# Pickles will not stop biting



## Pickles mama (Jul 20, 2013)

Good day all I have a brand new 9.5 weeks old golden retriever he is an amazingly smart little puppy, he knows when he's doing something right and when he's doing something wrong. 
The thing I am finding with pickles is that he bites,and it can be extremely hard and painful too! 

We have tried everything from:
dominance training (grab by scruff of neck and make him lie down underneath you until he stops( he just ends up biting harder after))

Ignoring ( turning your back to make him understand that's not correct play and I won't play with him until he stops( he just bites the back of my arms, legs, hair, and back))

Saying no! (Saying in a low growl like voice NO BITE!!(he just ignores me or bites harder))

Pushing away and saying NO BITE! ( saying no bite and pushing him away from me with my forearm and then ignoring him(he comes back and bites harder))

Saying no bite and giving toy ( saying no bite softly and giving him a Nyla bone he's allowed to chew on( he will forget me for about 5 seconds and then give up on the bone and come back to biting me and harder))

Kennelling him( if he bites too much too hard and for too long we say NO BITE! In a low growl and if he continues we put him in his kennel in the basement(he just sits down there and barks and then once calmed down I let him out and he is happy for about a minute then starts biting again))

We are trying to teach him a lot of tricks hoping that if he bored then teaching him will help...

Most of the time he is a happy little golden retriever but he bites all the time I don't understand either i am doing something majorly wrong or I've found the only horrible golden retriever ever conceived!!!!

Someone please help me, I feel like I letting him down because he's not happy and I love him so much he's part of our family we've already had him for almost a month( he was given away early at only 6weeks old) how can I make my little pickles a happy heAlthy trained golden


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## murphy1 (Jun 21, 2012)

Murphy was the same way! I had laserations all over my arms and hands. I resorted to spraying bitter apple on the hands and gave him a good taste. After awhile......a long while......he just has to see the bottle. BUT you have a long way to go. Get some good chew toys. Golden puppies are know as "land sharks" for good reason. Give it time,,,,,it will pass and you'll have a wonderful pet.


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## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

Your methods are a bit hard for such a young guy and may create more problems than they solve. Do a search on "Biting Puppy" just above your post on this site, were it says 'Search'. I will pull up similar posts and articles that will give you lot's of information. They are Land Sharks...so it takes time....


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## Katduf (Mar 10, 2013)

Congratulations, you have a beautiful little golden puppy who is behaving completely normal! Stopping play and ignoring is the way to go, forget the rest of what you are trying. Puppies are not good, bad, or naughty, it is simply puppy behaviour. Ignore what you do not want, and praise the behaviour you want. Please don't try the dominance thing, you don't want your puppy fearing you. The nipping will last for quite a while, but if you are consistent it will become less and less until that behaviour is no more. This forum is a wealth of information so please ask away, members here have a lot of experience and will be only to happy to help through the trials and joys of owning a gorgeous golden. Also, pics please?? Love to see the pups!!


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## laprincessa (Mar 24, 2008)

Puppy doesn't know right from wrong - he's a baby. Think of a human baby at 9 weeks, can't even sit up and take nourishment without help. Please don't "dominate" him, he's just a baby.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

You have an absolutely 100% totally NORMAL puppy. They all bite. They explore their world with their mouths, they play with their mouths. They are retrievers and it is in the genes to use their mouth on everything. Just keep redirecting him to toys and chew bones. Please do not pin, alpha roll, grab his muzzle, or any other physical correction, as you have already seen it just make him worse. If the biting is particularly bad put him in the crate or xpen for a few minutes until he calms down.

And keep in mind he doesn't speak English and doesn't know what the words "No bite" mean. You can teach him taking a toy or chew bone is the right thing by praising him when he chews on it instead of you.


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

I went through a horrible 8 months with Tayla. Feel free to look up my posts from about April of last year through November. You will see my struggles and read the responses. It was a long hard road, but Tayla was a bad case. Some of the people that responded to my plight had very similar issues. I will say dominance NEVER works and WILL make it worse. I tried it all. Positive reinforcement, a good training class with a behavior specialist, and what helped us was getting Tayla into a Nose Work class. Good luck.


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## stealle (Nov 12, 2012)

Perhaps he is upset about the name "pickles", lol.

I also had this trouble with my pup. Things got much better after he lost all of his puppy teeth. I believe they started to fall out around 4 months. Unfortunately the worst ones, the top front canines, were among the last to fall out. Seems like around 6 months of age he had a full set of adult teeth. The 3 to 5 month stage was the worst for my family. We all had small lacerations, torn jeans, and full of frustration. He became a different dog around 6 months of age. Much better behaved and less destructive. 

However, there is another stage. The teenage phase. My dog is just starting to enter now at 10 months. He recently tore up one of my shoes. He hasn't tore up the remote yet, but he frequently takes it to his crate. His hearing is becoming a little more "selective"; he's not always following basic commands as he usually does.

I don't frequent the behavioral section of this forum very often since my pup left the teething stage, but I remember reading from quite a few members that things would get better around 6 months after the adult teeth were fully grown in. They were right. I also read about the awful teenage stage. Looks like they were right again. 

At this early age, stick with redirection toward toys they are allowed to bite/chew. And, a high pitch/LOUD "YIPE!" or "OUCH!" when he bites followed by brief ignoring or crate time. That's what littermates do. They "Yipe" when the get bit and find someone else to play with that is not so rough. Pups learn they have to stop hurting or nobody wants to play with them. I have 7 and 9 year old daughters. My 7 year old daughter is a good example of this. After getting bit by Ollie a couple of times, she didn't want to come near Ollie. After the weeks went by she started to give Ollie some more chances. Anytime Ollie even looked like he was going to bite my daughter would run away screaming. Ollie is now more gentle with her than any member of the family. He seems to play/treat everyone a little differently based on what we tolerate from him. 

Remember the crate is your friend. You need to be able to get your message across without getting frustrated. If you feel yourself getting too frustrated, give you and your pup a timeout by putting him in the crate until you are ready to try again.


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## Pickles mama (Jul 20, 2013)

Thanks everyone for your help


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## Jaykay (Jul 20, 2013)

Daisy (9 months) has 'land shark' sessions. When she bites me, I hold her mouth for a few seconds. Not so it hurts, but just so it's not fun. After doing that a few times, she proceeds a bit more gently or stops. 

Since I've only had her 10 days, she hasn't stopped doing it totally yet, but she's a smart girl so I hope she gets the idea! I also have something on hand to give her that she _is_ allowed to bite, and keep giving her that instead of me 

She's getting better


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## Leslie B (Mar 17, 2011)

Coming home at only 6 weeks is part of the problem. Puppies need each other and Mom to let them know that biting hurts and that there are negative consequences for biting (mama dog wont put up with it at all!). 

Looking at all that you have done to try to correct the problem and I would say that you are not very consistent. Trying something new every time Pickles bites is not going to teach her anything. So pick a plan and stick to it for a few weeks. For novice dog owners I recommend that every time Pickles bites you grab her, say NO BITE! and then put her in her crate for at least 30 minutes. If she comes out and does the same, you repeat the proceedure.

Keep in mind a couple of things. Puppies explore with their mouths so sometimes mouthing can be mistaken for biting. Think of the difference as the intent of the pup. Is she easy going when her teeth touch you? Or is she meaning to draw blood and wrestle hard? Another thing to note is that puppies are like toddlers and have melt downs when they are overly tired or overly stimulated. While a toddler will cry and wail, a puppy will usually become hyper active and bite. For both, it is time for a nap!

Good luck with your new pup.


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## Jaykay (Jul 20, 2013)

Because she's so young, I think she needs to learn directly. 

Hold her mouth, either the top or the bottom, with your hand wrapped round it, each time she bites. You don't need to hurt her, it just stops the fun.

It's really made a difference to my new-to-me 9 month pup, who has pretty much 'pulled her punches' in the biting games over the past couple of days. She still wants to play, puppies do, but she only holds me now, it doesn't hurt.

And if I wind her up and she gets over-excited and forgets 1. That's my fault and 2. Holding her mouth a couple of times reminds her again


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## thorbreafortuna (Jun 9, 2013)

What every one saido read the old threads like someone suggested, they have been very helpful to me! I have a 12 week old. He was at his worst biting at around week 10. he still does, but he did quickly learn to be a lot gentler. What I have been doing is putting a chew toy in his mouth straight away, if he bites I yell in pain (exaggerated) and walk away, sometimes I go into the bathroom and close the door for 1 minute walking out to a calm puppy waiting. If I see him starting to get wound up I start going through his commands with treats. He really loves training. Now he only gets rough with my son and daughter if they let him get too wound up while playing. They are doing the same things I do and he is getting a lot better already. I know we haven't seen the end of it but we are encouraged by his progress! Good luck!


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## olliversmom (Mar 13, 2013)

Olliver was bad with biting. In last two weeks he has had turn around. Teeth coming in. Much much better. And we have learned to keep him well exercised edpecially at high snarky times: early am and late pm. It gets better. We are so so pleased where he is now.


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## SA512 (Aug 2, 2012)

Hi, I kind of lurk on the forum and only post when issues pop up, but this particular issue was a huge one for me for a long time. When my dog was a puppy, he would bite so hard that he drew blood and bruised me. Someone on this forum linked me up to this article, The Bite Stops Here by Dr Ian Dunbar which I found to be very helpful. 

Many of the methods recommended to me by family members and friends trying to help - like shaking cans with pennies, holding his mouth shut, etc. - had the opposite effect on my dog than was intended and made his behavior much worse than it had been before, and I did not use these methods for very long. Even bathing myself in bitter apple spray didn't really work - it lasted for about 30 seconds, and my dog was over it and started mouthing again.

Instead I did the yelp and ignore method, where I gave a high-pitched yelp and turned away from him or stood up and turned away from him for about 30 seconds before returning to play. Repeatedly - multiple, many times in a play session - it took a lot of patience and a lot of time. If he kept biting me when I turned away (and at first, he usually did), then I'd leave the room and come back after 30 seconds. I also redirected him with toys, putting a toy in his mouth when he mouthed me. Some other helpful advice I received was to keep his mouth occupied - have him carry toys around the house (and encourage it), to teach him to play with toys and seek them out, and reward him with petting during moments when he was not seeking attention by mouthing.

My dog mouthed so much partly because he's an exemplary representative of the golden retriever breed, and partly because he's enormously attention seeking, so dealing with the underlying behavior, the attention seeking, was ultimately the most helpful in helping my dog. He was one of the prolonged mouthers, but in my dog's case working with a behaviorist to address his behavior and using only positive methods were what helped the most. I received a lot of advice about my dog that was not the best (that I needed to "dominate" him, do alpha rolls, and so on). Knowing what I know now about my dog, I think that would have made him a fearful dog.


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## murphy1 (Jun 21, 2012)

SA512.......you just desribed Murphy to a T !!!!! He's almost 16months old and still mouths my hand. When he cuddles he likes my hand in his mouth, doesn't really try to hurt me but gets carried away sometimes and needs correction. He's improved so much since he was a puppy.


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## Sirfoulhook (Dec 2, 2011)

My pup Buddy was an angel I guess. No biting issues. The one thing I will say is do not put him in his cage if he is misbehaving. IMO never use a cage as punishment. I do give puppies the stare. It worked with my Chessie, even when he was 90 lbs.


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## psthornquist (Sep 3, 2013)

My 3 month old is doing this now, these tips are great. So far, I've been doing a mixture of "No", replace with toy, and crate time.


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