# HELP PLEASE Puppy barking and biting me when i sit down



## Hunggaur (Oct 6, 2013)

HELP PLEASE Puppy barking and biting me when i sit down

Hi folks i hope you can help me i have a 12 week old working cocker spaniel

we have only had him a week but i am getting a little concerned over his biting and barking

if i or my daughter who is 8 sit on the floor with him her starts mouthing, we say ouch when it get to hard and try to move away but them he jumps up and starts biting us hard enough to draw blood. we keep doing the ouch and then leave the room for about 30 seconds. 

when we come back in and he comes over and starts mouthing we say gentle and or kisses

we have also tried ignoring him if he starts to get to existed

Over the last couple of days this has escalated 

he has started biting so hard he his biting holes in our clothes

also now whenever i come into the room and site down on any of the chairs (he is not allowed on any at all) he starts barking jumping at me and biting me or my clothing.

when he has bitten me or my daughter hard enough to draw blood about 4 times I have had to pin him down so we can move away.

am I doing the right thing or is these some thing else i could do 

someone has suggested shaking a tin of coins just when he is barking at me and trying to bite when I sit down

Need help

cheers

jon


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## Nuclear_Glitter (Jun 20, 2012)

Puppies bite. Hard. Your puppy isn't some aggressive monster or anything, don't worry =] He's just a landshark currently lol. 

You're on the right path to saying ouch and leaving the room. What you need to do is ALWAYS be consistent about this. If the puppy bites you, leave the room, no matter what. This may mean you leave the room 100 times a day, but it's one of the best ways to teach the puppy. 

When you or your daughter is seeing the puppy, be sure to have a toy handy. Try to keep the dogs attention with the toy. If the puppy begins biting you, yelp LOUDLY like another puppy would, and leave the room, putting a door between yourself and the dog so he has no access to you. Stay gone for 30 seconds on the first offense, and every time he does it move up by 30-60 seconds. Past 5 minutes though and he will probably forget why you're gone at this age. 

This thread will explain this method a bit more: http://www.dogforums.com/first-time-dog-owner/8377-bite-stops-here.html

What sort of exercise are you currently giving the puppy? Is he training at all yet, either with you or in puppy classes?

Oh, and for barking, just ignore it. Don't give the puppy ANY sort of attention when it's barking. 

Look up kikopup on youtube, she has a ton of free training videos that will help you and your little puppy out a lot. They're fun for you and your puppy so they will help build your bond, and it will help your puppy become a good member of society.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

Puppies bite - it's what they do. Everything your pup is doing is totally normal, including drawing blood and putting holes in clothes. Spaniels can be extra mouthy since they are bred to retrieve and carry birds around, so putting everything in their mouth is normal. 

When he bites, you need to yelp or say "ouch", then leave the room. Completely leave so that he can't follow you and continue to bite, and ignore him for about a minute. He just wants to play with you, and you need to teach him that biting ends his playtime. Read the sticky "The Bite Stops Here" for more information. It's just going to take a very long time. Most dogs stop biting for the most part after teething, around 6 months old. My spaniels is still mouthy at 14 months, but he is learning. It's something that takes months, not days, to resolve.


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

Rest assured, this is normal behavior for MANY puppies this age. You've gotten really good advice, but I just thought I'd chime in. It DOES get better, but it seems to take forever, particularly when you just want to cuddle and love on that sweet little ball of fluff, but it's a landshark!  Hang in there and this will work itself out as long as you are consistent with him.


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## Pidgey21 (Sep 10, 2013)

Hello reading your post is ideal for me. I currently have a 13 week old labrador and she is so cute but a little devil, she can go from being so cute to a land shark in seconds, I simply put her in her pen after a stern "ouch" although I have only just started this I'm hoping for an improvement soon, it's not easy trust me but I'm sure it will work.


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## kcomstoc (Mar 9, 2013)

Pidgey21 said:


> Hello reading your post is ideal for me. I currently have a 13 week old labrador and she is so cute but a little devil, she can go from being so cute to a land shark in seconds, I simply put her in her pen after a stern "ouch" although I have only just started this I'm hoping for an improvement soon, it's not easy trust me but I'm sure it will work.


 The pen/crate shouldn't be a punishment...it should be a happy place where the puppy can feel safe. Instead of putting him in there YOU should leave the room for about 20 seconds and then come back in. The only reason I say this is because you want a puppy that will happily go in his crate so that he's not barking/whining to get out (most puppies do anyway) but when you use it for punishment it only makes it worse


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## cronic22 (Oct 5, 2013)

It was said earlier, but when I had my baby rhodesian ridgeback, he had the sharpest little teeth and he liked to bite. For me personally, I love that part of puppies and I love playing with them and wearing them out till they fall asleep. But he was a non stop ball of energy. What I did was distract him with something else. I'd get interested in one of his toys, and play with it till his interest really peaked. Then I'd nudge it towards him and if he bit, he would play with his toy, giving my hands a needed rest. Or if now, I find picking them up also breaks their want to bite, since puppies get a little nervous when they leave the ground. Just dont forget that you are the human and they are the puppy. You just gotta keep one step ahead of them and before long they will start to play nicer. But right now its all new and they are learning some valuable lessons in being a dog.


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## 3doglady (Jul 31, 2011)

cronic22 said:


> It was said earlier, but when I had my baby rhodesian ridgeback, he had the sharpest little teeth and he liked to bite. For me personally, I love that part of puppies and I love playing with them and wearing them out till they fall asleep. But he was a non stop ball of energy. What I did was distract him with something else. I'd get interested in one of his toys, and play with it till his interest really peaked. Then I'd nudge it towards him and if he bit, he would play with his toy, giving my hands a needed rest. Or if now, I find picking them up also breaks their want to bite, since puppies get a little nervous when they leave the ground. Just dont forget that you are the human and they are the puppy. You just gotta keep one step ahead of them and before long they will start to play nicer. But right now its all new and they are learning some valuable lessons in being a dog.


I do this as well. I keep a variety of toys on hand that provide different textures and redirect their interest to one of the toys. Puppies explore their world with their mouths. If you can engage them in a few toys rather than your hand, then the frustration play bark should stop as well. 

It takes a lot of time and energy to get through the puppy months, but the investment is worth it.


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## marti1357 (Jun 8, 2013)

There is no reason to worry. Puppies do that, but as time passes they grow out of that. It is not the sign of a future vicious dog.


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## funky_shep (Oct 18, 2013)

easy fix for biting you or your daughter- when he goes to bit your hand/fingers, quickly stick a finger down his throat to provoke a gag reflex. he doesnt want to eat anything that makes him gag, i dont either myself, and it will quickly dawn on him that human fingers and skin make him want to throw up. 

also dont move away from him after a bite. if he figures that he can set the tone by biting and getting you to back down (which is how he interperts you moving away from him) then he has just dominated you and now he is in charge. that could also be why he is biting your clothes and such, hes trying to control the situation. (which he learns when you move from him, if you stand your ground and he moves from you, then you have dictated how the interaction will go.)

and the 30 second 'time out' is worthless. he wont get what the time out means. but if you get a good gag the first couple times, that is all you should need to stop the biting of hands. ive never had to gag any puppy more than 3x before they give up on the taste of flesh.  also get some hard bones, rawhide works too, since he may be starting to get teeth coming in and the more stuff he can chew on, the less chance hell chew on stuff he shouldnt.


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## OwnedbyACDs (Jun 22, 2013)

Teeth on any part of your body needs to be a no no (this includes clothes as well!) the minute his teeth touch any par of you (skin or not!) call "ouch" in a high helping noise and stand up, cross your arms and turn your back (have your kid do this too, at this stage kid/puppy interactions should be supervised at ALL TIMES for this reason).

Now you may have to repeat this a million times before it starts to work. Now, when you turn your back, the puppy will probably at some point run around to the front of you and bark / play bow. This is dogish for "I'm sorry I bit too hard, can we play again?" You MUST except this apology or the dog will not learn anything. 

Like I said you will have to repeat this til you are blue in the face but it DOES work.


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## Emily1188 (Jun 21, 2011)

funky_shep said:


> easy fix for biting you or your daughter- when he goes to bit your hand/fingers, quickly stick a finger down his throat to provoke a gag reflex. he doesnt want to eat anything that makes him gag, i dont either myself, and it will quickly dawn on him that human fingers and skin make him want to throw up.


OP, please don't do this. Cockers (I also live with a working Cocker) are generally smart, sensitive dogs. I can't imagine why one would gag a puppy for something as common as puppy biting. Please look into the less punitive options given in this thread. Our working Cocker is extremely toy motivated, so definitely channel your pup's energy towards toys and encourage games like and tug fetch as an appropriate outlet for mouthing. 



funky_shep said:


> also dont move away from him after a bite. if he figures that he can set the tone by biting and getting you to back down (which is how he interperts you moving away from him) then he has just dominated you and now he is in charge. that could also be why he is biting your clothes and such, hes trying to control the situation. (which he learns when you move from him, if you stand your ground and he moves from you, then you have dictated how the interaction will go.)


This is totally untrue, OP, again, please don't think your 12 week old puppy is trying to "dominate" you - that is ridiculous. A 12 week old puppy is a baby, and the biting isn't dominance any more than a toddler pulling on your clothes is dominance. They are just exploring the world and interacting with you in the only way they know how. They also do what works, so if you make biting hands and skin fun, he will keep doing it. If you make it boring and make toys more fun, he will go for the toys. There is a sticky on this forum called "The Bite Stops Here" that is very useful and gives step-by-step information on how to discourage puppy biting without dominance theory or gagging the dog.

Some up to date information on "dominance" between humans and dogs:
http://drsophiayin.com/philosophy/dominance?/dominance.php




funky_shep said:


> and the 30 second 'time out' is worthless. he wont get what the time out means. but if you get a good gag the first couple times, that is all you should need to stop the biting of hands. ive never had to gag any puppy more than 3x before they give up on the taste of flesh.  also get some hard bones, rawhide works too, since he may be starting to get teeth coming in and the more stuff he can chew on, the less chance hell chew on stuff he shouldnt.


Totally false as a general statement. Ending play and fun as a consequence for inappropriate behavior absolutely works, and has been used successfully by myself and others many times in personal and professional contexts. The trick is making everything crystal clear to the dog and acting quickly as soon as the behavior becomes inappropriate. 

You _do not_ need to gag this puppy to eliminate puppy biting.


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

I would work harder on tiring out the puppy with acceptable play. If the puppy is nipping our daughter, especially at certain times of the day, I would be sure that the puppy gets a rowdy game of fetch or a long walk earlier in the day. I've noticed our puppy is especially nippy on days when we both have to go to work. Normally one of us is home every day and the puppy goes about 3 miles with one of us in the morning, is taken along on errands throughout the day, and then another mile after dinner. While at home with us there is plenty of yard work with free access to the pasture to chase birds, whatever and a basket of tennis balls to play fetch.

Then there are the days we both have to be out of the house. Those are the days I sit down to eat dinner and the puppy wants to chew my toes off, go to work on the computer and she's pulling my socks, she drives our elderly dog nuts by chasing her, etc. 

I'm just saying that a tired dog is...a tired dog.


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