Help! Biting!

[Crested]

I have a problem with Bella. She bites... and doesn't stop. It's a game for her. She bites everyone. I understand that when puppies are teething they tend to bite and I accept that - BUT she bites even guests (wich sometimes are little children). She isn't angry or aggressive in any way. She bites and kisses, bites and kisses with her tail wagging at all times.
I've tried everything from NO to screaming in agony when she does (a bit theatrical for everyone watching but did wonders with Ben who did the same in her age). Nothing helps.
So, I need some advice badly. I don't want this to go out of hand, because she's even started biting Ben. Today she bit him in the bum while he was sleeping, poor guy.
She has bones - lots of them! I even give her pigears and pig skin rolls a little now and then and both Ben and Bella LOVE them. They eat them as long as they can untill there is only a little piece left (wich I then take away from them and throw away, because I've heard of dogs who have choked on the last little piece trying to get it down. So they only eat them under supervision.)
Do you have any ideas on what to do, because I'm clueless. (right now I have a little "boo-boo" on my hand from one of Bella's teeth)
Now I'm off to bed!
Thank you a million already in advance!

[courtnek]

Two things Crested....first, give her some ice on a towel to chew on - that will help the teething pain.

Second, and I have said this before and been flamed for it, but it works
with few issues. Pinch the top of your ear with your nails, on the thinnest part of the outer edge, to guage what you feel as uncomfortable.
Then when her teeth touch you, pinch her ear with the same or a little
less pressure, using your nails. You are not trying to hurt her, this is how
her mother would punish her if she bit persistently. at the same time
say loudly and sternly NO TEETH! She will try to pull away, let her go,
but use the same technique every time she nips. She might even yelp,
but if you dont press too hard you wont hurt her. That's why you need to
test it on your own ear first, to guage the correct amount of pressure.

I have used this successfully with two dogs, both persistant nippers
where all the screaming in agony and yelling NO did no good.
The ice will help as well, but it's kinda messy. Maybe put it in a bowl,
and leave a towel down that she has to lay on to chew it. Use the ice
as a reward when she removes her teeth. She will associate not biting with getting something that makes her teeth feel good.

[schippsmom]

:Dog_run:

Re-Run did this when he was younger, we called it lick, lick, nip. Boy did those teeth hurt. We would immediately stop whatever we were doing with him and ignore him. If we had to put him in another room we did. We used a baby gate so he could still see us but we would ignore him totally. Not sure if he outgrew the lick, lick, nip or he didn't like being ignored but he no longer does it. Hope this helps.

Paula & Re-Run

Almost forgot, the ice worked wonders when he was teething.

[courtnek]

I forgot to add you can also use "ice" as a training command. Once she has stopped nipping you, with the NO TEETH command, you can say ICE and direct her to the bowl/towel. She will soon learn that ICE means to go
chew on the ice, instead of on you...
'

:D

[Aonir]

I always used the No bite command and ignored Amaya.. Luckily my Amaya is over this :D She was a bad hand chewer. She once got so hyper she darted at me (mouth open) right on my nose! Her canines were to small for my nose at the time so it didn't work to well :lol:

[Crested]

Thank you! I will have to try that!! But we have only pretty small ice pieces, so I'm afraid what will happen if she tries to swallow one... Do I need to worry about that?

[imported_Cassie]

A puppy likes biting and chewing on almost anything that enters her world. Just as with jumping, biting between littermates is their style of play. Biting also teaches them how to use their main hunting tool, their mouth with all those teeth. Unfortunately, this often carries over into their interactions with the members of their new home. All the people, including the children, are brought into the game. Puppies have very sharp teeth, and a bite or nip can hurt and be terrifying to small children. There are several methods that are used to eliminate this behavior.
Startle response and redirection:
Patricia McConnell, Ph.D., an animal behaviorist and adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin, suggests a method which startles the biting puppy. Just as the puppy bites down, make a sudden, abrupt, high-pitched and loud 'AWRP' sound. This would be the same sound that a littermate would make if bitten by the puppy. The sound should be so sudden and sharp that the puppy is immediately startled and stops the behavior. If done correctly, you will be surprised at how instantly the pup removes his mouth and looks bewildered. At that point, quickly substitute a toy, such as a ball, the puppy can chew on. This redirects the puppy's biting behavior to the ball. This way the puppy learns it is no fun at all biting you, but chewing on the toy is. You may need to do this multiple times if the puppy gets excited in play. If the 'AWRPs' make the puppy more excited, try another approach.

Stop the action
Dr. McConnell also suggests that, in some cases, just immediately (and dramatically) leave the room when the puppy bites. This is certainly a method children can use. After multiple times, the puppy will learn that every time she bites she loses her playmate, and that is no fun at all.

No matter what method you use, do not entice the puppy to bite you. Games like tug-of-war and waving your hands in front of the puppy instead of using toys may encourage the puppy to bite.

[midori115]

Oscar was horrible with the biting in play -- he did grow out of it, but we used the above mentioned yelping and leaving, as well as a squirt bottle .... good luck.

[Guest Anonymous]

One of the best training tips I ever received was not to use the word No. Dogs dont speak english or any other human language, especially puppies. They have no idea what No means. My trainer suggested either a low growl or a "ah ah ah". I use both with EXTREME effectiveness. All 3 of mine just seem to understand that means enough. So no matter what the situation all I have to do is give the "ah ah ah" and they stop dead in their tracks. Then they get huge praise.

Everytime I get frustrated with a training issue, I try to remind myself that they dont speak my language, I can talk till I am blue in the face and it really wont matter. I then try to think of a way to communicate with them that they already understand, and I always have much better results this way.

[kendalyn]

I also use those noises to correct Buck. Mine is kind of a low ehhhhh. It works way better than no. He stops immediately.

[eric]

I think the best advice was from Cassie, and this is what we did with all our pups.

There is an additional benefit of using this approach, which is bite inhibition. Since you are teaching the dog that biting hurts, your dog will be less likely to bite later on and if they do bite, they will tend not to bite as hard.