My new puppy has a serious biting problem. What do I do?

Question

I have a Pembroke Welsh Corgi (herding dog, small breed) that will chew and nip anything. This includes my hand, the Christmas tree, shoes, socks, and anything else. She has a habit of going into biting fits that could eventually cause serious damage, but she is just a pup. I have said no firmly and held her mouth shut until she calms down, but she still keeps biting. She is clicker trained and is encouraged not to bite, but she still bites.

She is 12 weeks, pedigree, champion linearship. Has many toys, a lot of rawhide bones, and spoiled to the bone.

Answer 1

Okay, so we have a Border Collie puppy and had been having the same problem with the "bite play" thing. Nipping at the heels and ankles is so very common for the herding group too. Puppies bite when they play, that's normal, we just have to teach them that biting US isn't acceptable.

To stop a biting puppy....

1) Reduce the pressure of the bite. When your puppy nips at you, immediately let out an "ow,ow,ow" or "ouch" in a tone of voice that sounds like a puppy yelping. Your puppy should immediately stop the behavior as he will understand that he has hurt you. This is how he communicated with his litter mates if he got hurt and how they let him know if he hurt them. The puppy doesn't want to hurt you, biting is part of how they play, but only needs to learn that what he is doing is painful for you. This will teach him that. You must do it every single time he nips/bites at you and then always resume play with an appropriate play toy, rather than using your hands as "the toy". It will take time, but if you persist with this training method and NEVER allow a nip to go unaddressed, eventually, your puppy will understand that biting you simply hurts and it shouldn't happen.

2) A more direct approach. When the puppy nips at you in play, grab him GENTLY, BUT FIRMLY by the scruff (back) of the neck and GENTLY SHAKE while saying "No" in a tone that sounds like a dog growl. When the puppy relaxes in your hold of him this way, it is a sign of submission and you can then let go and tell him to "play nice" and offer a proper toy to engage in play. It's very important that you realize your own strength and be sure not to grab or shake too hard. You are doing this to get his attention and teach him that you are not happy with his behavior. Momma dog disciplined him exactly the same way when he was still with her when he did something she did not approve of.

With both of these methods, if you do this a couple of times and puppy doesn't seem to let up, then you must ignore him and walk away for about 10 minutes, then attempt to resume proper play time. Your puppy wants your attention and to please you, so he will learn that biting causes play time to end if he doesn't let up when you indicate for him to do so.

Always be sure to only use a proper toy during play time with puppy, NEVER USE YOUR HANDS AS THE TOYS. You must also be consistent and never allow a nip/bite to go unaddressed as you can confuse the puppy as to what you expect of him.

ADDED: Another thing to remember is that even when puppy gets all the adult teeth in, the urge to chew is not going to go away right then and there. The adult teeth will still be shifting within the jaw line up until the age of 3 yrs for many dogs and so this will still make the urge to chew present.

Answer 2

How young is she? Puppies looooooove the teeth (just like human babies do) Why not take a raw hide bone or a hard chew toy and put it in the freezer for a bit and let her play with that? It could help her stop biting everything else. Maybe she doesn't have enough toys to begin with. They need to keep busy otherwise they get bored.

Answer 3

when our puppy was really bitey, we found that if you make a sharp, quick noise like a hurt puppy EVERY time the dog even puts its teeth on you, the dog will pull back. As far as chewing things around the house goes, always replace the item the dog is chewing on with something that it's allowed to chew. Good luck

Answer 4

A dog should be trained on how to eat, walk with you, not to bark, potty training and sleep on its place etc. You can teach anything to your puppy, dogs get trained easily with some good instructions. If you want some good training tips visit https://tr.im/p7n73

If properly trained, they should also understand whistle and gesture equivalents for all the relevant commands, e.g. short whistle or finger raised sit, long whistle or flat hand lay down, and so on.

It's important that they also get gestures and whistles as voice may not be sufficient over long distances and under certain circumstances.

Answer 5

how old is she? if shes old enough she may just be teething...or she may need more training....have patience and always scold her for it in a high stern voice...my new german rot weiler pup is the same way...but a bit of stern high voice "NO BITING!" works on her...even if your pup goes right back to biting give her a stern no...or you may need to get a spray bottle and tell her no biting as your sraying her with a bit of water....but only spray once every time she does it or she may thing your just being mean to her

Answer 6

When you hold her nose do you flip her on her back and make her submit or do you just hold her nose while she is up and running? You need to flip her on her back and gentley hold her nose and say NO Bad dog! until she stops squirming and looks away. Do not let her go until she has calmed down completely and submits to you. You need to make sure your no bad dog voice is stern and loud as compared to your nice good dog voice. They need to know the difference in when you are praising them and when you are scolding them. You need to keep on her the same way everytime she does it. Hope this helps. Good luck

Answer 7

Puppies are biters, it feels good on their teeth, especially when they are teething. Get her a kong or something that she can chew on instead of you or other things. With a kong, you can fill it up with treats, so she is rewarded for chewing on it. There is also a spray that you can use, by putting it on things you want to protect. It tastes really bad to them, so they stop. Good Luck!

Answer 8

Put a shock collar on her, and give her a jolt every time she bites and do it often. She will learn not to bite. You will have to put her down if you dont stop this biting.

Answer 9

Hold your hand around her snout (as if your holding a can of coke) and hold firmly- not painful- and firmly say "NO BITE"
Say and do it every time, and she will learn!
but always say the same words as not to confuse her.
NO Bite-


this is how I broke my pit bull!

Answer 10

If its just a puppy you are lucky. Just use the rod everytime it goes into biting fits.