please help- don't know what to do anymore! My mum and I are at our wits end with our yorkie. Ollie is 4 months old and we have had him since he was 9 weeks. He will not stop biting us, and its not just a little nip here and there it is constant, he actually dives for us and bites our feet, hands and even our face, he can be really quite aggresive sometimes and it's just awful. We want to enjoy him but we can't even play with him without him biting us to bits and even drawing blood sometimes. We yelp and tell him "not bite" and even distract him with chew toys but nothing works, he really don't want to give up on him but its really stressing us out. I notied the other day that his teeth are starting to fall out, does that mean that his teething will be coming to an end soon? Can anyone please help us? xx |
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I'm wondering if you have taken him to obedience classes? If not that is a fine place to start. Teething may have a bit to do with the biting, but in my experience the pups want to chew on just about anything, and doesn't explain in total his aggressive biting on your feet hands and face. Has he been checked by a vet recently? If so, did you talk to your vet about his biting? If no recent vet check, give him/her a call, explain the situation you have, and ask for their help. Vets are around for more than just giving vaccines to dogs. In behaviour problems it is always a good idea to rule out physical/health issues that may be causative or a contributing factor to the problem. Whilst there are many other techniques you could try, I really recommend at least a phone call to your vet for advice. Good luck |
thank you for your reply. He was at the vet about his month ago getting his final injection but we didn't mention it to the vet, it wasn't as bad then. We love him but he is crazy! ha ha you can't walk across the room without him attackng your feet :( I think we will take your advice and see someone about training x |
Your little guy is teething and acting like a puppy. Once his adult teeth come in he probably stop biting and the adult teeth are not as sharp as the baby teeth. Keep disciplining him on what is right and wrong and make sure he knows who the boss is. Be patient and enjoy him> and obedience class will never hurt. |
I had the same problem with my boy, and was told by YT'ers it was because I got him too young (he was 8weeks old), and he wasn't taught biting etiquette by his littermates and mom. I believe this may be true and really did try everything but what ultimately worked was timeouts in his crate (you could probably also use an ex-pen or a small confined area). Try this: when he bites, say firmly (and without emotion) "NO bite" and then offer him a toy or chew treat to divert him. If he continues to bite, say nothing and very gently, calmly place him in his crate, close the door and say "NO bite". Ignore him completely for 1-2 minutes or until he is calm. Then open the door, say nothing and let him go about his play. He will quickly get the message that his behavior gets him alone time and he loses his "playmate" (you). Most important is to be consistent and all of you should do this EVERY time he bites again (even if it's every 10 minutes) and stay very calm while giving him his timeouts. This took about a month total for us but you should notice a big change within a week. Good luck! |
If your jumping back, it makes him that much more powerful. I'd put him flat on his side till he calms down each and every time he started biting. This way he knows you are not playing with him and that what he is doing is wrong. |
We had exactly the same issue with Alfie, you could hardly move without him pouncing onto your feet. I would clap loudly and say no sharply, though I think it was more growing out of it with age thats stopped it. Our new Chi pup also manages to nip our noses in her enthusiasum, though I dont think having two hyper yorkies as role models helps shes slowkey getting there. I too put her on her back for a minute or two, I dont force her just gently roll her over and hold her there. |
I got Pixie at 8 months and had a problem with biting. I agree with the other post that they did not learn the biting thing from their litter mates. When Pixie would bite me I would say No in a firm voice or ouch in a shriek and then I would stand up and turn my back on her for a few seconds. If she did it again I would repeat and if that did not work I would put her in her ex-pen for about 3 min and then let her out. I found that once Pixie got going on that mode sometimes she couldn't stop and needed a time out in her ex-pen. Your dog will outgrow this and the most important thing is not to show fear when he does it. Remember he is a puppy and you are in charge and he just needs to learn. I would say that it only lasted about 1 month or so and then she stopped. They hate to have you ignore them during play time, so if he starts biting just say no and stand up and turn your back on him!! Good luck! |
:thumbup:Great advice here! If you follow this advice I think your puppy will outgrow his urge to nip at your feet and such. My Sophie did :) and now she is sooooo much fun and very gentle!! |
everyone's replies have been great thank youso much. Everytime he has been biting us we have been telling him "no bite" and giving him a chew toy but it jsut does not seem to be working. He is so hyper and when we let him into our living room hi just goes crazy, running around, biting and growling. When I got home from work yesterday my mum told me she had had enough, Ollie had bitten and ruined our new kitcken units we just had out in. She cleared out our utility room in the kitchen and has put his crate and toys and pads in there, he is now banned from our living room until his behaviour improves. I think we were giving him the run of the house and he was taking advantage by running around crazy, we weren't showing him who was boss and we weren't making it clear where is space was. I must admit I did feel a bit guilty that he was in there all alone but when I would go in to visit him he seemed very calm and was letting me hold him and hug and pet him without biting, it was really nice to be able to do that without him chewing me to bits. Does this seem like the right path to go down? xx |
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you got some good replies and just wanted to say - he's still a puppy and that's what they do - most all will grow out of it !! Teething adds to the excessive biting but maybe some safe chew toys will help him with the overload of desire to bite and chew - I found that really helped with my 2 at that age - When they 'bit' (never ever hard) I'd have something handy and give it to them to distract them - it really helped ps - I want to stress - SAFE chew toys - always be there when he has one just in case |
Sydney would bite quite a bit when she was younger, but now at 11-months, she doesn't bite nearly as much. All of her puppy teeth are gone. |
George used to bite and I blamed my hubby for encouraging it by rough play, but the I tried holding him down until he stopped wriggling and became submisive and he soon learnt not to bite and also when he starts biting, yelp and don't play anymore, give your baby something to chew on |
Always remember, a tired puppy is a good puppy! Give him lots of play time and exercise. When you have got him tired out, then let him in the living room. Be sure to tell him what a good baby he is when he is behaving himself. Sometimes with puppies and dogs, even negative attention is better than no attention. It is way, way, way better to reinforce the positive and ignore the negative. I personally never punish. The best thing you can do for a puppy is enroll him in obedience classes. More than teaching your puppy, it trains you to train your puppy, and will tire him out. It is also great socialization with other people and dogs. Just remember, get all his puppy immunizations first. It kills me to see people with tiny babies exposing them to disease in pet stores and at parks. |
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