Yips!!! I cannot get Molly to quit biting and biting and biting...especialy when she hypes up at night.

[Lake Girl, Lizette]

Need some suggestions from all of you...
She starts barking and leaping at me when I give her the command no bite, she wants her way! I have tried hitting a paper on my hand or shaking a can (noise does not ward her off), moving her away (usually nipping on my hand & thinks I am playing), folding my arms and turning my back (still nipping on my legs), and leaving the room and shutting the door (just sits quietly waiting for 10 minutes for me to return?, I get tired of standing in a bedroom) and she starts nipping at my legs as I walk back. I have even held her mouth so she cannot bite (again she thinks I am playing?) looking directly into her eyes and saying no bite. When in the heck do these little shark teeth start falling out? Any suggestions that you have tried that worked please let me know...Thanks

[Marianne *OZZY & ZOEY]

OZZY IS 8 MONTHS OLD AND STILL GETS INTO THAT MOOD......ALWAYS AT NIGHT....I GIVE HIM A KONG WITH TREATS TO KEEP HIM BUSY THEN I PET HIM AS HIS ATTENTION IS NOW MORE ON THE KONG WITH THE TREATS. SEEMS TO WORK FOR HIM....HOPE YOU FIND AN ANSWER THAT WORKS FOR MOLLY

[Leslie and Halas]

I use the lemon juice. It works like a charm on Halas. I only have to SHOW him the lemon now. Halas still has tired cranky nights once in awhile, and they are exactly as you describe - none of the usual discipline methods work. But the lemon juice does the trick.

[Sandy]

Toby was a real nipper/biter too. He's so much better now. If we're playing and his teeth touch me, I say "No Teeth" sternly, and he backs off, and often kisses my hand. My son (19) came up with a unique form of warning. Toby hates loud noises, but the shaker can never worked. My son got out a pot and a metal spoon, One whack on the pot with that spoon stops Toby in his tracks. It has trained him to not jump up at the couch, stop nipping, stay "off" etc. Genius, at least for Toby.

Toby just started losing his baby teeth this week, and they're coming out at the rate of about two a day! He's 4 1/2 months.

[Lake Girl, Lizette]

If the lemon juice does not work...I am off to the kitchen for a pot and spoon. Thanks Sandy.

[Adina P]

Toby was a real nipper/biter too

did you ever think you would be able to say that??? Pretty cool :-)

[Sandy]

You're right - when it passes, it seems like it never happened at all! You were right when you said "This too shall pass". Those were hard, hard days, but consistency paid off.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

In addition to what the others have suggested, I would also suggest that when she so much as touches you with her teeth, instead of "no bite", you cry out "Ouch!" as you would any time you were hurt, and then turn away from her. I've heard that helps, too.

[Leslie and Halas]

Halas the furry monster thinks it's hilarious when I yell ouch.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Well, if they laugh hard enough when you yell "ouch", they won't be able to bite at the same time, so that must be how it works!

[Lake Girl, Lizette]

I forgot to tell you all I cry out and Gary as well "ouch" and play lick my hand, etc. ....she thinks this is ok as well. I also tried "aught' in a deep low voice...you guessed it no good. I will try the lemon juice...I cannot wait to try this when she wakes and nips again. Thanks a lot. All suggestions are welcome and sooooooooooo appreciated.

[speedygilly]

Charlie does this and I did some research. Whenever they use their teeth on your hands, clothes, any part of you, you should loudly scream "ouch" and stomp away as if you are really upset and totally ignore them for 5 minutes (not even any eye contact) they soon learn not to do it. once I started doing this the problem went quite quickly. hope it helps.

[IDOGMa]

Smart pup.
Now is your opportunity to get smarter than her. :)

Believe it or not, you are on the right track to some degree with some of the things you are doing. But I suspect that one of the issues is that it is not consistent.

Basically, the rule should be; when you nip, demand and try to push me around, ALL conversations stop. You go away or the pup goes away. If you have waited for 10 minutes and she still wants to have the nipping conversation that means that it was not long enough. Wait 15 minutes. Call her to you in a calm manner, put a leash on her and take her for a walk or take her outside to throw a ball.... (Do not walk if leash walking is still silly) Believe me, you do this consistently - cut off ALL conversations - every time she will get it.

In addition, train an incompatible behavior. If she is using her mouth too much, teach her to hold a ball or toy in her mouth. When it is in her mouth, you will interact and pet her. If it is dropped, the petting stops. This training will not take but only a very short time to learn. If the mouth is occupied, it can not occupy itself on your arms and legs. These dogs get this and enjoy having something in their mouth. I have a 5 year old doodle that has to find something to put in his mouth before he can visit with anyone.

Please avoid negative conversations. It undermines your leadership in a big way. Negative conversations (I’m sorry if this offends some that have posted) are spraying things in their mouths, eying them down, grabbing their jaws, pinning them down, etc. These types of negative conversations should be eliminated so that the pup doesn’t ratchet them up so that you have to do more and more negative things AND so that these types of conversations are no longer in their vocabulary when they become full fledged adults with bigger teeth, stronger bites, and quicker movements.

One other tidbit: Yelling out as if you are an injured pup has an offset time. Which means that young pups learn that yip means to stop within the litter. But it does "turn off". That offset varies from breed to breed and from litters to litters. Some people do have success with this if they have a pup that the offset has not occurred. But most do not have much success because they try it after the offset. We are not fooling dogs with the yip - they know we are not another pup. To them it just seems like something silly that us humans do and most tend to think we want to play.

It’s easy to start down the path of being super focused in trying to stop unwanted behaviors. But this isn’t a path, it’s a hole. Stop digging the hole and step out of it before it becomes too deep and change the approach a bit and you will have a dog that you will love and the dog will respect you. You can do it.