My seven week old chihuahua always tries to bite us when we play with him?

Question

I know that's how he plays with us, but I don't know how to stop him. All we do is play with him then if he nips we give him one of his toys to bite instead, right away and say "Don't bite." Other than that is there anything else to do to stop him? After telling him to stop he gets upset and sits alone at the other side of his room. I know he's just a puppy, but we want to start training him as soon as possible.

Answer 1

Your puppy is very young and he is feeling his way through the world trying one thing after another. Please do not yell or scream at him when he nips. He could develop a fear of playing with you or even being with you if you frighten him.

When puppy play gets too roughly, puppies may yip or simply stop playing. Stopping the play is usually enough to make your puppy understand cause and effect.

He really is just a baby and you have about 6 weeks to get him successfully through his most impressionable period. Play gently with him, expose him to noises, riding in the car, meeting new (and calm) people, sleeping in a crate, introducing him to friendly cats and friendly dogs, etc.

If you do this well, you can end up with a really amazing, well-adjusted dog.

Answer 2

When pups bite one another too hard, they let their playmate know by yipping or barking a little bit louder. The next time your puppy bites you give a high pitched yip and then ignore him for a minute or two. Ignoring him takes away the attention that he so desperately wants and the yip tells him that he has bitten too hard. You should actually yip anytime he touches skin or clothing with his teeth, so that he starts to understand that using teeth on humans is not a good idea and it takes away his human for awhile when that happens.

Another way to teach your puppy mouthing control is to play tug of war with him. Tug of war will only work if you control the game. There should only be one tug of war toy and it should be kept in a place where your puppy can't reach it. When you want to play, you bring it out and tell your puppy "take it" . This games teaches your puppy quite a few things other than just the original teething, when your puppy takes it then you can play tug. Your puppy never gets to take the toy and run away . You also need to start moving your hand closer to your pups mouth while playing. The moment teeth touch your skin, you give a yip and the toy is put away and you ignore your pup for a couple of minutes. Afer a few minutes you can bring it out again and play some more until the next time his teeth touch you or until it's time to quit. If it's time to quit, you'll want to ask him to "drop it" or "leave it" . You'll need to have a treat to trade for the toy (initially anyway, until he starts to learn the commands). This is a really good game that teaches not to bite and teaches the command take and leave it as well. Make sure you follow the rules and it should be a good time for you both as well as a training experience.

I hope that helps!

Answer 3

Your dog thinks that biting is a game to be played. When he starts biting say very firmly "NO BITE" and if he continues after a couple tries, put him in his kennel if you have one or put him somewhere for a time out. You have to be firm even if you think you are being mean. Your dog will still love you. After all, if you dont train your dog to stop biting, he will think that its ok to bite other people and other dogs. That could get you in serious trouble. His biting can only incline if you dont do anything about it. good luck

Answer 4

Well your dog could be toy aggresive. So if you want to train him give him a toy he hates. If you do, he will probably stop, and keep it like that for maybe a day or 2. Then you keep doing that with each toy. Like you would keep the toy he hates, then move on each day. And each day, you give him a new toy you plaay with him for 5 mins. And the last toy, should be his favorite. But then, if he bites start all over. Start with the toy he hates to the toy he loves. Until he learns, to not bite.

Answer 5

First of all, you got your puppy way to young. Puppies should never be taken away from their mothers before 8 weeks old. It can lead to behavior problems, like bitting, that their mother and littermates would have taught them not to do.

What you can do now is simple. One thing is to let your puppy know what it does is unacceptable. When you puppy bites, scream as loud as you possibly can. This will make your puppy stop what it is doing. Then turn your back and ignore him. This teaches him that bitting hurts and he will not be rewarded for this behavior.

Also, look into crate training and making sure you stay dominant by not allowing him up onto the furniture, in bed with you, and being consistant with his training. Small dogs are hard to train and easy to spoil. Puppy obideince classes are a good thing to do as well.

Answer 6

Continue doing what your doing, but keep in mind a majority of chihuahua's that are young when you get them have short tempers, and coupled with the fact that he's just a baby it will be difficult to train. (Chihuhua's aren't the best trainable dogs)

I suggest that if your playing with him and he nips at you, tell him "NO bite!" right then, and then praise him when he gets a toy. I've been trying to house break my chihuahua for 6 months now and its been VERY trying.

Keep going, your doing great!

Answer 7

This is absolutely normal puppy behaviour. One of the reasons puppies shouldn't be removed from their dame and litter until at least 8 weeks of age is b/c the time to socialize helps teach them bite inhibition..

What you're doing is good. You could try to yelp instead of "don't bite" to speak more in their language. This article give some great tips on how to train them away from this behaviour as they mature...

http://www.jersey.net/~mountaindog/berner1/bitestop.htm

Answer 8

of course he's, it somewhat is precisely how dogs play with one yet another. in case you had left him together with his mom & muddle friends for yet another week, he'd have found out "chew inhibition" from them, which purely potential "do no longer chew down too complicated in case you're enjoying." So, you will would desire to stand in and practice him which potential. All you are able to desire to do is precisely what his mom and littermates would have accomplished. while he bites, you end enjoying, say "ouch" loudly and pull returned unexpectedly. If he would not end moving and supply you a greatly surprised seem, then you definately did no longer do it precise. that is basic adequate. do purely that every time he bites whether it would not injury. it somewhat is by way of the fact he somewhat needs to earnings to on no account chew a guy or woman. His puppy teeth have been all in a minimum of a week in the past and he's months faraway from slicing everlasting teeth so he's no longer teething. BTW, in the U.S., removing a puppy till now it somewhat is 8 weeks previous is barely unlawful in 18 states. a number of those, purely the broker can get in difficulty yet in others, you should be in difficulty, too.

Answer 9

I was able to control the mouthing by ignoring the dog. I would tie his leash to my door nob and ignore him or a minute or two. I would them continue playing with him and believe me he did it again and again but after much practice it stopped. I figure it took about a week for him to make the connection that no affection was give when he wasn't behaving. I actually saw this in a dog training DVD that I got from a local shelter and that was about the only thing in the DVD that worked.

Answer 10

Hey! What you're doing is good, but I also have this link here which i found helpful

http://www.jersey.net/~mountaindog/berner1/bitestop.htm

Scroll down and it will tell you how to eliminate the problem in 4 steps. The one that has worked best for us is as soon as he has his mouth touching your skin, emit a high pitched 'ouch'/yelp that sounds like a puppy - this way he knows he's hurting you and gradually he will have softer jaw pressure. Then you can follow the other steps in the link and withing a month or so he should stop.

good luck!