Biting puppy problems?

Question

my five month old beagle constantly bites me and other members of the family.i understand that shes teething but this isnt teething nips. this is full on dog bites. she has made me bleed and bruised me badly. idk what to do with her. iv tried taking her for walks to get her energy out but it doesnt help. is there anything i can do?

Answer 1

The first thing you can try is yelping like another dog would when it gets hurt.  That most likely will work once or twice - or maybe not at all.  Then you can try "scruffing" the puppy - so when it bites you just tell it no in a stern voice and grab a handful of skin at the back of the neck and shake gently or pull the puppy away with the skin.  This is supposed to be kind of like a dog biting the neck in a warning shot.  You need to make sure the puppy knows that play time is over as soon as it bites.  Last resort, and the most unpleasant, is to bite back.  When my dog was a puppy I bit her ear when she started biting me.  Bite hard enough to make the puppy want to pull away, and it has to be as soon as it bites you.  Sounds crazy, but it works - good luck.

I have never tried it for this, but if you are against biting your dog you could also try giving the puppy a shot of binaca (mouth freshener) when it is biting you.  Make sure you don't get it in the eyes, but I use it to keep aggressive dogs from jumping up and it really seems to catch their attention.

Answer 2

Ouch. You definitely want to stop this ASAP. I would really consider getting a professional trainer. The site below has a nice trainer search based on location. Make sure to find a positive reinforcement trainer.

http://www.apdt.com/

In the meantime here are some things you could try:

1. When your dog has his mouth on you, it is important NOT to jerk away. Jerking away will cause you to get scratched. More importantly, sudden and quick movements may make your dog think it is a fun game and reinforce her biting/mouthing behavior. At worst, quick movements may instigate your dog's prey drive and cause her to get aggressive. Instead, stay still and either give a No command or yelp as a puppy might do to her litter-mates when they are playing too rough.

2. Redirect your puppy onto a chew toy

If she is biting on something she shouldn't, non-mark her (No/ack, ack) and put a toy in her mouth. You don't need to shove it in, just put it there for her to bite on.

3. Hand-feed her (Please only do this if she is not biting you and breaking skin while trying to get at the food)

You can try and teach her some bite inhibition. Hand-feed her some kibble one by one. If she bites too hard while trying to get at her food, yelp in a high pitch, and ignore her for a few seconds. Then start feeding her again. This way she learns that biting hard can hurt humans and when she does that, the food and attention stops. Hand-feeding is also good for bonding and establishing your leadership.

4. Always put a drag lead on her. Use a light lead, and clip off the loop at the end so it doesn't catch on anything. Make sure to use a flat collar and not a training collar. When you dog does something inappropriate, non-mark her (ack, ack) and stop her with the lead so that your hand is farther away from her mouth.  

5. Time-out. If your dog continues with her bad behavior after you have told her to stop, then say "time-out" and remove her to a time-out area (a safe but boring room, e.g. laundry room). Leave her in there for a couple of minutes and let her out. If she starts up again, non-mark her (ack, ack), and say time-out and put her back in time-out. This time lengthen the duration to about 10-15 minutes. Note that if your dog stops the bad behavior, make sure to praise her a lot and give her good treats. Keep this up and your dog will learn that certain behaviors get her rewards while others get her into a boring room with nothing to do.

6. NILIF program. A great way to establish yourself as leader is through the control of resources. Don't give anything to your dog (including pets and affection) unless hse does something for you first. For example ask her for a "sit" before you give her food, toys, or freedom.

7. Obedience training. Try and do some obedience training sessions everyday. Enroll in a class or get a good positive reinforcement obedience book, and practice with her for short sessions (10-15 minutes) every day. This will help establish you as a leader, improve your bond with your dog, exercise your dog's mind, and give you good tools that you can use to help control her in the house.

Answer 3

Our 3 month old Schnauzer puppy bites when she is in a spunky mood, which is several times a day. It makes it really hard to play with her. We have started yelling "OW", really, really loud every time she bites. Then we end it with "no biting". We have only had her a week so far, we just started doing this a couple of days ago. You can tell that something is starting to register. The way she looks at us afterwards is so cute - she c***s her head like she is saying, "what?"