Have you tried squirting him with a water bottle ? In my puppy training classes they started us with that the first day. Otis was barking at me when I would eat or if I was leaving himin his gated off area. I have a little spray bottle hooked on my pocket and when he would bark or whine at me I would give a command - "ShhhShhh" or "Quiet Please" and then give him a little squirt on his feet or bum. When he stops barking or whining I give him LOTS of praise and hugs.It didn't take long before I only needed to give the command "ShhhShhh" -- AND it only took a few days for him to stop barking COMPLETELY when I was eating. When he barks or whines when I put him in his gated off area I give him a little squirt and the command then toss him a treat because I found that giving him hugs and praise only made him want to get out more
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I did the same with biting.... and still do because he isn't perfect (yet
!!). When we are playing I make sure that I have my water bottle... I NEVER spray him if he accidently nips me when we are tugging at a toy or if he does a "fake/play bite" where his mouth is open but he doesn't chomp down
. Anyway - If he bites me I say "ouch" and pull my hand back. If he does it again I squirt him and while I am squirting I say "NO biting" He has really improved on this. When I have company over I tell them what to do if he gets to rough and starts to bite. They have access to the squirt bottle too. Consistency is KEY... if you let him knaw (sp) on you sometimes you may confuse him (as I quickly learned
!)... if you don't want him to bite you have to let him know he can't every time he he starts to.
To be honest - I hardly ever squirt him any more because 1) he rarely barks or bites any more 2) he recognizes the commands when I give them 3) when he sees the green sqirt bottle he stops whatever he is doing 'cause he knows he messed up
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which is pretty darn funny to me !