nittynat

Hi my 14 week old puppy won't stop biting. I have tried reading up on this, google, this forum etc and I understand it's part of what they do, but need some tips on stopping this to some extent.

He is continually biting at myself and my kids. We've told him to stop, tapped his nose, gave him a toy etc, but nothing is stopping him and he is getting worse. It really hurts and he's now bit both my kids to the point of them in tears.

Can anyone give me advise as what to do, please. He is constantly biting and goes for anything/any part of the body he can get hold of.

thanks

charady2

What worked best for me is basically a loud ouch and moving that body part away from the dog. If he tried to bite again, I would get up and move away from him completely. Now he does this nibbling thing but will still stop if I give a loud ouch again. Took quite awhile but he caught on and barely bites now (unless my kids rile him up...he feeds off their energy!)

henry'smum

Our trainer told us to make a loud high pitched yelp like a hurt puppy would and turn our back on Henry, you feel like an idiot but it worked a treat... and still does if he jumps for a toy and catches us!

Barney'spal

What everyone has said DOES work. It took me 2 months though. Now he just nibbles at my clothes....going after the buttons. Alot of patience...make sure the kids do it too. Good luck!

Mikey T

First off you really don't want to stop the puppy form biting, not at this age you ewant to teach the puppy not to bite hard. See Bite Inhibition - how to teach it

This is something that is very hard for kids to do, and their normal reaction to being bit actual are percieved the dog as them wanting to play even harder. Dog pite kid pushes dog away dog comes charging back. etc The kids raise the excitement level of the pup to the point it can not control itself. That is a problem when the pup starts to get overexcite you must stop the game. If you can do this by ignoreing the dog fine if not then use a crate and let him back out when the arrousal is lower When the dog is over excited it can not lear nor does it listen you need to keep this in mind. And how you reacct is going to have a profound effect. If your arousal level increases so will the dogs when pthe puppy startst to get excited yuu need to do the opposite become slower calmer and more deliberate in your actions.

Over stimulated Dog

Also if you do a search of the site "self control" you should find a number of excersizes to help in this area.

nittynat

Thank you for your advice. I will try it, I suppose I'm expecting it to work overnight (Doh!). Definitely need patience.

Mikey T, I'm doing exactly what you're saying, pushing him away, because it hurts so much, hence he then thinks I'm playing, comes back even harder etc.

Thanks again. Love this website. Think I will be asking alot more questions in the future and this site will probably keep me sane

Mikey T

Simply ouch and stop all movement generally work but not always the more excited the dog the slowe you need to move but be aware and work at calming the dog
I game that I play with puppies is when play tug etc I will stop and they do not get to play again until they are calm enough to let me pet them without going afte muy hand. I ussual keep my hand in a fist so if the pup does lung for it they the have a hard time really latching on but as soon as I see any mvement from the dog I stop. The quickly lear to calm down quickly as it gets them more play. You need to be more proactive and start working on the calming exercises before the dog is over the top.

FWIW dog natural reaction is to resist pressure. Push a dog away he will push harder to get to you. Use a harnes on a dog walk dog pulls feel pressure on the chest and pulls even harder. To get a toy out of a dog mouth while playing tug the harder you pull the harder the dog pulls. However if you stop pulling or actual push the toy further into the dogs mouth he will release it.

The way to end play biting is to end the play.