How can I get my 11 week old teething puppy to stop biting?

Question

He bities everything, toes, fingers, ankles, his leash. I have bought numerous chew toys, tried saying NO in a firm voice, I have tried ignoring him...NOTHING seems to be working. He doesnt listen to me. HELP ME lol.

Answer 1

You will hear some bizarre theories – and they don’t work in the long run.

Spraying stuff on your hands ....uhhuh....well.....and how long do you keep up smelling repulsive? Distract him?? for how many years?? Ignore him....what he is supposed to figure out that you are ignoring him because you are displeased with him and not because you are cleaning the house????? Just NO - now how is he supposed to undertand what the means?

I've gone out on lot of housecalls to stop the nipping chewing behavior of dogs nearly a year old because their owners did the 'distract them' or 'push them away' or 'just hold their mouth' shut nonsense. After doing all this futile and ineffective things, the dogs didn't quit (thought the people were playing with them) and the owners where pinched and black and blue.

It is NOT teething that makes him grab people and nip and chew - he is PLAYING

Puppies bite - that is how dogs and puppies play with each other. He thinks he is playing with you by mock fighting. Its a dog's favorite game - watch two good dog buddies ripping tearing rolling - and diving at each other and grabbing without puncturing. and chewing on each other.

You have to DO something about it.

Now what is really really neat is your puppy came pre-programmed to understand certain behavior as disapproval and approval. In dog language, behavior is communication.

In a group of dogs, if he nipped the leader and the leader was not amused, they would knock him over, grab the skin on his neck or the side of his face and pinch it without breaking the skin, and growl.

So do what they would do. That is something a dog understands instinctively. Lot of theories out there about yelping in pain and pushing him away (duh...that is what the dog who LOST the mock fight does and the winner is the boss now) or all this other stuff - but your puppy didn't read those books!


Step One: Learn to use your voice. Mot people either let their voice slide up in register or they sound futile and weak. You want to deepen your voice and sound like a drill sergeant. The word NO is basic to doggy manners (and people too.). The deep sound mimics the rumble/growl of the top dog.

Step Two: Do what the leader would does physically (well, mimic it - biting him wouldn't be fun.)

When he nips at you, roar NO in a deep voice, grab him by the collar or back of the neck, push him down and hold him on the ground and as you are doing that and snap your fingers on the end of his nose or slap his nose with your fingers. While you pin him down and get his nose, lean over him and keep saying BAD BAD BAD - do NOT let your voice slide up, make it deep. Make him look at you and keep eye contact – make your face stern and frown as you get after him.,


Step Three: when you let him up, you relax your voice and face and say "okay, now be nice" and let him come back over and get petted. (That is the postive part.) The more he settles down and gets petted without nipping, the happier your voice gets.

Get after him about EVERY SINGLE TIME - you must be 100% consistent.

Now when he comes over and snuggles and licks and doesn't nip, he always gets "What a sweetie", rub, pet, cuddle, and use a smile (they do watch your face – more than most people realize). And guess what? That is exactly how dogs express approval of each other!

By the way, many women in particular, but men do it too, have a real problem with voice control, When they get upset or frustrated, their voice go UP. The dog ignores them. In the pack, the boss dog or alpha uses deep tones (rumble in the chest, growl etc) to express displeasure and get compliance from the dogs lower in the pecking order. A dog making a high pitched sound (yapping, yelping - etc) is not only NOT going to get compliance with their wishes as they are percieved as ineffectual and the not-Alpha, not-the-boss but that it is giving an invitation to play.



Grabbing him when he starts in on the cushions, holding him down and making him look you in the eye and roaring NO BAD- NO TOUCH usually works.


Also, take him to some obedience classes no matter what his age if over 6 months. Poms adore obedience work and are brilliant at it, you get a nicer pet, they are more comfortable with the world and less fearful and inclined to bark at everything and they get the habit of obeying and you get some control..

Now you both need a GOOD obedience class - and that is NOT Petsmart or Petco.

GO here to find contacts in you area that can help you locate and obedience trainer who works with all beeds and who does AKC obedience compettions:

http://www.akc.org/clubs/search/index.cf...

http://www.akc.org/clubs/search/index.cf... (set on all breeds)


http://www.akc.org/clubs/search/index.cf...

Answer 2

Saying no in a firm voice would never help that much but grabbing onto it's snout and looking firm in the eye while saying "No" will probably help a lot.

Mother dogs normally do this way to educate their puppies by softly biting onto their snout while growling in anger. Of course the puppy would be frighten and yelp. But this is not the point.

Basically it takes a whole lot time and having puppies, you need to accept that they will behave this way. It's normal for them to do this at this age like babies do when their tooth felt itchy. Just discourage whenever you saw it bite and try to change the type of toys used. Either they prefer it soft, hard, rough, smooth or whatever they desire.

In my case, I give her 3 clothes to sleep on. Two for her body while the other for biting. She enjoys them and doesn't bite other things that often anymore.

Whenever I saw her chew on this, I stay firm with her until she regrets it (Not by spanking her, just scold her, give her the cold eye and give her 10 minutes time out in a small space. She keeps quiet after a while meaning she's knows that doing something like this will get her into that seclude place. Next thing you know she'll stop for a while).

Answer 3

Wut I had to do was (and this sounds mean but I swear it doesn't hurt them) every time my puppy bit my hand I would kinda stick my hand further in his mouth. It's an uncomfortable feeling for the dog and they will let go. I took my dog to an obedience class and that is wut he recommended. Also they sell this spray that u can put on things that he might chew like a leash or maybe shoes, u know things of that nature that tastes bad and causes the dog to stop wanting to chew on those things. It's made by a bunch of different people and u can find it in almost ne pet store and I think even wal-mart might carry a brand of it. But I will tell u just to give u the heads up when I took my dog to obedience class my instructor stressed the importance of not letting ur dog ever put his mouth on u because even if it's in play it is giving them the idea that it is OK and that make the lil guy prone to bite when he is bigger. Good luck!

Answer 4

Encourage the chew toys, discourage the everything else. A loud, firm NO is the best, if accompanied by a physical contact that reinforces the word. An 11 week old puppy is just a baby and they lean and feel with their mouths. It's natural.

Answer 5

Hey! He's just a puppy and he is just like baby. Teething is just part of growing up. When he starts chewing and biting something he isn't suppose to then scold him and say "NO BITE" in a firm voice. Spanking him might help also. Eventually he'll get the hang of it. Just don't give up on him!

Answer 6

What I did w/ my puppie when I first got him (I got him form another family) is whenever he bit me, I'd grab his snout and say no in a firm voice. Squeeze the snout gently but hard enough to let him know that it's not okay to bite. It'll take awhile for him to learn but don't play games with him that will allow him to bite you or another person; I was told not to let him nibble on your fingers either because that can also lead him to biting more. I hope this works for u!

Answer 7

When my dogs were puppies and teething, we gave them actual baby teething rings. Put them in the freezer and then let them have it. Or even a frozen waffle. It will help them teeth plus keep them occupied. Good luck!

Answer 8

Hold his mouth shut when he does it and say no and make sure he has somtyhing fun and rubbery to chew on at all times (i know you sad you hve tryed it but give it time)

Answer 9

you can't...just keep scolding him for not biting things, but until he gets through this teething phase it will be very difficult to get him to actually stop biting and chewing on things.

Answer 10

He is teething and will chew on everything. Get him a rawhide bone (small one) and let him chew on that.