# Biting.......stop that!



## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Stop playing with him immediately and walk away. Wait about 30 seconds and give him another try. Repeat. Be consistent. Show him what he can bite on...a chew toy. He can't bite if he has something in his mouth. You can yelp like it hurts before you stop playing. That works with some puppies, some they think you're just playing. So, the main thing is to stop attention...show him that is not going to work, but _gentle_ mouthing or just playing without, will work for attention and play. Letting gentle mouthing work for him for attention and interaction will help teach him to regulate the pressure or inhibit his bite, so if there ever is a bite in the future, he'll tend not to sink down too hard with his teeth. Try not to play too wildly with him. Over the next few weeks you should see improvement. But it is a puppy thing and they simmer down in time.


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## ac04 (Aug 7, 2013)

First off supply them with lots of chew toys. I try offering them as a distraction. 

If it keeps occurring you could hold there mouth shut for a brief second or 2 and firmly say no. They find this unpleasant or and maybe a better idea is to get a small water gun that fits I the palm of your had and squirt him when he nips.

Good luck.

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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

I do not recommend holding a puppies muzzle shut or spraying things at them or shouting. This can erode your relationship and cause your puppy to fear you. With some dogs it leads to aggression problems. It is a very aggressive thing to hold a dog's muzzle closed from a dog's viewpoint if it's not conditioned to it and associated with a good thing. (for example, I hold my puppies muzzles sometimes for grooming but that's been paired historically with very tasty treats and praise, never anger). 

These things are unnecessary to teach a puppy that biting hard on human skin doesn't work for the things they want...attention, play time with you, affection. What does work is gentle mouthing without causing pain. Giving feed back is what they need. Hard biting hurts and makes the fun and you go away. Gentle mouthing or no mouthing works to keep the fun games going and your attention. That is why they bite. It's how they play with each other. 

In general, figure out what the puppy is trying to achieve by whatever he's doing. What is his motivation? If it's a behavior you don't like, then make sure that the pup is not reinforced with that motivator. Prevent it, distract, give alternatives, reinforce for those alternatives. Ignore attention seeking behavior if you don't like it. But show him what you do like, what TO DO. Teach the puppy other things...obedience, tricks...fill his little mind up with cool things to do. This hard biting will stop as he matures. You don't need to intimidate, threaten or cause fear in your little baby.


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## MeMe007 (Dec 3, 2013)

Thank you all for your feedback! 


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## Ellyisme (Jul 17, 2012)

With Hib, besides supplying lots of chew toys, I just ignored the behavior when he did it. He was looking for a rise out of me to play with him. When he learned that he wasn't going to get a playmate by doing that, he stopped.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I used to yelp, turn away, and mutter that no way was I having anything to do with horrible shark-like puppies. The yelping was intended to imitate the noise made by siblings in similar circumstances, the turning away removed any reinforcement for nipping too hard, and the muttering made me feel better until it was time to re-engage for the next lesson!


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Meme...here's a good article for you.

Teaching Bite Inhibition - Whole Dog Journal Article


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## Joelly (May 8, 2012)

Bite back! Just kidding!!!

You have received lots of good advice. Not sure what else I can add. I have only one biter at home when he was a puppy. Charlie did this all the time when he was a puppy. We loudly screamed ouch and jerk our feet and/or fingers away then give him a chew toy and/or leave him alone.

We did it for like weeks till he learnt that chew toy can't walk away when he abuse it. Good luck!

My other puppy, Edison, has never attempt a scratch and/or a bite to any of our toes and/or fingers. He would slap your face with his paws though.


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

LOL, Misha is a slapper!


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## Joelly (May 8, 2012)

N2Mischief said:


> LOL, Misha is a slapper!


They must be related. lol.

Is it bad to admit that I don't want to correct him? Being a slapper and all.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Joelly said:


> They must be related. lol.
> 
> Is it bad to admit that I don't want to correct him? Being a slapper and all.


No it's not bad to admit that. Is he slapping to get you to pay attention to him? If you think it's fine...doesn't bother you, then no changing it is needed. If you don't like it, all you have to do is ignore it and give him no pay off for doing it, but give him a pay off for doing whatever he's trying to accomplish in another way. You can show him another way or wait till he tries another way and give him what he wants. And the less "correction" you use, the more he'll try different things to see if they'll work. Too much correction and they hesitate to try out different behaviors that might work. 

When a dog is light weight and doesn't knock you down, that slapping isn't always a bad thing. Chulita does that a little because I taught her high five and instead of only reinforcing when cued, I'd pay attention to her sometimes when she just did it on her own. And sometimes it can be a mild annoyance because she does several consecutively. I can tell her "enough" and she'll stop. If I really cared that much, I'd pay more attention to cuing it, then reinforcing and consistently ignoring uncued pawing. But it's not a big deal to me. I keep her nails Dremeled. lol. It could become a neat trick, like waving bye bye. But I haven't done anything with it.


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## MeMe007 (Dec 3, 2013)

Thanks, tons of good info. 


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## Minnie (Apr 25, 2011)

Oh those puppy days... I tried many things already listed and nothing worked until someone gave me the advise of leaving the room for a minute and it clicked! Bella is as Velcro as they come and I did this when we were alone a couple of times and like magic no more biting pup.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

The general advice you've already gotten is great. I would add two things. 1. Be consistent. 2. Be calm (truly internally calm, your pup will know if you are "lying").


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## Lplummer52 (Oct 26, 2013)

Well, Lena is a terrible heel biter and likes to jump up and hang onto my shorts! We live in Florida so I'm usually in shorts. Sometimes when she's going for my shorts, she inadvertently bites my calf...ouch!! She is only 3 months old and it has gotten better lately. What works the best is to grab her and pick her up. She HATES that when she's on a walk or eager to play. I carry her until she squirms to get down and then she's lost focus on the chasing and biting thing. She has a very strong prey drive, more than lots of working terriers I've owned. Her mouth is very gentle when receiving treats, so I know this is just a play thing and if I scream or say ouch, she gets even more excited, so I've given up on that idea. Picking her up seems to be the ticket....which wouldn't work for a spoo, I know, but for a toy or mini, it works really well. It gives them time to calm down for a minute. She gets really worked up BIG TIME sometimes. There are times when she just runs back and forth across the apartment at full speed. I take her for 3 loooong walks a day and she's still full of energy at times. I'm sure she'll grow out of this, but it is tough to deal with at times.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I have to say that the Bum Biting Game was the only time I really roared at Poppy when she was a pup. I was very careful the first few months - she was rather timid and I worked to build her confidence. But she made up a game of jumping and nipping my bottom as I set off down the stairs - admittedly it must have made a large and tempting target, but it HURT! She did not always do it, and so it was always unexpected and I would jump and shriek before I could contain myself. Hugely rewarding for Poppy, of course. One day she got in a really good nip, and I turned around and ROARED in immediate and unthinking reaction. She sat down, looked at me, wagged her tail placatingly, and we agreed on mutual forgiveness ...

After that I taught her not to do it without saying a word, just with body movements. I would put a foot out and move my weight forwards to start downstairs. If she stirred to get into position behind me, I withdrew my foot. It took three or four two minute sessions for her to realise that slipping round behind me meant we both just waited boringly at the top of the stairs, and she stayed put until I was safely out of reach. Since then I've been trying to teach her to go down well ahead of me, to avoid tripping over her. That would be going a lot more smoothly if I didn't start down the stairs, and then remember something I need from one of the bedrooms and turn back. She is reluctant to go all the way down if I'm going to turn round after a few steps and go back up!


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