Can't Get Our Goldendoodle Puppy to Stop Biting Us!

[Heather]

Hi everyone!

About two and a half weeks ago, my husband and I got a sweet, adorable miniature goldendoodle named Rook. We had been teaching her bite inhibition by yelping and walking out of sight when she bites us, and she'd gotten a lot better - her bite was becoming softer, eventually almost nonexistent. Now at 10 weeks old, she's started again, and her jaw is much stronger than it was just 2 weeks ago - last night she actually bit my breast and broke the skin! Yelping and leaving the room no longer seems to have any effect - she'll look for us or whine, but once we return, she goes right back to biting us or our clothing.We've also tried redirecting the biting toward a toy, making a disapproving "tsk" noise, and making a claw shape with our hand and grasping the skin of her neck to simulate her mother's bite, but nothing seems to work. We love her to pieces, but the biting's getting really out of hand. Does anyone have any strategies they've found effective in getting your doodle not to bite? 

Thanks so much! 

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

sophie was a big nipper. It took a lot of patience. There were days when I thought I had adopted a little demon lol. She will get better. The yelping and stopping play time works, i think it just takes time. Maybe try rewarding her when she is being good??

 

you should join the puppy madness group. there are lots of similar discussions there.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

I know exactly what you are going through. Chloe was a huge nipper when she was young-it lasted like a year and we tried all of the above, bitter apple, soda cans with pennies in it to redirect her, etc. Don't give up, it will pass. Unfortunately not the same thing works for every dog. Good luck, she's ADORABLE!!!

[Lynda Kamrath]

I really don't have anything to suggest but time.  Our ALD was a nipper also, but he does not nip at me.  He has nipped my husband many times, and my son and FIL.  He wants their attention so he jumps on them and nips their hands.  I always come to him and place my hands on each side of his face and hold his head so he can lick my chin.  My husband walks around with bruises on his hands.  It has gotten a lot better over time.  He is over a year and a half old now.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I haven't tried it, but others have reported they got results with puppies by spraying them with a water squirt bottle when then nip while firmly saying "no".  Others have said that holding their snout for a minute and giving a firm "no" also helped with this behavior.  I also agree that the Puppy Madness group has a number of discussion on this that may be helpful.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

We did both of these also. I still squirt them when they want to bark at people out front of the house. Myla sees it and jumps down but Chloe will test me.....

[Adrianne Matzkin]

someone suggested to me, I never used it so I can't go with 1st hand experience, to put white vinegar on the area where the pup is most likely to nip. Nip = vinegar in my mouth. Sounds like it would work.  Good luck!

[Chelsea and Bailey]

The only thing that worked for us... out of everything else that was suggested, was that when Bailey bit i would push my hand into her mouth and grab the lower jaw in my hand and just hold it for a second and sternly say "No  bite". There is no need to squeeze hard or yank jaw (thats abuse). They are unable to bite when you do that and they hate it, so it gets the point across fairly quick.  Took only a few times and she stopped.  We also suggested this to our friends pup and their dog stopped almost immediately!

[Leigh & Allie]

I did something similar and it worked like a charm. When Allie bit me I would hold her mouth. This is hard to explain, but I would hold one finger inside her mouth and one outside her mouth (kind of like pinching the side of her mouth but not hard just holding it) and saying loudly "no!" I bet it took two weeks and no more biting. What Chelsea did is very similar. My vet told me to do this and it really worked. I made sure everyone in the family had the same reaction.

[Diane and Alma]

We hand fed Alma her kibble from the day we got her for about a month.  My whole family helped.  I really believe this taught her to be gentle with her mouth.  We also taught her take it - leave it and drop it.  I remember having little jars of treats all over the house so that we could train her at any time.  If she ever did nip us we immediately yelped and turned our backs to her.  For other issues I would short leash her to the kitchen table for a quick time out.  Good luck.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Tara was a bit of a nipper too! I tried all the suggestions that you read in puppy books with no luck!  I finally resorted to spraying my hand with Bitter Apple and offering it to her. She HATES Bitter Apple and it quickly put an end to her nipping. :)

[Heather]

Thanks so much, everyone! I really appreciate the suggestions! I'll definitely be trying them!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Hold the snout and FIRMLY SAY NO.  That is what worked for us.  That change in your tone from happy "good girl" in that high-pitched happy voice to a deeper "NO, bad girl" - has a HUGE EFFECT on them.  You don't need to yell or anything, just drop your tone the second she does that.