Biting Prob

[mummytodakota]

I have a 9 week old english staffy who is EXTREMELY bad for biting/nipping. She is the most adorable dog & is getting the hang of toilet training etc but this biting business is really get annoying. I have got a 2 yr old daughter who seems to be one of the major targets when it comes to this nipping. The pup has got very sharp needle like teeth & has pierced skin quite a few times. It's very concerning for me & i would appreciate any suggestions that may help. I've tried firmly saying 'NO' & walking away but it doesn't work, she follows me & grips onto my pants or feet. I have tried time out methods & she squeels so loud the neighbours can hear her. What is the most effective thing to do? I need to fix this asap, its not acceptable for her to be biting my daughter like this.

[NoodleNut]

I have a 9 week old english staffy who is EXTREMELY bad for biting/nipping. She is the most adorable dog & is getting the hang of toilet training etc but this biting business is really get annoying. I have got a 2 yr old daughter who seems to be one of the major targets when it comes to this nipping. The pup has got very sharp needle like teeth & has pierced skin quite a few times. It's very concerning for me & i would appreciate any suggestions that may help. I've tried firmly saying 'NO' & walking away but it doesn't work, she follows me & grips onto my pants or feet. I have tried time out methods & she squeels so loud the neighbours can hear her. What is the most effective thing to do? I need to fix this asap, its not acceptable for her to be biting my daughter like this.

Hi congratulations on your new pup!!

You may want to check out another thread on 'Puppy nipping' there might be a few ideas for you there .. also look up 'mouthing' too as there are a few thread on this too.

We have our pup on a lead in the kitchen when we can't give her 100% attention - this gives the kids total control over her too .. one step back and they are out of range for the needle like teeth. Puppy is learning that mouth shut gets you attention .. otherwise the kids take one step back and look up to the ceiling and cross their arms .. wait for her to lie down or sit and then try again .. if she continues they walk off much to our pups annoyance.

We don't play excited games with our pup (unless it is playing fetch outside), no tug of war at all with us (only on her own with an Aussie dog toy) I have read this is not good and will encourage dominance .. not at all good in your situation with a young child.

As your two year old wont be able to assert herself like a 6 year old or 10 year old (as in our case) .. it might be worth a try at ensuring the pup is pretty exhausted from outside play, short walks etc before exposing the pup to your daughter .. more likely to be calmer and more pleasant interaction.

Have plenty of toys ... I mean HEAPS of toys ... we must have about 25-30 toys we rotate each day for our pup to chew on .. try lots of chew bars, hide your pups food in Kongs, rubber balll type treat balls, freeze your pups meal, hide your pups food around the yard, frozen chicken necks to chew on.... every time pup tries to mouth give it a toy instead.

The puppy stage is exhausting but worth the effort if you want a full grown dog with manners, respect and a great member of the family.

Time out - again when ours is on the lead int eh kitchen we just walk off and ignore her. ANother idea someone else told me (a dog trainer) suggested putting her in teh toilet (remove the toilet mat, toilte paper .. unless you want to make the loo look like winter in the alps!! , toilet brush and shut the lid .. put carboard from old boxes on the walls and back of the door so your door and plaster doesn't get scratched and put her in there for time out until she is quiet. We haven't tried this .. the lead works well for us.

Got any piccies to share?? Love puppy pics of any breed ...

[Rusky]

teach reward and no reward markers

reward the nano second your pup is doing the right thing with 'good' pats and food

non reward marker ... feed treats to your puppy, small tasty morsels. Stop. hold the food in your fist, your pup will try to grab the food. Say aahha or wrong and only release the food when your pup is sitting in a composed position not straining or reaching for your hand. In that nano second you say GOOD and release the reward.

You will need masses of patience. You need to practice the excercise regularly and also reward games. Wait for your pup to offer the right behaviour. I mean don't say 'wrong' or no no or whatever continually just exactly at the time the puppy grabs the food.

If your pup does something non desirable once he has learned the no reward marker you can just use the 'wrong' or 'aahhaa'

You must teach and do the excercise several times a day, he won't get it in one day. You will need to reinforce regularly too.

I am interested in how old your puppy was when he left his Mum and where you got him from.

You need to make sure that your daughter is safe with him. I would only allow totally supervised meetings till you have his nipping under control. Of course Noodlenut gave perfect alternative chew toys to your child but your puppy needs to learn our language and you need to learn his. Child is wrong...toy is good reinforce with praise and treats. Oh and get a nylabone, they don't taste as good as a child :D but staffies in particular seem to love them

[mason_luke]

im going throught this with my little pup to, shes just comin up to 9 weeks and is very nippy when excited, i dont mind her mouthing but she doesnt seem to understand the difference so i am in the process of stoppig her all together, one thing i am finding gets instant response in a play session is when she nips your fingure or hand or wherever i grab her bottom jaw and put a finger in her mouth and push her tounge to the floor of her mouth, i hold it there till she opens her mouth really wide, it seems to annoy her emensly and she has no control over it accept to not let my fingure get into her mouth! however you have to be strong and pretty resiliant to pain for this to work, ive only been doing it when she gets bitey and she will stop doing it while we play but then the next time she wakes up from her nap shes keen to nip again, so im doing the same thing,

i also say Aaahaaaa! to anything naughty she does.

also if she runs at me with her mouth open like she seems to do quite regularly i have a toy ready and jam it in her mouth as soon as shes within reach, she then gets distracted and plays with the toy lol.

hope this helps a little.

[mummytodakota]

teach reward and no reward markers

reward the nano second your pup is doing the right thing with 'good' pats and food

non reward marker ... feed treats to your puppy, small tasty morsels. Stop. hold the food in your fist, your pup will try to grab the food. Say aahha or wrong and only release the food when your pup is sitting in a composed position not straining or reaching for your hand. In that nano second you say GOOD and release the reward.

You will need masses of patience. You need to practice the excercise regularly and also reward games. Wait for your pup to offer the right behaviour. I mean don't say 'wrong' or no no or whatever continually just exactly at the time the puppy grabs the food.

If your pup does something non desirable once he has learned the no reward marker you can just use the 'wrong' or 'aahhaa'

You must teach and do the excercise several times a day, he won't get it in one day. You will need to reinforce regularly too.

I am interested in how old your puppy was when he left his Mum and where you got him from.

You need to make sure that your daughter is safe with him. I would only allow totally supervised meetings till you have his nipping under control. Of course Noodlenut gave perfect alternative chew toys to your child but your puppy needs to learn our language and you need to learn his. Child is wrong...toy is good reinforce with praise and treats. Oh and get a nylabone, they don't taste as good as a child :D but staffies in particular seem to love them

I got Kya last week when she was 8 weeks old, do you think this may have been too early?

What is a nylabone? and where can i get one from?

[mummytodakota]

How do i post pics? Sorry im quite new to this lol

If ive got them on photobucket can i just add the image code onto here?

[raffikki]

Hi :D

I'm new here too, but have sussed out how to add pics to my post.

Here's how I do it:

I open photobucket in a separate window

copy the "direct link" under the pic i want to post

come here and click on "insert image" (in fast reply it's on the left of the Emoticons)

paste the direct link in the popup window and click OK

Viola...your done :rolleyes:

Lookin forward to seeing pics of your little terror (said with love of course )

[Rusky]

8 weeks should be perfect and she should have bite inhibition. I am guessing that the puppies all used the same force on each other and Mum to an acceptable level (not for a 2 yr old though) I wondered if she was a very young pup that had not learned bite inhibition, that's all.

Nylabone can be bought at city farmers and places, they have all sorts of flavours too. I use them when I have young dogs here.

http://www.nylabone.com/products/non-edibl...flavor-bone.htm

I find staffies love them the most which is why I mentioned it. They aren't cheap and not totally indestructable but should help with those needle teeth along with teaching the no reward marker.

[mummytodakota]

There you go, hope it worked.

[mason_luke]

lol already into the dress ups!

[persephone]

one thing i am finding gets instant response in a play session is when she nips your fingure or hand or wherever i grab her bottom jaw and put a finger in her mouth and push her tounge to the floor of her mouth, i hold it there till she opens her mouth really wide, it seems to annoy her emensly and she has no control over it accept to not let my fingure get into her mouth! however you have to be strong and pretty resiliant to pain for this to work

This method may work for you, mason luke...

I would not recommend it to people tho... There is some danger of injury to both you and a puppy in holding jaws/pressing tongues and generally having apart of you in a dog mouth

Putting fingers /hands in a dog's mouth should be regarded by a dog as a 'normal',pain-free part of life.

To be used to check teeth, give medicine etc.

NOT as a source of pain, imo.

THIS method is a safer and more appropriate one, I think ..pup learns to withhold his/her mouthing to obtain a REWARD (always a good thing, a reward!)

reward the nanosecond your pup is doing the right thing with 'good' pats and food

non reward marker ... feed treats to your puppy, small tasty morsels. Stop. hold the food in your fist, your pup will try to grab the food. Say aahha or wrong and only release the food when your pup is sitting in a composed position not straining or reaching for your hand. In that nano second you say GOOD and release the reward.