How can I stop my 7week old puppy from biting me?

Question

Pls. Help me! I just got a little boxer about a week and a half ago. He bites me all the time even when I'm not playing with him. I know it's not attention he needs, he gets lots of it. I just don't know what to do with him. I have tried everything. When I give him time-out he destroys everything and when I just loudly tell him "don't bite"! he starts barking at me and doesn't stop. I just don't want to do the wrong thing and end up with a violent dog. I want to be able to walk him without having to worry he will try to bite someone else.
Pls. help me and give me your best advice.
Thank you so much!

Answer 1

First, you got him too young. If he is 7 weeks old now, and you got him a week and half ago, that is most of the problem. He should have stayed with his litter until a BARE MINIMUM of 8 weeks old, to help prevent excessive mouthing and promote bite inhibition.

Read this free book that you can download:

http://www.jamesandkenneth.com/PDF_docs/J&KBEFOREtext.pdf

Answer 2

Every time he bites you YELP fold your arms and turn your back to him and stay calm. Pupies particularly hate being ignored - he'll soon learn the fun ends whenever he bites. Don't forget that even bad attention is better than none.

Puppies need to chew just like babies when they're teething and it can go on a long time, it's also a bit of stress relief for older dogs. You could also try giving him something else - a toy or such to teach him what's OK to chew and what's not.

I don't thinkhe'll turn out vicious - he just needs to know what's OK and what's not.

Good luck and enjoy your pup.
By the way Boxers stay puppyish for a long time - not socially mature til they're at least 2 or 3 years old.

Answer 3

Boxers are very energetic and playful. You want to teach them to be obedient as young as possible. In this case, teach him bite inhibition:

1. When he nips you, then yelp ! This will startle him and he will back off. Pet him for stopping.
2. If he nips you a second time, then yelp again, and pet him if he backs off.
3. If he bites you a third time, then yelp, and turn your back for 15 seconds. Then turn and pet him. If he comes around before you turn and he licks you or barks, then he is apologizing. Accept this and pet him.
4. If he nips a fourth time (they can be hard headed), then yelp, and turn around for 2 minutes. Again accept the apology, if offered. If not, then turn around and pet him.
5. Finally, after the fifth nip, yelp, then et up and leave him alone. Don't move him, you move to somewhere that he can't follow. After 5 - 10 minutes, you can return to him, or just leave him alone.
6. The next time you pet him, repeat the sequence, he should respond a little faster, and learn not to nip you after a week.
7. You can fine tune the process so that he mouths you or only touches you with his lips. I taught my dog to mouth me... I didn't have the patience to go further.

The reason for doing this is to train the puppy how fragile human skin is. When puppies are in th elitter, they bite each other to play. If one puppy bites too hard the sibling will yelp. If the biter doesn't back off, then the injured puppy will not play, and all the puppies will treat hard biting in this way.

Most puppies want attention and will learn anything so that they don't lose your attention. If you learn this method, you will have a powerful training tool.

BTW, when you yell at him... he yells back at you ! That's why you yelp, because he understands that.

Answer 4

This dog is still a baby he will bite for all kinds of reasons up to 5/6 months old when he has stopped teething , at the moment he is trying to get to be the leader or the top dog as this is the behaviour he would display with the other pups to become top dog and to also rough play with the other pups.
The teeth he has now are milk teeth and will fall out when he starts to teeth.You are going to have to train him the basics first before you train him not to bite , as you train him he will assume you are dominant to him and will then not bite you . After your dog has had its vaccinations think of taking him to obedience classes.

Answer 5

Hi there,

You need to make yourself 'the boss' or 'pack leader' in his words!

When he bites, he needs to understand that it is wrong. Use strong, clear, one syllable words. These are easiest for dogs to understand and remember, no matter what you are trying to teach him.

For example, if he is sat on your knee and he begins to mouth or bite your hand, then say in a loud, strong, sharp voice "NO!". His reaction should be one of suprise and he should let go. Once he has done this, then lift him off your knee and put him on the floor and give him no attention what so ever untill he has settled down.


As for the barking, this is a difficult one in puppies, as they do bark a lot and it can be difficult to stop them. Most of the time, it is best just to wait for them to grow out of it!

However, the barking is, again, him wanting attention. So he needs to learn that he doesn't get this when he barks. Whether its a negative or a positive one, all he's after is a reaction. When he barks you need to ignore him completely, don't even look at him.

This may take quite a while for him to get used to and don't forget that he is young, so be patient!

Well done for recognising that this could be a problem if he carries on biting and barking!

Hope this helped!

x

Answer 6

He was once taken away option to soon. Doggies should now not be taken far from their mother unless eight-10 weeks. Their mother teaches them discilpline when they're biting too tough she will let them comprehend. However it's also very common for a dog to chew up the whole thing. Get him a a couple of bite toys when he wishes to bite on whatever say like your shoe or furniture, lure him faraway from that object along with his toy he's going to quickly learn what he can and cant bite on. Nice of good fortune

Answer 7

Only 7 weeks old. He's a baby, shouldnt have been taken from his mum yet. Animals like humans have to learn the lessons of life and this is done as babies etc. by playing. He's learning to use his teeth, get him some chewy sticks. And a puppy can never have enough attention. Remember, he was getting it 24 hours a day from his mum and she's now gone. Where did you get him from? Sounds like an irresponsible breeder who's out to make money and not worrying about the welfare of the animals.

Answer 8

Never play hand games with your puppy. When it bites you, it is probably when the puppy is too excited and thinks you are a chew toy.

Yelp, "OUCH!!!" loudly, the put your hands out of sight in your armpits. Take all of your attention away from your puppy. When your puppy is calm again, try giving it a toy it can chew.

If you do aversives at this age, such as "tapping" its nose with your fingers, shaking a can filled with coins, or squirting it, your puppy will only learn that you are scary. You won't get your puppy to stop and your puppy won't trust you.

If you take time to let the puppy know that its needle sharp teeth hurt you, and that mouthing you makes all of the fun and attention go away, your puppy will begin to try to find other ways to interact with you. More appropriate ways.

AND take that puppy to Puppy Kindergarten ASAP! The instructor can help you optimize your Boxer's life with you, since it was obviously removed from its litter WAYYYY too young.

Answer 9

when your pup is older he can be stopped. At the moment he is too young to go out to burn off his playfulness.what i advise is this get him use to coming and getting rewarded for a calm approach. do not shout or act aggressively in any way to a dog that has done what you ask.
If he bites you simply turn your back and walk away.

stick with this till it is around 9 weeks old then when he is play full and bites either hold his bottom jaw till it begins to pull away it will not appreciate this but it usually works.

if it carries on allow it to attempt to bite your hand ten push your fingers into its mouth till it gags this will only need to be done a few times as it is not pleasurable for the dog. it will associate this displeasure with biting you and stop.. dogs like pleasure and actively seek it they do not want an unpleasant feeling and so stop..

PS 8 weeks is a better age to take a pup as it will start to learn to socialise with other dogs from its mother. however if the pup is taking solids at six week it is fine to take it but feed a milk formula so it does not lose weight

hope this helps Andy

Answer 10

YOu got a puppy that should have been with it's mother. this is what pups do and the mother would usually train them. teh puppy was taken way to early. NOw you must trin the pup to do things correctly.
When he bites give him something he can bite.
If you have to yelp like mom would and push him away. Moms would actually bite and even sometin=me throw them across teh floor 9I've seen this many times)
Sorry to say but these back yard breeders think that all tehy have to do is breed and once on food they can sell the pups.
Many states have laws about not selling pups until 8 weeks and with certain guarantees.