# All my puppy wants to do is bite



## ThorThePup (Jul 1, 2012)

For the past two days all my puppy wants to do is bite. He has been biting really hard unlike the other days. No matter what we do thats all he has been doing. I try to give him a toy which distracts him for about a minute and then he goes back to biting me and my parents. Its getting terribly painful.

Any suggestions what we could do?


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## apenn0006 (Jun 22, 2012)

ugh, I feel your pain. My husband and myself have scratches all over our hands from trying to teach him bite inhibition. I yelp and that gets his attention but then he wants to bark at me and snap his little chompers. We redirect with toys and a tug rope (which works well). I have a feeling this is just tip of the iceburg for another 3 months. lol From what I have read this is extremely NORMAL behavior  good luck


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## ThorThePup (Jul 1, 2012)

That is exactly how he responds to ouch. He would just look at me and then snap at me. Sigh its going to be a little painful next few months.


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## mwiacek10 (Nov 8, 2010)

Spray Bitter Apple on your hands and let him get a good taste. It helps.


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## Ishmail (Jul 17, 2011)

My pups 12 weeks and we are going through the same thing. I don't mind it so much because she will be a personal protection dog and I play pretty rough with her but yeahhh it hurts sometimes My wife has read into this issue because she gets the worst of it and says the best thing to do is ignore them when the playing gets too rough, just stand up and walk away every time. hope it helps.


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## Ishmail (Jul 17, 2011)

mwiacek10 said:


> Spray Bitter Apple on your hands and let him get a good taste. It helps.



Yeah I agree lol, that should solve your problem for sure. They hate that stuff heee heee


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## dylano (Jul 6, 2012)

I agree with bitter apple spray, once the dog tastes that a couple times he wont want to taste it again 

if you cant get some now try what i do (my pups 9 weeks old)

when he bites you make a quick loud noice 'owwww' 
this should startle the pup.

ive been doing thins for 3 days and have noticed a difference already, the pressure he bites with slowly decreased with every 'oww'.

the cute thing is once i say 'owww' he looks at me and if i pretend to be sad he licks me where he has just nibbled, like he was saying sorry 

once ive done that^ i give him a raw hide bone and he sits for hours chewing it  

another thing i have done is once the dog has my hand in his mouth i either make a fist or (may sound harsh) push my hand down into his mouth. it doesnt hurt him but it makes him let go straight away and hes ready for playing once more 

bare in mind, this is probably not even the dogs proper teething stage, it will get worse 

good luck


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## ElviraCross (Jun 29, 2012)

read the bite inhibition thread on here, there is a ton of helpful info. 

For our puppy (6 weeks) toys help a lot. We also got her a bully stick. 

I also cry and whine if she bites too hard and she usually stops and lots of times gives kisses instead. 

I haven't tried the bitter apple spray yet but that is really popular and we are getting some as well. 

I think you just have to play around a lot to figure out what will work for you. 

Like others said, it's really normal for puppies to chew and bite like this. 

I wouldn't do things like shove your hand down their mouth or scruff them up. I don't believe in it and it can cause more harm than good down the line. 

Positive reinforcement and redirection is the way to go.


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## GSDBuddy (Apr 11, 2012)

Buddy does the same thing, but he'll play bite with Ally (11 yr old) and me because I think I'm the only one who plays fetch, catch, and runs outside with him. I don't know, but he WILL NOT bite my mother who is 83 yrs old, when she pets him. He'll just go by and place his head on her lap and wait for her to pet him. Isn't that peculiar? He is also very docile towards my husband, who walks him, feeds him, and takes care of his needs. It almost seems as if he changes behaviors for each individual in the family. He will stop biting when I tell him to, but with Ally it's hard to turn it off! We are working on it! He does attend obedience classes at PetSmart, and Ally goes to learn what to do. I guess I wasn't much help, only to say we are having the same issue and we are working on it as well. The next thing to do would be to buy the Bitter Apple Spray.


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## breyer08 (Jul 4, 2012)

Yes, we have the exact same problem with Ava (13 weeks old). Today she just had her first puppy class, and the trainer also recommended Bitter Apple (and actually used it once during the session). It seems very effective...so I'd recommend you try it!


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## Rocky's mum (Apr 12, 2012)

Rocky's landshark days peaked at 13-14 weeks..... it was awful. As he is my first puppy ever, I honestly thought he had distemper or something, but it DOES get better and I read all the same threads and thought......whatever, but it truly does. The only thing that really worked for us was redirection and ultimate weapon "time out" in his kitchen, us in the living room, out of sight.

He hated it and it seemed to work. 5 minutes at a time, have to be cruel and leave him crying as his best mates have left him, no speak, eye contact, nothing. That is what worked best for us!

Good luck, stick in there:hug:


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## m1953 (May 7, 2012)

Our pup just turned 16 weeks. She is getting much better with the biting.. It gets better really. The best thing I found was to get up and walk out of the room, and close the door for a minute or two.


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## tperry1982 (Jul 5, 2012)

I have an 8 week old and his teeth are like razors. I try the walking away method and all he does is follow my feet and keep snapping. It is really bad because it is so hot so we usually are barefoot or in some sort of flip flop sandal. Turning my back on him does not work for the same reason. Not going to stress about it, though it feels like a battle zone. I may try the Bitter Apple though. That sounds like a plan. On my shopping list for this Saturday.


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## gaia_bear (May 24, 2012)

It does get better. I was at wits end with the biting and just recently she's stopped attacking my feet and no longer bites my hand...just chews on them if that makes sense. 

I had no luck with redirecting, yelping, bitter apple (she'd lick it off me)..I had to resort to leaving the room or turning my back on her thus ending play time.


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## Jo Ellen (Aug 30, 2011)

So what exactly is it about this breed that earns them the nickname landshark? OMG, I was warned but you really don't get it until you're in it. Between the biting and the clawing, I'm all marked up LOL 

When does it stop? Does it stop if you consistently discourage it or do we need to do something special? Mostly I discourage it, sometimes I redirect, sometimes I call on my golden retrieverr to rescue me (hah, and she does :wub: ). Mostly I just try to make sure he has things to bite on, obviously he needs to be doing that. I hope I don't end up with a full grown GSD that has never learned not to bite and claw.


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## 4TheDawgies (Apr 2, 2011)

honestly if you just give the dog absolutely no attention while its biting you it will stop. The dog is biting because it wants attention or its teething. If you give a response either way, the dog will like it. Yell OW to startle the dog turns you into prey. Pull the hand away, the dog turns you into prey. stand up and turn around the dog will bite your heals because you've turned into prey. Just hold still and give the dog zero reaction. This will not be as rewarding, nothing will reinforce the behavior, no negative attention which the dog just perceived as SOME FORM of attention (whatever works)

good luck!


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## Jo Ellen (Aug 30, 2011)

4TheDawgies said:


> honestly if you just give the dog absolutely no attention while its biting you it will stop. The dog is biting because it wants attention or its teething. If you give a response either way, the dog will like it. Yell OW to startle the dog turns you into prey. Pull the hand away, the dog turns you into prey. stand up and turn around the dog will bite your heals because you've turned into prey. Just hold still and give the dog zero reaction. This will not be as rewarding, nothing will reinforce the behavior, no negative attention which the dog just perceived as SOME FORM of attention (whatever works)


I'm going to try this, thanks.


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