Puppy Biting/Nipping Out of Control!

[Abby Christos]

Hello fellow doodle lovers.

We have had our adorable goldendoodle, Bob for a few weeks now and I have to say I'm a little overwhelmed with the biting and nipping. It seems to keep getting worse and worse instead of better.

I have tried ignoring him, spraying water bottles, squeezing his lip, "being a tree", walking away, yelping, etc. and nothing seems to help. I don't think that he is hard of hearing, but he is definitely hard of listening. Whenever I yelp, or try to assert dominance, he thinks it's a game and tries to bite harder. He also shows his teeth and snaps at me.

Any advice or reassurance you have would be much appreciated!

[Lynda Kamrath]

Had the same issues with my ALD.  He did outgrow it, but still occasionally nips when he jumps on my husband.  When he runs at me when I get home, I just raise my arms and ignore him.  We have never been able to control the jumping on people but he does know "Off" and I am telling him that often when we are out on a walk (on or off leash).

[Tammy and Violet]

Oh Abby.. I too ... had that BAD  with Vilolet.. how old is Bob ?

You are trying and doing all the right things..it is hit or miss what works for one and not the other...V was just one years old on Sunday and it is MUCH better ...the last two bite marks on my arm are almost healed she has bite me in months but the puncture wounds hurt and take a while to heal !

[Tammy and Violet]

is it when he gets excited that he does that biting ?!

[Breanna]

My boyfriend and I yell "ow!"in a deeper tone and intensely look her in the eyes for a few seconds when she nips. If she keeps doing it, I walk away. It sounds like you're already doing those things, but maybe if you try a deeper voiced "ow" than a high pitched yelp?

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

We did that with Libby too!  Most of the time she reacted to it and stopped.   Her nipping period was very short, chewing was another story:(  LOL

[Abby Christos]

I'll have to try to deep voice. It works better for my husband than for me, so maybe he's responding to the deep voice. 

Yes, it's much worse when he is excited. I notice it's especially bad when he's hyper in the morning and hyper because he's exhausted. If it's the latter, I usually put him in his x-pen and he falls right asleep.

He's 11 weeks old. I'm hoping puppy classes (starting on Saturday) will help. I'm also hoping he'll grow out of it. I have had two labs in my life and they never bit the way that Bob does!

[Tammy and Violet]

oh he is young..I also did the side settle with her when she was younger as she got older and bit harder I could never catch her to put her in the settle position ,I know some do not believe in that move but if it works ...do it

[Abby Christos]

What is the settle position?

[Tammy and Violet]

lay him on his side with his back facing away from you ...hands gently on his neck and other one front paws until he settles down .. usually Violet would release a sigh ..try it ! and then let Bob up....

[Miss Ellie]

I know it is overwhelming, but they really do outgrow it.  Just be consistent with your redirection & training.  Hang it there...I know it's tough...we all understand your frustration...all puppies go through this very natural stage...some just more than others.

[Kris and Sawyer]

We've had success with training "give kisses". He's highly rewarded for licking us rather than nipping. He knows now when we say that phrase, he should be licking us not hurting us. Not 100% but close!

[Adina P]

My Rosco was like this.  A furry JAWS.  He was really bad and left bruises.  And he would only do it to me, not my boyfriend at the time.  Partly because I was the one that lived with Rosco and partly because I got more worked up and nervous about it.  Rosco started at 9 weeks and he continued (off an on) for MONTHS. 

One thing I would recommend is choose the response that requires you to get least worked up.  You've tried lots of things, but for a pup at this age it's like playing the slot machines "Let's see what Mom will do THIS time!"  --  The thing is, when they are really young pups, NOTHING works right away.  They are like toddlers and you have to repeat the rules, repeat the consequences a million times until it sticks. You have to be consistent with dogs too...and somewhat quick. Pick a response and stick with it for at least two weeks. 

In the meantime, do some research on a QUALITY (i.e. effective) training class to enroll yourself in.  Because the class is for you, your dog just accompanies you to class to give you a practice dog.  The work you do outside of class is what will turn him into a fabulous companion.

My old JAWS, Rosco got his Canine Good Citizen certificate and became a registered therapy dog around 19 months.  So there is hope =)  (Don't worry he didn't keep nipping UNTIL 19 months...he quit nipping at the year mark, more or less--I think it could have been sooner had I gotten serious about training sooner and didn't dabble in training techniques that didn't work for us).