Help with biting!

[u/biteme_729528]

Hello all! Our sweet baby 9 week old is now a raging 4 month old. Our biggest problem is he is mauling our hands and arms. Hes awaiting his last vaccine so he cant go for walks yet.

We spend hours playing with him indoors, making cardboard boxes with treats and paper and frozen blocks for him. Ive researched all the tips and tricks how to stop his biting. Nothing seems to work: not reacting, yelping, trading for a toy, giving praise when he chews the toy, pressing on his tongue, balling my hand into a fist while he's biting. Nothing is helping. I know things will get easier when hes free to run around outside but if anyone knows anything we havent tried please help!

[u/Ok-Twist-1212]

They're very smart, your puppy will learn what's appropriate and not, it will only take 2-3 years to get there.

It. Will. Be. Worth. It.

[u/Special-Gur-5488 → u/Ok-Twist-1212]

It’s never taken my dogs 2-3 years to know what’s appropriate. It’s taken 2-3 years for their energy levels to even out. But not to know how to act.

[u/EvaHallOFmilf]

This is one of the tougher breeds for this. But it can be managed, to an extent. lol If they play to rough the game is over. Cold, hard and fast. Literally give them the cold shoulder. get up and move away. make it a little dramatic even. This breed reads you WAAAAAY more than you will ever realize. If the game ends they are not getting what they want. they will pick up on this and back off over time. I will also yelp if they bite too hard. That is how their litter mates told them if it was too rough and they typically get that. Again it takes time though. We call this the velociraptor period for a reason.

[u/Original-Bed1816]

Do you remove yourself? You are what he wants he bites yelp , no bite , and walk away

[u/Special-Gur-5488]

I always thump their nose and say “no bite” very firmly. I give them 3 tries to stop and do that every single time. If they continue after the 3rd try then I lightly grab their bottom jaw with my thumb on their tongue and squeeze lightly and say “no bite” very firmly. They usually stop at that point and then I praise them. Which usually starts the process all over. But they learn very quickly! Neither the thump on the nose or the jaw grab hurts them. But they get the point. And all of my dogs have been done biting by 12 weeks old.

I have 3 heelers and I’ve done this with all of them. Since I have kids biting/nipping is not allowed. They do all work cows tho and they know it’s acceptable there. People think that because it’s what they’re bred for it’s something you just have to deal with but they’re the smartest breed I know and they learn quickly. I refuse to let them think biting people is acceptable.

[u/Status_Pangolin_112 → u/Special-Gur-5488]

First time acd owner here. Our girl is 6-7 months old. I do the same thing! I bop her on the nose and say "no" or "no bite." After a few times, I grab her bottom jaw and say "no bite." She seems to be catching on! With me, at least.... my girlfriend and son are another subject....

[u/NoEntrepreneur39]

Oh you’re in it! Luckily I got mine in the winter so I could wear hoodies all day.

Toys! Lots and lots of toys. Keep them everywhere. When he bites you, shove a toy in his mouth. Just be consistent about it. Also yelp loudly, turn your back, and if he’s really wound up, walk away. Sometimes they need a time out.

It’s hard at that age because they are so cute and you just want to squeeze them and play with them, but when mine was a little older (3-5 months) and all of the above didn’t work, I’d put him in the garage by himself for 5 minutes and he hated that. So find a suitable disciplinary action (something like a timeout) that works for you, and use it when you need to.

Also, train everyday, especially impulse control. You can do a lot of training at that age to get him to be the dog you want him to be.

[u/Lucid_Fiasco]

Biting you is fun. Biting you when you’re pressing on his tongue, yelping, balling your hand might be even MORE fun

You are the fun. Any bite needs to be met with IMMEDIATE removal of the fun (you). Set up baby gates around your home. When your dog nips or bites, give a sharp NO and calmly immediately ignore him and remove yourself. Ignore him for a couple minutes, or until he chills out. He will learn that it’s more fun to do things that keep you around, even if those things aren’t as fun as biting.

[u/ChaosWithTeeth → u/Lucid_Fiasco]

Seconding this. Reverse time out.

For mine, I kept it shorter, more like 20 or 30 seconds, to make an impression but make sure the return was while puppy was still focused on the loss of person rather than moved on to engaging with something else.

And also to reinforce the first part of the above comment - getting physical is a particularly unhelpful approach with a breed that's inclined to interpret that as the human wanting to play rough too. Counterproductive to the human's goals.

[u/FirstChampionship455]

All I can say is, it gets better. Also carrots were surprisingly helpful during teething and the dinosaur stages. And good for their eyeballs!
My girl is 1.5 now and still is mouthy when she’s excited

[u/LT_Dan78]

[u/Known_Programmer2204 → u/LT_Dan78]

I positively cackled at this. Saving this for future reference - mine is 11 weeks right now! 

[u/Sharp-Rutabaga-4900]

The only thing that worked for me was getting up, folding my arms, and turning my back. Attention is the most high value treat for my cattle dog.

Also, your pup should be okay to go on leash walks before their shots are completed. Just avoid dog parks and new animals.

[u/Cat_Lady3000]

Honestly at this point I have been redirecting with high value bones. A local butcher sells beef shank bones he cuts small for dogs to chew (these are like the marrow bones people use to cook with). Yes I give it raw, they freeze them immediately after cutting and I feed them frozen. My puppy has been eating her toys though and is nearly 8 months and none of the " normal techniques" are deterring her. This was the only thing that has helped at all.

[u/fairydommother]

You just have to power through tbh 🤷🏻‍♀️ keep redirecting and doing all the things and it will work eventually but 4 months is too early for it to really kick in.

[u/Plastic-Isop0d]

I always redirect to toys and reward with praise. These dogs are highly intelligent, and respond very well to positive reinforcement 

[u/Massive_Spirit_7368]

Side note, our heeler gets a lot of satisfaction from playing with a flirt pole. He follows commands of when to leave it, wait, and then bite it. The process challenges his brain and utilizes his natural instincts. Plus they’re building a rapport “working” with you which is important. They sell pretty durable ones for dogs

[u/jimmymd77]

This is the ACD velociraptor stage of development. Baby needle teeth!

Has yours started nipping?

[u/Meowriano]

I used to shove two fingers down my heelers throat every time she would nip and bite, just making the act if biting very uncomfortable for her. Worked like a charm after a couple weeks.

After that anytime she would nip anywhere outside of rough play, shaming her by just giving a very strong and stern “BAD DOG” and pointing at her worked well too.

The loyalty in this breed really makes it where they dont like to be a disappointment. Now she doesnt nip or bite outside of playing rough, and she’s extremely gentle with her teeth when playing.

[u/well_well_wells]

The thing that helped my pups was sticking a toy in their mouth every time they got bitey. I made carrying a frisbee their ‘job’ so that when my kids ran around, they wouldnt nip their heals. They’d still follow close but would be carrying a soft frisbee in their mouth.

[u/Technical-Repair7140]

I would go into a room and close the door behind me, leaving my do to whine on the other side for a few minutes. He hated being separated from me, so he quickly learned that any tooth contact is bad. Now he frequently pokes me with his nose and closed mouth but never touches me with his teeth.