Biting Problem
 

I am new to Yorkie Talk. This is also the first pet we have had in over 20 years, a gift from my husband. I do have a concern about my Yorkie (Button).When is gets excited and playing he wants to bit my feet and hands really hard. He has drawn blood a few times. I don't think he knows that it hurts me. My son suggested to us a technique that hte Dog Whisperer uses. To restrain the Pup until he submits. I have tried it and it breaks my heart to do it. I held him down for 15 minutes until he surrendered. It did seem to help but I don't want to break his spirit or damage him mentally. Is this an O.K. thing to do?
Please help me

I'm not sure. I guess maybe it depends on the age? I could be wrong, but I have a young pup and she thinks my toes are her favorite play toy. When she puts her teeth on me I firmly say NO BITE and stop what I'm doing. She immediately knows mommy means business. If I have one handy I offer her a toy to chew instead of my feet ;)

Welcome to YT

You didn't mention your pup's age. The restraining technique is a bit over the top. What I advise is when the pup nips/bites you deliver a sharp Ouch or No command. Stop all activity with the pup, ignore him for a period of time.

Several things can be contributing to his biting issues. One, he maybe teething; two, he may not have learned the proper play behavior from his mother (if this is the case, now it's up to you to perform that role).

When my little one bites to hard when we are playing i just put him in between my legs and take my number and pointer finger and just hold his mouth close. We will back up but with no where to go between your legs.

A firm and strong No or ouch right after helps. He caught on very quickly.

I agree with the strong 'ouch'. It feels pretty stupid at first,:eek: but it works for me!!

:welcome4:

Thanks for so many quick responses.
Button is 14 weeks old. When he is playing he gets out of control. I have tried saying OUCH very loud, Stop, No, giving him a toy when he starts to bite me, putting him in time out. None of this seems to help. I don't feel confortable restraining him. I was told I need to stop it now while he is still young,if not it will get worse. When my Grand children come over and go in the kitchen he is biting their feet to. I don't want them to be bleeding as well.

He is Teething..and at that age the urge to chew is constant, Bella is 13 weeks and chewing everything!!!!! But If she starts on my hands or fingers, then I tell her no and stop playing..Here are my suggestions..first get some real good things to chew on..have you ever heard of bullysticks? Well they LOVE them, and they last forever..they will chew those things for hours...and I think if you got him an ex pen, you would be alot happier..it is an play pen of sorts. there is room enough for him to play in there and walk around, and room for his food and water and his bed too..you can set it up in a room so he can still be with the family..but he wont be able to get to your feet. it keeps them safe from getting into something dangerous. and helps them in house braking...good luck

My Gidget was a biter at 14 weeks old, but never so hard that it drew blood. I used a very loud OUCH (shrill) and I just continued doing that every time she even looked like she was about to bite me! :)

I have to say that now she is just the gentlest little thing ever. A total love bug - never bites, just kisses. So I would say, hang in there. Ignoring him after the shrill OUCH is a good idea.

Good luck.

Welcome to YT!! I too had a biter, and I asked for help and had some great YT responses. Here is the link: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...ve-biting.html . Long story short, the ONLY thing that worked for me was consistent timeouts in his crate along with the words "NO bite". The timeouts were very short (1-2minutes) and have worked like a charm. He currently has no biting issues (even though he's teething like crazy). One other thing - when I tried the submissive restraint it only escalated him after he was released so I'm sure it frightened him rather than teach him not to bite. Best of luck to you and your new pup - keep us updated. :)

I think there are some key points that should be made. You need to break him of playing by your feet as much as biting. One is painful and rude. The other could be dangerous to your dog.

Next time you play with him put him on a short leash. When he gets out of hand tell him no. And give the leash a small tug to get his attention. Maybe words at this point are not enough for your puppy.

At this point you should also start to work with the words "no" and "sit". When he gets over excited and starts to nip tell him "no" then put him into a "sit" and reward when he calms down.

Restraint in my option should only be used as a last resort. Because at this age he may see it as a game, and may only feed the behavior. I have found that rewarding at this age is much more effective then discipline.

I also think having tons of toys on hand is a huge plus. Chew toys, squeaky toys, pull toys, rope toys. Teaching him that those are the items he is allowed to wrestle and chew on is as important to him as it is you. They need an outlet for play and unless they know how to properly play with a toy, you will become it b/c you are currently there main focus.

I found a game (by accident) that Moto (my little guy) loves to play. It's called chase the tail. After letting him out one morning soon after we got him, the belt on my robe had worked itself lose, so he chased me all over the house trying to get to it. This worked out as a great training tool to keep him a few inches away from my feet and safe. Now hes always 2 steps behind me and sits when I stop b/c the toy no longer moved when I stopped. So maybe you can adapt some type of rope to teach him proper distance.

Good luck and keep trying if one training tool doesn't work.

Bitting Problem
 

I want to thank everyone for their input. I will try everything that all of you have suggested. I don't like holding my Baby down like that. I will keep you informed on how it goes.