Any advice for stopping a cairn puppy (16 weeks) play biting all the time ?

Answer 1

You always try the most positive method first:
Some ideas for discouraging finger chewing: when your puppy clamps down, let out a very loud YELP in imitation of a hurt puppy. Then, fold your arms and ignore him for 10 minutes. With very young puppies, this sometimes works wonders - it's the same thing that happens when they get too rough with another puppy. The wounded puppy yelps and runs off, refusing to play for a bit. The yelp must be startling enough to stop the behavior. If nothing changes, you probably weren't a good enough actor.

That should do the trick, however, if it doesn't fix the problem this will work:

To introduce an element of "natural discipline", grasp the recalcitrant pup with one hand, place your other hand over the top of his muzzle, gently pressing his muzzle towards his chest as you say, in a low, growly tone of voice, "No BITE". If they begin to throw a tantrum and thrash around trying to bite, just hold the line until they "give in" and "say uncle" (quit resisting). You should not find it necessary to get aggressive with a young puppy. Simple restraint is usually enough to get the message across.

Answer 2

The answers given by Chetco and Apollo give virtually the same method and it does work but it takes time until the pup learns to inhibit the bite.

The solution to the play biting problem is teaching the puppy in a non-aggressive manner that he hurts! He doesn't know he is hurting us until he hears a yelp ( not a 'no' or an 'ouch' because these are meaningless to him) and is then ignored for a short time.

Pup A bites Pup B too hard.

Pup B yelps - that hurt!

Pup B stops playing and ignores Pup A.

Play resumes after a very short interval.

Pup A bites Pup B again but not so hard this time and play continues.

PUP B bites Pup A too hard etc. etc.

Smacking him for playing in a natural dog-like way is pointless.

He play bites = normal behaviour.

Human smacks him = aggressive human.

Answer = bite harder and faster next time.

Puppies learn to inhibit their bite naturally from their siblings and they eventually learn to play together without causing each other any harm.

An adult dog, for example, the mother will tell the pup off for biting but in a way that the pup understands - often with just a growl of disapproval.

Please ignore all the really stupid answers from the weirdos.

They obviously spend their time hopping from category to category and are probably as clueless about everything else as they are about basic dog training.

Answer 3

Biting is the only way he knows how to communicate at the moment (or she). Anyway if the pup was still with the litter it would bite and the other pups would squeel - and the mother would give a rough sort of growl - it teaches them not to bite too hard... so if it bites give a sharp noise like a bark - or even a resounding NO as you withdraw your hand and turn away from the pup for a few seconds.

Also - it is going through teething or it will do very soon so get yourself a puppy kong... fill it with cream cheese - like philidelphia - I used to buy supermarkets own - cheaper! Anyway - freeze it - get two infact so you always have one on the go!

The puppy will love it - chewing it etc - but make sure you don't give it too much - and take away some of it's normal food to make up for the cheese. Also carrots are great - get them cold - or chop them up and freeze in some ice -

When you freeze - if you are using a deep freezer don't give it to the dog straight out of the freezer - allow it to warm a little as if it is too cold it can harm their delicate tongue - just you try licking an ice cube out of the deep freeze...

I remember this stage with Borris my Giant Schnauzer. We even gave him bones to chew too - he still "mouths" my hand a little bit but it is excitement mainly! And he never bites hard as he has learned it is not good.

Answer 4

at this age it will be teething and more inclined to want to bite and chew. Instead of trying to stop natural puppy behavious, direct the biting onto an appropriate toy like a rag rope, kong, rubber bone etc. Puppies play bite, it's what they do.
When you play with him, do not initiate rough play.
Whatever you do, do NOT tap him on the nose. Dogs noses are very sensitive and a tiny 16 week pups nose more so. All he will learn is that when he looks to you to play, you will yell and hurt him. Brute force and ignorance as a training method went out decades ago. I'm surprised so many ignorant people still recommend it. You can get a dog to do anything by inflicting pain on it. Personally I prefer to use kind methods to train my 6 dogs.

Answer 5

Ever thought what it would be like to buy a pet bird and try and stop it from flapping it's wings?

Or what about stopping a child from trying to crawl?

It just isn''t going to happen, dogs chew and bite when they are young, it's part of play and learning about themselves and their surroundings.

It will should stop doing it as much when it gets a little older, just give it something to chew on and bite from the pet shop.

Answer 6

Hi David
You may think i am being odd here but a little tap on the nose and a stern voice will soon put a stop to your puppy play biting, Its pretty sore when they have a we nip lol

Answer 7

Make it seem like it really hurts by shouting and then look at your dog. He/she should look guilty. if he does it again while you are lookin at him, tap him on the nose and say 'no'. If you have something that makes a loud annoying noise, you could try using that to scare him when he bites. We stopped our dogs by dong these and it only took a month or two.

Answer 8

Please take your puppy to puppy training or puppy socialisation classes to learn how to handle him. You have a lot of other problems coming up at that age.
Dog training involves good timing as well as knowing what to do, its easier to show someone and impossible to describe.
Ask your vet for local classes.

Answer 9

Every time he touches you with his teeth, tell him off sternly and ignore him for a couple of minutes (if you're playing with a toy at the time then take it away for a couple of minutes too)

He'll soon learn not to do it - they can control their biting as easily as we use our hands.

He has to learn that its not OK to touch you with his teeth, otherwise when he's older there'll be trouble.....

Answer 10

get his own chew toy. Or if it chews objects that you like then put some cayenne pepper on what ever it is. This also helps if an animal licks it's wounds too much cayenne pepper is the way to go. Other than that just keep at it and watch that guy on TV he's good