biting and chewing like crazy!! help!! - YorkieTalk.com Forums

Oliviababy · 01-12-2009, 04:25 PM

my baby Olivia is crazy she chews on are fingers and goes for are feet and bites....what besides telling her no and giving her a bone or a carrot to chew or play with should i be doing??
please help.....

xoxo

lemonlauren · 01-12-2009, 07:07 PM

Above all else, try as much as possible to not give her the opportunity to bite on things she shouldn't... and go buy some bitter apple spray at least for the toes and other household objects she shouldn't chew on.

We do this with Nikko (4.5mo old), as well as whenever he bites hard we say "OUCH!!!" then stand up abrubtly and ignore him with our back to him for 15-20 seconds. It seems to be working fairly well. Also providing lots and lots of other chew toys helps - bully sticks are wonderful, and knotted washclothes wet or dry. Nikko's new favorite chew toy is an old sock stuffed with plastic trash and knotted to keep the trash in... it's noisily crunchy so he loves that part, and he likes chewing on the knot in the sock as well.

Good luck!

Lauren & Nikko

marcerella02 · 01-12-2009, 07:15 PM

do not replace your fingers with a toy- it's kinda like rewarding her for what she is doing. you need to "yelp" (Like her littlermates would) and then get up and leave- she will get the idea that she looses your attention if she continues to bite you.

phfgkl · 01-12-2009, 07:18 PM

I've always read you say ouch like it's hurting, then take something that is acceptable to chew on and throw that..

LauraLove · 01-12-2009, 11:10 PM

omg, i HATE when Bentley gets in his biting mode. Once he starts, he just keeps going. i tell him "no" or say "ouch!" and put him down or walk away, but when he just gets mad and lunges at me and barks! I dont know what I should do to stop cause unless he is in a sleepy mood, he can be nasty. His teeth are tiny and dont hurt now, but im scared he will be a biter when he is grown, and that worries me! any suggestions would be appreciated!

lemonlauren · 01-12-2009, 11:53 PM

They do get into biting "modes," don't they? For the most part, my little Nikko is a complete sweetheart. But about twice a day, he'll get really rambunctious(sp?) and crazy, and all he wants to do is bite. Not chew (we try to give him a bully stick or something along those lines), he wants to BITE.

During those times, we try to play in a way that will not expose our fingers, like fetch with a larger object, or running around the yard. These things hopefully, but not always, wear him out a little. Then we give him a "break" in his crate and leave the room so that he's not distracted by seeing us and wanting to be with us. Sometimes he barks a few times. Then about 5-10 minutes later, a little while after he's done barking, we come back in and let him out, and usually the biting "mode" is over, or at least a little more under control. Then we try to do some more physically demanding things with him like more running, and then usually he's ready to chew on something instead of biting. And shortly after that, he usually passes out tired on one of our laps.

I don't know if this is a unique cycle for our pup specifically, but hopefully maybe you can find something in it that will help you. Occasionally he has episodes of bite-i-ness that aren't fixed by this plan, and on those occasions we are lost as well... and we just do the normal "don't bite" stuff, and wait for it to hopefully pass. It can be really frustrating, I understand!

Lauren & Nikko

LauraLove · 01-13-2009, 12:35 AM

yes, yes it is very frustrating! but im glad others have to deal with this too! haha. im sure most of the biting is coming from him wanting to play but he does not have his last set of shots so we have not been able to take him on walks. hes pretty much confined to the apartment. I still throw a toy around to get his energy out and it seems to help but sometimes he will still lunge for the hands. hopefully it will wear off with age! i just want to make sure he knows the difference between play fighting and actual agression

phfgkl · 01-13-2009, 06:25 AM

Something else I read, when they do that, ball your hands in to a fist, this way, they can't get to your fingers

JoeyP · 01-13-2009, 08:07 AM

Oh no.....
Don't reward them for their bad behavior!
When they bite hard don't replace your blleding Fingers with Another Toy
What are they learning from that?

It's OUCH! or NO! or No BITE!

and they are left there and you go away .... that's all
They have to KNOW that when they bite all attention and play ends

01-12-2009, 04:25 PM	#1
Oliviababy Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Rutherford, NJ, USA Posts: 86 Blog Entries: 3	biting and chewing like crazy!! help!! my baby Olivia is crazy she chews on are fingers and goes for are feet and bites....what besides telling her no and giving her a bone or a carrot to chew or play with should i be doing?? please help..... xoxo

01-12-2009, 07:15 PM	#3
marcerella02 Loved by Layla Donating Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 11,257	do not replace your fingers with a toy- it's kinda like rewarding her for what she is doing. you need to "yelp" (Like her littlermates would) and then get up and leave- she will get the idea that she looses your attention if she continues to bite you. __________________ http://misscanam.blogspot.com/ Layla 's Simon

01-12-2009, 11:10 PM	#5
LauraLove Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Davis, CA Posts: 160 Blog Entries: 1	omg, i HATE when Bentley gets in his biting mode. Once he starts, he just keeps going. i tell him "no" or say "ouch!" and put him down or walk away, but when he just gets mad and lunges at me and barks! I dont know what I should do to stop cause unless he is in a sleepy mood, he can be nasty. His teeth are tiny and dont hurt now, but im scared he will be a biter when he is grown, and that worries me! any suggestions would be appreciated! __________________ ~LauraandBentley~

01-13-2009, 12:35 AM	#7
LauraLove Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Davis, CA Posts: 160 Blog Entries: 1	yes, yes it is very frustrating! but im glad others have to deal with this too! haha. im sure most of the biting is coming from him wanting to play but he does not have his last set of shots so we have not been able to take him on walks. hes pretty much confined to the apartment. I still throw a toy around to get his energy out and it seems to help but sometimes he will still lunge for the hands. hopefully it will wear off with age! i just want to make sure he knows the difference between play fighting and actual agression __________________ ~LauraandBentley~

01-13-2009, 08:07 AM	#9
JoeyP YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Miami, FL,USA Posts: 1,005	Oh no..... Don't reward them for their bad behavior! When they bite hard don't replace your blleding Fingers with Another Toy What are they learning from that? It's OUCH! or NO! or No BITE! and they are left there and you go away .... that's all They have to KNOW that when they bite all attention and play ends __________________ Mike and Zach's Dadd

01-12-2009, 07:07 PM	#2
lemonlauren YT Addict Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Nevada Posts: 454	Above all else, try as much as possible to not give her the opportunity to bite on things she shouldn't... and go buy some bitter apple spray at least for the toes and other household objects she shouldn't chew on. We do this with Nikko (4.5mo old), as well as whenever he bites hard we say "OUCH!!!" then stand up abrubtly and ignore him with our back to him for 15-20 seconds. It seems to be working fairly well. Also providing lots and lots of other chew toys helps - bully sticks are wonderful, and knotted washclothes wet or dry. Nikko's new favorite chew toy is an old sock stuffed with plastic trash and knotted to keep the trash in... it's noisily crunchy so he loves that part, and he likes chewing on the knot in the sock as well. Good luck! Lauren & Nikko

01-12-2009, 07:18 PM	#4
phfgkl BANNED! Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: South Carolina Posts: 2,376	I've always read you say ouch like it's hurting, then take something that is acceptable to chew on and throw that..

01-12-2009, 11:53 PM	#6
lemonlauren YT Addict Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Nevada Posts: 454	They do get into biting "modes," don't they? For the most part, my little Nikko is a complete sweetheart. But about twice a day, he'll get really rambunctious(sp?) and crazy, and all he wants to do is bite. Not chew (we try to give him a bully stick or something along those lines), he wants to BITE. During those times, we try to play in a way that will not expose our fingers, like fetch with a larger object, or running around the yard. These things hopefully, but not always, wear him out a little. Then we give him a "break" in his crate and leave the room so that he's not distracted by seeing us and wanting to be with us. Sometimes he barks a few times. Then about 5-10 minutes later, a little while after he's done barking, we come back in and let him out, and usually the biting "mode" is over, or at least a little more under control. Then we try to do some more physically demanding things with him like more running, and then usually he's ready to chew on something instead of biting. And shortly after that, he usually passes out tired on one of our laps. I don't know if this is a unique cycle for our pup specifically, but hopefully maybe you can find something in it that will help you. Occasionally he has episodes of bite-i-ness that aren't fixed by this plan, and on those occasions we are lost as well... and we just do the normal "don't bite" stuff, and wait for it to hopefully pass. It can be really frustrating, I understand! Lauren & Nikko

01-13-2009, 06:25 AM	#8
phfgkl BANNED! Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: South Carolina Posts: 2,376	Something else I read, when they do that, ball your hands in to a fist, this way, they can't get to your fingers