# 16 Week old Biting



## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

Welcome to the forum! Yours is probably the most common first post of members signing on here at GRF. Golden puppies explore their world with their mouths. The method I used to stop the biting is to have lots of toys around that I could give the pup in place of my hands or legs. If you do a search for "biting puppy" you will find lots of other methods that have worked.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Welcome to the forum! You will find you are not alone with your problem  There is a search engine at the top (it's a white box) and if you type in your term, it will bring up lots of threads posted previously on the same issue. If you will read through what other people have suggested, sometimes it will really help. The ideas are helpful and it's always nice to know you're all in the same boat.

Even if you've had dogs all your life, bringing home your first retriever puppy is a whole different ball of wax. They just plain mouth and chew 10 times more than most other breeds (in general). Goldens can be really tough. 

Do you have a trainer who you like? If not, I highly recommend you start asking around/ research your area on the internet for a dog training club and get some suggestions. It can make a huge difference to invest some money up front and have someone visit your home a few times to give you some one on one help. Also, doggy day care a couple times a week or a puppy play date with a friend (or someone you meet at puppy class) who has a well mannered young dog can make a huge difference in helping to burn off some of his steam.

How much aerobic activitiy is your puppy getting? The walks around the block are great, but do not really get his heart rate up. This can be a tough age because they aren't always great about retrieving, you can't run them on a leash, but they are starting to need more exercise. Putting him outside by himself and thinking he will exercise is simply not going to work. And unforunately, with most Goldens, this needs to be a daily committment. THey need consistent exercise and the 10 minute walks just aren't going to be enough in the coming months. I can't say enough good things about doggy day care if you can put it in your budget.

Please look through this forum, it is a wonderful resource and there are some terrific, knowledgeable people here. Don't get discouraged, your puppy is a normal golden and just needs direction, it's a bit of a process but you can do it!


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## LIKNWISKY (Dec 10, 2007)

When ours (13 wks) bites, I simply pull back and look away for about 30 seconds. When she gets bored wondering why I am not playing, I try to pet her again. If she bites again, repeat. If she lets me pet her, we have success. Seems to be working. I don't punish, or leave her or even stop the snuggle time idea.

Also, treats while I kiss her nose helps her realize snuggling isn't the time for biting.

Don't give up. Patience will pay off!


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## Max's Dad (Apr 23, 2012)

As others have said, search the forum for ideas. Golden pups are very "mouthy" , are strong and have very sharp, needle teeth. "Land shark" is a term I learned on this forum. For a long time I had bite marks in my hands and forearms from Max.  One day I noticed that the marks were gone and my arms were healed. Do not remember exactly when that was . . . but it did happen. 

Be patient and work with her. Perhaps call the breeder for advice. It will get better.


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## Gold-Rush (Mar 21, 2012)

I used most of the methods above, and I am fortunate enough to have a puppy who stopped the constant biting after only about three weeks. I was prepared for the mouthing after putting in months of research into goldens, but it was still a shock at first. I hope that the suggestions here work for you!


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## Jingers mom (Feb 10, 2012)

I've been going through the same thing since Riley was about 10 weeks old (he's now 14 weeks). I asked my vet how to stop the biting and he smiled and said "golden puppies, the land of a thousand bites. He told me to do everthing I had already been doing and my arms looked like I was attacked by a wild animal. Last week he went to his first doggie kindergarden class. After class I asked the instructor what I could try. She suggested a soda can with rocks in it. When the pup goes to bite shake the can (they don't like the sound) and said "NO". I gave it a try the next day. My arms are healing and I've only had to shake the can three times in a week. Now he licks me. I keep the can near wear I am and so far I'm thrilled with the results because nothing else I tried worked.

Good luck... 

Oh one more thing... the trainer also said you could spray your arms with bitter apple. She said not to buy a store brand because it doesn't work. (I can vouch for that because I had tried a store brand and Riley loved it.)


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## khrios (May 5, 2010)

I am reposting this because it really worked for us: 

I have an 18 week old puppy, Emma, and I though we would die from, as someone here said, 10,000 puppy bites. In time, what we did worked. 
1. We yelped...tried different yelps until we found one that seemed to sound to her like we were distressed...
2. We learned to recognize what would trigger her biting frenzies...for her, this was being overstimulated, overtired, under-exercised. We gave her time outs in her x-pen for the first two. Went for a walk, for the last.
3. If yelping didn't work, we would get up and walk away. Since we are her most exciting toy, the fun stops when there is hard biting.
4. We allowed her to mouth us gently, and offered alternative toys for mouthing.

Best of luck to you and congratulations on your new puppy...


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## Deber (Aug 23, 2011)

Thankfully when the adult teeth come in the biting seems to stop (so scars can heal). We used stuff toys and when the pups came in, mouths open, I popped a toy in their mouth instead of letting them get my arms. Kye still walks around with a toy in her mouth when she is happy. 

Believe me, keep your babe busy in mind and activity. A puppy can and needs to play hard. See if there are any puppy playdays at your local training center you can take her to where she can play much more roughly with other pups about her age or arrange a play afternoon with another dog who is fully vaccinated. When you take her on walks, get her running (if not too hot) and try to wear her out. Like a small human child, puppies get mouthy when bored, or over stimulated or very tired. Learn to watch the clues and soon you will see if she just needs to go outside to run after a ball or chase a stick, vs she is too tired (after a walk/run) and needs time in her crate to sleep for a while even if she doesn't think she is tired. Remember children get grumpy and out of control when too tired and pups are the same. She needs to be stimulated, but not too far.

On the forum there are wonderful mind games you can do at this young age that will keep her brain going (really tires them out) but so much fun for them to do. Search and see all the suggestions other GF people have given. 

Hang in there, we have all been through this stage and it really is over when adult teeth come in. I would suggest puppy classes to help you train her what is acceptable or not. Classes are so much fun and one class usually leads to the next. It is really a blast and teaches both you and your pup so much. I would suggest you check into training facilities in your city instead of the ones at Pet Stores, because they really do this for a living and usually have more trained teachers and can offer such individual advice for your individual sets of questions and from there you just take the next class! Again so much fun for your dog and you and a great way to bond. Every baby needs guidance, you are the one that needs to set up her training for the rest of her life. Goldens will make the best of the best family dogs (IMHO) but need help and training for the first years, just as a child. Go for it and know you will be so happy with your results.


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## edgar1mom (Jan 1, 2020)

Pirateoftherodeo said:


> I have a 16 week old golden retriever. I got her when she was 9 weeks old from a reputable breeder. She has bitten me from the start, but it's started getting out of hand, because she bites ALL THE TIME. When I go to pet her, when I put the leash on her, when I'm just walking past her she'll lunge at my feet. And it isn't just nipping, she clamps down HARD. And it hurts. I don't want to have to get rid of her because she bites people or kids. I realize she's a puppy and teething and still learning, but she has lots of chew toys, which I will shove into her mouth when she bites (stopped working weeks ago), she gets fed enough, goes on 10 min walks 2-3 times a day, and gets lots of sleep. I have tried telling her NO, making a yelp, leaving the room, putting her outside to burn off energy, and nothing is working. It's honestly only gotten worse, and I want to stop it before it gets out of hand. I really need help!!!


I have an almost 16wk golden and I'm in the same boat my body is covered in cuts clothes ive been told every single method and nothing works ive literally locked myself in the bathroom and cried I got Edgar at 7 weeks very reputable breeder and were in training I don't know what to do


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

Part of the problem maybe be that 7 weeks is a little too young to leave the litter. I have heard that they learn bite inhibition from their litter mates and need that 8th week. Most reputable breeders will not let them go until 8 weeks. If you put Puppy biting in the search box there are tons of discussions and tips for helping with this. It can seem like nothing is working but if you keep training they do outgrow it once the baby teeth fall out and adult teeth come in. I think it was around 20 weeks when Rukie stopped biting


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

I think I have some good advice for you. Stop shoving toys in the dog's mouth. This biting is not a matter of chewing on the wrong thing which is when you should shove a toy in its mouth. This biting is another matter. This is a biting behavior, not a chewing behavior. I have had this with all my pups but solved it rather quickly as I think at this point you should do too. Now, how did I solve it? Rather than tell you how, I would like to suggest to you to research this a bit. Find a technique that you are comfortable with. Stop using techniques that don't work, stop using "nice" techniques. Food for thought: What does the mother do when one of her pups hurts her? What does an older dog do when hurt by a pup? (They usually tolerate pups but only so much.) I have seen this and I can assure you that they don't look for a toy for the pup or start encouraging exercise.
My experience tells me that there is nothing wrong with your dog. You must effectively communicate with your dog and therein lies your problem.


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## Jayt327 (Oct 18, 2018)

Is there a doggy day care near you? We went through the same thing, but took our guy in to puppy day care and seriously after about 2 weeks he learned bite inhibition. Trainer says it’s because puppies learned bite inhibition faster from being around other puppies than anything we can teach them.


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## Cris4510 (Oct 30, 2018)

Have to agree with gdgli. We went through this and just came out the other side (Jackson is now 18 weeks old). The biting was intentional (though he didn't have any aggression behavior markers, thank goodness), escalated after being told no, and he was making my parents bleed constantly. We got a private trainer to come out weekly and give us exercises to do with Jackson, and finally he has figured out being petted is so much better than being fussed at. Seeing that it wasn't uncommon on this site helped me to keep the faith, when I wanted to hand him back to the breeder!

I was too afraid to try puppy day care, thinking he would bite the people there once he got comfortable with them.


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## puddles everywhere (May 13, 2016)

My girl was 6 weeks and promise you that last 2 weeks is important! But I also had an 8 yr old golden that LOVED puppies to help not only teach but played to exhaustion with the pup. But I still lived in sweatshirts and wouldn't even consider trying to snuggle with this landshark. I've had a ton of puppies over the years, even labs and was SHOCKED at the level of mouthing this pup had. 
So I sat in the floor and worked on shaping behaviors like down, sit, retrieves and recalls several times a day. Anytime this pup fell asleep at my feet I stopped whatever I was doing and loved on her so she would know this was the prefered behavior. LOL she had all the basic commands with hand signals down by the time she was 4 months. 
The good news is this will pass if you work at it. Usually when the adult teeth come in most of this behavior goes away. Just remember they have no idea what the word NO means so no reason for them to stop. Actually the more you engage with verbiage, the more they think you are participating in the fun. And they are having fun at your expense.

Be patient, teach them that hands provide food and are not a chew toys and before you know it, it's all over.


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

gdgli said:


> Stop using techniques that don't work, stop using "nice" techniques.


^^^This^^^
Obedience training and discipline, it isn't difficult or mean.
It never ceases to amaze me how many people live in fear of hurting their dogs feelings.


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