BITING, HELP!!!

[Jill and Molly]

My little Molly is 10 weeks. We got her at 7 weeks. She is doing great with the crate and great with going outside for the bathroom. BUT she is doing terribly with BITING! She has bitten us all over our hands,legs, and feet. If you goto pet her she bites you, if you have your arm dangling she bites you. If you walk away from her she runs up after you and bites you in the back of the leg. If you walk away from her and kind of circle her she lunges at you. She constantly lunges with her mouth open. My dear son who is 11 I think is now even afraid of her. She bit him in the back of the leg and it drew small amount of blood. Also if she is bored she starts jumping toward you with yet again mouth open and ready to nip you. There is no just petting her. People who come over wont even pet her cause all she wants to do is bite. I have been raised with German Shepards, Dalmation, Golden Retriever, Poodles, shih tzus, and Maltese never did they bite like this. I also just lost my cocapoo and she never bit like this...Please let me know if other doodles have done this or if this just seems so out of character. I just want to cry, this is not what I thought getting a new pup would be. I know they bite but this is over the top. Even my vet was surprised at this amount of biting in such a young pup...  

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

That is alot of biting, I had quite a few dogs in my life time and all went thru the biting stage but nothing to that extent.  I would redirect the biting with training immediately.  As soon as she goes to bite I would redirect and put a toy in her mouth and give a firm "NO" she needs to understand that biting is unacceptable.  All puppies are going to bite but it seems at 7 weeks old is too young to be away from her litter mates where she learns her manners from Mom and siblings.  Good luck.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

This does sound like puppy nipping taken to an extreme.  When she bites you need to send her a message that this won't be allowed.  Different people have used different methods successfully.  Some use a squirt bottle, others grab the snout and hold it for a few seconds.....always firmly saying "no".  Then I would give a chew toy to convey the idea that is what is okay to chew...not your hands. I would only give the toy at the point the biting has stopped...you don't want to send the message that you are actually rewarding that behavior.  If she's overly excited which is leading to the biting behavior, I would crate her to calm down after you correct.  I think the key is to be totally consistent....pick what you want to use and do it every time she bites.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Jill, I think you need to join the Puppy Madness group. There have been tons of discussions about puppy biting. Fudge was our big puppy biter and it hurt, for sure. It is a stage. They all go through it to some extreme. Seven weeks is a little young to be taken from her mama, so maybe that is why Molly is biting a lot. First of all, she needs some good chew toys. I used Bully sticks and re-directed Fudge with one whenever I could. Is Molly getting enough exercise? A tired puppy is a much better puppy. Also, many times when they are the most out of control, they are really tired. Time outs in the crate are fine and gives you time to calm down and the puppy time to re-group and possibly, nap. My feeling is this is just a stage and will get better. Hang in there. We have all been there.

PS Look for a puppy training class in your area too.

[Corinna and Krimmi]

wow, that sounds like our Krimmi when he was a pup.  He bit constantly.  My daughter was also afraid of him and was so disappointed that she couldn't pick him up and snuggle  him because all he did was bite.  It was a hard road and many a days I was at the point of throwing in the towel.  Like you I had Shepherds and other dogs and never had I seen such an extreme biter.  All my winter coats had rips from our walks because he would jump up and with his razor sharp teeth slice my jackets...BUT it did stop and it will get better.  The first year and a half were really rough.  I found that we had to be extremely calm around him when he was young.  Even praise couldn't be done enthusiastically.  A gentle pat with good boy was all he could tolerate otherwise he would just wind up and start biting again. I didn't leave him unattended with my daughter and her friends when they were playing even outside because he just went beserk.   I really feel your frustration.  He is now 3 and you can play with him although he still needs to be reminded "no bite" on occasion. and he can be snuggly too. Oh man, I want to cry with you because I was you a few years back.  I love dogs and never thought I would have problems bonding with a dog but his personality made it so hard and I was comparing him to my previous dog which made things even harder.  Krimmi is a quirky dog no question about it but I love him truly and he is our boy, he has his own personality which may not be what I would have picked BUT I wouldn't change him for the world.  He  has taught me so much about patience and perserverance.  He is a constant work in progress but he makes us laugh.  Hang in there, it will get better!

[Diana Erhart]

Charlie was a biter when we first got him.  Find a trainer who can help you with this.  For Charlie, it was him trying to dominate us at every turn.  The trainer, within a few minutes, had him under control.  She showed me how to deal with him and although what I had to do wasn't pleasant for either of us, it did teach him that he is not the dominant one in the house.  It only took a week or two.  Now, 5 years later, he is a cuddle bug.  If you would like know more, please feel free to PM me.  I was ready to send him back and in tears dealing with him, but with the trainer's help we got past it and he couldn't be a more calm and sweet boy now.

[Denis and Rhonda]

Not long ago, when Hero was about 2 months old he went through a biting phase.  One thing we learned quickly was that you can say NO till you are blue in the face.  However, keeping an ample supply of bully sticks and chew toys on hand gave him something to do with his mouth.  If he bit at us while being held, I instructed the family to grab his muzzle with one hand and squeeze his lips against his teeth.  He quickly got the idea that biting was not acceptable.  I definitely agree with the suggestion to get him into training ASAP.  All that biting might indicate fear issues or some other problem that a trainer might be able to help you with.

One other thing that has helped Hero tremendously has been doggie socialization.  Sometimes a dog just needs to be with his own kind to learn the hard lessons.  We brought Hero to doggie daycare.  Not only did he come home exhausted from all the playtime, but he has had much better manners.  Other dogs don't tolerate biting either.

I hope that helps and best of luck.

[Leslie J]

It does sound like Mollie is biting much more than the average pup!  Ouch!  I think some of the problem lies in the fact that she left her mom at only 7 weeks.  Pups learn bite inhibition from their moms- especially during weeks 6-8, so losing a week could be significant.  I would get an experienced trainer to help me with this... better to resolve it while she's young! 

You also might want to find some sturdy puppy/ stable adult dog playmates for her who will give her cues in developing a soft, playful mouth.

By the way, she sure is an adorable girl- I can't imagine that sweet little face biting :)

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Puppy training!!! Chloe was a biter for almost a year! She always nipped at us. Good luck to you.

[Katie and Sophie]

She just needs to learn bite inhibition. The best way for her to learn this is through play with other dogs. They won't tolerate the biting and she will learn that it hurts! It will get better!

[Jill and Molly]

Update on Molly...My little girl is dare I say knock on wood, turning the corner maybe 5%. We started puppy school and she now will sit for me and it calms her. She also isnt biting as much, still biting but not as bad. I have been letting her in our enclosed back yard and she does her crazy run and eats rocks, mulch, and even is finding sticks. So it is tiring her some. I really beleived she wasent exercising enough. Also at puppy class at first when she saw the other dogs she was EXTREMELY timid and was sitting on my feet. But then she warmed up and was playing. I really think she needs some play time with dogs. To which I have several neighbors who are ok to that and relatives with some GOlden Retrievers. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this phase stops and ESPECIALLY toward my son because he really wants his friend to be friendly with him and not see him as one big chew stick. And the funny thing is when my son comes home from school she goes nuts trying to see him....Keep ALL yor fingers crossed for my little Molly to stop biting..Thank you again for all your stories, IT REALLY HELPED!!!!