Don't know what to do...
 

Walt is my 7 month puppy... He's got this terrible biting habit and I can't seem to break it. He doesn't bite to be bad... I don't think... It's like his way of licking. Whenever I get home he's sooo excited to see me and will jump on me biting whatever he can get his little teeth on. Then at night if we're on the couch I almost have to sit on my hands to keep him from biting them. If he does I'll say Walt! NO BITING! And he gets that guilty look, grunts, glares out of the corner of his eye and kicks his leg... But a few seconds later he'll do it again! It's not like he's trying to get my attention because usually I'm playing with him or petting him.

My husband and I have tried everything from yelling ouch, no, spray bottles... We're running out of ideas. The frustrating thing is I know he knows he's not supposed to do that... But he ALWAYS does.

Anyone else have/had this problem? Any way of changing it? :confused:

Is he teething and/or has he had his remaining baby teeth removed?

It could be bc he's treating you like a litter mate and is using his mouth for the normal socialization process, could be that his teeth are bothering him, could be he wants to play, could be his chewing needs aren't being fulfilled.

We don't use negative reinforcement with our kiddos, but we really believe in re-directing and then positively reacting to desirable behaviors. With biting, we would redirect them to a chew immediately and keep doing it over and over, if needed. They actually caught on pretty quick.

Now that they're older, we do play 'hand games' with them now, but tried not to do it as much when they were puppies since they have a harder time understanding how it all works at that age.

Forgot to ask, have you tried 'shrieking' like a puppy/dog does when another dog goes to far in the play? Like a high-pitched shriek?

We have tried shrieking as well. He just looks at us like we're dumb lol.

He does still have some of his baby teeth that haven't fallen out. I took him to the vet last week and the vet said he could be neutered next month and they will remove the baby teeth that haven't fallen out then.

He has a TON of chew toys and we have also given him those when he bites us. For some reason he loves my hands or sleeves to my long sleeve shirts the most. Every morning when I come down stairs my ankles and feet are the first thing he goes for.

Before he learned how to fetch we would play hand games with him... Maybe we shouldn't have?

Like I said he doesn't do it in a mean snappy way... But he does it ALL the time. :(

He should grow out of it. Continue to "Yelp" in a high pitched voice whenever he bites your hand and then move away. Do that every time...he'll learn that you "yelp" and stop playing when he bites...just like a litter mate or his momma would do. It won't happen overnight, but one day you'll notice that he just doesn't do it any more.

our guys used to do that too... they grew out of it. Yelping, and playing other games helped. Good luck

Maybe you haven't found the "right" chew toy...to occupy his time...here's some good info to help you find it:

Step 1: Most vets will tell you to avoid items made with raw hide as pieces can break off and cause your dog to choke.

Step 2:
Go to the pet store and look at the different types of chew toys available. There should be a section geared toward puppies that will contain a variety of options. You may want to bring your pup with you to see what toys they seem interested in. Even the best chew toy will be useless if they do not chew on it. Popular brands for chew toys include Nylabones and Kongs.
Step 3:
Pay attention to package details to make sure you purchase a toy appropriate for your dog's age and size. A hard adult dog bone may seem like it will last, but it will probably be too hard for your puppy's teeth.
Step 4:
Make sure to buy several different chew toys so that your dog does not turn to chewing your household items out of boredom.
Step 5:
Observe your dog with their new toys. Make sure they are interested in them. If they don't pay any attention to the toy for several days, bring it back and exchange it for another one.

Always supervise your dog when she is chewing and playing with toys to make sure she is safe.

Good luck!:D

They will outgrow it. All my dogs went through the bitting stage and grew out of it. Zach is 10 months old and he's just about at the stage when you say No Bite he stops. Zoe is our 14 month old shorkie she stopped biting and Oliver our 3 month old shih tzu is 3 months old and he's in the start of his biting stage being that he just got all his teeth. We have two basset hounds that for some reason never went through a biting stage. We got them at 16 weeks and they were both very gentle puppies now they are 18 months old and we call them our gentle giants.

When Bailey was a puppy and going through the biting phase I would let out a high pitched yelp as loud as I could, he would stop biting immediately, I continued to do this until he finally got the message. When we play, even has an adult he still play bites, but it is always very gentle and it never hurts now.

So there IS hope!!!!! :) Thanks everyone for your advice!!!