# 8 week old puppy biting down hard, can't redirect, help!



## nomi123 (Feb 6, 2014)

We picked up our little puppy last week-- she is currently 9 weeks old, and very cute! When she first came home she was relatively quiet and a bit nippy, but her puppy bites weren't too painful. I had read about the importance of teaching bite inhibition when they are little puppies, so whenever she nipped me the first few days I would yelp and leave the room for a few minutes. This didn't stop the nipping, but I figured that this would take many weeks of consistency before she got the message that nipping meant playtime was over.

Over the past few days her nipping has become much worse. It doesn't seem to be nipping right now, she is basically clamping down with her jaws on my feet, my clothing, my hands, etc. It is actually a bit painful, and she has managed to rip some of my clothing in the process when I try to get away from her to leave the room. I have tried to redirect her with a nylabone or toy, but it seems impossible to redirect her. (This is true for other things as well-- she is a very focused little puppy!). I am frequently having to physically pry open her jaws in order to try to release my foot/ clothing/hair etc so that I can leave the room and give her a time out. I feel pretty awful about having to physically pry open her mouth like this, but I really don't know what to do. She is treating my clothing (while I am wearing it!) like it's one of her stuffed toys, i.e., trying to beat it around like it is prey). I have stopped yelping and have started saying NO in a loud voice before leaving the room, but I don't know if this is working. I am prepared to ride out puppy nipping for a few months while she works on bite inhibition, but I need to problem solve the closing down hard on clothing/ hands soon because I just can't imagine doing this for the next few weeks. I am also really scared that she is going to end up with negative associations with my hands, because I am always prying open her mouth to remove myself. (I read somewhere else that whenever you do this emergency retrieval you should give a puppy a treat, but it seems crazy to do this because I really can see that this will be very rewarding!).

On a related note, she has also really started chewing up a storm. Again, I was expecting this, but it is also IMPOSSIBLE to redirect her. We've puppy proofed the kitchen, so she spends most of the time there. She does like trying to gnaw the baseboards (the paint on the baseboards is unleaded), plus the metal drawer knobs (which we have made sure are very tightly screwed in). I don't let her out of the kitchen unless she is on a very short leash, but as soon as she is in the dining room or living room she seems to make a beeline for things to chew (chair legs, wicker basket, etc). Again, it doesn't seem possible to redirect her to other toys. I'm trying not to seem frustrated with her, and to keep it positive, but I am just worried that most of my interactions with her right now are centered around trying to prevent her from getting into trouble. I've tried dousing everything with bitter cherry spray, but this doesn't seem to deter her for too long. (And on a few occasions she has come very close to me when I am spraying things and I am worried that she now associates my hand with something negative, because I am spraying something in front of her that she wants to eat-- I am worried that I have sprayed directly in front of her, and that she associates my hand and not the bottle with the bitter taste).

Is this just because she's tired? Or is she teething? Someone is home all day right now, so she is not left alone or crated for long periods of time. I tried freezing a kong for her last night, and fir a brief period this morning I was able to distract her with her kong, but this didn't last very long. I've tried playing with her inside to try to burn off some of her energy (with balls), but this seems to rev her up even more, and playtime doesn't last long before I have to do a time out. (The weather here is pretty terrible, so outdoors playtime is not always possible-- plus, she spends most of her time outside trying to eat sticks, pieces of wood, etc etc etc...I am OK with her eating leaves but I don't want her eating sticks because I know that this is not good for them, and again it seems that many of my interactions outside involve removing things from her mouth. I am keeping her on a leash in the backyard right now because she just spends her time outside finding things to eat!).

I did think maybe the problem was that she was hungry, but we are feeding her just over 2 cups of kibble a day divided into 3 meals, plus quite a few tiny training treats (I cut the Zuke's into 4 pieces each and use those for training, plus some little pieces of dehydrated liver for housetraining)

Any suggestions would be appreciated!


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## Goldenhopeful (Dec 21, 2013)

When she bites down like this have you tried yelping really loud- like her littermates would do? Just a suggestion.


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## Apesan (Aug 23, 2013)

This may be a very unpopular response but we had a similar problem with our last dog. She could t help herself and we tried everything (bully sticks, antlers, everything) we were at wits end and needed the biting of people to stop-when she bit us, we would squeeze her mouth shut until she gave a little whimper and would say "no bite" pretty sternly. It worked prett quickly and she stopped biting people. She still chewed everything and we continued to try to redirect her (we never squeezed her for hewing things) and sometimes t worked, sometimes not. We ended up with some pretty heavily chewed chair legs but our body parts stayed safe.

FWIW, that dog lived to be 10 1/2, she never nibbled, mouthed or "nipped" any person after that and she had a wonderfully happy life. Good luck.


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## nomi123 (Feb 6, 2014)

Goldenhopeful said:


> When she bites down like this have you tried yelping really loud- like her littermates would do? Just a suggestion.


Thanks for the suggestion-- 

I initially tried "yipping" in a high-pitched voice and then left the room-- I did this the first few days when the nipping was not too bad, but I think that this actually revved her up a bit. I'm not sure if she thought that it was a game. I started saying "ouch" or "ow" after that, and just for the past day or two I've moved on to a loud NO because the other two methods haven't worked. I like the idea of yipping or yelping like a litter mate, and I was committed to doing this when working on bite inhibition because this is what I've read you should do (as per Ian Dunbar, etc), but it doesn't seem to work for our puppy.


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## Calm dog (Sep 11, 2013)

My Teddy was exactly like you describe! It was awful. I had to wear shoes all the time so my feet wouldn't get bit. I wore old clothes constantly. I did little traing sessions with him each day and he did well. He bit more when he was tired or late at night. Finally just walking away did work , but I tried everything including yelping and bitter apple on my hands.
Our new trainer told me she presses down on the tongue area until they release. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I didn't know this until he was five months old or I might have tried it. 
I would have a chew stick in your hand or pocket all the time. I even gave him rawhide while I held the stick. He went at it like a maniac. Also bully sticks work great too, nd they are safer.
He is ninety percent better now and he never bites hard. I just look at him and say No now.
It will get better


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## Calm dog (Sep 11, 2013)

nomi123 said:


> Thanks for the suggestion--
> 
> I initially tried "yipping" in a high-pitched voice and then left the room-- I did this the first few days when the nipping was not too bad, but I think that this actually revved her up a bit. I'm not sure if she thought that it was a game. I started saying "ouch" or "ow" after that, and just for the past day or two I've moved on to a loud NO because the other two methods haven't worked. I like the idea of yipping or yelping like a litter mate, and I was committed to doing this when working on bite inhibition because this is what I've read you should do (as per Ian Dunbar, etc), but it doesn't seem to work for our puppy.


I read everything Dunbar wrote, and my trainer loved him. I actually didn't have success with his techniques. He also tries to make you feel guilty if you don't reach each milestone in time. In the book he said the breeder should have taught them basics like sit , down etc. 
We got Teddy with no training from the breeder and he is fine. I didn't like the idea of crating him when I'm home all the time with him, so I just kept him on a leash with me everywhere.
Thank God for this forum or I would have lost my mind!


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## Heart O'Gold (Jul 31, 2012)

She may think any reaction is part of the game. I would try leaving the room for a bit each time and keep repeating. Try teaching her some tricks, sit, paw, kiss etc. so you can ask for behaviors you want and praise and treat. Mental and physical exercise will help. Also, sometimes they are just overtired and some quiet crate time is needed. Lots of people wiser than me will have good advice for you, I'm sure.  Hang in there, it will get better!


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

What a great game: she bites, you yelp and go away! Rinse and repeat. I'll bet she'd love to play that game all day long.

If she can't be redirected with a toy, then she needs a timeout in her crate or xpen. We have an xpen in the family room that we use for timeouts. Her crate in the bedroom is only for nighttime sleeping.

You need to send a strong, black and white message that if she wants to be around you she has to not bite you.

Once you get her under control you can expand the teaching by standing still when she bites your clothes. Become as boring as possible and she will go away to play with a toy. It may take up to a week for these changes to take place. We are going thru the same thing...or were. 

You also want to make sure she's getting plenty of exercise, both mental and physical. We play fetch in the house, throwing toys down the hall. We also play outside in his fenced in area. They need to run and run and run. 

For mental exercise, we work on obedience: sit, stay, down, high five, and loose leash walking. We don't do anything but puppy almost all day. He goes to bed at 7 so our evenings are free. It is tiring but at a little over 3 months, he is a remarkable puppy; controllable "most" of the time and fun to be with. But it takes a lot of work and patience.

Forgot to add: I put on jeans as soon as I get out of bed and I wear hiking boots with zippers in the house. My "armor". lol

Also: yes, playing does revv them up and they do NEED a timeout to calm down. But it's also good for them to learn to calm themselves and for Mr. Darcy usually ends in a nap. They do get crazy...I call them puppy storms.


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## nomi123 (Feb 6, 2014)

Thanks for the suggestion-- I'm happy and appreciative of all suggestions, no matter if they might be controversial! 

I am really conflicted about resorting to something like that. Before getting our little puppy I was really committed to avoiding any kind of force like that on a puppy, and I read as much as I could on positive dog training before bringing our puppy home in preparation for this. But, as you note, some of the things that should be working (i.e., yelping and removing yourself from the area, trying to substitute chew toys for hands etc) don't seem to work for all puppies!

However-- When I was a teenager in the 90s my family adopted a very rowdy 9-month-old puppy, and when we took her for puppy training then she growled at the trainer. He did exactly what you have described here, i.e. he clamped her mouth shut and yelled "NO!" in a loud voice. She also developed into a very affectionate and gentle dog, and the only other time she growled/ nipped at us was when she was 12 years old and in a lot of pain because of some chronic illnesses. I had really hoped to avoid training our puppy with these methods, but I recognize that they have worked for some dogs. 

I am hoping that I can figure out a way to do this with positive methods. It's still early (we've only had her for a week), so I am really hoping I can try some other non- physical methods first before I resort to anything else.


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## nomi123 (Feb 6, 2014)

Calm dog said:


> My Teddy was exactly like you describe! It was awful. I had to wear shoes all the time so my feet wouldn't get bit. I wore old clothes constantly. I did little traing sessions with him each day and he did well. He bit more when he was tired or late at night. Finally just walking away did work , but I tried everything including yelping and bitter apple on my hands.
> Our new trainer told me she presses down on the tongue area until they release. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I didn't know this until he was five months old or I might have tried it.
> I would have a chew stick in your hand or pocket all the time. I even gave him rawhide while I held the stick. He went at it like a maniac. Also bully sticks work great too, nd they are safer.
> He is ninety percent better now and he never bites hard. I just look at him and say No now.
> It will get better


Thank you! It is really such a relief to know that this will get better!


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## cris (Jan 24, 2014)

Okay okay, I feel like I need to steer you away from the clamping mouth process because your puppy sounds a lot like my puppy.

Our breeder told us of the clamping method, because that is how mothers stop their puppies from doing things. However... There's a risk involved with doing this. Puppies look at our hands as communicators. This is how you interact with them, pet them, feed them, etc. Your dog needs to know how to behave with your hand. Clamping his mouth with it might mean one of two things to her: #1. Ha, ha! I finally got you to play with me! #2. Ow, your hands can really hurt, I'm going go stay away from them. 

Our puppy never took our mouth clamping seriosuly, as soon as we would release it, he would bite again. It was a game for him as well. It might've been too gentle for it to carry a message but we didn't want to start hurting our puppy.

How we got our puppy to tone out the biting was with the time out method. We would yell "OW!" And put him in a time out. We rarely ever "stood and be boring" because he would quickly amuse himself with something else in the room. Also, our time outs were in a baby gated area, not his crate. 

I hope it helps and yes, it does get better. Our buddy is at 3 months and much more controlled with his mouth.

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## GoldenRetrieverNewbie (Jan 28, 2014)

Right there with ya, Nomi123. I have a 14-week-old who's the exact same way. The yelping didn't work for me either, nor did saying "ow"...it just made him more excited. I also used bitter apple spray, but not on my hands. I put it on the knees of my jeans. The little monster practically backs me in a corner every time I stand or move to another room. I put jeans on as soon as I get home from work so the teeth don't hurt as bad. Sometimes I can distract him just by saying "where's your ball?" and pretending to help him look for it. Other nights, we just go for a walk when he can't (or won't) calm down. I will say, though, sometimes that makes him more hyper :doh: 

I live in a cold weather state, too, so I understand how hard it is to give them enough exercise. Everyone says to walk them 2-3 times/day, but if you live in an apt/townhome community, it's not really safe until they've had all their shots...plus, we don't have a fenced-in area to give him off-leash play, so that's rough too (our trainer suggested a 20' lead, so we just got one of those). And during winter, the vet told us he shouldn't be out in single-digit temps (even if it was 10 degrees but windchill made it 9 degrees, he shouldn't go). I know that makes it more difficult! Like other people said, you can play indoor games like fetch or work on his basic obedience. That seems to help my pup a little. He is starting to get better, so I see a light at the end of the tunnel! Let us know how it goes


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## nomi123 (Feb 6, 2014)

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. It is always such a relief to know that other people have had these problems, and that it gets better over time!

I really want to try to figure this out with positive training methods for now. I am really averse to doing other things because I don't want her to be afraid of my hands, or to be afraid of me. I'm already a bit worried about constantly putting my fingers in her mouth to release my feet and clothing, because I don't want her to associate hands in her mouth with bad things. I've tried to stand still and ignore her when she clamps down on my clothing and not me, but she seems pretty happy to tug at my clothing without any involvement on my part! 

I've been trying to give her lots of physical exercise in the house, but it's hard because she seems to get out of control pretty quickly, starts biting, etc, and I leave the room. I'm going to try giving her some more quiet time in her crate with a stuffed Kong or nylabone to see if this helps to calm her down. I gave her a lot more quiet time today. If anything I think that I have been giving her too much attention, so maybe this is part of the problem. Maybe she needs more quiet time. I have been doing clicker training with her, usually 2 sessions a day, and she does know some commands (sit, down-- we do puppy pushups every day- stand up ). I was going to try some more obedience commands but perhaps I will try to focus on some more very brief training sessions with fun tricks throughout the day for the next few days to see if this helps, along with more quiet time in her crate. I do feel better knowing that things have improved for other people. 

On top of everything else, 2x today she has managed to leap over our baby gate from the kitchen into the living room. I absolutely can't believe that she can do this-- the gate is 2 feet high, and she is only 9 weeks old! She didn't seem frightened or scared, this wasn't separation anxiety, I think she was actually just pleased with herself that she managed to leap over. She doesn't seem hurt, thank goodness.


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## Calm dog (Sep 11, 2013)

nomi123 said:


> Thanks everyone for the suggestions. It is always such a relief to know that other people have had these problems, and that it gets better over time!
> 
> I really want to try to figure this out with positive training methods for now. I am really averse to doing other things because I don't want her to be afraid of my hands, or to be afraid of me. I'm already a bit worried about constantly putting my fingers in her mouth to release my feet and clothing, because I don't want her to associate hands in her mouth with bad things. I've tried to stand still and ignore her when she clamps down on my clothing and not me, but she seems pretty happy to tug at my clothing without any involvement on my part!
> 
> ...


Oh my gosh, I would go nuts without the baby gate in the kitchen. I have to say that I did give Teddy some long naps-9-11 each morning and then 4-6 in the evening . Just so I could have some time to do my studies and clean up.
I also started feeding him more and that seemed to help. We do three cups a day plus a kong. He is pretty thin and on the smaller side.
Oh, I forgot to mention to feed by hand since that gives an opportunity to not bite while getting the food. I'm still working with Teddy to take treats and food nicely since he just chomps down. I don't know why he uses his teeth to grab a treat, but it has been very unpleasant to train him and keep getting inadvertently bit. This is the first week that he can take some food or a treat with mostly his tongue .


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## Calm dog (Sep 11, 2013)

Calm dog said:


> Here is the little angel
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## oakleysmommy (Feb 20, 2011)

This too shall pass. Redirect with toys bones etc. 


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## Goldenhopeful (Dec 21, 2013)

May I suggest you get a x pen and one like this from Amazon: 




It's too high for tucker to jump out of and is pretty sturdy... A LOT more sturdy than the wire ones. 

I would definitely implement this into your training... If you put her in there then she can't bite you and you don't have to correct and avoid the biting all together. As soon as she starts to get out of hand put her in the x pen and give her a little time out. Also make sure she's getting exercise and mental stimulation. 

Like you said you have only had her a week... You'll get the hang of it and things WILL get better I promise.


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