# Misty, 9 week old Cocker Spaniel Pup, Biting.



## poppydaisyjulia (Jun 17, 2013)

I know it's normal for puppies to be nippy and obviously they need to be taught that biting humans is a definite *no*! She is very friendly and snuggly (especially when she's tired) and she only really bites when we play with her, she absolutely loves a nibble on your fingers and toes and even your nose and ears.

Now I've researched quite a bit and a few methods have been yelping when she bites you so she gets scared and won't do it, this worked for about 5 minutes and then she ignored the yelps.

The next method was telling her NO in a stern voice which she quickly ignores, we are still doing this so that she gets it into her head what no means and after saying no if she carries on biting then she gets put back in her cage so that she knows that if she bites no one will want to play with her.
Another one was using a fly swatter and hitting the floor with it when she bites so that she knows it's naughty, she gets scared, runs off for 30 seconds and then reappears, teeth at the ready.

I have also tried tapping her on the end of the nose but she just tries to bite my finger again.

I know she's young and it's going to take a lot to get it through to her but I was just wondering what methods everybody else used to stop their pups from biting?

I have attached a picture of Misty so you can also what a little softy she is when she's all worn out.


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## Supasilvfoxy (Apr 6, 2013)

She's quite the little beauty isn't she?

I've always found the "yelp" followed my refusing to take part in the game, by turning away and ignoring the puppy, to work. This is how puppies learn bite inhibition in the nest when playing with their litter-mates. i.e Puppy learns: "if I bite too hard when playing nobody will play with me" Using this method, I've never needed to resort to "NO" or tapping a puppies nose, or slapping something on the ground to make a noise. 

Hope this helps!


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## poppydaisyjulia (Jun 17, 2013)

So I should carry on the yelp method and get the rest of the members in my household to do so and after I have yelped turn around and ignore her until she stops nipping and waits to play again? Should I feed her a puppy coaching treat when she stops? Thanks for the reply.


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## Meezey (Jan 29, 2013)

poppydaisyjulia said:


> So I should carry on the yelp method and get the rest of the members in my household to do so and after I have yelped turn around and ignore her until she stops nipping and waits to play again? Should I feed her a puppy coaching treat when she stops? Thanks for the reply.


I just do a loud " Ah Ah" kind of noise and move away tbh I often find if you have an excitable puppy, that doing high pitched squeaky "yelp" noises excite pup even more. Cian is 13 week, and we have now moved to just "no teeth" as the command and he stops, so a loud "Ah Ah" followed by "No Teeth" and move away


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## Supasilvfoxy (Apr 6, 2013)

What ever you decide on it will be easier for the puppy if all the people who have anything to do with the puppy, use the same method. I've always refused to carry on with the game as well as a yelp, that way a puppy learns there are consequences to it's actions, "I bite, play stops", this needs to be only be for 5 seconds or so. You then resume the game. If your puppy then plays with you without biting hard - i.e enough not to make you go "ouch" then thats fine, you reward by saying "Good girl!" That way she will learn bite inhibition, that is it's alright for her to mouth you while playing, but not to bite hard enough for you to say "Ouch!" I really don't think there is any need to use a food treat, the fact that you resume the game should be reward enough.


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## poppydaisyjulia (Jun 17, 2013)

Okay, thanks very much for the replies, I will discuss it with the other family members tonight and get them to go along with it! Then I will report back here if I need anymore assistance or if it is helping!


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## catseyes (Sep 10, 2010)

awww she is gorgeous!!! I have a cockapoo who was a complete bite addict as a puppy.. me and hubby have never known a pup like her and it took a loooong time to get her out of it.. up until maybe 5 months possibly longer.

we did the yelp and it made her worse she would start them doing zoomies and thought it was fun. we found the easiest thing to do was an ah ah and then turning our back on her or walking away from the play.. she was much worse when tired and sometimes needed enforced sleep.

Good luck and hang in there we thought it would never end but then one day you just realise they have stopped.

(unless your hubby who likes to blow on her face and play fight with her!! but he knows she plays this way with him, she wont with me)


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## Riff Raff (Feb 12, 2013)

poppydaisyjulia said:


> So I should carry on the yelp method and get the rest of the members in my household to do so and after I have yelped turn around and ignore her until she stops nipping and waits to play again? Should I feed her a puppy coaching treat when she stops? Thanks for the reply.


I agree with the advice to yelp and withdraw attention. Rather than the treat in this case I would tend to try to redirect her to a toy - tuggy or chewy toys work well. A puppy biting a toy is a puppy that isn't biting humans.


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## poppydaisyjulia (Jun 17, 2013)

Hi all, tried the yelping method, instead it gets her excited and she bites more as this morning where she launched herself at my face and nipped my cheek, I shut the door on her and walked out and told her "NO BITE" sternly before I left her to think about her actions, I watched her and then returned when she looked like she knew she did wrong and she had calmed down and just licked instead. Think I may carry on testing out this method.


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## catseyes (Sep 10, 2010)

lol i had my fair share of face nips with zelda.. she was a face flyer as well!


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## CliffandDi (Apr 23, 2013)

Hi,

What a beauty!

We had this type of behaviour with our Springer cross from 8-12 weeks. On two occasions she drew blood when she caught my wife's top lip. It usually happened in the evening when she was tired so we tried the high pitched yelp but that didn't work too well. The problem was solved after persevering, just by leaving the room for a few minutes. Millie soon learned that this little game did not have the desired effect. 

Good luck!


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## cathrob (Jun 15, 2013)

Hi, our westie/yorkie cross is 12 weeks now and I have been covered in bite marks since then, but it is definitely getting better. He is obviously just playing and is adorable when content and sleepy. I have started tapping his bum and shouting no when he bites, this seems to give the best result. Also, I always have a chewy toy handy. He still has his mad 1/2 hour though when he turns into tazmanian devil, racing round and attacking toes.... 
:blink:


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## Meezey (Jan 29, 2013)

cathrob said:


> Hi, our westie/yorkie cross is 12 weeks now and I have been covered in bite marks since then, but it is definitely getting better. He is obviously just playing and is adorable when content and sleepy. I have started tapping his bum and shouting no when he bites, this seems to give the best result. Also, I always have a chewy toy handy. He still has his mad 1/2 hour though when he turns into tazmanian devil, racing round and attacking toes....
> :blink:


I honestly would be making any contact with him, even a tap on the bum or shouting  it's really the tone of your voice, not the volume, tapping him and shouting isn't really teaching him to control his jaws round you hence the biting with excitement still. What he's doing is natural. A sharp "No" doesn't have to be shouting, and walking away from him is better than a tap on the bum and shouting.......


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## Jasper Gem (Jun 10, 2013)

Have read these posts as Jasper's nipping is getting a tad more ouchy! I appreciate that, up to a point, nipping may well be normal (9 wk ESS). But it's deciding on where the 'up to a point' actually is. In particular, he's started nipping at backs of legs when we're playing with him with balls in the garden.... Am currently opting for the loud(ish) 'ow!', followed by arms folded, ignoring him, then walking away. Not sure how effective it is but think we need to give it a while to see if it's working.

Good luck with Misty!


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## poppydaisyjulia (Jun 17, 2013)

Hiya,
This morning she's not as bitey, I notice that she only really bites when she gets too excited playing, so hopefully while she's calming down as she gets older the biting will lessen, we are still telling her no and she stops and looks at us, if she carries on she gets told off again and then we don't play with her for a minute to show her she's wrong.


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## Nicky10 (Jan 11, 2010)

It's great you're making progress she's such a cutie. I think all play stopping and ignoring them is the best way, she'll learn eventually she's only a baby really still.


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## Meezey (Jan 29, 2013)

poppydaisyjulia said:


> Hiya,
> This morning she's not as bitey, I notice that she only really bites when she gets too excited playing, so hopefully while she's calming down as she gets older the biting will lessen, we are still telling her no and she stops and looks at us, if she carries on she gets told off again and then we don't play with her for a minute to show her she's wrong.


She will learn  they bite in play with their litter mates, they don't realise that we are not to tough as their litter mates  If you keep it up that she will soon learn no teefs on the humans coz they is wimps


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## poppydaisyjulia (Jun 17, 2013)

Hi Everyone,
She's not as bad today and I think she is getting the hang of fetching and not biting, I have been picking her up and popping her down on the floor, pushing her bum down so she sits and holding her favourite ball infront of her, if she bites she doesn't get to chase it but if she doesn't and sits still for 5 seconds she is allowed it, it's working quite well and she's started bringing it back to me sometimes too. I'm hoping she will be a good well behaved doggy, would love to teach her tricks! She seems to love jumping over the wood that holds the chairs together underneath, would be fun to teach her how to do a course when she's older and more tamed! 

Also, here is a quick pic of her chewing her tail, maybe that'll teach her that biting hurts!


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## Nicky10 (Jan 11, 2010)

Have you looked into clicker training for her? Cockers are pretty smart little dogs I'm sure she'll pick up tricks soon enough. Have a look at Kikopup on youtube she has basic training videos.


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## Velcro (May 20, 2013)

it seems to make poppy giddy when we yelp when she nips us v_v 

as that doesn't seem to work for us (the little sod, she resembles Ed from the lion king when she goes all giddy) we are trying to swap the human bitey parts and shove a chew toy in her gob instead. of all the things she seems to like as well, its a plastic bloody bottle. all that money spent on all that kong stuff as well. tsk.


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## Sarah89 (May 5, 2013)

Hiya, shes gorgeous!!! 

One thing i noticed in your first post was that you put her in her cage when she is naughty. I personally wouldn't use her cage as punishment as she will start to resent being in there rather than seeing it as her snug, safe little bed. You should start throwing some of her fave treats and toys in there so she has positive associations with it. This is crucial for when you need to pop her in there so she doesnt become distressed. 

Good luck with the nipping!


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## Jasper Gem (Jun 10, 2013)

Jasper seems to nip when we're in the garden - usually when he's overtired. Problem is, that it's very difficult to ignore him cos he seems to decide it's a good idea to nip when we're in the furthest bit, away from the door, and he's got us almost cornered...... clearly need to work on not letting him get between us and the back door. Have started holding his collar with a firm no. Has worked twice this morning. Will see what happens later on!


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## WhatWouldSidDo (Nov 17, 2012)

Yelping very often doesn't work, I wouldn't bother with it. Almost all puppy's go through this period where they are hurting there owners hands because they have such "needle like" puppy teeth. 

You may do better with distraction tactics, using tug toys. You'll need quite a few to keep the pups interest in them.


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## Velcro (May 20, 2013)

We're having much better luck with the toys than the yelping! It's not stopped entirely but it's much better!

...now to get her off the long curtains lol... One thing at a time hahaha!


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## poppydaisyjulia (Jun 17, 2013)

Oh god, I cannot wear a maxi dress around her, she ends up hanging off of it! She loves eating my hair, I have stretched ears so I have to try and keep her hanging off those as well! She is such a little madam!!! Our best bet with her biting us at the moment is if she is up on our laps we put her on the floor and ignore her, we still keep leaving the room and now we're replacing our limbs with her chew toys, she is calming down a bit but she does have a tendency to run around growling when she gets a bit too excited about biting which isn't good at all, we tell her off for growling as it's not friendly behaviour.


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## Velcro (May 20, 2013)

Hahaha oh no! They are little buggers!! I've not even thought about what she'd do if I wore a maxi dress! She likes to go for my dressing gown though..... so I guess she'd like that too!


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## poppydaisyjulia (Jun 17, 2013)

Velcro said:


> Hahaha oh no! They are little buggers!! I've not even thought about what she'd do if I wore a maxi dress! She likes to go for my dressing gown though..... so I guess she'd like that too!


SAME! She keeps trying to get the cord of my dressing gown haha! Little pig she is!


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