Any dog owners here? Need help with something...

[AlyssaAC]

Ok, so I just adopted a new puppy here and she kinda has a problem... She tends to bite both my mom, dad and I a lot. We’re trying to teach her not to bite by giving her a little spank on the butt and saying “No biting Maggie”, but she ends up thinking we’re playing with her instead and therefore she continues to do it. So I’m just curious for anyone who’s had a puppy that has done this sort of bad habit, how did you train them to get out of it and stop biting?

 

[Jam86]

oof dogs can be a pain sometimes, i hope ur all ok, i have a dog called bobbie and she used to bite so much
now idk if this works with all dogs but basically whenever bobbie bit one of us, we would pretend to cry like a dog would so she would see it hurt
it took a few weeks and tbh it was super annoying to do but it eventually got her to stop biting

this may not work for all dogs, it was actually a struggle for us to figure out how to get her to stop biting everyone but luckily she did

 

[xSuperMario64x]

I've had my dog since he was 7 weeks old (he's 13 months old now) and he never forcefully bites. he play bites sometimes but he knows he needs to be gentle and if he needs reminding (cause he can get a little feisty sometimes) I just say "gentle" and he either play bites really gently or stops biting altogether.

I think what I did was, if he was biting my hand or whatever I would say either "stop" or "no bite" and I waited until he stopped, then I would give him a treat. luckily as a golden retriever he's been really easy to train but I know most dogs are really stubborn. you just have to keep working w them and rewarding them when they do what you want them to do.

another thing to keep in mind is letting the dog know when it's appropriate to play bite. if you tell them no/stop don't come back 2 seconds later letting them bite you again. you have to be really assertive with dogs or they won't respect you.

 

[LadyDestani]

I'm going to agree with both @Jam86 and @xSuperMario64x. I worked for several years as a dog trainer and there are multiple ways to teach a puppy to stop biting. Some methods will work better than others depending on the dog and how interested they are in biting.

1. Give a high-pitched yelp like one of their littermates would do to signal pain. This can excite some puppies, but it's worth a try to see if it works for yours.

2. Don't react. Stay very still so your puppy realizes you're not playing at all and when they stop biting and look up at you, take the opportunity to praise and treat them. Add in a cue word of your choice that means no biting so they start to learn to stop on command.

3. Keep a toy that your puppy is allowed to bite nearby and basically do an exchange. Take back your hand or whatever your puppy is biting and replace it with the toy so your puppy learns what is and is not acceptable to bite.

4. If the biting is really bad and your puppy is not learning or it's hurting you too much, get up and walk away. If you were playing with your puppy, play time is over for at least a few minutes to let them calm down. Don't leave your puppy unattended in an area where they can get in trouble, but if you have a spot gated off for them, step out of their reach. If you have a crate, you can put them in the crate for a minute or two. It doesn't have to be long at all. A few minutes of ignoring a playful puppy sends a big message to them.

The biting phase is something most puppies grow out of naturally anyway, but those little puppy teeth can hurt so hopefully these tips will help you and your family. Good luck!

 

[letisbloom]

I have a dog, Rapadurinha, she is about three years now, when she was a puppy she bits ours hand a lot, but most like she was playing no biting to hurt any of us, she do it specially when she was losing her puppy tooth, the vet said they do that because this exchange make theirs gums to scrath a lot, so I basically give her a toy everytime she do that in our hands and works fine for us. She is a grown up now and never bitte no one, and its a very playfull and happy dog.

 

[AlyssaAC]

Thank you everyone for the tips! Maggie has calm down for the night and I will let my mom and dad know these tips tomorrow. My dad suggested the crate and it did helped her calm down for a bit. She’s such a feisty pup and I’ll try my best tomorrow to be strong, as I kinda broke down crying a little bit, but my dad helped. This is my first time with a dog.

 

[letisbloom]

Everything its going to get better and soon you and Maggie will be best buddies forever, the puppy phase its a very cute but also hard phase. Wishing you the best =)))

 

[nightglow]

What we did is say "no" sternly loud and clear. Then we would turn our attention to something else instead. Don't look at them or anything. You can even just walk away into another room or something for a a little while. Our pup didn't like that at all. Later you can say no just like that and continue the attention and play but turn you attention to them away if they bite a second time. Your pup should get your message.

If you feel you must swat, I would do a light tap to the mouth while saying no. Never the butt. I would wait to do that though. The thing puppies want is attention and playtime. If they don't get it, then they get upset and change their behavior. It is also possible to make the biting issue worse with swatting and you shouldn't need to swat. I know it is a popular choice among people, but I don't think it is a good thing unless the dog does something that endangers them, like running out in front of a car or something. Some owners like to lightly bite the ears of dogs. That can end badly depending on your dog. I wouldn't recommend but it is something people do and can work. Kind of like a dose of their own medicine.

 

[dizzy bone]

My beagle did a lot of play biting and gnawing on my feet when she was younger. The method that worked best for us was to fake being in pain. She would stop biting and start licking instead. I did the toy exchange thing as well, mostly when she would bite something she wasn’t supposed to but also when she would play bite with us and we had a toy on hand.

 

[AlyssaAC]

Bumping this, as I have another question if someone can answer. How long does the biting stage take for a puppy to grow out of? Maggie is really biting a lot today, especially at my mom...

 

[LadyDestani]

Bumping this, as I have another question if someone can answer. How long does the biting stage take for a puppy to grow out of? Maggie is really biting a lot today, especially at my mom...

I've heard a lot of different time frames, but in general puppies will do a lot of biting while they are teething and that can last until 6 to 9 months of age. I'm not a vet so I'm not certain which time frame is correct and it's possible that it varies by breed, but I'd say in my experience most dogs do grow out of it before they hit 1 year old.

 

[Daenelia]

It depends on the puppy, how long they play-bite. Because I am assuming she is trying to play with you as she would with her siblings.

The advice of yelping like a hurt puppy really is what I recommend. It helped us to get our dog to stop his forceful playbiting. Also, puppy teeth are so much sharper than grown dog teeth ... it does hurt a lot more and they don't realise. Their siblings would make them stop by ... yelping at them. That way the pup will learn to not bite so hard or not at all.

Why not get a chew toy for your dog? That will be a great distraction and help them deal with their growing new teeth as well. Also, getting these chewy treats, that look like bones, but could be made from hide; That will help a lot. Point her towards that rather than have her sink her teeth in your hands or calves.

Next stage you may want to prepare for is ... chewing on your shoes or bags. Or both. Get that chew toy ready Or lose a heel, a buckle or have a bag with holes...

But dogs are great! And puppies are the best

 

[Furrton]

Just want to add, please please socialize your puppy!! With other dogs! I got a dog from the pound a couple years ago and he will never be able to play with another dog. It breaks my heart. Hopefully Bitey McBiteface grows out of this soon!!