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Puppy Biting - whats normal, whats not?

Got a new, young, furry love in your life? This is the place for you to ask all of your questions-big or small! Just remember that you are receiving advice from other dog owners and lovers... not professionals. If you have a major problem, always seek the advice of a vet or behaviorist! Most important is to remember to have fun with your new fur baby.

  
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Bella

1271294		 
 
Barked: Fri Oct 12, '12 5:48pm PST 
Whats normal in regards to puppy biting behaviour? Bella has started biting and with me especially she wont stop. She bites my toes, legs, hands, face, hair sometimes up to 30 times during a day - its exhausting. She bites my partner too, however with me she will bark at me and lunge. She has even stopped playing with a toy, walked over to me and bit me.

How do you handle this? Ive tried walking away but she just follows biting at my legs or entertains herself (doesn't care) if i close the door behind me. Ive tried saying "NO" loudly but she just barks at me and lunges.
Ive heard that yelping might help, however my other half cant yelp and i do want to keep it consistent between the 2 of us.
He wants to whack her bum (either with a hand or newspaper) but i know she is in her fear period right now and don't want to cause fear biting thinking

Is this normal? or does it seem a bit extreme? I want to nip this in the bud now while she is still 3kg and not 13kg!
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Keeva

My name is- Gaelic for- "Gentle"		 
 
Barked: Fri Oct 12, '12 7:30pm PST 
I think it is pretty normal. I tried all those things with our pup too but what I really think worked is TIME. She is almost one year old now and it is WAY better. Hang in there. It is frustrating but it does get better.smile
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UCH Onyx TT

Do you even- lift?
 
 
Barked: Fri Oct 12, '12 7:54pm PST 
Playful biting is totally normal behavior for a young puppy. It sounds like she's barking and lunging at you when she bites because she considers it a game. Since she's feeding off your responses, I would try completely ignoring her every time she bites. Stand up, turn around, and become a statue. Don't even walk away, just stand there until she calms down. When she stops biting, even if she loses interest and walks away, resume playing with her. Repeat as necessary, and it will take time before she gets the idea, but eventually she'll learn that biting ends playtime and being calm starts it again.
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MIKA&KAI

Akita Pals- Always.
 
 
Barked: Sat Oct 13, '12 7:12am PST 
I agree with Onxy. We use that method here. You can also try redirecting to a toy when she does that. Puppies are little biting machines who for the first 6 to 8 months of their lives are teething nearly constantly as well.
Try giving her a piece of cloth or old towel cut into strips with knots in and soaked in low fat,sodium free broth,then frozen to chew on,keep several handy and resoak/refreeze after use to help calm teething pain and impulse to chew,I did this with mine as pups and they still enjoy them as puppy freezer pops during the summer.wishes
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Mishka &- Luna

1263406		 
 
Barked: Sat Oct 13, '12 9:15am PST 
Puppies discover things by biting. It si their way of getting to know things in their environment. I wouldn't spank the puppy for this behavior because you don't want the puppy to become fearful of you, your hand, or an object like a newspaper. Redirection or ignoring is the key. Like Onyx had said when he/she starts biting stand up and ignore the puppy. Don't attempt to walk away because you'll just be adding to the puppy's interest to keep biting. Mika&Kai's method with the frozen broth soaked rag is a great method. I also used the peanut butter game with my pups. It can be a bit messy but its a tasty way of teaching them that biting is bad while licking is good behavior. I would put peanut butter on my hand and let the puppy go to town. If the puppy was licking the pb I would praise them with lots of petting and if the puppy bit or nipped my hand I would stand up and ignore the puppy for about a minute. The puppy will start to understand that licking is the good behavior and biting is the bad behavior.
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Bella

1271294		 
 
Barked: Sat Oct 13, '12 12:51pm PST 
Well i did the standing still when she bit on my pants... 10mins of pulling and growling later i had a pair of ripped pants frown

Also she doesn't just bite during play - what do i do if we have her on the bed/couch with us while we are watching tv at night and she just gets up and bites us or bites our arms while shes on our lap? We aren't playing so i cant stop playing with her and im still anyway.

I have started tethering her to me all the time at the moment as we are letting our cats come into the room with her now(they have been kept in the back part of the house for the last week frown ) and i don't want her chasing/lunging. But she chews her lead rather than a toy shrug
I feel so mean dragging her with me everywhere i go - especially when shes asleep at my feet and i need to go to the bathroom.
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MIKA&KAI

Akita Pals- Always.
 
 
Barked: Sat Oct 13, '12 1:50pm PST 
If you need to go to the bathroom and she is sleeping if possible pick her up and carry her with you rather than making her walk. I know it can be inconvenient at times but tethering is really a good thing it helps keep them well supervised so you can recognize when they need a trip to the potty and can keep them out of harms way or from doing damage to things you would like to keep. Your puppy is fine being tethered.wishes
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Bella

1271294		 
 
Barked: Sun Oct 14, '12 11:48am PST 
How to stop her ripping my pants when im standing still?
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Missy

Miss- Pig!
 
 
Barked: Sun Oct 14, '12 3:05pm PST 
I didn't use the standing still technique. I simply ended all fun and gave Ty/Missy a time out which usually meant being shut out of the room for 5 minutes. By the time they was allowed back in the room they was more interested in what they'd missed than the previous game and they had had that few minutes to unwind. They soon cottoned on and it worked for both my two, although i must say Ty was pretty much an angel as i found having an older dog ( Missy ) redirected his nipping behaviour onto her rather than me wink

Edited by author Sun Oct 14, '12 3:05pm PST

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Banjo

Little rascal		 
 
Barked: Thu Oct 18, '12 4:01pm PST 
Banjo was really bad with biting when he was younger. What I did was redirected using a toy. When he'd bite I'd make a high pitched sound then offer him a toy to play with/chew on and when he started biting the toy id give him alot of praise. He caught on really quickly and instead of biting he turned into a massive licker because he knew he couldnt bite haha. That method worked really well for me. Smacking the dog on the bum or the nose or where ever isnt going to result in anything positive. More than anything it would probably make the dog fearful.
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