Hi,could i have some advice on how to stop 11 week pup from biting,everything insight! but more importantly he doesnt know when to stop with me and the kids.Vet said to tap him on the nose quite sharply but i dont feel this is right as surely i am being aggressive back.I know he is play biting but im worried he will go to far with the kids and then they will be scared of him.

The best advice is to be found in this article.

I'm going to get in all sort of trouble about this, but I agree with your vet. When a puppy is mouthing I tap on it's nose - not hard - just enough to distract the pup so that he mouths more softly. At the same time I say "gently" and praise lavishly when the pressure eases. Soon the puppy learns that it has to be very gentle with it's mouth on human skin.

I don't stop the puppy mouthing completely as I think learning bite inhibition, and learning that humans hurt more easily than other dogs, are the important things. Indeed several of my adults still like to take me for a walk grasping my hand or wrist as they walk beside me, and my eldest likes to take my whole lower jaw in her jaws. Needless to say, I trust them all implicitly to be very gentle and they know not to do it with anyone else.

In my experience the 'ouch' method only works with very young puppies: older ones need a physical reminder that they are hurting. To say it again, it need not be a painful tap (though a painful bite is what siblings would give). It only has to be hard enough to distract the puppy from bearing down with it's teeth and allowing the command "gently" to be given and gentle mouthing to be praised.

I have always found a high pitch squeal of pain worked with my pups it seemed to shock them

My Dobe (now 2 and 1/2) thought it was great fun when I tried out the "tap" on the nose technique! He was thrilled that I was joining in and bit back twice as hard, lunging back and fourth in a generally demented fashion! The harder I attempted to tap, the more berzerk it sent him. The best thing I found was to either leave the room and shut yourself behind a door or stairgate or, if not safe to leave the pup in the room alone, then remove them to where it is (best if on a long line or at least a lead so you don't get into the ducking and diving motions of the "attempting to grab the collar" game). That's the only thing that really worked for us, as well as redirecting onto toys (chew toys, tuggys, retrieve toys etc). Me yelping he thought was great - a human-sized squeaky toy :D, and turning my back on him and standing there and ignoring him was met with wild glee as he attempted to climb up the back of my legs using his jaws

Good luck!

A high pitched yelp always seemed to encourage mine when they were pups. I scruffed them gently and growled at them then ignored for a few minutes ..this was done immediately they nipped and done every time without fail. It only took two or three times for them to realise they musn't do it

Same here the squeal only instigated more nipping.  I always teach the pups to be gentle by smearing a little butter on my fingers and using the words gentle, very softly.  There are not many pups that wont change to licking at this point.  It is amazing how quickly they learn to change from one type of attention seeking to another more gentle one.  As with all training you have to repeat until they get it and reinforce from time to time.

Its all about swapping an inappropriate behaviour for a better one.

I found the bite inhibition tips really useful when Lord Nipton was going through his "bite for England" phase. Different techniques will work for different dogs and I think breed has a significant factor here since squealing at a confident JRT pup tends to make it all the more excited. Tapping him on the nose would have been seen as an invitation for an All-out Bitefest too but I found there was a pattern to the more bitey episodes and worked on different techniques for different times of the day. In the evening he tended to be far bitier and far less able to concentrate on what I was asking him to do. This was almost certainly down to over-tiredness and if he'd gone completely bezique I'd pick him up and pop him quietly into his bed for a brief timeout which was usually the signal for him to fall asleep. Avoiding excitement was also a key factor here and I was lucky not to have small children or any other equally over-tired humans to wind him up. In the daytime, I would use a combination of a firm "no biting" if things got silly (it is important to teach bite inhibition at the same time) and either distract him with a toy that kept his jaws better occupied or just remove my hands from biting reach and go and get on with something else while treating him as if he was invisible.

But if you try a range of the techniques in the bite inhibition link provided you will get there in the end. Honest! :)

Thankyou for advice, i will keep perservering!! xx

Nikki, have sent you a private message. Hope it helps. :-)

I must say I used the same techniques as Melodysk and they work fab... I have dobes too and they are quite rough and tumble as pups especially with the kids. My poor son looked like he had been dragged through a bramble bush with the amount of teeth and scratch marks on him. But it does get better I promise you :-) I now have a pretty civilised dog (who does still have moments but knows what is too much etc) and a bitch that I am still perservering with although she is alot better now (just 6 months) so keep trying, and remember not to let him get away with any of it. find a method that works for you and your family and stick with it ;-) good luck !!

I of course totally disagree with some of the methods outlined above! There are some vets about who do give this sort of advice, but IMO there is no need for any scruffing or sharp nose smacking as vet suggested,  etc. No modern trainer or behaviourist recommends this method as some pet owners go over the top and it can cause fear of hands.  It also tends to be given as punishment and to stop the biting asap, so the problem of bite inhibition can rear its head a long time after if the dog is shocked or surprised and bites from fear etc.

An 11 week pup is going to get worse before it gets better - a lot depends on the breed too. For example, terriers adore squeaks and this will encourage nipping, not stop it. I had a dog who would not only nip but dive in and out (after I originally stupidly squirted her with water). I solved the problem by:

redirecting onto a toy eg raggy, praising and encouraging good choices of not nipping, short time outs and ending the game if we were playing and she nipped.

Most pet owners understandably get very worried the nipping won't stop - I wish they were given more advice from their breeders not to panic, and also I wish that more pet owners would go to puppy classes where they'd get help and support :)

Linky here from the Association of Pet Dog Trainers as to what they suggest, similar to Dunbar's article which JG gives:

http://www.apdt.co.uk/advice.htm advice is part way down.

Lindsay
x

Can i just say a big thanks to everyone who answers,being a new puppy owner is very daunting but to know that i can ask for advice at any time is fantastic xx

i always used a very loud squeak, loud enough to make them stop and step back.

dont tap the nose- if you are going down that route, tap them underneath chin- less harmful, i wouldnt bother though- squealing works much better- and is rather entertaining seeing their surprised reaction!

what we taught the little kids to do, was when the pup started biting, sit on your hands and dont move, wait till pup gets bored and walks off. the pup learns that biting humans isnt fun. instead encourage him to play with a chew toy, he can bite that all he likes!

everytime one of our pups used to get into biting mode, we would just grab toy- and let him attack that- simple

x

Do you have a really quiet household? If so, the "ouch" really loudly when he bites might work.  If the house is rather noisy, chances are any loud shouting and screaming is just going to bypass him. 

When our pup was doing this, we tried the "ouch" - didnt work.  We tried shaking a can full of stones to make a loud noise - didnt work.  We tried Roger Mugfords air canister - didnt work!  So, whenever he bit, we just removed him from play then let him back in after a few minutes.  If he bit again, he was taken back out.   He soon got the message that biting people got him sent to the kitchen to play on his own.  You need a stair gate type thing for this as this apparently works better if he can still see you from the kitchen (or other room). He will grow out of it.  Just dont let the kids play with him on their own while hes at this stage because they will probably just reinforce the behaviour as being a fun thing to do (dog bites, kids squeal, dog loves the noise so does it even more). 

Hi,things are getting better,we put him in another room if  he gets to bad and doesnt react to our no,s!!He now even goes that one to far and then starts walking with his head down to the door knowing i am going to put him in another room-looking up with those big puppy eyes!! Yes i know he,s working us a treat!!! love him x