Biting puppy!

I've recently bought an 8 week old springerxcocker spaniel,
I've had previous dogs in the past and have never really had issues regarding them biting, i understand she's a pup and is teething therefore has the urge to bite, but it's not just during playtime, its constant. I've tried punishing her by ignoring her, putting her in her cage for a period of time, telling her no, but she doesen't seem to be listening,

any suggestions please?
Thankyou

Hi Tammy The behaviour you describe is normal behaviour in puppies, if a puppy doesn't bite there is something wrong with it . Puppies bite for a number of reasons, to explore the world around them/during play/and when teething. Teething puppies need lots of safe things to chew just as a teething baby does.

Your puppy is 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 success won't be achieved in just a few days . Also everyone in the household needs to adopt the same approach.


Link to teaching bite inhibition ..click here

Thanks ever so much for taking your time out to give me your information & the link was extremely useful, i shall go ahead and try this out with my pup,
Wish me luck!

The goal should be no biting at all. Tolerating some only confuses the puppy.

Young Labs, which I know best, and other puppies tend to very bad about biting. You see a litter of them, and all the ones that are awake are biting another one or themselves. I am not even sure they realize that when they are alone, if they quit biting, they would quit being bitten. At 3 to 4 months they are getting their adult teeth, and it seems they spend every waking moment biting or chewing. One thing you can do at that stage is to knot and wet a piece of cloth. Then freeze it. The cooling will soothe the gums. Only let the puppy have it when you are there to watch it. I maintain a Lab's favorite chew toy is another Lab. Otherwise they settle for any person they can. They keep hoping to find one that won't yelp, jerk their hand away, and leave.

You just have to keep on correcting them, hundreds of times, not dozens. Provide sturdy, safe toys such as Kongs and Nylabones. Avoid things they can chew pieces off and choke on them. Keep them away from electrical cords. Crates are essential for most young Labs and other dogs.

The pet stores are full of toys that many dogs will quickly chew up into pieces they could choke on or cause intestinal blockages. If you are not there to watch, stick to sturdy stuff such as Nylabones and Kongs. Keep a close eye on chew toys and quickly discard anything that is coming apart in pieces. Rawhide is especially bad because it swells after being swallowed. I don't trust any of the consumable chews. The dogs just gnaw them down to a dangerous size too quickly. These problems are the worst with, but not limited to, large, aggressive chewers such as Labs.

She has a great deal of toys as she's a spoilt little pup
Thanks for the help.

Good luck, Tammy. We have all been through this. You get there in the end, some sooner than others. I was in the 'others' group, took ages

That is old thinking and plainly wrong.

If a dog is never taught to play properly, it never learns to modulate its bite force. This makes it in my opinion and that of people like Dunbar, Pryor, Aloff and others far more dangerous than a dog who is taught to play properly.

Proper mouthing is taught to physical assistance dog that have to use their mouths to help people dress, grab, pull, etc. They are not confused by the difference.

I train dogs for protection sports. I've gotten massive bruises underneath bitesuits, merely from the force of the compression. Despite this they can safely mouth flesh with the gentlest care. They are not confused, I would even say that they are born with the potential to modulate their biting force depending on the social situation.



This is an excellent suggestion. With some dogs, you may have to add a little meat flavour (stock) to get them interested.


. And if you are consistent, then they learn how to control the pressure they exert in order to keep the game going. This accomplishes what we want.

No biting at all is what the service dogs schools require us to teach. They have experience with thousands of puppies and consult with behaviorists. Ian Dunbar has been pushing his flawed technique for a long time. It is what is old advice.

The experience of thousands of other service dogs indicates that they don't get confused and that Dunbar's advice works.

I don't know how you could have no biting at all with, say, a lab. They just use their mouths all the time, it's their life. It took a long time to stop our lab play biting but we did eventually. He never bites now, but he does gently mouth us when we play, which we don't mind at all, he is, after all a lab having fun.