I have spent most of today crying, the reason..... our 6mth old tiny xbreed pup. She is a sweet little thing but the puppy mouthing/nipping doesn't seem to be getting better despite doing everything we have been told to do at puppy class.. She has now advanced on to actually lunging at your face if you are sitting down and biting. This morning she bit my 10 year old son's friend when he was sitting watching tv, he was really hurt and very distraught before going to school. Then later on in the morning she bit my 3 year old son on the hand and actually broke the skin. I knew he hadn't done anything because he was asleep at the time.. If anybody trys to stroke her she constantly tries to bite. We have had her from 8 wks and things seem to have gone from bad to worse.
Please can anyone give me any ideas because I am getting so upset at having to constantly put her outside after she has bitten someone.
My 3 year old is also nursing a bite mark on his face which although didn't break the skin is now coming out in a nasty bruise.
The thought of getting rid of her breaks my heart so any advice would be gratefully received.

Thank you
Deb

Hi Deb,

I think there comes a point when you have honestly tried all the "approved" means of stopping an unwanted behavior. I am sure you tried yipping loud and sharply enough to startle your pup when she nipped. I am sure you have tried to completely take away all attention from the puppy after she has nipped. And I know this is very, very hard to do when children are involved and they are too young to be able to help with training.

I suggest first that you keep the puppy away from friend's children and supervise the puppy playing with your own children at all times.

Next time the puppy nips, even if it does not break skin, grab the puppy's mouth with your hand, hold it very firmly shut, and say "no bite" in a strong (not shouting and not overexcited) tone of voice. Then, ignore the puppy. If the puppy tries to nip again, do exactly the same, but then immediately put the puppy away in its crate/cage if you have one.

Some dogs seem to be able to get the difference between soft mouthing and biting very early on - others do not because prey drive is so strong they never do. It sounds to me that your puppy is one of those dogs for whom no level of teeth on skin is acceptable. Am I wrong in thinking she was an X-terrier? If so, this would be pretty typical terrier behavior. Terriers love to bite - it's bred into them.

Another factor is that your puppy is beginning to approach sexual maturity. Her hormones are starting up and she is entering her adolescence. Adolescense in puppies brings with it many of the same characteristics as it does in humans - and in dogs now is the time were you need to clearly establish the limits of acceptable behaviour.

Best of luck,

Stacey

Hi Debbie
I agree with Stacey. As she's only 6 months old she may not have realised that what she is doing is wrong and if you are not being assertive then there is no way she will realise this. You have to be firm with her. At 6 months old she's got time on her side - you can easily change this behaviour as long as you do it the right way. If you are unsure of how to go ahead with this I suggest you speak to Jenni Watson. She runs a website www.dogtraining-online.co.uk and if you email her (her email is on the website) telling you your problem, and what you have tried, I am sure she will give you some advice on what to do. She also has a (long) list of approved trainers and behaviourists and should be able to find someone in your area.
Please don't give up yet!
Char123

Deb I think you would benefit from getting a behaviourist in to assess your puppy in your own home environment. It sounds to me like there are other issues going on with her from reading through your previous posts.
Teaching bite inhibition is one thing - lunging and biting faces is totally unacceptable as is biting to break the skin on a sleeping tot :( It's easy to read up on the theory of things but sometimes not quite so simple to put them into practice consistently and correctly. Confusing signals/different levels of acceptability from different people in the household can also serve to exacerbate the problem.
You need to be firm and consistent with her and not give in to picking her up for a cuddle if you feel guilty. It may seem mean but you'll reap the rewards in the long run. In the meantime, Stacey is right - keep her away from other people and do not let them stroke her. Apart from the probability of being bitten and causing pain and distress you could find yourself in trouble.
Daily short obedience training sessions will help with her overall control. It's really important not to overlook these. Also make sure she has good chew toys to redirect her biting onto something acceptable. Give her a variety and keep changing them over to keep her interested in them and then take them away after a while. She plays on your terms and not hers.
Good luck and don't give up hope - she's still a baby :)
Lara x

Hi, can I ask what methods you have tried?
If it's just getting up and putting her out of the room, that can have problems if you're not quick enough, the puppy just doesn't learn that it's as a result of their behaviour.

I've honestly never met a puppy (or adult dog) that hasn't stopped biting with a yelp. It doesn't cure it completely by itself, you need to teach the dog that it's supposed to bite on something else, not your skin. If you don't yelp loudly enough, the dog thinks it's an excited squeak and carries on, you're basically rewarding the biting. A proper yelp will stop the dog in her tracks, then you have a small window (about one second) where you can show her what you what instead. This is when you whip out a toy and have a good game with that. Remember you're not rewarding the biting with the toy, you're rewarding the stopping. You need to play lots of games with toys as well, she sounds like she really wants to play, you need to fulfill her need for games, play with her on your terms. If you satisfy her need for play, she wont be so desperate that she clamps onto your skin at every opportunity!
It's harder with children, they don't always behave the way they're supposed to! Never leave her with the children unattended, and if you really are getting nowhere with yelping, you could try a squirt from a water pistol when she's mouthing the children.

The most important thing is to make sure she's getting enough of everything else she needs, and that she isn't inadvertently being rewarded by biting. It's a simple that dogs repeat things that are rewarding for them, and stop doing things that aren't. If she's still biting, she's getting a reward somewhere, it doesn't have to be every time (in fact rewards are far more powerful if they're random) but there is a reason for her to still be behaving in this way. Really analyse your relationship with her, and see if you can work out what is happening that she percieves as rewarding.

If you don't feel confident, then seek expert help, because terriers can do a lot of damage to small children, they may not mean to but they still have powerful jaws, remember what they were bred to do!!

Jo

She could also be getting hormonal at this point as well which could be making th eproblems seem worse than they are. I agree withthe others best seek expert help in working out what her issues are.

Jesse

Good post Jo,

It is so hard to explain over the net how to make that Yelp, isn't it?

In my view it has to be in the same sort of tone as one would use if say, a puppy was about to pull over a boiling kettle onto itself - really sharp and a tiny bit scary but not too much!!! A small yelp does nothing.

I did it differently with my current dog, as she kept going into "crazy fiddle" mode, so had to use the "ah ah/out immediately via long line for 2 minutes max " mode, but that worked well too, and suited me better because of her high reactivity. She's the only one i have had to use this "non yelp" method with, monkey!! :D I totally agree that almost all dogs will respond to the "Yelp" method if consistently done as you have outlined, bearing in mind the "window" too - how often are owners told about that? Too often the moments after the bite allow for confusion, another nip, and so on!!! And with some dogs it can turn into an exciting game which is when the poor owner gets more lunging, nipping etc.....

Lindsay

Thankfully I've never had this problem and mouthing has always been pretty gentle after the initial and all natural yelp I give when they do it for the first time ;)

Just want to be clear on how it's done... A Quick sharp 'yelp' (please tell me a 'hey' would work just as well as I'm out of practice yelping) then when the pup looks at you start distracting him with a game?

Please tell me if I'mm wrong as it sounds pretty important when the playing starts so it doesn't look like 'if I bite the kid she plays with me'

Deb, I fully sympathise with you Im going through something similar with my boxer (see post boxer challenging me). Admittedly it is only in the evening and I have no toddlers to worry about.
This week he is getting alot better back to his soppy old self.

Jesse, Ive also noticed Bradley is worse when IM hormonal making me a little tense (pmt). Do think this might have a little something to do with his behaviour?

Well dogs have better senses of smell and perception than we do so any change in your behaviour or mood could be picked up by your dog. They may see it as a moment of weakness in you if you are feeling down.

Jesse

the way i make that yelp, is to try and recreate the sound a dog would make if you slammed its paw in a car door/.......not that i have ever done that!!!!!!!

Em

Squealy stuck pig yelp?