Charley is giving me grey hair lol

[Puppy Madness]

My Charley  who will be 11 wks old tomorrow is a BIG biter. I have read all that I can on this subject and I have tried so many of the suggestions, NOTHING works. I feel redundant posting about this subject but I guess I just want  someone to tell me that this happened to them and that it's normal. It can be very frustrating. She constantly bites. I pet her, she bites, I brush her, she growls and bites...Hard.... the only time she is not biting me is when she is sleeping. Is this normal? Don't puppies like lying on your lap or like to be scratched? Could it be that she will be like this no matter what I do until she gows out of it? She is signed up for  puppy preschool for when she is 12 wks and I'm afraid that she'll go in there and bite everyone. I have worked with her every day and she is so smart. She sits, lays, rolls over, shakes, Looks at me when I say it. I'm currently teaching her " leave it"  so I can walk around without her attached to my leg or my arm . I yelp when she bites, She loves that game and bites harder the next time. I  walk out of the room and she doesn't care. She doesn't use her crate for sleeping anymore, she prefers sleeping with my other dog and she has no accidents so it works well for us. I know that I shouldn't use the crate for time out but maybe it would help? Or should I just ignore this behavior? I could sure use some words of incouragement right now...And sorry for blabbing on and on...I needed to vent..lol

[Teresa and George]

Laurie, I feel your pain!  Our George is nearly 16 weeks and we have had the same issues with him.  He has improved a bit over the past few weeks--I think it's partially as a result of his baby teeth falling out and partially from us continuing to let him know that biting isn't acceptable.  It's a long hard battle.  Wish I had some advice for you, but all I can say is that you are not alone.

[Vivian & Mojo]

My puppy (now 7 months) did everything your puppy is doing. Mojo would jump and nip me tearing my clothes and making me bleed. He would growl and really frighten me. I wanted to pet and cuddle him but he wanted to bite and nothing would deter him, I sprayed water and he got wilder, the yelp made him bite harder and when I put him in his x-pen for time out he started biting the minute he came out. The only thing that remotely helped was shifting him into training mode with treats. I cried so much as I was sad and frustrated. It did get better after he was 5 months old and now about 90% better. He still has his moments of biting my feet but I can get him to stop. Keep working with her, try and tire her out with walks and make sure your food has no corn as it really makes them wilder as I learned with my previous dog. It will get better. Good luck with Charley she is adorable.

[Rachel and Ollie]

Ollie drove me nuts with his nipping. It hurt! He just would get more riled up if I whimpered about it. I had to resort to grabbing his mouth (I made sure not to hurt him) and saying "No bite!" in a firm voice. If he stayed riled up I would put him in the kitchen with a baby gate. Once he figured out how much I hated him biting, he did it less. It disappeared once he lost his baby teeth.  

[Brody and Valor]

My 16 week old goldendoodle Brody does the same exact thing. When you try to pet him he bites your hand, when you brush him he growls and bites your hand as well. We tried saying NO really loud or yelping when he bit us but it never worked. We have started taking him to puppy play group and the dog park now that he has all his shots and I believe that playing with other dogs is teaching him bite inhibition. He used to be a lot worse when he was about your puppies age but has gotten better. He is also losing his puppy teeth like crazy right now too! Maybe Charley will slow down on the chewing once her puppy teeth start to fall out? I think the best thing to do is just be patient and hopefully it will pass as she gets older! I wouldn't use her crate as a time out just in case you ever have to use it as a bed for her at anytime. Everything you have described sounds like normal puppy behavior to me! I wish you the best of luck with her!

[Lia & Pippa]

For Pippa the yelping, ignoring, turning away etc. did not work. We tried those techniques first but she was pretty persistent with the nipping when she was that age. We ended up having to go with the much firmer route like Rachel said. We had to grab her mouth shut and VERY firmly state "NO BITE". She really doesn't like having her mouth held shut and she would whine back at us very sadly but she really stopped biting within a few days of that! Now anytime she is really bad if we start reaching for her mouth she will stop the behavior. Positive reinforcement is great but sometimes certain dogs need something a bit more harsh. Good luck! 

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Laurie, This happened to ALL of us. It's perfectly normal! I know that is not a solution but it's just true! They will continue to bite anything and anyone until their baby teeth are replaced by the adult ones. That's usually between 4-6 months. 

[Midge and Gracie]

Charley doesn't know the difference between tough puppy skin and thin human skin. By yelling ouch in a high tone voice will grab his attention. Bite inhibition is very important and they need to learn it early on. Don't give up on those techniques. They work his level of play is too rough on humans. It just a matter of repetitive training. He'll get it

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Oh yes! Completely normal! And totally frustrating! Biting is something puppies grow out of eventually (it seemed like it was well after Lucy's adult teeth came in). I know how you're feeling and we've probably all posted about it in the past (or are experiencing it currently). It gets sooo much better as the puppy matures. I'm going in for round 2 with a new puppy arriving in 1-1/2 weeks. I'm sure you'll see me posting about it soon!

I should add, that there's a few things you can do to help keep the biting under control. First, don't rough house with your puppy with your hands. Use toys instead. Don't rub your puppy's face with your hands (the 2-handed type rubbing with hands on both sides of puppy's face). You can squeal when puppy bites (mimicking other puppies), turn and ignore the puppy when it bites, etc. Nothing really worked for me with Lucy, though. Time was my greatest friend.

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

Laurie, I've never had a serious "biter, but maybe that's because puppy teeth or not, all of my pups have learned from the get go that hands and arms are not toys.  Or maybe I've just been lucky.  Almost all of my training is based on positive training, but I've never found that yelping or ignoring to really work in this instance. Think about it, if a littermate yelps, biter scores.  What I do, and others may disagree, is that I get on the floor and while playing with the pup and a toy, and take over the game if he bites.  I make a fist and if/when he bites my hand, I gently push it into his mouth a bit farther than makes him comfortable with, saying "no bite" firmly but calmly at the same time.  You should never hurt the pup,or be angry, just make him uncomfortable for a couple of seconds, and always redirect him/her to his toy or kong; something more positive.  You have to be consistent.  Yes, I get a few scratches, but it's never taken more than a few times for my pups to decide that I'm ruining the game. Mom's hand really isn't that much fun.  Eventually just the words "no bite" makes a pup refocus on the toy not your hand. It's similar to holding his muzzle shut.  This is only for pups, because this is how they play and you can't bite back LOL.  If the pup's biting because you're trying to cuddle, that's different, and maybe you'll have to take it slower for awhile and love on her a different way.  My guy's been a a "moosh" since day 1, but I've had other pups who weren't until they got older.  BTW I would never suggest this with an older dog.  And take heart, as she gets older, and if you're consistent, the biting behavior disappears with puppyhood :)  Hope things get better.    

[Ginny Nightingale]

The only thing I would add is does the puppy have a lot of things to chew on besides you!? I like plain cow hooves--they have a need to chew (and btw,what he is doing is not really biting, but nipping--he is not angry with you) and can exhaust themselves in just ten minutes after chewing on something tasty and hard. Lots of exercise will help too--all that excess energy is coming out of his mouth and onto your hand!

I think also that although she is good outside of his crate, you are losing a valuable tool--the crate training is not only about going potty, it is also about you as the leader and the decider. If she gets away with sleeping whereever he wants, it gives her too much power. The crate can't be used only as a time out place--it has to be established as HER place--where she sleeps, eats and rests. Crate training will help you to establish that leadership role that you are lacking at the moment.

[Vivian & Mojo]

So true Ginny. Sometimes Mojo gets over wound up and when I put him in his create he calms down and sleeps...he in there now sleeping peacefully.

[Vivian & Mojo]

OMD she is a wild girl but cute as can be. When Mojo was in the biting & nipping stage I had a few large dog plush toys that I used as a shield between my hand and his mouth and than let him chew it and grab another, I always had one near and it helped. I worry about the newspaper because it had chemicals plus she could eat it as well as think is always ok to chew them.