Puppy Biting

usmc03grunt · Nov 27, 2012

I have a 12 week old as some may know now as I am a Newbie in the EB world named CAMMIE. Since she is going through her teething phase she is biting everything including my 4year old son. I've tried a few things but seem to not be working. These Dog Whisperer trainers seem like a joke to me due to the fact nothing has even come close to working. I need some serious help here before it gets worse oh and if anyone has tips on leash training that would be great too. Thanks all.

spork3127 · Nov 27, 2012

A lot of people here will mention to redirect her to a toy when biting. If the biting is happening while playing, that's pretty normal, but again redirect to a toy that she can bite or even end the play time for a few minutes to let her calm down. We've tried a spray bottle with vinegar and squirting 1 squirt into the mouth when our Ellie would bite. It seemed to help at first, but eventually she just ignored it. Some have used an empty coke can with some pennies in it and they'll shake it when the biting happens.

As for leash walking, once Ellie was used to her collar, we would attach her leash and let her run around the house with the leash attached for 30 minutes or so at a time every night so that she could get used to the weight and it being there. It would just be dragging behind her and we wouldn't hold it. Obviously, do this while you're there to supervise. Then we slowly graduated to walking her across the kitchen/great room, down the hallway, fenced in back yard, etc. until we were comfortable to take her out into the neighborhood.

Both issues will take consistency, repetition, and patience. Hope this helps!

SunDog · Nov 27, 2012

So, my experience was that my EB puppy was way more "mouthy" as a pup than other breeds I've had. Our approach was to do exactly what her litter-mates would do: squeal and turn our backs to her. This might be kinda of fun for a 4-year old! I really made it sound like I was hurt. Since this kind of biting isn't true aggression, she didn't run after to keep biting but usually just sat down with a "huh?" look on her face.

Also, I made sure everyone knew never to hit back or even "pat" her and we kept her energy drained with walks and fetch.

I think it took a couple of weeks (and a little maturing), but Lupe finally realized she didn't like hurting us one bit and we were all done with that phase. Be patient. I know it's REALLY annoying!

kevi204 · Nov 27, 2012

I'm having the same issue with my 10 week old Bully. I've only had him for 6 days now. He doesn't really respond well to "No", or to squeeling. I havent tried squeeling and turning my back yet, i may have too soon. What is kindof working for me now is to pinch top of his neck and say no. I don't pinch very hard but he at least acts like he gets the point, if only for a minute or two then he goes back with the nipping. Also i have been giving him a chew toy for positive reinforcement but again, he gets tired of the chew toy quickly and goes back to hands, feet, clothes. It's very tiring, lol. I'm hopeful that it will get better after a few weeks. For the most part he's really sweet, just everynow and again "Kujo" comes out.

Meggs19 · Nov 27, 2012

Yes, bullies definitely can go through this biting stage! Mine is 16 months now and still has his moments. We tried the squealing and back turning and redirecting to a toy, and very firmly saying the same words "no bite" and trying to walk away etc. with no success. What worked for us was separating him from his pack (us) when he would get too wound up and sassy. We have our kitchen area gated (that's where he stays when we are at work) and when he was too naughty and biting, we put him in the gated kitchen for a "time out." We let him calm down in there and paid no attention to him. After a while we just had to say the word "kitchen" and he knew what awaited him haha. If you try this, be sure not to talk all sweetly to him and coddle him etc. when you let him out! Otherwise they wont think it's punishment haha, we made that mistake. Also, I am sure you know not to put them in a kennel or anything as punishment if you are crate training since you don't want them to view that as a negative place.

I have also heard of gently holding the dog down on it's side etc. (restraining them) for a few minutes when they get really naughty so that you are asserting your dominance over them. You can hold them until they have calmed down a bit and stop squirming and biting and then release them. That might work as well. Good luck to you! I know how hard it is...I had many bite marks and scratches and bruises from our little guy when he was a puppy and super playful and sassy!

MeekosMummy · Nov 27, 2012

Hiya.. Meeko was a little bugger for biting and we had to stop asap as we have a small baby. Redirecting him to toys was a long and pointless progressin. If we pointed at him and told him no he would nip ur finger more and play more! What worked for me was when he started to nip us playin or pettin him we would put hand into mouth and hold his bottom jaw telling him no. He HATED it and tried to pull away. It took litrally a few days and he stopped nippin us.

Leash training. I walked him around the house (as he was familiar with the surroundings and it wasnt all new scary things for him) on a lead encouragin him with treats. I done this a few times a day for a few days before carrying on with the training outside. So he was doin it 1 step at a time not getting used to new surroundings noises the leash etc all in one go. Hope this helps u and ur pup is adorabull x

Tooleysmom · Nov 27, 2012

In addition to "no bite", squealing like a litter mate and turning my back, redirecting her attention and having lots of chew toys, or putting her back in her crate with something she liked to chew, I would put a little honey on my hands and wrists during calm times and when Tallulah licked it off I would say in a happy voice "nice kisses" over and over while she licked. When she got mouthy and would be mouthing on my arms or wrist I would say "no bite Tallulah, kisses only kisses" over and over and then she would start licking. Be patient and loving. It wii change. I am a big fan of positive reinforcement training because Tallulah is very food driven and will do anything for her rewards.

Baconator · Nov 28, 2012

This was more or less a lost cause with Bacon, the only thing that did help was holding your hand open palm side to his face so he could not bite you. There were a few times that he got so nuts I did pin him to the ground on this side or belly up just to calm him down. He did grow out of it, I just attributed it to him being a puppy(as I sit here and look at the 8 month old scar on my hand from puppy piranha teeth)

elearn · Nov 28, 2012

Herman still bites me on a regular basis. My husband says its because I squeal like his squeaky toys and he gets a kick out of it. So I'm thinking the squealing and yelping doesn't work with all dogs. The other stuff like saying "No" and giving a toy, turning him on the side, etc - that is all fun and games to him.

So with him, I just threaten to pick him up (which he hates) or threaten to put him in his room. When things get really bad, I pull out his Duoxo pads (these are medicated pads I use on his face) and he runs and hides. LOL

Aside from those techniques of mine (which I dont suggest LOL), you really just need to find out a good distractor for her to get him out of the mindset of biting. I found that using a clicker is good. But it wont work unless you first teach her what the clicker is. Then when you pull it out you'll have her full attention. Also, when she's biting, try to keep her mind off biting by teaching her some tricks or do some training with her.

Cammie is as the perfect age to start learning some cool tricks.

Herman never really had any issues with wearing a leash. I just suggest not to start with a harness because Cammie is going to get strong really fast and you will need to teach her how to walk without pulling. I suggest getting Mendoata british slip style lead as well as a harness and/or collar and alternate between them when teaching her to walk.