. Don’t expect it to magically stop on the first day, but if you are persistent it will pay off and she will stop biting you.

She’s not being aggressive by the way, just trying to express her self and play. However she just may not like being picked up, many puppies don’t as it’s an unnerving and scary experience for them. Instead of picking her up lure her away with a toy or treat


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## Maggiee (Jun 25, 2020)

Good advice, Thank you 

We just tell her “NO” 

We struggle when she’s actually got a hold of our skin as it’s difficult not to react as it hurts, the only way we can get her off us is with a distraction with a toy or picking her up (worse case when she’s over excited ) Ok, we will try to ignore her or at least stop play and make it clear we are not continuing to play, we fitted a stair gate in-between our kitchen and lounge to separate us when she’s bites so she has to sit on her own, she normally barks at us until we give her attention that’s the trouble.

Paul


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## JoanneF (Feb 1, 2016)

Great advice from @Siskin, can I just add that -



Maggiee said:


> We just tell her "NO"


This isn't really helpful for pups. They don't speak English, even if they did, they wouldn't know what the 'no' refers to (the playing, the mouthing, the excitement, the noises they are making while doing it etc).

For any behaviour you want to change, it is far easier to ask for a different behaviour instead. Because the brain struggles with negative like this - just try to *not* think of a green and pink striped flying elephant - what's the first thing that comes into your head? So,ask for something different and incompatible. For example, for jumping up? Ask for a sit. She can't do both at the same time.


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## Maggiee (Jun 25, 2020)

Great, 100% I understand what you mean.

Ok, She defiantly knows how to sit that’s easy for her, with a treat I can get her to sit almost all the time.

Yes, she complete ignores “NO” we had run out of ideas to try, but that makes sense. I will get her to sit. Would you recommend using a treat for the time being, little bit of chicken etc or no reward? 


Thank you 

Paul


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

Siskin said:


> What do you do or say when she bites you?
> 
> As I'm sure you're aware she is trying to play with you in the same manner as she would have done with her siblings. She doesn't know that humans don't want to play like this and she needs to be taught that humans don't like teeth on their skins.
> 
> ...


This absolutely. If you want to play with her play tuggy with a toy, do not overexcite her so that she bites you. If she instigates play (bitey) when you do not want to play then do as Siskin suggests. It works with over excited older dogs too, they cant make out where their playmate has gone and soon give up.


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## JoanneF (Feb 1, 2016)

Maggiee said:


> Would you recommend using a treat for the time being, little bit of chicken etc or no reward?


My terrier cross will look at me with a "what's in it for me" expression if I ask him to do something for no reward. So, because he expects to be rewarded for so many things (look mum, I looked at *you*, not that bird 100 yards away) he gets rewarded a lot with his normal food. If it's easier to think of it this way; he earns his lunch.

It's a good idea to have different rewards to hand, a hierarchy. So for a fast and immediate response, a treat; in a difficult environment with distractions maybe a bit of chicken. The idea of keeping the dog guessing is related to the excitement of not knowing what they will get, it's similar to the reason people play slot machines.

And I'm just going to leave this here -


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## Boxer123 (Jul 29, 2017)

JoanneF said:


> My terrier cross will look at me with a "what's in it for me" expression if I ask him to do something for no reward. So, because he expects to be rewarded for so many things (look mum, I looked at *you*, not that bird 100 yards away) he gets rewarded a lot with his normal food. If it's easier to think of it this way; he earns his lunch.
> 
> It's a good idea to have different rewards to hand, a hierarchy. So for a fast and immediate response, a treat; in a difficult environment with distractions maybe a bit of chicken. The idea of keeping the dog guessing is related to the excitement of not knowing what they will get, it's similar to the reason people play slot machines.
> 
> ...


That's brilliant. OP she is gorgeous stick a stamp on her butt and send her to me.

On a serious note it's very normal puppy's are like little crocodile ms they are so cute for this reason I think. Great advice above.


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## LydiaC (Mar 6, 2019)

This is so normal for terriers. We have a beautiful Border Terrier (Bill) and she was an utter wee beast for nipping when she was a pup, and she'd also jump and nip you on the bum for fun. We found the combination of excitement and tiredness was the witches brew for Bill.

So, normal, but irritating and not behaviour you want to continue. We also did the biteyness = end of play. We'd get up and all leave the room for a minute as soon as teeth touched clothing or skin. This could be several times in an evening. We also put a soft house lead on her during the danger hour so we could direct her away without picking her up and upping the excitement/frustration.

Also management - you can begin to sense when crazy bitey face is coming. We'd start training behaviours to help her calm down instead of getting revved up, and played tuggy games for fun so we weren't the tug toy!

It does get better if you're all consistent, promise


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## Maggiee (Jun 25, 2020)

Boxer123 said:


> That's brilliant. OP she is gorgeous stick a stamp on her butt and send her to me.
> 
> On a serious note it's very normal puppy's are like little crocodile ms they are so cute for this reason I think. Great advice above.


She's very cute isn't she, thank you


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## Maggiee (Jun 25, 2020)

LydiaC said:


> This is so normal for terriers. We have a beautiful Border Terrier (Bill) and she was an utter wee beast for nipping when she was a pup, and she'd also jump and nip you on the bum for fun. We found the combination of excitement and tiredness was the witches brew for Bill.
> 
> So, normal, but irritating and not behaviour you want to continue. We also did the biteyness = end of play. We'd get up and all leave the room for a minute as soon as teeth touched clothing or skin. This could be several times in an evening. We also put a soft house lead on her during the danger hour so we could direct her away without picking her up and upping the excitement/frustration.
> 
> ...


Hi,

Thanks allot for your reply.

It helps to know it's just normal behaviour, yes we will try these tips to control the biting, hopfully we can enjoy her more without being bitten. Good idea with the lead, I think using the lead maybe a good way to direct her away from us so we can have the opportunity stop the play until she understand not to bite.

Everybody is very helpful.

Thank you


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Make sure she gets plenty of naps too and learns to settle as pups are like toddlers when tired


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