At my wits end!!!!

[Nikki & Charlie]

Charlie's biting is getting ridiculous. I am so frustrated, he doesn't listen. I know he's just a puppy but he ONLY bites me. He comes at me and bites anything he can on my body and it hurts. He doesn't care if I walk away, I've tried flicking his nose and it doesn't work, I've held his mouth down, I've gently pinned him to the floor but all these things just get him more worked up and he bites harder. I don't sit on the floor with him anymore but it doesn't matter where I am, he tries his hardest to bite. I always try to replace my hand with toys but half the time toys aren't as interesting as my body apparently. He isn't trying to hurt me but I'm getting so
Frustrated and confused as to why he's only doing this to me. It hurts!!!!

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Hope you get some good advice here Nicki. Hang in there, things will get better.
Maci tries to nip, but I just pull my hands back behind me where she can't get to them, saying no bite at the same time.
I just don't tolerate any nipping. I remember yogi used to nip at my legs when I'd walk down the hall as a pup. It does pass :-) I'm not sure that flicking his nose is a great idea though.

[Laura]

How old is he? We had a similar problem with Molly at the very beginning. Every single time she put her teeth on me, I would pin her and wouldn't let her up until she completely relaxed. Then I would walk away and ignore her. A lot of the times she would try to bite me when I pinned her, squeal ( I was not hurting her), cry, bark, growl, try to get up...but I just kept her down until she relaxed. She is now 5 months old and we haven't had this problem in a couple months. Also, my trainer told me to not re-direct her to a toy as that's rewarding the behaviour....just a thought. Good luck and hang in there! I know it can be very frustrating!

[Jenny Barnes]

My Sulley is almost 5 months old and we, too, are dealing with the biting when he plays.  One thing that has made a huge difference is a product called "Pet Corrector".  It is a spray can of cold air.  When you spray it, a hissing sound comes out with the cold air.  When Sulley does not stop attempting to bite and nip, we reach for the spray can and he stops immediately.  It only took 2-3 sprays.  Now he stops when we reach for the can or tell him that we're going to get the can.  It doesn't hurt him, just scared him enough to behave.  I got it at Petsmart.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

I have to 2nd The Pet Corrector. It is so much more effective than yelping or shaking a can with coins. It stops a behavior fast... like, instantly! Wish I had known about it when Lucy was a puppy. I tried everything to try to stop her from biting and nothing worked. She grew out of it eventually. These days we occasionally use The Pet Corrector for excessive barking, but really haven't needed it much, it's so effective.

[Laura]

We also tried a can with coins and Molly would just bark and growl at it. We have some excessive barking, so I may try that Pet Corrector!

[Elizabeth, Bailey & Bruin]

Bruin is 5 months old also... He used to bite my pajama pant legs and nip at the back of my legs.. You are right it hurts.  He got me a couple of times and left bruises.  I bought some bitter apple (PetSmart) and sprayed my PJ bottoms and then kind of enticed him to grab them...He hated the stuff and it worked. I would also spray my hands and forearms which were another favorite. 

Good luck and stay strong, Charlie will grow out of it... it just takes time... 

[Barbara Korber]

Gus is 6-1/2 months and he still bites and jumps, but we've been able to curb it considerably by squirting a little lemon juice (the kind in the little plastic lemon) at him.  He got hit with it a couple times and now he usually stops if we get the lemon out and hold it up.  Those doodles are stubborn little things though!! 

[Ben Adams]

Happy would get mouthy and sometimes grab the kids clothes when he got excited. We'd correct him with the usual methods and it was slightly better. But then when he was 12 weeks old he stayed at a kennel for a week while we were on vacation (unfortunately not a dog friendly vacation) and he came back a new dog! Our kennel is cageless so all the dogs run around all day plus somebody sleeps overnight with the dogs in a big bed (kind of crazy!) but I think the older dogs quickly taught him manners. He hasn't even really put his mouth on anybody or chased and nipped at the kids since he has been back. We joke he is like an old man dog now because he's only 15 weeks old but is super calm and has really really good manners. We had a little party recently and after saying hi to everybody he just went and laid down and slept most of the time. 

Try to find some people with older dogs (nice ones though!) and explain what you would like them to do. Let them play, the older dog may be rough at first but that's how your pup will learn some manners hopefully!

[Linda Yingling]

We purchased a citronella collar with a remote. It has a beep warning and 2 levels of spray. We use the unscented kind. The trick is to be ready and to correct them as you give a little spray without them seeing you press the remote.
The spray is under the chin but starles them and they do not like it!!
Also works for digging and other unwanted or destructive behavors. Good Luck!!!
I believe we purchased it from radiofence.com

[Cathy, Fozzie & Shaggy]

Nikki, You need to be the "older dog" to teach him manners right away.  

EVERY time Charlie puts his mouth on any part of you, "YELP" out loud sharp and loud one time and turn away for a moment. I don't think I would walk away because that may encourage him to come after you again to play.   If you watch a group of puppies with their mom, they do this to say, "HEY! That hurts and I'm not playing with you anymore".  They learn very quickly to control themselves.  I'm using this with the 15 week old kitten I've had for 5 weeks and he almost never put's his mouth on me anymore.  Even now my boys will play rough but when one yelps they both stop immediately.  

There are MANY different thoughts on the "domination" training methods of rolling them or holding them down, I haven't had any luck with this method and actually when I did it many years ago, his behavior would be worse when I let him up because in his mind I just "attacked" him and now he needs to "defend himself and attack" me.  He didn't connect that growling is a bad to do to the top dog (me) which is why I pinned him down.   It's late here in Michigan and I may not be making a lot of sense so I really recommend the book from an expert in dog language and behavior - 

Puppy Problems? No Problem!: A Survival Guide for Finding & Training  Your New Dog

 BY: Brenda Aloff     (This information came from Amazon.com)

"This book goes beyond any of the other puppy books out there and brings you Brenda's 20 years of experience working with problem dogs as a professional pet behavior consultant. This gives Brenda a unique view of what owners should have done to prevent problems from occurring in the first place. She says, "Many of the sad situations that occur do not have to be. Education on the person's part combined with humane and effective technique can make dog ownership the joy you imagined it would be!" Training your dog should be a shared and fun experience that enhances the relationship you have with your dog. This book will lead you through each "problem" and in an easy to understand step-by-step program will show you how to make big differences in your dog's behavior.

This book comes with a DVD that shows you exactly how to carry out the protocols in this book. Take a look at the Table of Contents. It is filled with all of those common, but irritating issues that come up in daily life with a new puppy or dog and solutions for each one. The DVD is super and even children can watch the training steps and then be able to follow the steps to gain success with your family pet. (Of course, children will need parental supervision, as well.)"

[Gretchen Nastrom]

Preston is 10 months old, and his biting has gotten so much better.  When he was biting like your Charlie (around5-7 months), we tried everything:  shaking a can with coins at him to scare him, spraying him with a water bottle or blowing in his face.  Quite honestly, those things just made him more aggressive and bite more.  I tried the yelping like a mother dog and that didn't work either, nor did walking away from him.  What did work (and still does when he gets overly tired and "bitey") is to put him in our small bathroom by himself for a minute or so.  We don't turn on the lights, we just put him in there, walk away and within a minute or even 30 seconds we go and get him.  If he bites us as soon as he gets out of the bathroom, he goes right back in for another short period of "alone time" and we do that until he can come out and behave with us. 

 

I've found that Preston tends to bite more in two instances:  1).  he desperately needs some exercise, so we go outside and throw a ball around or go for a brisk walk or 2).  when he is overly tired.  If we've had a busy day and he hasn't gotten a lot of naps in I know he's tired and being naughty like an overly tired child.  That's when we put him in the bathroom and eventually he will just get tired and go take a nap.

 

I know the biting hurts - you'll find something that works with him and the biting phase will be a thing of the past!  Good luck!

[Toni Clayton]

George has always been mouthy, and any kind of holding him down, yelping or anything slightly aggressive towards him did not work. What our trainer taught us is to walk into his space, and say uh-uhh...folding arms if necessary, so he doesn't jump to nip at them. This and putting him on time out (leashed to a doorknob) has worked best. Staying calm (believe me, I know how hard that can be!) is also key. If we start to get hyped up, they do also. Sometimes I just leave the leash on him, and that works as a behavioral aid. I've also used training as a distraction, and I don't think giving them something to chew is bad..I will make him sit or down before giving it to him. They really need to get that chew energy out. He is also much like Preston, when he's overtired or not stimulated enough, it's worse.