The biting is starting to worry me...

[mannetti]

We've had our guy since 8weeks, he is now 12wks and the biting does not seem much better than 4weeks ago. My fiance and I do the whole "Ouch!", "No!" thing, we stop playing, we offer a toy, and we put him in another room for about 5mins.

I understand puppies bite, but this seems excessive even for a puppy. I don't remember my last boxer puppy being anywhere near this bad. He bites when we play, he bites when we ignore, he bites when we walk (both the leash and us), he bites when we try to pet him, etc, etc. He's made us bleed several times now. He's getting bigger and the bites are really starting to hurt now. Its impossible to just ignore when he is attacking feet, knees, and thighs as we sit on the couch. He's made each of us late for work because he's ripped our clothes before leaving in the morning. My fiance has at times resorted to wrapping her legs with a thick blanket while she sits on the couch because he is relentless. You can push him away and as you are doing so, you will get bit.

We have tried 2 different "no bite/no chew" sprays on our hands and feet, but he actually likes the taste. To me, it doesn't seem to be aggressive biting, but more of play biting. Although, there are times when he begins growling when you push him away, so perhaps he is being aggressive? I don't know?

He is driving us absolutely insane and we are at a total loss of what to do next. HELP!

 

[Althea]

I understand your frustration. I had a Chesapeake Bay puppy years ago who did the same thing. I thought that dog would drive me nuts!

First off, he's a puppy. They love to bite and chew. He's not showing aggression when he plays with you -- he's playing. It sounds to me like the poor guy is not getting enough exercise. Have you tried making play dates for him? Puppy classes often offer some play time, but how about other dogs in your neighborhood or friends' dogs? IF they are vaccinated, you should be fine until your boy finishes his vaccinations.

And perhaps get better chewing-satisfaction toys? Some real bones, some bully sticks, etc.

One of the best things I can recommend is to find a really good trainer, a good puppy class, and go and talk to the trainer. They can assess the situation because they can see what is going on and help you fix it. Just make sure it's a good trainer that believes in positive reinforcement.

Good luck!

 

[Caney Creek]

Not aggression; just play. Any form of attention you give him, even pushing him away, he sees as play -- ROUGH play that just gets him more fired up.

If he is un-phased by the "ouch!-ignore" method, you're going to have to take it a step further and leave him alone. Practice this in a bathroom or somewhere that when he bites, you can easily get up, walk out and close the door behind you, leaving the puppy alone without anything else to entertain himself with or get into. After a minute or so when he's been silent for just a moment (you also don't want him to learn that whining and causing a racket gets you to come back) you go back in and repeat. THAT will be the ultimate lesson for him -- when he bites, ALL fun is removed and he's left all alone with no one to play with and nothing to do. For some puppies, "no" or "ouch" is simply not a strong enough deterrent -- as long as you're still there, you're fair game!

Every puppy has its own personality and some are a lot more persistent with the whole biting thing. One of my biggest fears is that the next puppy we get won't be the "dream puppy" that Caney was. She was SO sweet and so eager to please... I just hope I'm not too disappointed when our next pup isn't exactly the same! :o LOL Of course I'm sure I will love the next one in it's own special way

 

[cscarro]

we had the same exact issue and i was really starting to get worried there for a bit. I agree with everyone else's comments. The "no" and "ouch" didn't seem to work for us either so when stella was biting, i would get up and literally go to the closest room (door, closet, bathroom) and shut the door behind me, leaving a confused pup behind. if i came out and she started again, i would go back until she calmed down. occasionally, i would put her in a time out too (put her in the bathroom for a few minutes)...after consistent practice, she started to get it. biting means play stops. no fun.

I also learned to praise her when she licked instead of biting (and would say no bite). others recommended to me reading up on bite inhibition and the importance of addressing that as well. I found some of those techniques and strategies to work as well. Now, if we are playing and she gets too rough, I say, "easy" and she responds to that.

i would also agree that exercise helps and keeping the pup as tired as possible! i know people are concerned about getting the dog out when they haven't had all their shots, but socialization and exercise are as important to keeping your dog safe. I would walk ours all over the neighborhood (on sidewalks), take her to places where there were a lot of people and do anything i could to tire her out. we had tons of puppy play dates which also help.

and finally, just be patient. i completely understand your frustration as I was there too. but, it seemed at about 4 months, she started to grow out of this nipping and biting phase and we haven't had a problem since (she is only 6 months old but she's like a different dog)...

hope this helps a little

 

[samsons]

play dates ~

just FYI ...

i could not find sammy any friends to play with .. and in class all he was interested in was other dogs - ( for those who dont know me , sam was a BYB stud dog - lived in a cage for 2 years & never socialized )

so sammy put a add on craigs list for 'friends" i spoke a little about him , his play style ect -ADDED some requirements of the other dogs ect -

and my email has gone nuts !! we have had play dates ( multiple dogs ) every day the last week !! sam now has a "popular peer sharing site" page and has several friends - i couldnt keep all the emails straight !

so if having a hard time finding play dates - make a ad ... u will be shocked at how many parents feel the same , and just hadn't come up with a way to meet ppl !

( i did interview the parents and asked for shot record )

 

[bradford]

Tucker is in that stage too and it's driving me nuts. He seems to be better after really long walks or, when that's not possible, after I put him in a pen. I've noticed that he doesn't care for his chew toys, but loves the chew foods, like those granola bar for dogs, peanut butter, and even carrots.

 

[Sansal]

If he is un-phased by the "ouch!-ignore" method, you're going to have to take it a step further and leave him alone. Practice this in a bathroom or somewhere that when he bites, you can easily get up, walk out and close the door behind you, leaving the puppy alone without anything else to entertain himself with or get into. After a minute or so when he's been silent for just a moment (you also don't want him to learn that whining and causing a racket gets you to come back) you go back in and repeat. THAT will be the ultimate lesson for him -- when he bites, ALL fun is removed and he's left all alone with no one to play with and nothing to do. For some puppies, "no" or "ouch" is simply not a strong enough deterrent -- as long as you're still there, you're fair game!

I had to take it one step further with Sky, because even if I would leave the room my other dog would still be there and my DH watching a ball game or something and not willing to get up and leave... so instead of leaving her alone when she went too crazy, I picked her up and put her in the bathroom for one minute. Worked really well.

 

[mannetti]

Wanted to post an update on the biting situation...

Our boy is now 3.5months old. Things have gotten better and worse at the same time. There are times when he is biting/nipping and I believe he is doing it in play, and then there are times when he is clearly "annoyed" and is biting in response. In both cases, it has become completely unacceptable.

When I say he is annoyed, it can stem from being on the leash, after quarantining him in a separate room for several minutes, or just about any time when telling him "No".

For example, if I sit on the couch with a glass of water, he insists on trying to get up on the couch to mouth the glass. 99% of the time, pushing him away and telling him "no" results in heightening the behavior to the point where he starts nipping, or he will stand about 3 feet away and bark non-stop. When I get up from the couch to remove him, he takes off. Then he immediately returns to repeat the process all over.


I know everyone's first inclination is to question the dog's daily exercise. I do my best to take him for at least an hour walk when I get home from work every day. I say "do my best" because 50% of the hour is consumed with battling him on the leash as he resembles a combination of a bucking bronco and alligator. On the weekends he goes to the park for a couple hours. On those days he comes home and passes out for hours. I don't think I should have to run my puppy into the ground to get him to behave...which actually isn't behaving, just sleeping.

We really are at wits end. It's become an enormous amount of daily and unrelenting stress. If I knew what I was doing wrong, I'd fix it in a heartbeat. I'm getting worried that if things don't at least BEGIN to get better, we are going to come to a point where we will need to find a new home for this pup. It makes me extremely sad to even let that though into my head, but I simply don't know how to change the behavior.

HELP!

 

[bradford]

Unfortunately, I don't have any advice, but I'm beginning to think our puppies were littermates. Tucker associate biting with play and I haven't figured out how to convince him otherwise. If I turn my back on him, he just bites the back of my legs. If I put in the bathroom, he starts up as soon as he's released it he still wants to play. Thankfully, he's not like that all the time. After I've taken him for a walk or when he's just woken up from a nap (i.e. his energy level is low), but once the energy starts rising, the biting starts to occur. I'm convinced he'll grow out of it, but it would be nice if his growing out of it started soon rather than later.

 

[srennie]

I had the same feelings with our last boy who we brought home at 9 weeks old. I thought starting from 'scratch' would make him the best dog. He was horrible...mostly with me. My husband loved him, my boys loved him...I, I'm ashamed to say, had moments of hatred for him. More than once I told my husband we'd need to re-home him because he had zero respect for me and would become so wild I couldn't control him. It came to a point when I knew I had to change something. I needed to take a deep breath, I needed to calm my own energy. My frustration level was through the roof and he knew it and pushed my every button and got on my last nerve. As an act of deperation I started grasping for anything, ANYTHING, we could do together for fun that would burn some energy in him. That is when I got him his first frisbee and he was a total natural. He LOVED frisbee!!! We would play until he stopped. I went from frustrated and fed up to cheering him on and clapping and laughing every time he leaped into the air and caught it and he was so proud of himself! The frisbee literally over night changed our relationship. So, my advice to you would be to take a breath, think of something that would be a fun way to channel his energy where you can participate with him in an
un-frustrated state of mind. Our boy was almost 3 years old before I re-fell in love with him. I'm so glad I stuck it out. from 3-9y/o when he passed away he was a great dog!! We just had to find a way to relate that worked for both of us.