# My puppy is biting me. Nothing is working to fix it.



## EllenCherryCharles (Jan 14, 2007)

We have a 11 week old puppy (we have had since he was 7 weeks). He’s learning commands very quickly, he knows sit, down and leave it. Our problem is that he’s biting. A LOT. I’ve read “the bite stops here” and have worked with him using those techniques, but it isn’t working. In fact, I think its getting worse. He bit so hard he broke the skin last night. He just doesn’t stop. Its like he doesn’t care if I’m hurt. And since he’s learned some commands already, I know he isn’t stupid, and it is possible for him to learn. I do the whole “OUCH!” or a yelp if he does it and then give him an appropriate chew toy and praise him. Then if he goes back to biting me (which he usually does), I walk away and become a “tree” ignoring him completely (usually when I do this he’s on a leash so he doesn’t wander off somewhere unsupervised). Usually when I do this, he has a tug of war match with my pants or socks and then gets bored and either starts chewing the carpet or just sits there. When I go back to him, he just jumps right in with the biting again. 

So the biting is really getting old. I feel like I can’t play with him without being injured and/or “no”ing him to death. I don’t trust him because if he gets near my face he tries to bite my face (he almost got me last night). He’s not a vicious puppy or anything, he’s playing…I think, but I just don’t know what to do. Other than what I described above, I’ve tried holding his mouth closed (not hard, just enough so he’s uncomfortable) and spraying bitter apple on my hands. Neither has had any effect. My worry is that he’s trying to dominate me. My husband hasn’t had nearly the problems that I have. Dakota will nip at him when he’s riled up, but its not like he comes running up and lunges at his face. 

So my questions: Are there any suggestions of what I can try to get this biting thing under control? He seems to respond very well to treats, (that is how we taught him the commands he knows) so can you think of any way to incorporate treats into bite inhibition? Or is this something that he will just grow out of? I want him to know that biting humans is unacceptable, but maybe he’ll figure this out on his own? Also, I’m worried that my “NO! and OUCH!” just gets him more riled up and makes me seem like the “submissive” one. I don’t want my dog to dominate me, but he seems to only respond to my husband’s extremely deep voice. Any suggestions as to how to assert my position? Other than the biting, he’s pretty good as far as not guarding food, following me out doors, not leading on a leash etc. 

Thanks in advance!


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## Curbside Prophet (Apr 28, 2006)

Can you mimick your husband's voice? It happens often that a dog will be worse with a behavior to someone who is not as firm. This could be the reason why he's ok with your husband, but not with you. Depending on your level of dog savvy, this "bit stops here" technique can take some time. It's hard for us to know if you're doing everything correctly, even though it sounds like you are. My recommendation would be to call a professional (even it's for a one day visit) to observe the behavior and your interpretation of the technique. Some would probably suggest to avoid the activity the causes him to bite. However, a young pup still need to learn bite inhibition early. Also keep this in mind...you stated that it's getting worse...what you could be observing is an extinction burst. Some will describe this as the behavior getting worse before it gets better. What happens is, if suddenly the reward (play) stops coming, it's likely
that your pup will not immediately give up the behavior (nipping). Instead, he will try it again and again, harder, faster, more emphatically. It's a burst of activity. If the reward still doesn't come, eventually the behavior will extinguish, or become extinct. So actually, what you're observing is the technique working...it's quite possible. However, for your peace of mind I still would recommend calling a professional. Good luck!


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## Tess&Coco (Jan 8, 2007)

Hi

Don't give up! 11 weeks is still very young and your pup is learning (as commented by CB above). We have a 10-week old puppy who is biting a lot too, but we are trying to persevere with the techniques recommended. I have "borrowed" the following links from a post by RedyreRottweilers on the same subject recently. (Thanks, RR)


http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/archives/bite.txt

http://www.jersey.net/~mountaindog/berner1/bitestop.htm

http://www.doglogic.com/obedienc.htm#biteinhib

http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIP...Inhibition.php


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## EllenCherryCharles (Jan 14, 2007)

Thanks for the advice! I'll keep being consistent and give it more time. I got some good pointers from the "ankle biter" post below. I think rewarding him as soon as he stops going crazy might be a good way to adjust my "protocol." As it is, I'm just waiting for him to calm down, but maybe I can give him a treat when he stops. Good to know there's no obvious problems to you all. Maybe its just the end of the behavior we are experiencing!


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## mistyinca (Oct 25, 2006)

The bite stops here did not work for us either. I stopped foot biting with ONE spray of 50/50 vinegar water, and have had lots of success with the following correction for (normal puppy--not aggressive) hand nipping:

When we're playing on the floor, if she nips, I grab her snout closed (gently) and say in the deep firm voice, "no bite"..."no bite". I hold her snout until she relaxes, which is pretty quickly. Then I keep my hand in her face, giving her opportunity to bite. She usually doesn't. If she licks, I say "good girl",..."kiss". If she nips again, I do the "no bite" hold again. The reason I keep putting my hand in her face is because I want to make sure she gets used to it. Little kids are very drawn to her because she's so small, and she really loves the attention from them. I want to make sure she is as tolerant as possible so that she doesn't bite one ever.

We have had really good success with this so far, and the only times I feel a tooth are when we're really playing actively and she accidentally nips while grabbing a toy. I still do the correction in those times. I can tell she's being more careful now.


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## cockapoolvr (Dec 25, 2006)

We feel like we've tried everything with our puppy. 
Now we are giving him "time outs" every time he nips or bites on our pant legs. He absolutely hates the time outs. (We gate him in the hallway with no where for him to go.) It seems to be working, slowly though. We only keep him in time out for a minute or two, until he stops crying, then we take him out.
We figure, if time out works for babies, maybe it'll work for puppies too.

I understand your frustration.


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## JSJdoglvrs6506 (Jan 23, 2007)

When I worked at the vets office they always told me that if your puppy bites you put your thumb or finger under his/her tongue and they will basically spit your finger out... It works I did it with my Pomeranian and she just play nibbles now .


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## vberkeley (Jan 13, 2007)

I have been upset about the biting all week. My boyfriend brought home this turn him on his side thing that just encouraged more biting. I tried the yelping thing for 30 minutes and it worked! He gave me a strange look the first time, like "You don't look like a dog." And then he started to feel bad for hurting me and began mouthing more softly and now he's really reluctant to do it at all. I know that I'll have to reinforce it but I'm glad to get something. Thanks!


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## Dawn R (Dec 16, 2006)

I posted a couple of months ago an almost identical plea for help. The forum angels directed me to The Bite Stops here. I also thought I wasn't getting anywhere but just stayed consistant and finally it is paying off. I don't know if this is just my puppy but I discovered that if I lowered my voice with him, he got more aggressive. I started trying the higher pitch. I wonder if he felt threatened because the low tones are just not what he associated with me? Maybe he thought that was my growl?


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## dream2long (Jan 28, 2007)

We did all of the above with our rescue puppy!! She doesn't stop for the vinegar water either. As a last resort, we went to the zap collar. Low zap at unwanted behavior, followed by a treat for good. It worked with the biting, but she's a year and a half now and we still have to use it to keep her from attacking guests with jumping on them and barking non-stop for 10 minutes or more. She does the same to us as though we've been gone a year, when it's only been a few hours. She's just a little touched in the head we believe! LOL We love her anyway and keep working on the staying in the yard with us, when not on a chain, it's a long process, but worth it for her safety. Because she still tries to sneak out the door at every opportunity!


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## ShihTzuLover (Jan 31, 2007)

I have a 11 week old shih tzu, and she is also a biter. I have been grabbing her jaw and telling her "no bite", and it works for a little while and then she will bite again. What is the "Bite Stops Here" method?


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## sydney-the-cattle-dog (Jan 31, 2007)

Curbside Prophet said:


> Can you mimick your husband's voice? It happens often that a dog will be worse with a behavior to someone who is not as firm. This could be the reason why he's ok with your husband, but not with you. Depending on your level of dog savvy, this "bit stops here" technique can take some time. It's hard for us to know if you're doing everything correctly, even though it sounds like you are. My recommendation would be to call a professional (even it's for a one day visit) to observe the behavior and your interpretation of the technique. Some would probably suggest to avoid the activity the causes him to bite. However, a young pup still need to learn bite inhibition early. Also keep this in mind...you stated that it's getting worse...what you could be observing is an extinction burst. Some will describe this as the behavior getting worse before it gets better. What happens is, if suddenly the reward (play) stops coming, it's likely
> that your pup will not immediately give up the behavior (nipping). Instead, he will try it again and again, harder, faster, more emphatically. It's a burst of activity. If the reward still doesn't come, eventually the behavior will extinguish, or become extinct. So actually, what you're observing is the technique working...it's quite possible. However, for your peace of mind I still would recommend calling a professional. Good luck!



I wanted to quote this post because I completely agree and it saves me alot of typing  

I just want to emphasize letting you pup learn bite inhibition. This is so important. Taking a zero tolerance approach to biting saves some pain but does not teach to control those sharp teeth and strong jaws around soft human flesh. 

When two dogs are playing and one gets too rough the other will yelp and run away. This sends the signal to the rough player that he had better tone things down or play time is over. Pups are learning their boundaries, so you must set them. Painful bite means game over. Consistency will win in the end and your pup will learn to control his bite. 

Also this becomes very important should your dog ever take a snap at somebody.  A dog well conditioned to bite inhibition is less likely to give an injurious bite. And yes, even the best of dogs can snap if the conditions are overwhelming in his mind.


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## EllenCherryCharles (Jan 14, 2007)

I just wanted to update you all on our progress. Our vet suggested we hold his mouth closed when he tries to bite too hard and in a low (pitched) voice say "NO bites!" He doesn't love this, but it seems to be working. She also suggested the whole stick your finger toward the back of his throat to make the biting unpleasant, but that seemed just a little too mean. And, like some of you have mentioned, it doesn't promote bite inhibition. So now, after a few weeks of "no bites" (only when he's biting hard) he has softened up a LOT and is biting a whole lot less. We've also minimized the ankle/pants/sock biting when we're walking by making a HUGE scene when he does it. When he starts doing that we make a lot of noise like we're an injured puppy in great amounts of pain. He stops and looks at us like we're crazy, but it has improved the situation ENORMOUSLY. We weren't making enough of a scene before, I guess. Anyway, our puppy was extremely discouraging at first, so I thought I'd give some words of encouragement to others dealing with the same problem. If ours can get better (and it is by no means GONE, or PERFECT), yours can too. Patience.


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## magnolia09 (Jun 13, 2007)

My puppy also was biting when we first got her. If you hold the top of her snout so that his/her gums/lips are under her teeth, it shows them that it hurts when they bite.While your holding thier snout say sternly "no teeth". It made my shipperke stop biting after the first few times.


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## BoxMeIn21 (Apr 10, 2007)

magnolia09 said:


> My puppy also was biting when we first got her. If you hold the top of her snout so that his/her gums/lips are under her teeth, it shows them that it hurts when they bite.While your holding thier snout say sternly "no teeth". It made my shipperke stop biting after the first few times.


How wonderfully horrible for your puppy - causing them pain is a wonderful way to gain your dogs trust.


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## Miss D (Jun 12, 2007)

We were advised at Puppy School to have a toy to stick in the puppy's gob everytime we interacted with him. We kind of thought of it as a "dummy" and amazingly, it seems to work. At sixteen weeks, Jack just seemed to magically grow out of play biting. I'm sure it's just a phase. That said, having just read "the bite stops here" we're trying the gentle-wrestling thing to teach bite inhibition. It does seem to be working well so far.

We were advised at Puppy School to have a toy to stick in the puppy's gob everytime we interacted with him. We kind of thought of it as a "dummy" and amazingly, it seems to work. At sixteen weeks, Jack just seemed to magically grow out of play biting. I'm sure it's just a phase. That said, having just read "the bite stops here" we're trying the gentle-wrestling thing to teach bite inhibition. It does seem to be working well so far.


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## magnolia09 (Jun 13, 2007)

BoxMeIn21 said:


> How wonderfully horrible for your puppy - causing them pain is a wonderful way to gain your dogs trust.


It shows the dog that what they are doing to you hurts.... teaching by example, and using the "golden rule". If you don't like that teaching form, they don't use it. Just trying to help out by sharing what worked for me.


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## BoxMeIn21 (Apr 10, 2007)

magnolia09 said:


> It shows the dog that what they are doing to you hurts.... teaching by example, and using the "golden rule". If you don't like that teaching form, they don't use it. Just trying to help out by sharing what worked for me.


I don't believe pain or force should be used in any sort of training, especially on a baby puppy. Teaching by example would be re-directing to a toy, not making your dog bite itself.


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## magnolia09 (Jun 13, 2007)

I am new at training, I haven't heard of that method before. Next time I get a new puppy I'll have to try it, I don't want to change my methods with Aunalay at this point, especially since she's almost completely grasped the concept. Thanks for the advice though!!


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## BoxMeIn21 (Apr 10, 2007)

It's never too late to trade pain for positive reinforcement. Your dog will love you for it. 
Here's some good reading about it if you are interested. 
"The Other End Of the Leash" by Patricia McConnell.


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