Hi everyone

I hope you can help.

I have a 10 week old staffie who has not and will not stop biting.  I know it has only been two weeks but i think it is better to try to nip this in the bud sooner rather than later. 
Firstly we tried the yelping technic when we made an 'ouch noise' when bitten then ignored her for a minute or so, but that wore off and she ended up snapping more.  we have now tried the stern 'NO' with a light tap of the bum for the last week but she still keeps coming back for more (i am not particularly happy about the 'tap on the bum', but the shouting alone did not stop her. On both occasions we have replaced our fingers with a toy. 

Is it normal for a puppy to bite so much, I am also worried for when she gets her big teeth???  any advice would be great. 

Many Thanks

Kerry

Hi it is normal for puppies to nip / bite at a young age.
these are the techniques I have used in the past.
YELP loud when she does it, I know you have used this one, it is best to keep trying and to follow things through, by stopping giving her attention after you have yelped loudly.
TIME OUT, if she get too carried away tell her no and then give her time out either by putting her in the kitchen for 5 minutes or garden, and patience and following your command through.
SPRAY WATER, if she does not listen then a spray of water at her face when she starts to bite with the command no.
Others will have different opinions on how to deal with this but these are my own ways for stopping puppy biting and they do work!

If you all consistently follow the instructions is The Bite Stops Here you'll end up with a dog with good bite inhibition.

Puppy biting is not something that you need to "nip in the bud"... It is an absolutely vital behaviour for puppies as it enables them to learn the all important bite inhibition. Don't look at it as a nuissance, but as an opportunity to teach your puppy to use his teeth/jaws adequately! Here's a good article to give you more info: http://www.jersey.net/~mountaindog/berner1/bitestop.htm

thanks for your replies so far, i will look at the useful links now.  with regards to 'nipping the biting in the bud' i really appreciate your comment that it is normal behaviour, because she is a staffie i was concerned that if i didnt get it stopped now it will carry on until she is a dog and the thought of those consequences frightened me.  I was looking at it as a nuisance, but hopefully with that comment will now enjoy teaching her. 

i think i have a lot to learn, and again thanks for all your comments. 

I would give a firm no, then give the pup a toy he is allowed to chew. If he 'bites' again, simply walk away. He will very quickly learn that biting is an instant way to not get attention.

Puppies (and dogs) are a little like childrne in that any attention, even negative attention, is good, therefore, telling him off will just encourage him, a bit lik e*wavey* hands and saying 'down' encourages to jump up.

Hope this helps.

Make sure when you yelp that you speak dog not human. I've heard so many people yell 'ouch' and expect a puppy to understand what that means. Have you heard a puppy yelp when it's hurt? That is the sound you must try to duplicate. A loud ouch is just a loud noise. I've never found a puppy yet that didn't sit back and stop biting when I get going - I can do a great full dramatic whimper with paw licking (mine not theirs ;-) if they've bitten extra hard. :-D

hey my sis is also having problems with her 12 week collie that is doing this. if she shouts no at him he does not seem to listen and when she used to point her finger her used to go to snack at it. sometimes i feel like he is being a bit nasty when doing it. my friends cocker is also still doing this at a year. she got adviced to kind of pin him down and shout no but he still goes to bite you all the time.

Your sister's puppy is not being nasty & the cocker did not need alpha rolling. They both need to learn bite inhibition & the link in one of the posts above is good basic advice

yeah i no its not but just sometimes i feel like it is getting a bit nasty, i guess its just cos i was lucky and never had none of this with my dogs. my pup used to but as soon as we told her no she stopped. my friend is having a nightmare with her cocker. he wont listen to her at all. i think part of the reasons with my friends is when it was young she never really stopped her because she thought it was cute and just playing so she carried on letting him do it. now a year ater he still is doing it.

>if she shouts no at him he does not seem to listen and when she used to point her finger her used to go to snack at it. <

She might as well stick a label on her sleeve saying Action Dog Toy. ;-) Unless she's conditioned her puppy to understand the word 'no' is a negative thing why would he understand that it meant 'stop nipping me'? Remember, a puppy doesn't arrive in our house understanding what the word no means and waving a finger at a puppy is just asking for it. Dogs don't come installed with a dictionary of human body and verbal language. Far better to teach bite inhibition using puppy language.

i thought it would help tho just by the tone in the voice when we always said no to our dogs by the tone we were using in our voice they seemed to understand what we ment.

Depends on the dog.  Two of my girls will listen to the tone of my voice and are very biddable girls, but my boy and my oldest girl take a considerably harsh (and usually loud) voice to stop them doing something they shouldn't - and they often still don't stop.  Much better to teach an alternative behaviour.

This could work for your friend - if she can work out the triggers for her dog's biting, she can start to train an alternative to use when he's in those situations and is starting to get riled up.  With my youngest, I was very fortunate in that she came with a very solid sit.  When I started training her not to bite, I began by standing up, crossing my arms and turning away VERY quickly the instant I felt teeth on me, and kept turning away if she tried to come round.  When it had started to ease a bit I started adding the 'sit' cue and now she doesn't bite unless I instigate a rough game - but ONLY if I start it.  I don't mind these behaviours so long as they're on cue, I've done the same with jumping up with all my dogs.  Incidentally she was 14 months when she came home and bit a lot, so it can be done even with older dogs.

hi

im still not having much luck with Roxy, i have been trying the 'The Bite Stops here' link for the last few days instead of the 'no' technic but so far I get no response.  the problem i have is even when i say 'ouch' i might get a slight prick of the ears from her but she is not bothered by my cries and just carries on biting.  when she carries on biting i leave the room, but she is not bothered by this and i dont think she knows that this means she has done wrong because when i come back in the room to try to make up she immediately starts biting again.  because she is not getting this 'ouch' straight from the start i dont know whether to stick to the plan or try another technic - i know that consistency is everything but if she isnt taking any notice im not sure what to do??????

i would like to add that she has many many toys which she does play with but prefers a human hand and you cant have a cuddle without a fairly hard nip.  i distract her with a toy and play which lasts a few minutes before she comes back to the hand biting.  she is 'hypa' constantly when she is awake and it seems the only time you can have a good cuddle is just as she is dropping off to sleep, even then she is biting but the very soft biting when i tell her she is a good girl.  

I too thought she was being aggressive/nasty as first but now i know her I can say it is definitely a game to her and no aggression or nastiness at all.  In the early days i made the mistake of pointing a finger, when saying 'no' - i soon found out that that too was a fun game for her to play so the finger pointer stopped. 

my pup still does it too and she is nr 6 months old , only to me though not to my OH as he is very strict with her and firm!!!
i think she just trys it on even though she knows it is naughty, she doesnt do it often though only when we are perhaps sitting down.
I just say a firm "UAH" then either get up and walk off or give her a toy to play with instead , normally as soon as you say the UAH stops doing it but she will try it on !!

Persistance is the key!!

It does take longer than just a few days... just persevere... all puppies will learn eventually!

Also, what diet is she on?

with all the posts i have read on here, i understand how important consistency and perserverance is and so I will keep it up....

she is on bakers complete which is what she was on when we got her, but i have read on this forum that Bakers contains colourants etc so i have just bought some james wellbeloved (which my mum feeds her staffie) which I will slowly intergrate her on.  she is totally 'hypa' to the point where i am a bit concerned so hopefully a change in diet might help?

My 8 month old is on JWB and he's still hyper!!  Worth a shot though and you know it's better for them than Bakers.  We had serious problems with our puppy biting us, we followed the advice in that article, like you I found leaving the room didn't bother him at all (he'd just jump all over the sofa) but physically putting him into a baby-gated area seemed to get through to him much better.  Just for a minute or two.  He's still not perfect, particularly when over-excited but we just have to remember how much he's improved since we got him :)  I think most dogs get over it much quicker than him so I'd just follow the advice and not worry about it too much as I have a feeling that if you make TOO much of an issue over it that can be just as bad.  Good luck :)

I also have a dog that initially was bred to fight, he is a chinese shar-pei, i was advised when I got him to socialise lots and lots. I was also advised that when the nipping and stuff happens, get a toy, I bought ours a rope, to chew, with Taz it was because he was teething, but you really really must say no in a deep, strong tone, shouting does nothing all they hear is blah blah blah. say no lots, the ouch technique didnt work with mine either. then if that fails spray water right in her face as you say no, she will become averted to it, thats what heped mine to learn. And on the food front, I changed my puppies food a month after we got him because of the same reason and it worked fantasically. DOnt chop and change food all the time though as it can damage the digetive system. Hope that helps.

The "time out" scenario was the only thing that worked with our Scottie Bitch Tandi (5 1/2 MONTHS).  When she went too far after being told "No Bite" on numerous occasions she would get five minutes "time out" in the baby gated area between the hallway and the stairs.  It worked wonders!

Although the arrival of our 8 week old Dorset Olde Tyme Bulldogge has seen Tandi's mouthing/biting pretty much tail off to almost nothing.  This probably down to the fact that the two of them spend most fo the day play biting each other.