My puppy won't stop biting!

franny189 · 01-07-2007, 11:40 PM

Alright, I am an 18 year old in a family of 5 with 2 sisters 20 and 19. We all live in the same house and someone is usualy always home. We bought an 8 week old cockapoo not too long ago and we love her so much, her name is Abby. While we were picking her up the breeder told us she has been spaded, I know things about animals and said "Isnt that too young?" The breeder told me dogs are getting spaded at younger ages now so we still bought her, the breeder hasn't had any bad reports. Long story short she had to receive an operation because she had a hole in her stomach from the spading

Abby is now 4 months old and she is the best decision we have made, however we have been having a biting problem with her. I know puppies bite and chew but I'm worried she may be too aggressive. She growls at her toys, drags on too our legs and growls when we walk and will bite hands while we play fetch with her. We have tried doing all the things like yelping,ignoring her, always carrying around chew toys but none of it works. When we yelp she gets more excited and bites more. She can be very picky and if she doesn't want to be held she will even lash out and bite at your face. She is very good with other dogs it seems however and is the nicest thing ever to strangers. We give her a lot of exercise, we go on walks and play with her but we try not to over stimulate her. I even tried the shake can but she didn't seem to care about it and actually when i threw it near her she just brought it back to me

Abby is a very smart dog, she already knows sit,paw,down,play dead,stand,stay and come and never has accidents in the house anymore. I know it is normal for puppies to bite but I fear she may be over aggressive, when she snaps out at us it worries me, I havn't seen puppies do that to their owners.

Here are some pictures of her at around 9 weeks old.

http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=abby018qt4.jpg

http://img489.imageshack.us/my.php?image=abbypw3.jpg

Curbside Prophet · 01-07-2007, 11:52 PM

Please read this article...live it, be it, breath it. And please share it with everyone in your family. It's possible you're not applying the technique correctly, because it does work.
The Bite Stops Here

A side note for your understanding...a cackapoo is a mutt. Please don't be offended, mutts are wonderful and deserving of love, however, when a breeder breeds mixes they are not reputable. And you want to avoid these people in the future. They are what is know as back-yard-breeders, or worse puppy-millers. Look around our forum if you want to find more information about the crap these people produce...no offense to Abby. Elsa is a puppy-mill product, but I still love her like there's no tomorrow.

One more thing...and please don't be offended by my corrections, I had to learn this too, but the term is "spay", not "spaid". A spaid is a long narrow shovel.

Welcome to our forum btw!

MarleyGirl · 01-08-2007, 12:03 AM

First of all, I went and looked at your puppy, she is adorable! When I was younger my family owned two cockapoos and they were great family pets! What Franny was saying about her being mixed is completley correct. I have nothing against them being loved and cared for as it sounds Abbey is but I am not for cross breeding. It is just to hard to breed responsibly when there is so much in the lines you are unaware of.

As for the biting, I would consult a proffesional trainer to come in your home and help you with Abbey before she is out of control. Sounds like you have tried all of the methods to get her to stop and at this point you may need someone to evaluate her in your home. The only thinkg I can think of at this moment to try is to place you hand in the form of a claw, when she tried so bite you place your hand firmly (NOT abusing, or forceful in any way) on her neck. This is like the mothers bite to her and its how the mother would tell her what she is doing is unnacceptable. She should sumbit to you once you have done that and will end up laying on her side/stomach to be sumbissive at this point. I hope it helps a little........ Call a trainer though!!! Thats what I would do...

Anytime before 8 weeks is WAY to early to spay a dog. She was way to young. You need to call the breeder you got her from and let her know what she is doing is WRONG!!! Get your vet bill, talk to the "breeder", let her know what is going on and REPORT HER! These type of breeders need to be stopped.

I think your on the right track with helping Abbey and I hope everything works out for you!! Good luck

franny189 · 01-08-2007, 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarleyGirl

First of all, I went and looked at your puppy, she is adorable! When I was younger my family owned two cockapoos and they were great family pets! What Franny was saying about her being mixed is completley correct. I have nothing against them being loved and cared for as it sounds Abbey is but I am not for cross breeding. It is just to hard to breed responsibly when there is so much in the lines you are unaware of.

As for the biting, I would consult a proffesional trainer to come in your home and help you with Abbey before she is out of control. Sounds like you have tried all of the methods to get her to stop and at this point you may need someone to evaluate her in your home. The only thinkg I can think of at this moment to try is to place you hand in the form of a claw, when she tried so bite you place your hand firmly (NOT abusing, or forceful in any way) on her neck. This is like the mothers bite to her and its how the mother would tell her what she is doing is unnacceptable. She should sumbit to you once you have done that and will end up laying on her side/stomach to be sumbissive at this point. I hope it helps a little........ Call a trainer though!!! Thats what I would do...

Anytime before 8 weeks is WAY to early to spay a dog. She was way to young. You need to call the breeder you got her from and let her know what she is doing is WRONG!!! Get your vet bill, talk to the "breeder", let her know what is going on and REPORT HER! These type of breeders need to be stopped.

I think your on the right track with helping Abbey and I hope everything works out for you!! Good luck

Thanks for the help, we did contact the breeder and she did give us the money back but she still believes spading at younger ages is acceptable. We told our local vet and she added it to the poster which shows negative things about breeders. A couple days ago we brought abby in to the vet for a shot and the vet said she recommends ignoring her for 2 days if she is biting, I think it would be pretty hard to do that for 2 days though.
Also thank you prophet, I read the article and I'm gonna try the off command tomorrow.

Edit : Is the growling at toys and us while biting our legs normal?

MarleyGirl · 01-08-2007, 12:19 AM

I have a 12 month old and so I just came out of all of the "puppy" stages. She never ever bit at our legs. The only time she would bite us was when she was teething and even then we would give her a toy and would not let her bite on us. I would try and stop the growling and the biting all together!!

MarleyGirl · 01-08-2007, 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by franny189

Edit : Is the growling at toys and us while biting our legs normal?

Sorry I am posting twice but I forgot to mention this. The growling and biting at your leg is an attention thing. So if you are yelling "no!" or whatever you are saying is still giving her attention. You need to try and ignore he when she does that and see what happends. The more attention you give her while she is doing this the more she will contintue to pull becuase she is getting what she wants. ATTENTION!!!

mistyinca · 01-08-2007, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by franny189

Edit : Is the growling at toys and us while biting our legs normal?

It really doesn't sound like aggression to me. It sounds like normal puppy play growling, but it still needs to stop. We had this problem with our Yorkie, and tried the bite stops here and all the suggested yelping, ignoring methods. We also tried a hand maneuver that was recommened to us; when she bites your finger, take your thumb on the same hand and press gently on her nose and say "no" or whatever you say for no behavior. Neither really worked for us.

Finally, I got a bottle with a stream sprayer and filled it with 50-50 solution of vinegar and water. This was recommended as a no-bark solution, but I thought what the heck, I'll try it.

The next time she went for my husband's or son's white-socked-foot with the biting and growling, I sprayed one spray and made a firm "no." I swear that one time did the trick. I think it worked because of all the bite stops here and other methods we worked on for a couple of weeks first, then that just kinda sealed the deal.

Now when we get the more gentle mouthing, if I even feel a tooth, I gently wrap my hand around her closed snout and say "no bite" in my deep voice. I'm trying to fine-tune it so that there is no nipping when playing or going for a ball, etc. I want to make sure that when kids pet her or play with her, there is nothing that can be mistaken for even being close to a bite. Since whenever I take her out, kids love to pet her and hold her because she's so small.

good luck.

Akita · 01-08-2007, 01:25 PM

I am glad I saw this..Since I pick my puppy up tomorrow and I was concerned about the biting..Mine is going to be about 5 months old from a pound..She is being Spayed today, given a bath, checked for worms and heart worms ,given her rabies shot and the second puppy shot..I have been to the pound everyday except Sunday to play wit her..Take my family if they are around. Her smell is in my house

I noticed she was always trying to bite but not hard..She will eat treats from your hand and not nip and is gentle..It's just every-time we go to pet her that mouth opens to grab at you...I have been saying NO BITE, but now that I have read this I will be doing it a little different...

Only being able to see her for 1/2 an hour is really not enough time to do anything..Still the people that work at the pound have been taking really good care of her and they say she is at a point where she doesn't make in the kennel..She will wait till it is time to go out..

Hopefully tomorrow will be the start of a good New Year with her...

franny189 · 01-08-2007, 02:23 PM

I thought I'd add she did just lose a bunch of puppy teeth the other day, will the chewing stop once she gets her adult teeth?

cshellenberger · 01-08-2007, 02:47 PM

Maybe, maybe not, chewing is also a way that dogs relieve stress. You need to provide things such as Frozen, peanut butter stuffed kongs to her to chew on.

DogAdvocat · 01-08-2007, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by franny189

Thanks for the help, we did contact the breeder and she did give us the money back but she still believes spading at younger ages is acceptable. We told our local vet and she added it to the poster which shows negative things about breeders. A couple days ago we brought abby in to the vet for a shot and the vet said she recommends ignoring her for 2 days if she is biting, I think it would be pretty hard to do that for 2 days though.
Also thank you prophet, I read the article and I'm gonna try the off command tomorrow.

Edit : Is the growling at toys and us while biting our legs normal?

Growling at toys when she is playing alone with them is fine, biting your legs is unacceptable. Also, I'd suggest you find another vet. Not only is early spay/neuter acceptable, it's recommended by the AVMA, which is the association that your vet belongs to. Second, early spay/neuter is not something that breeders usually do, so to mark it on some chart is nonsense. Backyard breeders (which is the only way to describe mixed breed breeders) do not normally want to spend any extra money on the dogs, including spay/neuter. And third, the idea of ignoring your dog for 2 days is utter nonsense. What is the theory behind doing this? Your dog isn't going to understand what you're trying to teach her by ignoring her. She needs immediate correction and/or redirection to something she can be praised for (positive reinforcement). It's time to find a trainer that uses positive reinforcement and who can evaluate your interaction with the dog. A trainer can teach you how to best work with your dog.

benjaminsmom · 01-08-2007, 11:40 PM

I had the same issue with my 4 month old Yorkie. Went to my first class for him on sunday and got some great advise from the trainer. When the little angel bites you, say ouch! and then turn your back on her. Wait about 10 seconds and resume play. Each time she bites, do the same thing. She will hate it when you ignore her. When you play with her and she doesn't bite, say "good girl, no bite" It took my angel 2 times and he quit. When she bites your legs, she is indeed looking for attention. Freeze and look at the sky. DO NOT LOOK AT HER OR SAY ANYTHING (If possible, of course, if she hurts you of course you will need to move away)
I wish you luck!

DogAdvocat · 01-09-2007, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benjaminsmom

I had the same issue with my 4 month old Yorkie. Went to my first class for him on sunday and got some great advise from the trainer. When the little angel bites you, say ouch! and then turn your back on her. Wait about 10 seconds and resume play. Each time she bites, do the same thing. She will hate it when you ignore her. When you play with her and she doesn't bite, say "good girl, no bite" It took my angel 2 times and he quit. When she bites your legs, she is indeed looking for attention. Freeze and look at the sky. DO NOT LOOK AT HER OR SAY ANYTHING (If possible, of course, if she hurts you of course you will need to move away)
I wish you luck!

Sounds like you have a good trainer. The only thing I'd think about changing is the wording used. You said when she bites, say "Ouch", but when she doesn't bite, say "good girl, no bite." Shouldn't it be "good girl, no ouch"?

They are capable of learning a lot of words, but the fewer words you use in the beginning, the better. When my puppy found his first shoe, and settled down to chew it, I said "No shoe" and took it away, replacing it with a chewable toy. Forever after, even though he knows many of his toys by name, he still knows that "No shoe" means he isn't allowed to have whatever it is he's considering taking. Even if it's an elephant, "No shoe" still works.

Keep up the good work on training, and remember training isn't just a 6-8 week course, it's a lifetime commitment. If you don't use it, they lose it.