Hi Guys,

I have a bit of a problem with Leo my 12 week old puppy, hes started biting when he gets hyper, i know puppies nip but this is really hard biting, hes drawn blood a couple of times, weve tried shouting No, we've tried shouting Ow and ignoring him, alls that does is when we ignore him he runs off and does something else that he shouldnt be doing. Last night we put him back in the kitchen where he sleeps until he calmed down and that seemed to work but im not sure if thats what we should be doing and i dont want him to become a biter later in life..

so any suggestions would be welcome?

Someone on here advised me (or someone else and I just copied! ;-) )that removing yourself (or the dog) is often a good tactic, ie putting them in a different room with a baby gate, so what you did last night with putting him in the kitchen was the right thing to do, if other method's haven't worked.  I tried it and it worked for me too, I'd leave the room and close the door and after I'd done this three times she cottoned on and stopped biting.

She still does it occasionally of course, but usually I either go to get up, or use the "I'm warning you voice" and she stops and sits down and looks all innocent as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth and she wouldn't contemplate ever trying to bite me!!

Doesn't work for OH though, she takes no notice of him whatsoever and carries on biting, but that's because he won't put any effort into correcting her behaviour, he just shouts and waggles his foot/hand out of the way making it all the more exciting for her, whilst I sit back and inwardly smirk behind his back :-D

How many times does the dog bite before you put it out?? ie do you let the dog bite once or twice and tell him to stop or do you just put him out on the first bite.

I expect the experts on here would say straight away - otherwise by continuing they are 'getting their reward anyway' - not always easy though!  I always tell my OH this, he will grumpily ignore her doing it for the first 5 minutes, and THEN tell her off and I reckon that's too late then, if you're going to teach that something is not acceptable, then you shouldn't let them do it for five minutes first!

However, I feel like the blind leading the blind and I'm already frightened of getting told off by members for sticking my nose in and commenting all the time when I'm not an expert, but I just can't help myself, its the infamous 'me too, me too' syndrome! :-D

It is far better to give your dog absolutely NOTHING when he engages in a behaviour that you do not want to encourage.  So it is best to stand up and leave the room the instant that teeth touch skin or clothing.  I'd never shout NO because it's giving your dog attention and he may learn to do such things to get you to notice him and it's very doubtful if he knows what NO means anyway.  Some dogs grow up thinking their name is 'NO'.   Try thinking ahead and predict when the biting might start so that you can give your puppy something else to do instead.  If he has loads of toys and he can have them whenever he wants then they become boring after a while and when you walk into the room you will be the new and novel thing to bite.  If you leave him with just a chew or something suitable and keep the toys for playing with with you then he'll more likely focus on the toy instead of biting you.  Keeping back some of his daily food ration and scattering it on the floor for him to scavenge for when he is in a bitey mood will also give you some respite.  Try to get everyone in the house to remember to keep hands still and boring when they are empty and moving and exiting when they contain a toy for throwing or tugging.  Don't expect anything to work overnight though.  It'll take a while.
HTH
Sally

Ah-hah, I remember now, it was Sally that advised me before and gave me the tip! :-D

That's a good point about puppies learning to do these things to get attention - I was suspicious of Millie doing this - my OH works all day, comes home and gets straight on the pc all night.  When he finally leaves his chair to go to bed, she launches an attack on his foot - or sometimes when we've just got to bed she'll be jumping all over him biting - yet she takes never does this to me.  I said that I reckoned this was because I'm here all day, and even during the evening I'm the one who either sits with her or plays with her whereas once he's cuddled her when he gets home, he doesn't really pay her any attention - not that he ignores her really, but he doesn't make a concerted effort to spend 'quality time' with her and I reckon this is why he bears the brunt of her biting attacks because she just wants to get his attention.

So pleased to hear of someone else who has more problems training their OH than their dog!! Sometimes I want to put him in another room until he stops undoing all my good work.....

Have trouble with my OH too, we have had dogs and hounds for years but he still gives commands in long sentences (if you don't get off there you will put dirty marks on my shirt and I will be cross) and if they are noisy in stead of being calm and saying 'quiet' he joins in and shouts as well :) Have to say I have begun to think of him as a dog as well and tell him to sit for his dinner :D

Where do we find 'em?  Mine's just the same - but he hasn't twigged yet that he is being rewarded for good behaviour ;)

Lol@Jackie, mine does that!  His classic, is when she is really attacking him is saying "Now come on, be a good girl".

Oh so she understands verbs and future tense now does she?  Hmmm think not, more like she is just hearing the word 'good girl' and getting all the praise she wants for it!

GreatBritGirl - I got my SBT pup at the same time as you got your little one (I remember the nervous posting!), and we're having the same problem. He's quite gentle unless he's tired or over-excited, and then, boy, it's nipnipnip! The "Ow!" only serves to excite him, and as for the leaving the room/ignoring him (which is hard to do without a fuss if he's got hold of my trouser-leg!), well, he could care less - he runs off to chew on something more exciting!

I've taken to popping him in his crate if he bites beyond the 'pain threshold' I'm defining at the moment, but I wonder if the act of putting him in his crate is creating too much fuss. It's my fault, really, for not having a *totally* puppy safe room to leave him in by himself. I'm thinking about getting an ex-pen, playing with him in there, and then swiftly stepping out of it if he gets all bitey.

>I'm thinking about getting an ex-pen, playing with him in there, and then swiftly stepping out of it if he gets all bitey. 

An excellent idea.  :D