My puppy won't stop biting me

[louise3711@yahoo.com]

Hey, ive got a 7 week old jack russell/yorkie cross and he's got into a terrible biting habit already.

Ive tried the "ouch" technique, bu my stupid mother buggered it up for me. :mad:

When i took Jake to see her she was playing with him and he was biting her feet, so i told her to say "ouch" every time he does and move away. She stupidly started making it into a game and jumping away before he got her and saying ouch. Now everytime i do it he thinks im playing and wont stop!

Any ideas how to stop him? Ive also tried to say NO at him but it doesnt work. Hes really starting to hurt when he does it

[Taeric]

One way that's pretty effective is, when the pup starts biting, to stick your thump on the bottom of his mouth and pinch between the tip of your thumb and the fingers that are outside of the mouth, below the jaw. Just a quick pinch should do it as dogs really don't like that (this came from our puppy trainer). If your pup doesn't seem to mind, you're likely not doing it hard enough (it does take a bit of force). That really helped to break our dog of biting hard when she was little.

[lassie]

Think ive seen it somewhere , that when using the "ouch" technique, you dont move the hand or foot away after saying " ouch"

[Taeric]

Another thing that always worked with our pup for numerous things was having a spray bottle with water handy. A couple of quick squirts in the face, and the pup always backed off, be it from jumping on the table or whatever.

[louise3711@yahoo.com]

thanks ill try it xx

[Onyx]

Please don't use a water bottle, what are you going to do when your dog digs up in the backyard? Run after him with the water hose?

I also wouldn't recommend pinching your dog on his jaw to stop biting. He may become fearful when being touched on his jaw, and that could escalate into a problem later on when you need your hands in his mouth, not excluding the vet. It makes me think of someone who used to hit his dog with a newspaper because he was peeing inside.




Why not go to puppy school?

They'll teach you how to discipline your dog. And it will work.


I guarantee you that taking obedience classes (puppy classes for you) will save you TONS of time, money, and frustration. Choosing the best dog trainer is also the key to sucessful training, so make sure you get a reputable trainer, which teaches both positive & negative stimulus.

[Taeric]

Our dog absolutely loves swimming and playing in the hose, and the water bottle trick is still very effective. It's produced absolutely no ill effects, though our dog is a water dog to begin with.

And, for the record, the jaw pinching trick came from our puppy class instructor who has run a very successful puppy/dog training business for the last 30 years.

[Garry88]

my dog when she was a pup used to always bite our ankles when we ran up the backyard and if we rode our pushbikes and motorbikes around the yard so we said in a firm voice NO and she backed off, but we didnt have her since 7 weeks, we had her from 18 months so that would be a problem being 7 weeks as most pups that age like to play and stuff so i would say just try to teach it bye saying no and if that doesnt work try just pushing it away gently and see if that works.

Sorry if that sounds harsh but thats how i trained my dog and it worked

[Dogbert]

How are you getting on?

My pup also bites constantly and I dont know how to stop him. Ive tried saying no, no biting, leave, pushing him away, ignoring him, but he still bites! He bites hands, feet, legs, our clothes, arms, and even in the face if gets close enough! :(

[lassie]

i was told to say "ouch" loudly when she nipped , but NOT to move the hand , foot etc away. Dont know if this correct but it worked.

[skunkstripe]

I agree that it is s good idea to make sure your puppy knows where the pain tolerance is for humans and that it is not ok for their teeth to touch skin. Another possibility is to ignore the dog until the bad behavior stops. They HATE being ignored.
They do need to chew, so if you can have a toy ready, as soon as you say ouch and the dog has stopped the bad behavior, give a chew toy and praise when puppy takes it and starts chewing on it.

[LuckyLincoln]

The ouch and not moving method worked for me when we first got our dog. He was 2 years when we got him and is gentle as anything, but used to play very rough by play biting. Saying OUCH really loudly while not moving worked for me.

[Dogbert]

Ive tried the ouch now too but he completely ignores me and carries on. Ive also tried ignoring him but he continues biting and it hurts!

Its really getting me down. He is so naughty anyway, but the biting is the worst.

[Jake2006]

Is he trying it on wanting to be top-dog, maybe he wants to be 'in-charge'. Dogs like to know their position in the pack, so whilst he's a youngster you must be boss. If you've tried everything and it doesn't work I really would suggest going to classes. You'll get lots of advice from us on the forum but to actually have someone standing there with you should make the world of difference.
And yes, ignoring him is a good punishment.

I hope you have some success soon as the habits he learns as a puppy will carry through into his adult years.

Jake knows my hubby is the boss and he'll never try it on with him. I'm second in command so he knows he can go a little bit further but there are still rules about playing that he has to obey. If he forgets and gets too enthusiastic I just walk away from him - he hates that!

Good Luck!!!

[Dogbert]

We will definately be taking him to training classes, but he is still waiting for his second jab, and can only start meeting other dogs in 3 weeks! I will just have to persist! :rolleyes:

[Yellow Dog]

You also can put somthing like pepper on your hands that the dog wont like and do this till he stops the habbit

[julieandchili]

Im still working on this with my 10 week old pup....but it seems to be slowly sinking in.
During one of his mealtimes, I set his bowl up out of reach and take a handful of food. I open my hand to him and in a sweet voice tell him "take one". After he does, I close my hand around the food and in the same sweet voice repeat "OFF". When he has stayed away from pawing, nipping, jumping on, or biting my hand for 3-5 seconds....I once again open my hand and say "take one". I repeat this over and over.
The idea is to get him used to the words "OFF" so he associates that with not touching.
?
LOL...Im no dog expert by any means (a first time owner actually) but this seems to be working and probably 1/3 of the time I can get my 10 week old puyp tp stop nipping by saying OFF and then offering a treat.