Hi all Any advice about constant biting and nipping. Albert (10 weeks) is always at our clothes or hands etc. I try to distract him every time with old t- shirt, toys, chews and ignoring etc. It is very hard to ignore a pup who has your trousers or your sleeve in his mouth and is having a lovely tug of war with them. I know it will get better and he's very young, but I want to know the best way of dealing with it. I've read up on the advice on the main site and try to follow it, but as I say, hard to do when a tug of war is going on, and those little teeth really hurt! Thanks in advance Jan
Re: Biting and Nipping Hi Jan. I think this is the most common concern with new pups. When I got Harley and she was biting/pulling, I would stand up, say no firmly and ignore her by standing completely still. If she had my clothes in her mouth, I would open her jaw carefully and remove the clothing then repeat the above. It is a difficult time, but I promise it does get better
Re: Biting and Nipping Oh, I so sympathise! We had exactly the same with Pongo (he is 19 weeks now and absolutely no nipping any more). For us, the most effective thing was to absolutely do the 'yelp, you've hurt me!' and then completely walk away from him (not any eye contact, nothing). Really hard to do every time when there is a puppy hanging off the seat of your trousers , but whenever possible. Also we started playing 'the towel game' when we came in from the garden - a big old bath towel that would wrap him up and roll him over and that he could have a really good chew on while we dried his feet and tummy; I am sure it helped him learn that some things were fine to chew, but that mummy's hands were NOT. Basically as soon as he opened his mouth it got a bit of towel shoved in it.... : It was useful always having the towel around because it was pretty irresistible as a game / chew toy. It will, definitely, pass. Pongo had pretty much grown out of it by fifteen weeks. Hang in there, and let us know how you get on! Rosie and Pongo
Re: Biting and Nipping Thank you for advice. Am shoving the t-shirt in his mouth whenever I get the opportunity and I do yell "Ouch" at him but I might have to be a bit firmer! I do the towel thing to dry him off (which is often as I live in North Wales!!!) and he does have a chew on that too, but he definitely prefers our clothes and shoes especially when we are in them. He is a determined little monkey, and it's quite hard to prize open those jaws when he's got a grip on you. I will update if and when it improves. In every other aspect he is a delight, and we're enjoying him so much. Can take him out on Friday so hopefully he will be a bit more tired and not so interested. Well that's the theory anyway.
Re: Biting and Nipping I know it doesn't help much, bit it is something we have all been through. You are doing all the right things. Easier said than done when the little darling is tearing your cloths.
Re: Biting and Nipping Yep, you're doing everything right and it WILL work! We're in south Wales so I know what you mean... Pongo sends licks to Albert (and tells him to please think about what he is biting...)
Re: Biting and Nipping Hi our Meg now nearly 10 weeks does not bite so much, but she seems to have a couple of frantic times in the day and I think her teeth must really bother her then. I distract her with something doggy to chew, usually a hide knot or old bone with salmon paste on. She can't hurt her self with these and the frantic biting passes quickly so its back to normal play. Good luck
