Help Needed! My puppy only seems to want to bite/ HARD

Kmaestas7689

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Apr 13, 2015
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Ohio
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Elliot
So Elliot my soon to be 9 week old puppy started off so laid back and loving at 6 weeks but as time has gone on we cant even touch him without him biting down so hard that it has drawn tears from me and blood from my husband. I understand puppies play and are teething, we say no, yelp, ignore him, give him a toy in his mouth instead, walk away! seems like we are doing everything right but the moment we give him attention again he is grabing my clothes and tugging on them while he growls and biting anything he can, including my face.I try to stay as calm as i can but when all he does is hurt me its getting hard. I would just like some advice or is he just an agressive dog? maybe we took him from his liter too soon that he didnt learn the behavior he should have to not bite so hard. any suggestions or help is welcome
 

nycbullymama

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Dec 22, 2012
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I think it would be extremely rare for a 9 week old puppy to be aggressive unless there was some serious trauma that went on.
Most likely, it is the teething.
Get yourself some "Bitter Apple" and spray it on your hands, feet, wherever he's biting you- it's almost guaranteed to work :)

Also, just keep teaching him "no" and re-direct with toys. You can also freeze some toys and have him chew on those. The cold will numb the pain a bit and help with the teething.
 

Marine91

The New Casper
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May 15, 2013
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Welcome to the shark phase. It is going to last quite awhile so keep up what you are doing. It takes a lot of persistence and patience to teach these buggers but they eventually get it. Also what [MENTION=7457]nycbullymama[/MENTION] suggested about bitter apple spray works as well.
 

Cali Doll

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Nov 20, 2014
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Elliott's behavior sounds totally normal to me. My Bella was like that until she was, I think, 16 weeks. It was exhausting, so I empathize with you. I just kept redirecting and I put her in her playpen when I couldn't take it anymore. I just told myself that she would be better at 4-6 months. She improved really quickly and Elliott will, too.
 
OP
Kmaestas7689

Kmaestas7689

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Apr 13, 2015
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Elliot
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I appreciate the advice! It seems like he gets better at one thing and than there is a completely different issue, I was told about this sour apple so i am going to have to invest in this. Its just Ive had puppies before and their bites are tolerable but his are so painful and when you yelp or yell no or ouch he clinches even tighter. Im putting him in obedience puppy classes with other puppies after his second shots so maybe when he gets a little more socialized he will learn more.
 

Cali Doll

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Nov 20, 2014
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Northern VA
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Bella
I appreciate the advice! It seems like he gets better at one thing and than there is a completely different issue, I was told about this sour apple so i am going to have to invest in this. Its just Ive had puppies before and their bites are tolerable but his are so painful and when you yelp or yell no or ouch he clinches even tighter. Im putting him in obedience puppy classes with other puppies after his second shots so maybe when he gets a little more socialized he will learn more.

I'm telling you, bullies are different! I also raised a non-bully puppy previously and he never bit like this. Bella was a horrible biter! I couldn't hold her or play with her because all of our interaction consisted of me avoiding her teeth. I couldn't even walk around her because she bit my legs, pants, feet, shoes. It was pretty crazy.
 

Donnam

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Nov 5, 2014
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I sooo feel for you because Winnie was a terrible biter when she was a puppy. I've had a lot of puppies, including 4 bullies and she was the worst by far! At times my hubby and I looked like burn victims or something, our arms were so scarred from the biting. Nothing we did helped until we got a spray bottle filled with water. When she would bite we would spray her face and say "no bite!" This was what helped the most. After a while, all I had to do was show her the bottle and say "no bite," and she would quit. Some puppies won't be deterred by distraction or yelping or substituting toys and just keep going for body parts no matter what--Winnie was like that.

I will tell you that by the time she was 4 months old she had pretty much quit all biting and she wouldn't dream of biting anyone now. You certainly don't have an aggressive dog. I think you're doing all the right stuff. Just hang in there and little Elliot will quit biting when he gets a little older!
 

christaleigh123

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Apr 8, 2015
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MN
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Spanky
I feel your pain! I have an 11 week-old (first time bully owner). I got him at 7 weeks and also thought that maybe he had been taken from his litter too soon. He did the biting, growling, biting harder when you reacted, you name it- he did it & I was also worried because he seemed completely uninterested in us unless it was biting..wouldn't let us pet him and would sleep on the other side of the room. BUT, the past 2 weeks he has shown significant improvement. He still has many crazy moments throughout the day but they have gotten shorter and less frequent. Hang in there! It's frustrating but it really does get better! Good luck :D
 

Donnam

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Nov 5, 2014
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Dallas, Texas (Richardson)
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USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Winnie
I feel your pain! I have an 11 week-old (first time bully owner). I got him at 7 weeks and also thought that maybe he had been taken from his litter too soon. He did the biting, growling, biting harder when you reacted, you name it- he did it & I was also worried because he seemed completely uninterested in us unless it was biting..wouldn't let us pet him and would sleep on the other side of the room. BUT, the past 2 weeks he has shown significant improvement. He still has many crazy moments throughout the day but they have gotten shorter and less frequent. Hang in there! It's frustrating but it really does get better! Good luck :D

And that's exactly what frustrated me so much about Winnie! It was like she didn't care about us at all. The more we yelped, the harder she'd bite. We had to get up on the bed to put on our shoes, my clothes had holes in them and we couldn't love on her unless she was asleep. I seriously thought we had gotten a sociopathic dog! But she's a total LOVE now. Maybe it takes them longer to fall in love with us than it takes us to fall in love with them!
 

ddnene

EBN's SWEETHEART aka our little GOOB
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Jun 19, 2013
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Willow (2015) Walter (2014-22) Winston (2012-13) Wellie (2012-13) Bella (2007-13)
Extremely normal behavior as others have stated… I don't believe your baby is aggressive at all. A few tips… use a chew or toy to distract from the biting, if that doesn't work put him in a "time-out" in his crate or a pen. This will reinforce the idea that biting his humans is NOT acceptable behavior and he needs to make better choices. Plus this will give you a break…

The spray bottle is another great idea and so is shaking a can of coins as a distraction. Remember NOT to sign him up for puppy classes until he has completed all of his puppy vaccines, I waited to take my pups until they are about 6 mos old. Good luck and keep us posted on your adorable baby!!!
 

riuthamus

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Apr 22, 2015
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Drogo
We have a new puppy as well and this was a huge issue. His teeth are razor sharp and when he would play it was killing me. So i did some searching and trying to find out why they felt the need to bite. Somebody had told me to provide the puppy with a toy and say NO when he would bite. This was not working and actually just made things worse.

I did, however, find an article about how puppies play. While the puppies are playing they will yelp very loud and remove themselves from play if they are hurt. The article said to do this with your puppy, yelp very loud and back away from the puppy for 10 - 20 seconds. Quickly resume play and the puppy will learn. I did this and within 1 day he was cured of the biting skin. He still goes after my feet when socks are on them (even after i yelp) but every other time if he notices soft skin he stops and licks or stops all together. Try this out
 

boo boo butts mom

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Oct 18, 2014
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boo boo butt
When my bully was a puppy i use to bite her right back and although it's almost gross and weird at the same time it did show her i was alpha and she tested me a ton of times with biting and i would bite right back. My son use to laugh at her expression of almost shock. I didnt bite hard like she did me but i would love doing this to her paw or her ear just to see her stop and look at me like what the heck lol. I also use to go up to her face super close and sniff her face really fast like she would do to me. I know its crazy but today she is 3 and she dont bite even when playing and she just sits while i sniff at her face. She probably thinks im nuts but I just laugh at her facial expressions.
 

RalphieBoy

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Jul 1, 2014
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Tennessee
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Emmitt
When my bully was a puppy i use to bite her right back and although it's almost gross and weird at the same time it did show her i was alpha and she tested me a ton of times with biting and i would bite right back. My son use to laugh at her expression of almost shock. I didnt bite hard like she did me but i would love doing this to her paw or her ear just to see her stop and look at me like what the heck lol. I also use to go up to her face super close and sniff her face really fast like she would do to me. I know its crazy but today she is 3 and she dont bite even when playing and she just sits while i sniff at her face. She probably thinks im nuts but I just laugh at her facial expressions.

OMG Boo Boo Mom THAT IS AWESOME. I would of Loved to see you biting back. My side is sore laughing. Bite Back. That made my day.
We did a three phase. Several big Elk Bones and when they want to chew, chew on the bone, if the boys were chewing something from a distance I shot contact solution at them and next is old school which most won't like. My Gramdfather told me with my first dog that if the pup starts biting your hand-skin take their side jaw and grind it on their teeth. Every time the pup bites at you grind their jaw on their teeth. If you do that consistently it works. Grind, no and give them the elk bone. Hang in there and Boo Boo I love ya..Ralphie
 

boo boo butts mom

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Oct 18, 2014
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boo boo butt
Every single puppy i have ever had i did this with but boo was the most fun with. Stop tilt the head one way and then to the other side as though to say, "what the heck did she just do to me,omg she bit me back". I tried to get my son to do this with his dog and of course not lol and umm yeah i say well he bites cause you wouldn't listen lol. Boo knows who the alpha is in my house lolol. I love me some dogs.
 

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