please help- don't know what to do anymore!
 

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!!

If that's what is working, you sound like you're on the right path. My pup currently has only 2 rooms in the house to roam: the kitchen and family/dining room. All bedrooms and the living room is off limits until he's older and thoroughly trained. I do think that if you cannot supervise every second, he needs to be in a secured area such as you described, then give him more freedom little by little as you oversee and teach him expected behavior. Good luck :cheer:

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.

Yorkiedaze, thats the advise I would of given too, make them chill out, they get too excited and bite more, Buddy was the same.

It sounds like a good beginning. I know it might feel mean, but giving puppies boundaries will teach them who is the boss, and then those boundaries can be extended as rewards for good behaviour.

Lizzie said something else to take note of - a tired puppy is a good puppy :D Though you do need to be careful not to overexercise a young dog, lots of short play sessions with a bit of rest between will keep them happy, and prevent them from getting bored and help avoid more damage to furniture. If your puppy tries to chew furniture, teach him what is and is not acceptable to chew, by offering up a chew toy and praising when he uses it, and make sure there is someone watching him when he has access to things he isn't allowed to chew.

Having said all that, I know how nightmarish it can be, because while my Milly never destroyed any furniture, she did have the same issue with biting. It took months and months to teach her no bite, which I did by taking away her favourite "thing" (me!) and ignoring her completely for 5 minutes. It wasn't as fast as some other people have had success, and it was painful (those puppy teeth do sting a bit!) but in the end, it was successful. Just takes a bit of time :)

I got Sky at 8 weeks and had the same problem. They play with there teeth as well. I started turning her on her side everytime the play got rough with the biting. So, 8 weeks is a little early to get them. I do know if you Yelp like they do, they realize that it hurts and the nipping will get softer or they will stop completely.

I even tried the Cesar Milan two finger touch and making the "chi" sound, but that just made her more hyper because she is puppy.

Placing on the side works best.

I'm SOO glad this is posted because I'm having the exact same problem with my Oliver. He's a little over 10 weeks old (we got him at 9 weeks) and he bites constantly! I know he's only playing and its because he's hyper but his biting (especially the feet and fingers) is getting harder. I just don't want him to become a biter when he's around other people. I've tried to say "no bite!" and give him a chew toy, I've tried giving him a teething bone and I've put him back in his cage for time-outs....those don't seem to be so helpful but what I DID find helpful was when he bites and I jerk away and say "ouch!" he steps back and looks at me and then licks me. I'd like to think he knows he hurt me and doesn't want to do it again but maybe I just scared him haha but either way it seems to help when you say "Ow" :) I'm reeeeeally hoping he grows out of it!!:aimeeyork

I'm glad that you're saying "Ouch!" That is what dogs are use to since that's how they learned to play nice with their litter mates. A water-filled squirt bottle also helps. lol

Time outs do not work because dogs won't understand. They don't think like human children. Human children receive time outs so they can think about what they've done wrong. Dogs would not understand that concept.

Good luck!

They do understand though that it means the end to play time. It's meant to be brief- a minute or two, and then you bring them out again to see if they can play nice. If not, back in they go. Rinse, repeat.