Bad Bad Puppy!!! need advice (puppy biting)

Hi,

I have a 9 week old airedale terrier puppy, he is getting very mouthy and biting very hard.

he is biting to the point it draws blood and if you tell him off in any type of way he just comes back and bites harder. he wont even swap my hand ect.. for a toy.

we are going to take him to puppy classes but we cant for like another 2-3 weeks, i cant take the biting much longer it really hurts.

im willing to try anything!!! please help!!!

thanks

Are you teaching him bite inhibition?

Minihaha posted some good links on a recent thread of mine about it

we encourage him to play with his toys ect but when he bites we say no and ignore him. this used to work but he now just goes for our feet instead. i dont want to put him in the crate when he does this as im working hard to make it a nice place for him as he has to go in it when we go out.

i think it is just when he gets over exited as when he is tired or calm he is soo friendly and affectionate. im sure he will grow out of it but im just worried as i dont want a dog that bites when he is older.

thanks for replying

Is he teething?
Regarding the feet thing - if you keep still he`ll get bored - then you can praise and offer a more appropriate toy.

he probably is teething, its hard to just stand still as his teeth are soo sharp and i have bites all over my hands and feet! i am going to try to do it though.

we are going to go to the pet shop to try and find some stuff for him, we are going to work through it but telling him off and ignoring him really makes him angry

we are lucky that is the only thing we are having problems with but i really feel it needs to be sorted now beofre it gets any worse.

thanks

I have a 13 week old pup who has been a terrible biter - now fortunately starting to wear off a bit.

I did find that saying 'ouch' as if you really mean it worked wiith him, along with walking away and ignoring him.

At times he didnt quite get the fact that I was walking away to make him realise he had been bad, and he would follow me, trying to bit my feet, shoes, toes, or clothes as I walked which didnt quite seem right. He obviously hadn't read the same info as I had

Hi,

try to keep in mind how pups play together.... they play-bite each other all the time but it doesn't hurt as they have so much hair.... you don't have the hair but the pup doesn't realize this yet....

if he's going for your feet/legs, stand still and ignore.... don't bother with saying NO as he doesn't for the life of him know what it means (yet)! Just make your reaction totally uninteresting and boring, he'll get the hang of it soon enough that his biting means the end of all that's interesting (namely your moving legs/feet, which, looking at it from a pups point of view really is fun!!!)... the (hard) trick is to be consistent in stopping every time he nips.... even when the phone is ringing etc etc....

A pup play-biting in no way means he'll bite later in life..... and just to put things into perspective.... be glad you don't have a kitten.... it takes them ages to understand that a bare leg is not a tree waiting to be climbed painfully slowly all the way to the top.... slowly.... get the drift?

thanks for the reply.

it makes sense yeah, i do understand he would be doing this with his litter mates but man does it hurt lol

hopefull he will grow out of it and learn. he has got many toys to bite just need to distract him with them.

thanks for all of the advice, its been very helpful

Hi Alice I thought you had already posted about this problem the other day and received advice? Don't expect instant success when training puppies, it can take a while for training to have an effect.

Your puppy is not bad at all he is normal, if a puppy doesn't bite there is usually something wrong with it . Puppies bite for a number of reasons, to explore the world around them/during play/ when teething. Teething puppies need lots of safe things to chew just as a teething baby does.

Your puppy is play biting, attempting to play with you just as it would with its siblings.
Watch any litter of puppies playing, they bite each other in turn/yelp/run away, this is 'play biting' and they soon learn how much they can bite each other without inflicting pain and bringing play to an end.

When we take on a puppy we need to continue the learning process which was interrupted when the puppy left its litter mates . We need to curbed and channelled the play biting in the right direction ideally before the age of 4 month. The puppy should be encouraged to bite ever more gently until no pressure is exerted at all , this is called 'bite inhibition'.

Teaching bite inhibition ensures that as the puppy grows up and develops powerful jaws, should he bite for any reason (say he is in in pain/at the vets being treated /gets accidentally hurt) he will have learnt never to sink his teeth into human skin.

Bite inhibition, learning to developer a 'soft mouth' is one of the most important lessons you can teach your puppy, however teaching it takes time and patience and as I said previously success won't be achieved in just a few days you have to give it time . Also everyone in the household needs to adopt the same approach.


Link to teaching bite inhibition ..click here

i know he is play biting but it is turning into growling and lunging at hands etc... when he play bites its fine he is gentle and it doesnt hurt. when he gets over exited he properly goes for hands and doesnt listen when we tell him enough is enough. i think when it gets to that it is more than play biting!

he is growling loudly and lunging at me and everyone else. he only stops if you shout very liudly which i dont like doing. i dont want him to be scared!!!