# 3month old toy poodle won't stop biting



## grjoga (Aug 1, 2013)

"Trouble" my 3 mth old toy wants to bite all the time. I've tried toys, reprimands, popping his nose, distracting, no-no, nothing works. Its cute now but won't be when he's a little older. Any suggestions to nip this in the bud?


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

Sounds like puppy needs a time out either in the crate or xpen


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## grjoga (Aug 1, 2013)

He does get a time out in his playpen, but doesn't quite connect that with the biting yet!
I keep trying new things. Thank you for your advice!


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

Puppy really do need their rest they sleep upwards of 18 hours a day. 
Search the forum for bit inhibition there is a lot of advice on that.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Please don't pop your puppy on the nose (I assume you mean a corporal correction by that). I don't generally find that most of the other things you have tried work for most puppies. I just disengage. If you were playing, play stops and puppy goes into the crate. If you were training and puppy starts biting, training stops and puppy goes into the crate. Don't yell, yipe or say much at all. Don't leave him for a long time as he will forget why he is there and moving him to the crate has to be fast. You have three seconds from an incorrect response to give feedback to correct it, so a minute in the crate should make the message get across, especially if it happens consistently over and over.

BTW this is absolutely 100% normal puppy behavior.

ETA since I think I was typing as twyla posted, a puppy that bites and makes small scratches or little punctures is not necessarily giving an uninhibited bite. It is just that their teeth are really sharp so that as they play with their litter mates they learn to give inhibited bites. Bite inhibition is very hard for people to teach to puppies and dogs. If a puppy bites and holds on and deeply breaks skin that is an uninhibited bite.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Yelping and turning away worked for mine. I made it very clear that biting hurt, and that it stopped the game. Over and over and over again. A loud squeal, withdrawing my hand, and ignoring the puppy while I muttered over how much it hurt was usually enough to make the pup stop and think for a few seconds, and I could then resume the game in that brief pause. If things ever got so over the top that there was no pause I briefly left the room.

It has to be said that both Sophy and Poppy had over 10 weeks old when they came to me, so both had the benefit of those extra weeks of learning to play with siblings and other dogs. Poppy, of course, also had Sophy to help teach her - she was a little land shark and it took a while. It would be interesting to know whether there is really a correlation between time spent with litter mates and ease of teaching bite inhibition.


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## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

Unfortunately its what puppies do, they are teething their gums itch, hurt plus the get over stimulated. I find a firm no bite or a yelp (like your another puppy helps). Sometimes they are just like toddlers having a meltdown and they need their crate time to nap. My daughters boer would get overly excited and bite we would put hm in his crate and he would sleep for two hours. I am going thru this now with my new puppy too,


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I have a question for those of you who found a yelp and acting hurt worked. do you think the yelp and hurt act or the time out was really the effective part of what you did? For all three of our dogs and for most puppies I've had in classes I think it was the time out that let the pup figure it out much more than any acting hurt did. As fjm pointed out her babies were a little older when they came home and thus had really learned to give inhibited bites from their siblings. She really was practicing something they already knew not teaching something.


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## barbiespoodle (Apr 25, 2010)

I used fjm's method. 

When I adopted Eustace from the county pound, he was 9 months old and very mouthy as most terriers or terrier crosses are. And being large and powerful, his mouthiness hurt a lot.

When he put teeth to me, I gave a sharp yelp said "no bite" and turned away. Since his mouthiness was never in meanness, only him never learning the correct way to play, he always felt guilty and would start to lick the hurt he caused. 

It did take a while, bad habits are hard to break if they are let go too long, but now he never lays teeth on me. He'll about lick me to death, and has hurt me unintentionally just because he is large and powerful and still basically a pup at 19 month, I just got over a split lip from his head catching me in the face while playing, but he never bites. My husband likes to rough house with him and Eustace will get mouthy when he does, but that is my husbands fault. Eustace knows that mommy does not tolerate it even if we are playing. 


Roland, being a pup, does try to chew my fingers from time to time, those puppy needle teeth should be on the dangerous weapons list. Since he is still young, I just remove my hand and turn away from him for a few seconds and then start to pet again. Sometimes he'll go back to chewing, at which time I remove my hand again. Most of the time he understands the first time I remove my hand.


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## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

I also did this 
sharp yelp said "no bite" and turned away

If that failed then I use the time out as I feel the pup needed a break


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## asuk (Jan 6, 2017)

walking away/turning away worked for mine when he was younger. i didnt want him to hate his crate so he doesnt get put in the crate.

and i agree, totally normal puppy behaviour. mine also gets mandated rest at that age. they are like toddlers, need their 2 naps per day and then some...lol


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## Caddy (Nov 23, 2014)

I also did the same as fjm, the Yelp got their attention quickly and then I'd ignor or leave the room briefly. I wouldn't use the crate, it's quicker to ignor and the crate should be a safe happy place. As for the time spent with mom it's hard to say, Abbey was only 7 weeks when we brought her home and Dolly was 9 weeks. Although I think they benefit from staying with mom for 8 or 9 weeks, neither of my girls have a problem with bite inhibition and were about the same for nipping as puppies.


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## lisasgirl (May 27, 2010)

Fake yelping has never worked for me, but reacting when it actually hurt did. Maybe I'm just not a good actor? For me, puppies usually react to any high-pitched noise with increased excitement (and thus more biting) so I have to react with a very low voice if I'm going to react at all.

Dr. Ian Dunbar has a good section on bite inhibition in his book After You Get Your Puppy. If you click the link, he offers the book for free download from his website. I definitely recommend it.

Fortunately (unfortunately?), persistent biting is totally normal puppy behavior. It doesn't mean your dog is being aggressive. They're just babies, and they're teething, and they interact with everything in the world through their mouths. And some are better and worse about it than others, just like some toddlers have a really hard time keeping their hands off of things while others get it right away.

The key, I've found, is to make biting me really really BORING. Like, just the most boring thing in the world. You bite me, you lose access to me. I put the puppy on the floor or behind a baby gate and then ignore them. Like I'm not even mad, just bored and moving on to something else. Aw man, now the game is done. That's no fun. But if you're polite, or you bite your toys instead of me, then we can play all day. Hey, biting these other things is great! 

Does your puppy have lots of soft, yummy chews to gnaw on?


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## Click-N-Treat (Nov 9, 2015)

I'll agree with everyone else, the loud yelp had no effect on Noelle. It just got her excited. Instead, I would leave her alone in in the kitchen for 30 seconds, or until she started bawling her head off. Wait for a breath, return to the kitchen. Interact again, bite, I'm leaving. It's perfectly normal behavior and it goes away when they get older. Puppy biting may return at around six months when they are teething again for the second evil biting phase, but it's a phase and it doesn't last.


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## ericwd9 (Jun 13, 2014)

This too will pass in time. Be consistent and patient and follow the good advise you have been given and all will soon be well.









Eric.


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