Biting

[Little-Luc]

My 3 month old yorkie won't stop biting me. I have bite marks all over my hands, and toes. Even when I say NO or NO BITE, he still doesn't understand the concept. Sometimes when he is biting me, I try to let him do it, so when it hurts, I can say a loud OUCH or EASY so he understands it hurts. But I am losing my mind. For example, just now, he was laying in bed with me, and jumped on my face and bit my lip. Any suggestion? I don't know what else to do. His teeth are very sharp and it really hurts.

[chuckles]

We are first time dog owners and our puppy can get a bit nippy at times... I thought maybe it was teething, like a baby?

[kwalden]

Our 4 1/2 month old Riley does the same thing. It drives me crazy! He can be so loving and then turn around and start nipping at your toes and ankles. He loves fingers too! My husband thinks he does it when he wants attention. It can be VERY painful. We tried saying "Ouch!, No bite!" and ignoring, but that didn't seem to work. I did some research online and decided to try a spray bottle. It does seem to work, but it seems it's not always around when we need it. Especially since he took it and hid it under the bed. (He's a kleptomaniac!) I would love to hear any ideas about how others are dealing with this problem.

[JoeyP]

Okay.... I hear that they bite and I hear that it hurts

But why are you letting him Bite You

This is a problem that is relatively easy to fix and VERY important to stop
before it becomes entrenched in their behavior
WHENEVER they bite it's NO BITE! and your hand your arm ... in fact YOU
go away
You do give them a chance to bite again
This does two things
It tells them All Play stops when they bite and they are left alone when they cross that boundary
Puppies live for your attention ... don't give it to them when they misbehave

[kwalden]

We completely ignore him when he bites and it only seems to make him bite more. I think it's attention seeking, but he gets worked up and doesn't know when to stop.

[demonanimals]

my 3 month yorkie bites all the time to an i do the same thing (tell her no an don't play with her when she bites)an she has a real bad habit about chasing my 3 year old an biting his legs or grabbing his cloths an i dont know what to do either i just keep hoping she will grow out of it.

[ziggysmama]

hi, i have a 9 week old & he does the same thing! he'll occasionally bite the furniture, but he loves biting fingers/toes & my clothes.. i know he's just trying to play, so i try to give him a toy to chew on instead of me. if that doesn't work, i would grab him.. & say "no" in a deep voice because i was told that they'll listen more to deeper voice. & if that doesn't work.. then i'll stop playing w/ him & leave.

[Iloverosie]

my 3 1/2 old yorkie is doing the same thing! i try and say NO BITE! and just walk away from her but runs after me and keeps biting my feet and barking. im not really sure what to do anymore. please help!

[Romo604]

I'm having the exact same problem...does anybody no of any good teething toys or how to stop the biting for good?

[RoxyLuv]

I do the above mentioned things along with
*making a fist with my hand & not moving it (if she's going after my hands)
*side tracking her attention by tossing a toy for her to go after.
*giving 'leave it' command in strong voice.

Sometimes she's responds to any one of those approaches better than others. Go down the list until she gets it. At 5 mo, Roxy is doing much better & not biting much at all now. I think a lot of it is teething, but who knows what all goes on in those little heads of theirs. There's probably several reasons.

[tatyanasmommy]

little-luc I have a three month old yorkie as well, and she tends to bite too and at that age they just like to playfully bite, but if he's physically harming you, you need to put him in a time out. Or have something that will make a loud noise that won't scare him, but will distract him from biting you when he's laying down. Tatyana doesn't physically bite me, just my hands and it's normally when we are playing and or she's tired. but Good luck!!

[lisayim]

For puppies to bite playfully is normal, but when it's getting out of hand, you need to discipline him. I'm guessing that your pup wasn't with his littermates and mom long enough to learn the fine line between soft chewing and painful biting. They were supposed to bite back or yelp to let your puppy know, "Hey! Enough is enough!"

Yeah, using a toy to refocus his attention to biting the toy instead of your hand is good, BUT IT'S TEMPORARY. I highly suggest mimicking what mama and siblings would do in this case. I learned this from a few people and Cesar Millan. Use your hand as a "mouth" and give him a quick nip in the neck ONCE. (It shouldn't hurt him, this should be more like a surprise shock). While you do this, you should make a sharp "Eh!" I'm sorry if this all sounds pretty vague, lol. Good luck, and remember that YOU'RE the boss.

[TishaMoon]

I have the same problem. It has really helped me to get a can filled with pennies and shake it when I say no. The noise scares her and makes her associate no with something bad. Now she often stops just on the word no. And definitely remove your hands and don't give another chance to bite.

[Nancy1999]

This sounds mean, but if done right, it's not. When they go to bite, put your hand further in their mouth causing a slight choking response. Since the effect is associated with the mouth; it's a fairly fast learning curve. Aversive sounds or sprays are not associated with the mouth and learning not to bite through these methods takes longer. You can either use several fingers or the side of you hand on a larger dog. Say "No", firmly, but not yelling when you do it. There is lots of research on cue to consequence learning, and it has been found the more easily the consequence is associated to the cue, the faster the learning.