[im_nice1]

My hand looked like yours when we got our puppy home initially. i was ready to give up. But then we researched on net and found this free program called NILIF...and it worked like a charm when nothing else had. check it out. its here on one of the stickies too i think.

 

[Cobalt]

BITTER APPLE!! No blood. The brand Bitter Apple works better than the other brands.

 

[louiejohn]

we had a pup that was like that. you would start to pet him, he would start to play, the next thing you know, he's out of control and attacking you. this went on for about 3 weeks. I came home one night, started petting the dog, dog sat at my feet and did nothing. i asked my wife what was wrong with the dog, she tells me she gave him an attitude adjustment. the dog turned out to be the best dog ever up to the day he died of old age. never bit anyone ever.
so in answer to your problem, you need to get the book "The Monks of New Skeet" Their training methods work. I use them with all my dogs and for the most part I have had no bitting dogs.

 

[dakotajo]

I posted awhile ago about my pup ( 10 months) Berner having this problem and I THOUGHT she was getting better but..... she is good with me only but not with my daughter or with my partner (her father) My daughter who is 20 yrs. old soon so she's not a young child, went out to play with her today and the pup grabbed at her wrist, it hurt but she never punctured the skin so of course play time abruptly stopped and my daughter came back inside just PO'd. We have tried almost everything! The trainer we had told us to do the same things that I've read numerous times, nothing has worked, she is only good with me. I CANNOT have this behaviour anymore towards other people. It is always in play and she doesn't have a mean bone in her body but she has a thick skull and doesn't get that other hands (arms) are not to be touched! I haven't tried the bitter apple yet but I'm willing to give it a go. I'll have to spray it on everyone we see I guess. This girl likes to play rough. How can anyone play with her when she's like that and just doesn't get it. Other people would love to play with her but I'm the only one that can. She knows I'm the boss I gather.
Sorry, didn't mean to high jack your thread, I'm just getting desperate

 

[iSaidNoSprinkles]

I posted awhile ago about my pup ( 10 months) Berner having this problem and I THOUGHT she was getting better but..... she is good with me only but not with my daughter or with my partner (her father) My daughter who is 20 yrs. old soon so she's not a young child, went out to play with her today and the pup grabbed at her wrist, it hurt but she never punctured the skin so of course play time abruptly stopped and my daughter came back inside just PO'd. We have tried almost everything! The trainer we had told us to do the same things that I've read numerous times, nothing has worked, she is only good with me. I CANNOT have this behaviour anymore towards other people. It is always in play and she doesn't have a mean bone in her body but she has a thick skull and doesn't get that other hands (arms) are not to be touched! I haven't tried the bitter apple yet but I'm willing to give it a go. I'll have to spray it on everyone we see I guess. This girl likes to play rough. How can anyone play with her when she's like that and just doesn't get it. Other people would love to play with her but I'm the only one that can. She knows I'm the boss I gather.
Sorry, didn't mean to high jack your thread, I'm just getting desperate

Nah I know what you're saying. That's the kind of situation I'm hoping to avoid.

 

[iSaidNoSprinkles]

How do you tell the difference between play biting out of hand and aggression? Today he started biting me when I tell him no and pull him off something he shouldn't be on. Then he just starting biting me to bite me (hand, arms, back). I got up and left (which only allows him to act up unsupervised in the front room). I had to put him in the crate because I didn't know what else to do. If we can fix this through puppy class, I don't know what I'm going to do. Again, is this an aggressive move from him? I can't just let him chew or climb on things just because he wants to bite me (can't ignore him in those situations either).

 

[BoxMeIn21]

How do you tell the difference between play biting out of hand and aggression? Today he started biting me when I tell him no and pull him off something he shouldn't be on. Then he just starting biting me to bite me (hand, arms, back). I got up and left (which only allows him to act up unsupervised in the front room). I had to put him in the crate because I didn't know what else to do. If we can fix this through puppy class, I don't know what I'm going to do. Again, is this an aggressive move from him? I can't just let him chew or climb on things just because he wants to bite me (can't ignore him in those situations either).

In a puppy, it's more than likely just play.
Instead of telling him no, just redirect him to something that he can chew on. Have you tried a stuffed kong? Raw bones are also a great chewing outlet for you dog.
And don't worry, you'll get through this.

 

[dakotajo]

How do you tell the difference between play biting out of hand and aggression? Today he started biting me when I tell him no and pull him off something he shouldn't be on. Then he just starting biting me to bite me (hand, arms, back). I got up and left (which only allows him to act up unsupervised in the front room). I had to put him in the crate because I didn't know what else to do. If we can fix this through puppy class, I don't know what I'm going to do. Again, is this an aggressive move from him? I can't just let him chew or climb on things just because he wants to bite me (can't ignore him in those situations either).

Your puppy is younger than mine right? I guess it's better to find out how to stop it now before he's bigger and heavier, we tried many things with our pup at a very early age and never encouraged it but she's persistant (have to still try bitter apple.
You can tell the difference by if the pup gets growling (I think you would know if it was true aggression) but I'm sure at that age it's all in play, now if my pup at 10 months old ever growled I would know I had real problems because she is getting older but she never shows any of that. If she had her way she would probably sleep with a limb hanging out of her mouth.
She is always best with me and I don't take the crap. The last time I was brushing her she got a little tense around the butt area and she grabbed my hand the brush in her mouth and I smacked her nose and she thought I was playing! so I had to really smack her snout quite hard and tell her NO! and she got it.It's all fine with me but other people in the house it's not. My partner will not smack her snout or nothing and she continues to do this to him always. I don't know how I can get it through his head that it's not exceptable EVER!? if no one else in this house isn't on board with the training. She stops if I'm in the room but it's getting frustrating.
In obedience classes I took my pup to didn't teach about this unless I specifically asked and everything she told me I have read over and over and like I said before it worked for me and only me. I have to find some way of correcting her without me being the one she identifies as always being the one to doing the correcting, does that make sense?
Sorry again for going on and on There is 2 more things I'm willing to try and I'll tell you which one will work so hopefully I can cure this problem and give you help

 

[iSaidNoSprinkles]

Haha. When I smack him on te nose he only thinks i'm playing. I'm pretty sure he's not being aggressive. However, he started biting me in the car when I tried to stop him from digging in my seat. Kept pulling him off, he kept biting me. Now there's a dangerous situation there. I don't want to hit him that hard, but I don't know if i'm out of options. Can't do the ignore thing when Im trying to get him off of something. Puppy class in 2 days!

 

[dakotajo]

I hope obedience classes work for you. They teach sit, stay, down, stand etc... but I know the one I was going to didn't touch on the play biting topic. I guess you can tell them some commands when they do it but mine just continues afterwards. There was also no puppy play time during class, but Dakota has played alot anyway with other dogs and she's the same. Maybe I'm just making one huge worry thing about it and like the other posts above say they will eventually grow out of it. I have a Bernese so she's got a big mouth and she's a large puppy running about
Good luck on your classes and I hope you have a really good trainer

 

[iSaidNoSprinkles]

I hope obedience classes work for you. They teach sit, stay, down, stand etc... but I know the one I was going to didn't touch on the play biting topic. I guess you can tell them some commands when they do it but mine just continues afterwards. There was also no puppy play time during class, but Dakota has played alot anyway with other dogs and she's the same. Maybe I'm just making one huge worry thing about it and like the other posts above say they will eventually grow out of it. I have a Bernese so she's got a big mouth and she's a large puppy running about
Good luck on your classes and I hope you have a really good trainer

If they don't it's definitly something i'm going to ask them on the side.

 

[iSaidNoSprinkles]

I would like to add that bitter apple (although somewhat effective if I put it on my hand when he's biting it) does not feel too great on a fresh wound. (Kinda tingly.)

 

[LuvMyLaila]

Hi. I just wanted to tell you that you are not alone. We got Laila when she was 4 weeks old, because the mother stopped feeding the pups, and the owner of the mother wanted nothing to do with the pups either. My big fear about bite inhabition has been realized, as Laila is a biting freak!

I have tried everything and I can't get her to stop the biting of pant legs, feet, and hands. although I cannot get it to stop, I have been able to get it minimized by taking her for walks and playing with her to tire her out. But when playing with her, I have to remove as much of me from her line of attack as possible. I cannot sit on the floor or I will become her chew toy.

Thankfully she loves to play fetch, so I can throw the ball repeatidly to tire her out. I have stopped any kind of play that is tug-of-war like. I also got her a bone that is filled with a meaty center that after I am done playing fetch, I can give her to keep her focus on a toy rather then me.

At times, even the above dont help and she gets herself completely wound up. I have do a combination of three methods to help. First, when she is biting, I close the door to the nearest room, either with her or I inside. She HATES when I close the door and leave her unattended. I wait for her to stop barking, open the door and let her out/in. I do this about 3 times max, as needed. If she still wont stop, I get her leash, take her out to use the bathroom, then bring her back in. If she is showing that she is still going to continue the bad behavior, I tie her leash to something and make her sit, with me in plain view, as I ignore her and maybe put laundry away, do dishes etc. Once she has calmed, I unhook the leash and let her be. If after all this, she is still a carzy monkey, she goes right into the pen, and is there for a good hour.

I have been doing this method since saturday and am seeing some improvement in her behavior.

I am worried she will hate her leash, though, so I am hoping to eliminate the leash part from her punishment. Teh only reason I do it is because when she can see me ignoring her, it seems to calm her faster then when she is locked in a room, or downstairs in her pen.

 

[im_nice1]

we tried bitter apple too..it worked the first few times then the puppy started biting again. but the NILIF training worked like a charm from day 1. u shld really give it a try...its as simple as ignoring the puppy when she/he wants your attention by biting..fold ur arms and look away. i wore rough shoes and workman gloves too . no shoving it away, saying no etc...its all negative attention which your puppy wants.

when the puppy gets tired of being ignored and ceases biting and moves away to more interesting things...call her/him to you and play with it. when it bites again...move away again and ignore/move to another room for 30 sec. they learn fast.

 

[LuvMyLaila]

we tried bitter apple too..it worked the first few times then the puppy started biting again. but the NILIF training worked like a charm from day 1. u shld really give it a try...its as simple as ignoring the puppy when she/he wants your attention by biting..fold ur arms and look away. i wore rough shoes and workman gloves too . no shoving it away, saying no etc...its all negative attention which your puppy wants.

when the puppy gets tired of being ignored and ceases biting and moves away to more interesting things...call her/him to you and play with it. when it bites again...move away again and ignore/move to another room for 30 sec. they learn fast.

I read the NILIF thread and it's kind of similar to what I have been doing. My major problems with her and using the method is when she grabs ahold of our pantlegs and will not let go. I have stood still and ignored her upwards of 5 minutes with her not stopping. She likes doing it and if I let her she would do it all day. I want her not to do it, so I have been picking her up, which when I do, she immediately lets go, and thats when I either put her in a room and shut the door, or put her in her pen.

Is the action of me doing so still considered negative attention, and if so, how would I use the NIFIL method to get her to not bite at our legs?

 

[upendi'smommy]

We had this problem with Upendi. We would tell her no bite and the fold our arms across our chest and quit playing. It took A WHILE but it finally got through, around four or five months for her. So don't expect a miracle overnight. Also your puppy is only 11 weeks old so play biting is completely NORMAL at that age. One thing I would recommend is getting a puppy play pen so then you can give him time out, but not make him view his crate as punishment. It's a nice place to put them when you need a break because you can get away from them, but they have a larger area than there kennel to run and it still keeps them out of trouble.