Puppy problems

[tyara83]

I love my puppy with all of my heart but she is driving us all crazy with her biting. She is 9 weeks. I have tried the bitter stuff and she loves the taste. I have tried whining/barking/growling and she thinks it is just a game and tries to bite more. I refuse to bite her. I am completely at my wits end. She loves to chase my much younger siblings (5 & 7) and bite their pants legs. She bites hard and has broken skin on 2 people in the house. Any suggestions? She has plenty of chew toys of all types and plays with them on a frequent basis.

[DFrost]

Sometimes, dog training is merely patience. A good thing to do, is each time the dog starts biting you, merely redirect the play, and that's what it is, by giving the dog something he is allowed to chew on. Making a big deal of not letting him bite you really reinforces the dogs behavior. As silly as that sounds, he wants to play, when you make a big deal out of being bitten, he getting a reaction he interprets as play, therefore it reinforces him to do it again.

DFrost

[Kymcole25]

DFrost has given you great advice.

I would just like to add that your pup is still very young, and doesn't know what is right and what is wrong when it comes to behavior. It takes a little bit of time for a pup to get used to what he should and should not be doing.

[Evanescence]

The harshest realization that I had when I brought home my first pup was that he didn't understand a word of english....not even NO! I could scream as loud as I wanted and he would be completely unfazed. He was also a ball of energy...I was so about to bring him back...he bit my nose, I had bloody ankles (he's half ACD) my hair was getting ripped out by its roots, but with some patience, like 2 months of it, he learned to totally redirect the behavior into positive things I wanted him to do. A few of the things I did that helped me cope with having the little (cute as a button!) monster in my house:

1.) when he bit...all fun instantly stopped. If I was running and he bit my ankle...I stopped dead in my tracks and ignored him for 30 seconds, if he bit my hand, face, nose, or hair I immediately stopped petting or playing and moved away from him. This way the puppy learns that biting does not get him what he wants...and is absolutly no fun at all, I found that ignoring him was worse punishment than any physical correction, since its hard for the pup to connect the bite with the correction, and he may wind up getting scared of you and still biting. If the bite was a mistake (he wasn;t the most coordinated beast at 8 weeks) I would redirect the behavior to a toy. I can only imagine this will be MUCH harder to do with kids in the house who don't understand what you're trying to do. It might be better to kennel him with a fun toy (like a kong stuffed with peanut butter) when the kids are running around like crazy until he gets the idea.
2.) He was on a "nothing in life is free" plan he ate out of my hand or a food cube (basically a toy that dispenses food gradually) for the first year of his life. I was also training him for agility...so this was important to me, but may not be practical for you.
3.) he got 45mins-1hour of exercise EVERY day. This is very important for puppies, because if they have excess energy, they use it, and often learn bad habits doing so. The amount of exersise your pup needs depends on its breed and personality...mine needed a lot. It was also better for me if I broke up the exersise into 2-4 sessions a day, so we played ball in the morning, went for a jog in the afternoon, and went to play with a friend's dog in the evening, or went for a walk.

Well, that's my 2 cents (hope its worth that to you!) Good Luck! and it WILL get much better, its just a pup who dosn't know any better, and needs to learn what's acceptable, and what's fun for both of you from you!

[Patch O' Pits]

I love my puppy with all of my heart but she is driving us all crazy with her biting. She is 9 weeks. I have tried the bitter stuff and she loves the taste. I have tried whining/barking/growling and she thinks it is just a game and tries to bite more. I refuse to bite her. I am completely at my wits end. She loves to chase my much younger siblings (5 & 7) and bite their pants legs. She bites hard and has broken skin on 2 people in the house. Any suggestions? She has plenty of chew toys of all types and plays with them on a frequent basis.

How old was the pup when you brought her home. If she was the right age for a puppy to be taken she would have been 8 weeks which means you only had her for a week of training. This is not near enough time for her to understand what is expected of her.

If she was taken under that age that is also a big part of the problem, puppies learn about social behaviors from their littermates and mom.

Here are some helpful hints. Some may be a repeat of other posts. I didn't read everything...

get her on a leash so you have more control .... you won't do any kind of harsh correction just use the leash to help redirect her

say no when she chases the kids or grabs at them

If she bites/ nips which is totally normal for a teething puppy say No, ouch or yelp like an injured pup which should startle her a bit and immediately redirect her to a toy to bite and chew on make sure to play with her and not expect her to play with the toy and behave on her own and also treat her and say good girl when she plays appropriately

You'll need to get your kids doing this as well.

Puppies are like babies everything needs to be taught and it will not happen over night.


Begin obedience training. Teach the following commands at this age
a recall
sit
and
down

Get everyone in the household involved in the training and be consistent and positive with everything

Good luck and enjoy! puppies grow way way too fast!

[Shadowheart]

Totally have some suggestions. See my dog would too. When we first got her, it was a thing she did. She would bite my shirts, socks and everything. Bt the pup just thinks is a fun game, ti's you. Try and replace theclothing witha stuffed animal she will like, then incourage it. For example, if you would move your toes, and the puppy would bite your sock, then just try and move the animal around, try and get it to play with it!

[Patch O' Pits]

http://www.discussdogs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=759

[hitchinpixie]

Good Advice above. One more thing to add--I had the same problem with my pup and every time she would bike at my hands or clothing, I would stop, sit her down, say no, and not let her follow through with playing, then I would give her a toy to play with as an alternative and show her that is what we play with. She doesnt know what is a toy yet and to her, what wiggles and squeals is all good. GET A KONG and kennel train. MAke time for play time. You as the adult needs to be her play buddy until she respects you. So play with her and keep a stuffed toy with you so as to always have a diversion from your hands and clothes.