puppy biting

[RamGuyRob]

ive got a chow mix puppy thats roughly 2 months old. she loves to bite and nibble on people. my question is where do i draw the line between normal playful puppy behavior and a negative behavior? it's gotten to the point where i dont want to have her around many strangers because of it. she's beyond nipping at shoelaces and pant legs and will pretty much gnaw on your ankle. its not painful and doesn't break the skin but is a huge annoyance. ive tried chew toys, but they don't seem to interest her at all. any suggestions no what to do would be greatly appreciated.

here's a pic of the pup in question, don't be fooled, she's pure evil :jump3:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/digitui/IMAGE003.jpg

[mallyrk]

aww she's ADORABLE!! :lovestruc

All puppies bite and try to chew on everything. My husky did the same thing when she was younger. This is the time to teach them to be gentle and not bite hard. When your playing and he bites hard cry out like her littermates would. Let her know she's hurting you by squealing and acting like you have been seriously hurt. Don't pull away to quickly as this can instigate a desire to bring down "prey". She should release your hand or whatever she is biting when she hears you cry. When she does say "good girl" or "good drop". Do not continue to play with her until she has calmed down. Ignorer her. If she continues to play to rough, she may need a time out in her crate.

Hope that helps :)

[CandyLoo]

mallyrkaww she's ADORABLE!! :lovestruc
All puppies bite and try to chew on everything. My husky did the same thing when she was younger. This is the time to teach them to be gentle and not bite hard. When your playing and he bites hard cry out like her littermates would. Let her know she's hurting you by squealing and acting like you have been seriously hurt. Don't pull away to quickly as this can instigate a desire to bring down "prey". She should release your hand or whatever she is biting when she hears you cry. When she does say "good girl" or "good drop". Do not continue to play with her until she has calmed down. Ignorer her. If she continues to play to rough, she may need a time out in her crate.
I couldn't have said it better!

[Chaos]

aww she's ADORABLE!! :lovestruc

All puppies bite and try to chew on everything. My husky did the same thing when she was younger. This is the time to teach them to be gentle and not bite hard. When your playing and he bites hard cry out like her littermates would. Let her know she's hurting you by squealing and acting like you have been seriously hurt. Don't pull away to quickly as this can instigate a desire to bring down "prey". She should release your hand or whatever she is biting when she hears you cry. When she does say "good girl" or "good drop". Do not continue to play with her until she has calmed down. Ignorer her. If she continues to play to rough, she may need a time out in her crate.

Hope that helps :)


I second that good advice. The only thing I would add is make sure she has LOTS of toys around. After she bites, you yelp, give her a toy to chew on. Its always better to tell the dog what to do (like chew on a toy) rather then tell a dog what NOT to do (like chew on you).

[mallyrk]

Thanks guys!
I agree Chaos.. I forgot that part :)

[RamGuyRob]

thanks for the advice, she seems to be responding to it already

[lneill84]

Another trick, along with the others, is to put her on her back-that makes you the dominant one, and is similar to what her mom would do when she got too rough.

[Spudnik]

aww she's ADORABLE!! :lovestruc

All puppies bite and try to chew on everything. My husky did the same thing when she was younger. This is the time to teach them to be gentle and not bite hard. When your playing and he bites hard cry out like her littermates would. Let her know she's hurting you by squealing and acting like you have been seriously hurt. Don't pull away to quickly as this can instigate a desire to bring down "prey". She should release your hand or whatever she is biting when she hears you cry. When she does say "good girl" or "good drop". Do not continue to play with her until she has calmed down. Ignorer her. If she continues to play to rough, she may need a time out in her crate.

Hope that helps :)

I agree with everything said apart from the time out in the crate. I wouldn't do that as a punishment because I think that it would be associating the crate with something negative and she may become reluctant to use it, making crate training more difficult. I may be wrong, though, so don't quote me on that!

With the dominance thing, I think that rather than just putting her on to her back you ought to roll her over a few times daily and give her a tummy tickle. Same thing, but more pleasant for her. It helps you bond with her while still showing her who's boss.

[mallyrk]

Yeah, I don't mean do it as a punishment.. I guess I should have said it differently.