My puppy keeps biting me! Help?

Question

I just took my 5-month-old blue heeler/bulldog mix outside and on the way back he started growling and jumping at me, and ended up biting me quite hard on the hand. I play with him more often than I train him and when he bites me I usually don't react. My mom suggested I stop playing with him and carry a stick with me to pop him with (which my parents do - and it seems to work.)

Any other suggestions I can try? I tried grabbing his mouth and saying, "no," when he was younger, but it didn't work. When I try to use a stick, he thinks I'm playing. I can easily get him to sit on command; how can I work with that?

Answer 1

grab his mouth and in a strong voice say no bite you do this until he no longer bites or  theres a spray stuff called bitter apple it works you spray it on your hands and the dog wont like it cause it tastes bad. talk to your vet about this i dont believe in hitting with anything.

Answer 2

Your parents are very wrong to teach you to hit a dog with a stick. If you are caught by anyone hitting a dog with a stick, they are going to report you to the authorities. If I saw you hitting a dog with a stick, I would report you.

Take the dog to training classes, it's obvious that your family doesn't know what to do with the dog. Training is very important, and you have neglected to to that sufficiently ... Your dog does not respect you, obviously due to the parents influence there. You need a professional.

Edit : Gees.. Don't be hitting your dog at all. I can't believe all these answers you are getting. Training is the answer, not beating your dog into submission. No wonder the shelters are full of dogs.. The jails should be full of people smacking their dogs around.

Answer 3

since he is still a puppy i  would carry a squirt bottle wit you when you are near your dog so if he trys to bite just squirt him on the top of his head it will train him and you won't notice you are training him

Answer 4

A bulldog is a very energetic hard working animal, originally used for restraining cattle and hunting wild boar so you have yourself a very proud, powerful beast that will need a lot of exercise and firm obedience training.

Obviously he needs to know that biting is wrong so try yelping sharply like a hurt dog, turning your back and storming away from him indignantly. This will show him that this behavior is not wanted by you and will soon make the association between biting and the end of playtime.

This does not always work however, especially if you have a dog with a lot of unspent energy so try heavier exercise so that he can release all of this energy which is obviously developing into frustration which your Little friend is expressing the only way he knows how.

Once you have tired him you can start with the obedience training. You must be calm but assertive to gain your dog's respect as you are the supposed to be his leader so emotion and nervousness will not bode well for you, use simple commands with an even tone and reward once in a while when he gets it right.

From what you are saying though it does sound very much like a lack of exercise so work on this first, try to avoid tug-of-war games as this only encourages a dog to use its teeth. He will become quite obviously tired when he has exercised enough i.e panting and lying down, then you should have yourself a calmer more submissive dog once you have shown him that you are just as active as he is and will start to gain his respect. Good luck.

Oh and just as a thought, anybody advising on hitting a dog or spraying vinegar at it should not be keeping one a dogs nose is the most sensitive part of its body and can be hurt or even damaged very easily    

Answer 5

YOU SHOULD NOT CARRY AROUND A STICK AND POP HIM!

This will make him bite you more... and will eventually lead to an aggressive dog.

You best bet would obviously be to take him to a professional dog trainer (A good one with references).

But, if you cannot afford that (or can't find a good one) then I would:

Like the previous poster mentioned teach him the "no" word. Personally it doesn't sound like he was trying to hurt you, it just seemed like he was playing. Puppies like to play!!! and if he was wagging his tail and wasn't in an offensive position then it was nothing harmful. This is why it is important to hire a pro dog trainer, so you can identify if he is really being aggressive or if he is just having fun. I would also teach him not to jump on people.

Answer 6

tap him on the nose with a rolled up news paper and tell him no when he gets use to the word no that is all you will have to say. also don't play ruff with the puppy. if you don't want to use a news paper then you can take a soda or metal coffee can and put some rocks in it and shake it when you say no. i also heard that a spray bottle with a little vinegar with water in it just enough so that he can smell it and you can spray it and say no.

Answer 7

it may seem mean but my germansheperd started that i just slap her on the side of the face and she learn to quit  

Answer 8

Well its apparent you need to train more and make it fun.Always have a chew toy that you carry with you the second he starts put the toy in his mouth.Smacking him with a stick is not the answer but a toy is.Never never let him touch you with his teeth.Always have toys around your house his yard and on your walks.If you do not change what you are doing-he will never understand its wrong.Dogs seek answers its up to us to show them right from wrong.Tilks Mom

Answer 9

Two problems I see here:

1) The puppy has WAY too much energy. Puppies naturally have loads of energy, and when that energy isn't released constructively, it tends to come out in unwanted behaviors like biting or chewing things up. I know it's a lot of work, but if you can take him for a run every morning and afternoon (and I mean run him until he CANNOT run anymore) that will help more than you can imagine. I promise; I've gone through the puppy thing plenty of times before.

2) He seems to recognize your parents as alphas, authority figures. He knows they're the bosses, and so he doesn't bite them. If you treat him more like a litter-mate would than a leader, he won't respect you. If he doesn't respect you, the biting will get worse and other bad behaviors could develope. Again, walk him. Run him, and make sure he walks/runs beside you or behind you.

Fix those two things, and you should be fine. As far as immediate correction, dogs don't hit each other on the nose. They bit each other on the neck when they don't like something. Try jabbing him in the neck. I promise it won't hurt him. It's just comunicating to him in "dog talk."

Hope this helps!

Answer 10

teach him the NO word and when he goes to bit you say NO and flick him on the nose. the nose is very sensitive and he will not like it and soon he will learn when you say NO then he will get flicked so he should stop and give him lots of chew toys so he will have something rather then your hand to chew on!

Hope this helps  

Answer 11

ok play with him! he needs to be healthy and strong hes a puppy he will start teething! and he will start biting but if he starts biting hard and acts like he wants to hurt you tap him on the nose and say no and stop playing with him for mayb 5-10 minutes he will finally learn tht that is bad  

Answer 12

They say that if he's biting you while you are playing then abruptly stop playing with him and he will learn that biting means that the play stops, so I won't bite anymore. Also, get him something hard to chew on like a chew toy or a bone because his baby teeth are going to start falling out and his new ones are coming in. It's just like with a baby gets their teeth they like to chew on teething rings or really anything they can get their little hands on, so that might help with him biting too. It takes a lot to train a dog, so good luck! and have fun! :)