# Biting 12 week old puppy -HELP



## Asta's Mom (Aug 20, 2014)

My Asta is a very mouthy youngster and everyone is suffering from his razor sharp teeth. Have tried Patricia McConnell's sharp OUCH, given appropriate chew toys and chew bones/ Have tried leaving the room and nothing is working. To say that he is a little landshark is an understatement.

What have forum members found useful to teach NO BITING!?
Any help appreciated.


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## Poodlerunner (Jul 4, 2014)

It probably would help a lot if you could find similar size and age puppy that Asta could play with often. Be on the lookout for someone who fits that bill at a local puppy kindergarten.

pr


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## PoodleRick (Mar 18, 2013)

Yeah other dogs and puppies are way better at teaching bite inhibition than we are. Penny was a real mouthy puppy. When she finally got her adult teeth the biting didn't hurt nearly as much then she curtailed her biting. Most likely because we weren't as fun to bite anymore.

Rick


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## Devos mom (Nov 19, 2014)

Astas mom I am going through the same thing with Devo. During the day I can say no bite and give him a toy instead but when he is full land shark mode I say no bite and put him in his crate. I leave him til he is calm and try again with toys in hand. Sometimes we repeat this mostly in the evening over and over. I am also when I see him in full mode taking him for walks this does wear him out. Thank goodness they will outgrow. I also keep a leash on him when he is like this so I can catch him fast. I would also like to know if there is anything else. Saying oww escalates him, not working for me I send you sympathy
kathy


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

The good news is that if you work at it, your pup will outgrow the land shark stage. But you have to survive until he does without feeling like a pin cushion.

There are many techniques that can be tried. You are doing the OUCHING one. I like to have a toy next to me on the couch so that if the pup gets up on my lap and starts at my fingers, I wave the plush toy in his face until he grabs hold and then he is biting the toy, not me. Your probably have lots of toys around to grab when he gets like that.

If he is out of control, you need to put him in some type of timeout: a few minutes in a crate, put a leash on him and stand on it so he can sit or stand but not jump, put a muzzle on for a few minutes.

Whatever you decide to do for a timeout, I like to say key words while I am doing it (Name that thing you are doing). Say, okay, time for the muzzle. Get out the muzzle: "Putting on the muzzle", leave on for a few minutes, take off, does he still bite, repeat and rinse. Putting a unrulely dog on a leash will give you control if you want to put him in the crate or put on a muzzle. After a while, I can just wave the muzzle at the dog and say "Do you want the muzzle?" and he quiets down.

All these techniques are temporary, like using a grooming noose on a puppy. Once they grow up, you don't need the grooming noose and can store it away. Once the puppy settles and learns what is ok and not ok, you don't need the muzzle or leash or crate, but they are good to have on hand just in case.

PS - If you are not opposed to your dog licking you, I like to put things on my fingers that they like to lick off, like doggie toothpaste or peanut butter. I would rather they lick me than bite me. Then I put my finger in front of their face so they can smell it, they lick it off. I do that often throughout the day so they react to my fingers with a lick rather than a bite. Some people may not like this idea. Just throwing it out for your consideration.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Teaching Bite Inhibition - Whole Dog Journal Article


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## peccan (Aug 26, 2014)

*--*

Please remove this, posted in wrong thread....... again..... >____<;;;;;


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## nifty (Aug 2, 2013)

Hi Asta's mom (and Devos mom) - oh I do feel your pain (and that was literally not too long ago LOL).

The advice you'll read here is top notch and does work and the best bit of all is the assurance that this stage will pass!

Dulcie was the landshark oh my! I was covered in little pin pricks and tiny scratches - sometimes those little needle teeth could scratch just because she was trying to play with a toy I was holding.

A tip that I was given at puppy classes - this may or may not have had any effect on when he puppy nipping actually faded, but I think it definitely helped Dulcie develop a soft mouth-- If you are still feeding a third midday meal (many people do until 16 weeks) or else take a part of one of the other meals. Put bits of the kibble between your fingers and encourage Asta to eat the kibble front here. He won't be able to bite properly in order to get the kibble but will be forced by physics to nibble softly with his lips to extract the kibble. I found that Dulcie really got gentle doing this. TO make it more interesting, I also used the time to reinforce sit, stand, down and watch me. 

I must have posted 2-3 frantic posts thinking my Dulcie was going to grow into a biting dog - I did everything that the experienced PF members suggested (picked one method and stuck to it, even when I was getting discouraged - and when she finally approached without biting, even if I was exasperated and bleeding from the nips 1 minute ago, I would force myself to praise her and reward her for the appropriate behavior, while largely ignoring and not reinforcing the undesirable nipping/biting - easier said than done! You want to yell when they bite and you can barely force out praise sometimes, but knowing how dogs learn, it was a lot easier to praise and really MEAN it when I was reinforcing her momentary breaks in land sharking! 

Dulcie is now 8 months and I can barely remember that stage now, it has been extinguished so totally. I guess the biggest leap forward was after her adult teeth had all come in and the puppy teeth were all out. HOweve,r it is not just a matter of the adult teeth not hurting like the razor puppy teeth - it is honestly that she simply does not nip or bite or even accidentally chomp down anymore.

In FACT, I had tried to teach DUlcie to pull off socks when she was younger (because she was trying to do it anyway and OUCH! So I thought OK make this a useful helpful skill. Hah hah haaaaaaa needle pricks on toes ouch). One day about 2 months ago, I was sitting by the fire reading after our walk and rubbing my feet against each other because they were aching. I felt a nudge and there was DUlcie gently trying to get the tip of one of the socks. I said Take off the sock. And she pulled hard but couldn't get enough purchase - so then she GENTLY and carefully moved her mouth around pulling more of the sock off and whenever she came into contact with my toes, she backed off a little and gently tested out another area until she gradually got enough sock to pull it off. Amazing but TRUE!

So, this nipping and stuff will pass - and what is more, you can teach him to develop a very gentle mouth by trying feeding a small feeding or half a larger feeding by putting the kibble between your fingers and letting him get them out - the action required to do that is exactly what Dulcie later used to carefully get a grip on my socks.


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## ericwd9 (Jun 13, 2014)

You will read heaps here and other places concerning this problem, so I will confine my answer to reasons. Young puppies are conditioned not to bite, HARD, by play with their siblings and Dam. But biting and mouthing are still a part of their play together. If very young puppies are handled by humans regularly, they can learn a little bite inhibition with humans. When puppies who have had little, real, play contact with humans are separated from their siblings and enter a human family they will continue their accustomed play with the humans. This means a lot of biting and mouthing. Bite inhibition can take a LONG time in some cases. Learning to lick rather than bite is the best way out. The "NO bite" routine works eventually, with rewards for licking. The other hand is a puppy removed from its siblings too soon. It might not bite/mouth but will have problems with interactions with other dogs. Most all of us have gone though this. "This Too Shall Pass"
Eric


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## Mahlon (Jun 8, 2014)

Already loads of great advice on things to try so I'm not going to repeat what's already been said. Figured though a few good notes to add to this thread for others with the problem, or researching now for a future puppy.

1. Decide BEFORE you have your puppy, what the short and long term plans are for mouthing. Some families decide that it is not ok to ever mouth anyone from the get go, and to be honest this is the easiest and least frustrating if you start out with this from the get go. The downside is creating a dog with a "Soft" mouth can be an issue later on. If you decide to allow 1, or multiple people to allow mouthing, consistency is key.

2. If mouthing is allowed, I very highly recommend using/teaching a "Gentle" command for warning, and "OUCH", "NO BITE", or just "NO" to terminate access. I rarely see "Gentle" given as advice, and yet its been the best puppy command I've ever taught. As with all youngsters of social animals, they want to know their boundaries/rules, and will test them occasionally. This allows them to change their behavior and get feedback.

3. As with most things puppy, managing the energy level is one of the most important things to be doing. Its very rare for a puppy to get themselves into a super over excited state, this usually takes a human or another dog, most often the former. An over excited puppy is never a good thing, its not cute, and its not good for the puppy, other dogs, or us people. I even recommend taking this a step farther in young puppies, and managing everything from sleep, playtime, crate time, meals, potty breaks, etc. They are all interlinked, and controlling/knowing the timing helps both you and your pup make sense of everything that much sooner.

Hope that helps. 

Dan & Quinn


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## ericwd9 (Jun 13, 2014)

Dan, I could not agree more! "controlling/knowing the timing helps both you and your pup make sense of everything that much sooner." Routine routine and routine. They love it and live by it. We can learn to live by it too!.
Eric.


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## Valentines Dog Mom (Mar 19, 2021)

Devos mom said:


> Astas mom I am going through the same thing with Devo. During the day I can say no bite and give him a toy instead but when he is full land shark mode I say no bite and put him in his crate. I leave him til he is calm and try again with toys in hand. Sometimes we repeat this mostly in the evening over and over. I am also when I see him in full mode taking him for walks this does wear him out. Thank goodness they will outgrow. I also keep a leash on him when he is like this so I can catch him fast. I would also like to know if there is anything else. Saying oww escalates him, not working for me I send you sympathy
> kathy


THE LEASH! DUH! In my frustration, I didn't even think of the leash. This would keep the bite and run from becoming a game. Very helpful. Thanks 🙃


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

I personally don't like dogs chewing on the leash, as I once had a dog which would chew leashes in half. Last year Pogo and Galen chewed one of my leashes to the point where I cut out the bad spot and stitch the leash back together


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