Puppy Biting

[Paulette]

Hi been bonding well with puppy although when its playtime she is going mad for biting and had a go at my liitle girl a few times, she may have been in her face a little bit so I have told her not to get so close and as soon as she starts biting to give her her "bite" toys.
She lets me stroke her and often falls asleep on me, she is eating and following thro nicely and the vet checked her on monday and said she was in good health.
Any tips, vets said to clap loudly when she does bite but that is not making any difference, I understand she is teething but today she has even ahd an extra go at me...Im sad as I think I must be doing something wrong?!
I know she is teething so can understand the real need to bite but when it comes to us, I need help to distract her.

[firsttimer]

Hi Paulette, how are you? I will be interested in answers to this also as Tilly is doing the same thing, I cant tell if she is playing or not. But even if she is playing how do I ensure it doesnt become more. Tilly also bites the bottom of my jeans as I am walking, she does her little growl while doing this. Like you I understand teething and play but when is it too far and how to contain it?

[Paulette]

Hi Paulette, how are you? I will be interested in answers to this also as Tilly is doing the same thing, I cant tell if she is playing or not. But even if she is playing how do I ensure it doesnt become more. Tilly also bites the bottom of my jeans as I am walking, she does her little growl while doing this. Like you I understand teething and play but when is it too far and how to contain it?

Same here she does go for the jeans or even my little girls feet, maybe I shouldnt get all her toys out to play with? trying not encourage rough play? glad in a way you are experiencing the same as Im quite upset about it today she had given me a few marks on the arm and ripped at my top a bit. I put her back in her crate when she gets too rough.
Apart from that she lets me stroke her to sleep and shows me her belly to rub, its all been going well up till today where she got a bit rough, I worry as she does it to my little one too and she cries about it.

[cassie41]

hi my 10 month old springer cross went through play biting, this is what they do with there siblings so the siblings usually yelp very loud to let them know they have gone too far. i am not an expert so any thing i say is only info given to me by a top training expert and it worked for us.
when hailey was doing this we yelped loudly crossed our arms across our chest and turned away from her after a minute resumed play if pup continued after doing this for several days we then said to the pup give a yelp and too bad then either removed our self from the room or removed the pup while saying too bad.then go back in or bring pup back in.
i brought hailey to puppy classes in dog training ireland they are fantastic no cruel treatment every thing is calm and treats are given as rewards.
really worth while

[TaraMar]

I did almost the same thing as cassie. While Riley was going through his teething stage, I would loudly say 'ow' when he bit a little too hard. After that, he would start licking instead of biting. It only took a couple of times for us. I also didn't get him until he was 14 weeks old, so he had more time with his siblings and parents(I'm not sure if that made a difference with his biting).

[Karlin]

You are going to have about 2-3 months of nipping and this is normal behaviour that needs to be kindly modified. As I noted on another post on nipping today in the training section (which is where I am going to move this post-- have a read of the earlier biting and crates post as I gave a few useful links to help with the issue! ) nipping is especially a problem with puppies removed at a young age (eg under 9-10 weeks) from siblings and mother as they learn little polite behaviour or bite inhibition. So unfortunately this burden falls to the owner. The links on that other post, and explanations should be a big help.

On kids -- it is really really important for all access between pups/adult dogs and small children to be hands-on managed -- a puppy or dog can accidentally seriously harm a child and scar her for life -- and a child can accidentally harm or kill a puppy. Children should never be left to play with a puppy on their own and should only have access to a dog (when the child is under 7 or so) when an adult is there at arm's length. One of the biggest behaviour problems I see in rescue cavaliers is fear aggression towards children that comes from them being tormented by small kids who just think they are playing and are not doing anything deliberately but it can ruin a dog's temperament for life. The family then is forced to get rid of the dog which will go for kids because it sees them as so unpleasant. I have a gorgeous little cavalier in rescue in at the moment with serious resource guarding problems now that developed because of interaction with small kids in his precious home. Keep in mind that if a puppy or adult bites a neighbour child that parent can have your dog put down immediately by the dog warden so I cannot stress enough the importance of proper management around kids and dogs.

I would get a puppy playpen (many websites sell them) and crate where the pup can have child free, safe time alone on and off during every day and also where the child can be protected from puppy nips. Training bite inhibition has to be the job of the responsible adult and children should never be exposed to this -- puppy teeth are like needles, much sharper and can inflict serious wounds on a child. A sharp nip could also cause a child to hit a puppy or dog which could cause serious problems on both sides.

There's a really good set of links on bringing up children and dogs together here which should be a really useful resource for making sure there's a happy lifelong relationship there and no injuries.

http://www.cavaliertalk.com/forums/s...s-can-they-mix

[love2driveinct]

We are following Dr Dunbar's methods here, and I must say, teaching bite inhibition is not for the faint of heart! LOL

My husband has a very high tolerance for it -- we are still in the "let him bite, but teach him to bite softly" stage -- but I don't last as long. I just feel like someone's making me swish my hands in a jarful of nails over and over, not fun. But I am determined to make sure he learns this, so I force myself to do it at least once a day. We have spoken to our two older children (almost 13, almost 10) about this -- we explained that if they are not comfortable with it, then to just stop playing with him altogether when he does this. But if they feel they can tolerate a little of the shallow biting, then say "ow" and stop playing for a moment when he bites harder, then they are also teaching him. My son (the 10-yr-old) has been very good about this so far, he has a lot of patience and just adores Lucky.

We have a 6-yr-old, too, but interactions with the two of them are closely supervised. She likes most to pet him when he is calm and on someone's lap.

I'm sure many of you have gone through this, but it's good to know I am not alone in going through it right now. Maybe we should have a daily thread for the young puppy owners and we can commisserate.

[Furrfoot]

Our rule for our dogs is "no teeth on people skin". The minute Rose starts "playing with her mouth" like we are dogs, we yelp really loud, and ignore her for a few seconds.

When it came to getting her to stop barking, running, darting, etc. at our then 6 year old and jumping at her, I tried everything, and finally at about 5 months old, I had to resort to a newspaper (single page, noise maker, not something hard enough to whap with). It only took once of Rose ignoring the fact that our child had told her no, folded her arms, and turned her back, and ignoring us telling her no, and the newspaper coming out of nowhere on her little hind end, and she decided not to ignore the warning signs again (Rose is a little more...active, and even *sigh* bratty than your average Cavalier pup. Her littermate sister is too, and is not her owner's first Cavalier. Our neighbor had a Cavalier for 11 years, and she was looking a bit shell shocked after her first babysitting experience with Rose, lol). However, if you have a more timid dog, or a dog who wants to please more than Rose, lol (like our boxer was), this might be too much.

The first time Rose finally "got it" about nipping, I had her in my arms, on her back, and she was reaching around and nipping my fingers that were by her head. I yipped, and she looked at me, startled. She nipped again, and I yipped again, and she looked at me again. The third time, she nipped, I yelped, and she looked at me, looked at my fingers (her little head going back and forth like she's watching a tennis match, lol), looked at me, with an expression on her face like "OH! That's YOU!" And she stopped.

We also bought lots of teething toys....LOTS..., all shapes, sizes, hardness/softness, etc. and that helped curb her chewing on things she wasn't supposed to (like us :P). We kept something for her to chew on in every room, even on the nightstand for when she would wake up 5 minutes before the alarm clock went off.

I don't know if our experience helps or not, but I thought I would throw it out there just in case .

Good luck!

[Furrfoot]

Oh, and we recently had to instigate the "one hand rule" for our daughter. She was getting too grabby with Rose, and Rose was not liking it and was coming and sitting on our feet to "tattle" like a good girl ("She's touching me!!!"). So now, she is only allowed to touch Rose with one hand unless otherwise told. Low and behold, it's working! Some days, it really is like having 2 kids!