[SuzyQ]

hi everyone~

hope you all had a fabulous weekend. went home to visit daisy over easter weekend, and she's gotten bigger! unfortunately, sharper teeth + stronger jaw = painful biting.

the biting usually occurs in spurts, esp. after she eats a meal. she plays pretty aggressively with her toys...lots of growling. while playing she actually broke the top layer of my skin, and later that night she bit my mom hard enough that she bled a little.

our vet recommended wrapping your hand around daisy's muzzle and gently shaking it when she bites things other than her toys (she has a nylabone, rawhide, a squeaky bone and a stuffed animal). we also tried yelping in pain and then turning around and ignoring her. that seems to work, but only temporarily.

is this normal behavior for a puppy? should we be doing something we're not? i would appreciate any suggestions on how to handle this!

thanks!

 

[jami]

Sounds like you are doing what you should. I have read that some people spray bitter apple or use a spray bottle and spray water but I have never tried. I might try with my new baby but with my other two dogs I just told no and then ignored. If it got to bad I would put them in their exercise pen and ignore them until they calmed down.

 

[dr.jaimie]

sounds like you are doing all the right things..another thing to do is once the biting starts then you stop playing. Parker was the same way...he still likes to play with hands though b/c my hubby plays w/ him that way, so he doesnt help

 

[sydneysmom]

My pup also likes to bite. When she bites, we tell her no and give her a toy. If she continues we put her down and ignore her for about 2-3 minutes. This seems to be helping some but from all I've read this is pretty normal behavior for these little ones. Good luck.

 

[mocha1111]

I am currently going through the same thing with "Love" (my daughter named him), although he is only 9 weeks. I wanted to try to start training, but I am not having much luck. He just wants to bite my hands or feet when I try the "sit" command. I would really like to work on the sit, stay, and come command.

At what age can you start training? Is he too young? I haven't even found a good treat that he likes. I tried cheese, kong with peanut butter, dry kibble, squeaky toy, but nothing holds his interest long. He would rather play bite with my hands or feet. I have noticed that he does not bite as hard as he use to, though. I guess he is learning that mommy doesn't like when he bites. He has plenty of toys to play with, and when he starts biting me, I do the "no bite" and give him a toy.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[dr.jaimie]

it is never too young to start training, but keep your sessions short like 5-10 minutes if he is loosing intrest. parker only liked the jerky type treats when he was little, i just broke them into very tiny pieces so it only took a few secs for him to eat it. parker was stubborn w/ training also...just work with your puppy everyday and eventually things will catch on!

 

[SuzyQ]

thanks for all the helpful suggestions...we might try the spray bottle route if the ignoring doesn't work.

as far as training, daisy's doing pretty well. she can sit on command, but we're working on the staying. once she's old enough we're going to take her to puppy classes and probably an obedience class as well.

anyone have experience with either one?

 

[sydneysmom]

mocha1111 - Sydney loves honey nut cheerios. When she was 9 wks we started training her with them....she'll do almost anything for even a half a cheerio

 

[TikisMom]

Well, I guess I will put my 2 cents in with the others

I agree with all of the tactics used above. Tiki was quite a biter during play time. I have the same problem as LadyMontava though because my husband also likes to play the "bite at the hands game" <_< with Tiki often.

In addition to holding the muzzle holding with a "no bite" I had to (gently) roll Tiki onto his back and look into his eyes (until he looked away).... all while saying "no bite" (of course you let go of his nose....I would do this if he bit again after the holding technique). My vet told us to do this whenever he was showing a behavior that we had a hard time stopping. It shows that you are the alpha dog and mean business. Then I would let him up and grab a toy, play with him and give him lots of love for good gently playing. It worked pretty quickly with Tiki. He never bites at my hands much and when I say "no biting, get a toy" he will run off and bring me a toy to play with. He has learned that he can't bite my hands but that "daddy" will play rough with him. I am lucky, I have no small children around.... if I did I think I would insist that my husband stop the bitting game.

Puppy classes can be great, they force you to spend time with the pup. Remember though that you will have homework, 5 - 15 minuets a day to re-enforce what you learned in class. They can also be good for socialization and you may meet new puppy friends Daisy can play with.

You can be just as effective though if you are consistent and come up with a routine. There are many books on the subject at the library and book store. You may want to read through them even if you are going to enroll in a class.

Keep us updated on her progress.... love new puppy stories!

Judi

 

[dcsgirl]

We started tranning Fay when she was 7 weeks and has gone great. She learned the sit and down commands in just 1 week. There's nothing cutter than seing a tiny pup answering your commands.
I think it's great to start early, that way they learn to pay attention and focus.

I started going to dog tranning classes, but I didn't like their system beacuse they used very scary looking trainning collars which I considered cruel for my little girl. I didn't want to intimidate her, I wanted tranning to be fun. So, If your taking your pup to a dog school make sure you feel confortable with their method.

Now I usually use tiny cut of beef or cheese to praise her when trainning. I got her to "say hi" (giving her paw) in just 30 minutes using her grooming table, so she would listen to me. You could always get a good book on trainning, some have great tips.

Good Luck with your puppy

 

[mocha1111]

sydneysmom - I am definitely going to try the Honey Nut Cheerios. At least if he doesn't like them, I can eat them.

I will alsy try holding his mouth and looking at him until he looks away. I think that is a great idea. He is so cute. I can tell he doesn't bite me as hard now. He mostly licks and nibbles...lol

 

[Rubysmom]

Ruby is 8 weeks old (we got her when she was 6 weeks). She is mostly very loving but does get in her moods when she bites and growls. There is little that can stop her when she gets in such moods. Also will growl and tug on pant legs and bite feet. I have found telling her no doesn't really work and she ignores me when I say "ouch". Ignoring her or stopping play works temporarily. Last night I just made a contraption after advice from my aunt who raised a baby poodle. I took a tin can and put pennies in it and taped foil over the end. When she gets into a "biting frenzy" I shake the can which makes a loud nosie and she stops dead in her tracks. So far, I have not noticed that it makes her afraid of me otherwise, and it seems to get her attention as the other techniques don't. Do you think this is to harsh??

 

[TikisMom]

This is considered an acceptable way of training your puppy. I have included two quotes from diffrent training sites that refer to this idea.

I have never tried it myself as a verbal command has always worked. I do shake a tupperware cup containing treats to get tiki to come to me though.

shake can:
If puppy does not respond to a verbal command only, try a shake can. Get an empty and clean soda can and place about 10 pennies in it. Tape the mouth shut. When your pup starts to nip, give the verbal command and at the same time give the can a good shake or drop it next to puppy (not on him please). This will help reinforce the verbal command. As soon as he stops, praise and give him a good toy to chew.[/B]

Punishment delivered by you may erode your dog?s trust.
That?s why punishment is most effective when it does not
come directly from you. For example, after your dog acts
in an undesirable way, use a shake can, an air horn, or keys?
but don?t draw attention to the fact that the noise comes
from you. If your dog perceives her ?environment,? instead
of you, to be delivering the punishment, she?ll be more likely
to avoid the behavior even when you?re not around.[/B]

Judi

 

[Rubysmom]

Thanks for the quotes. Ruby seems to have gotten less scared by the can. She will now bark at at and pounce towards it when before she would run away afraid. I am fretting that this may not work much longer with her as she gets more used to it. I also find that when telling her no or trying to hold her mouth shut, she only becomes more aggressive, growling and thrashing her head back and forth. Again, she is not like this all of the time. It seems like she just gets into a "mode" a couple hours before bedtime where she does not listen to anything. Is this normal? And will some of this wil behavior go away as sghe gets older?

 

[LexiAndNikkisMom]

Rubysmom: Lexi is the same as Ruby. She gets in what I call her rotweiler (sp bad) moods about once every day or so. She just starts growling and bitting. There is nothing that seems to work except putting her in her crate for 30 minutes or so.

Sometimes she while playing she will start to bark or bite. I have tried a lot of different methods to stop the barking and biting but nothing works. I am going to try the pennies in a can when I get home tonight. If anyone has any other suggestions please let me know.

I am on the highway with her a lot and normally she is very good but twice in the last week so just went nuts and would not stop barking. Last Friday I was going to visit my parents (3.5 hour drive) and after a hour of barking I finally had it and set her crate up in the back set and put her in it. She barked for another hour. I was so happy when she finally wore herself out.

 

[jami]

I had a cocker spaniel, that when he was a puppy did this - barking and growling and nothing I did would stop him. I would just pick him up and put him in his playard with his toys and leave him alone for a while. Dogs are really smart and it did not take him long to figure out that if he was biting me I would not be with him. Dogs do not like to be ignored.

 

[Rubysmom]

I am just going to try to be consistent in making Ruby know that biting is not acceptable and hope she catches on soon by not giving her attention when she acts this way. I am surprised to see so much aggression and noise come out of such a little thing!! She is very smart and attentive otherwise- she already knows how to sit, lay, stand, and shake- she learned all of this in less than a week and she is only 8 weeks old. She is also doing very well with going potty outside. We skipped having her go on paper at all. She does not have accidents inside unless it is a time when I am not watching her that I should have known she would have had to go and didn't bring her our right away. I have thought of putting her in her crate when she bites and growls but from what I understand, you are not supposed to use the crate as punishment or she won't want to go in there. I work during the day, so she has to be in there sometimes. I have to get batteries for my digital cam and I will post a picture. This is my first puppy and I am surprised to see how different every maltese looks! Let me know how the tin can works!