At my wits end!

Not having the best few days with Bobby

He bit my face yesterday. I know it was an excitable 'nip' but I just burst into tears when it happened.

Right below my left eye socket, it drew blood and its bruised today.

I'm going to take him for a long walk later this morning.

Feeling very lost!

Bobby13 wrote:Not having the best few days with Bobby

He bit my face yesterday. I know it was an excitable 'nip' but I just burst into tears when it happened.

Right below my left eye socket, it drew blood and its bruised today.

I'm going to take him for a long walk later this morning.

Feeling very lost!

My puppy is just the same but its with my husband she always goes for his face we have found that if you push her away and say no and then move away from her and don't play with her for a while she is a little better. she is starting to learn slowly.

Ouch that must have really hurt, they do get very excited during play and tend to grab whatever they can! If you feel that he is getting a bit out of hand, give him a time out, stand up, turn around and ignore him for little until he calms down, worked wonders with Rocky, he now knows to sit and relax for a little!

Don't feel lost! We are always here to help if you have any doubts!! Hope your bruise goes down soon x

Sounds like your having a time, sounds like he's pushing boundaries, get him tired out on you walk and a firm no when he's being naughty/mischievous have a rant here anytime puppyhood can be hard work

Thanks all. I immediately cried because I immediately said in my head ' I cant have a dog that does this' but I know it was 100% excitable. Hes never shown any signs of aggression.

Doesn't sound like aggression at all When Rocky was a pup, I was covered in scratches, bite marks and bruises, and a whole heap of ripped pants! Keep persisting and he will learn!

Aww bless you. It's bloody hard. Bruno still snaps at faces when he's TOO excited. We find a firm leave command and ignoring him for a few minutes helps too. We're also working on a 'settle down' command. Whenever he settles or sits nicely with us we tell him "Good settle, good boy" and it's starting to rub off.

Ooo! my heart goes out to you as I'm having trouble under the posting  "Give me strength"

Its good we can talk about this as trying to talk to anyone who hasn't a staffy automatically means they jump to the conclusion that these are the devil dogs.  I personally am finding it hard to understand why is it so different with Lucy when I have brought up a doberman and a staffy puppy up together and hadn't had any trouble with them. "not one nip"
" I must have been extremely lucky"

But this is the place to talk about our fears  and seek advice and we can all feed off each other to help us understand what we need to do. ( Hugs)

Don't take the little bite to heart. He hasn't meant to hurt you he is just being boisterous and their coordination isn't great at that age.

ah the joys of puppies! don't let it get to you, pups bite and nip it's how they learn!

Must be hard for you! I've never dealt with that but the advice given above is good! You have to try not to give him attention until he calms down, don't even tell him off as you speaking to him or touching him means he's gotten a positive response from this bad behavior! OR you can also re-inforce the "NO" command if he associates it with a bad behavior and understands what it means! It sounds hard but he'll lean quickly that calm is good and hyper is bad! The joys of puppy hood, eh? We're all here for you so you're definitely not alone!

How's his skin doing?

Yes, as everybody else has said, it isn't in the least aggressiveness.

Just keep on with whatever you're using to discourage nipping, and keep your face out of harm's way! With Dempsey, I still keep my face out of harm's way - not because he nips, but because he head butts! 

my friends 2yr old male staffy got me a few times
he'd jump up to greet me .. and have a play bite/nip ..
wasn't that he bit hard ( although it weren't soft either :-)
but .. as he was dropping back to ground ..
his teeth would catch .. bit like a hacksaw (lol)
i ended up with a swollen lip .. bleeding arm ..
and very nearly ripped trousers ..

terriers are known for biting and hanging on ..
as opposed to 'bite' then letting go
( well .. that's according to a recent tv programme
( i be no expert .. :-)

he doesn't do it anymore after some training ..

odd thing .. when he used to play with Lady ..
she's older .. and used to nip at his face If his bites went too far
and my friend remarked .. after a few such play-sessions with her
he stopped play-biting hard when he was at home

~~~~~~~~~

as for Lady .. i've always let her play-bite with me
she used to be a tad rough .. but no more ..
now she bites very gently .. and if i leave her to it ..
she ends up licking it all better

she'll also nibble my neck sometimes ..
for some reason .. now she'll attack my slippers
but only when i'm laid down whilst wearing them :-)

~~~~~~~~~

she doesn't try and play-bite with anyone else ..
i.e. visitors

just stick with the advice given , my boy was a little terror at that age but he got over it

Ah I hope you're okay! Whenever I've got litters of pups in at work I'm always wondering around looking like a self-harmer! In fact I'm sporting a rather lovely purple scar on my hand at present from a Labrador puppy.. Understand that it is a worry when it's faces, but at this age everything is being explored with theirs mouths, much similar to human toddlers, except they have razor sharp teeth and can launch themselves at you much more easily. Stay calm, be patient and keep consistent! It will pass as long as you train it now!

Thanks everyone your responses are great. I took him for a long walk yesterday afternoon and he is such a model dog when hes out. He walks well on the lead now and he now knows to stop and sit at the edge of every road. I bought him a new bed for the living room yesterday and a bigger KONG so he sat peacefully last night which made me feel 100% better.

His skin still isn't great piriton doesn't seem to be helping, nor does the treatment the vet gave. I bought a tea tree oil (dog) spray yesterday which seemed to help a bit but hes still scratching and biting at himself terribly

Just keep on with whatever you're using to discourage nipping, and keep your face out of harm's way! With Dempsey, I still keep my face out of harm's way - not because he nips, but because he head butts!

Oh Caryll that made me laugh lol. I was just about to write something similar.. the amount of head butts I've gotten off of Axl is ridculous, black eyes/cheeks and sore noses were a common thing until I started keeping my head out of bounce reach lol.... ouchies

It's very difficult, I going through it with nico and he's a year old, coz he's a rescue he's never been trained not to nip! I give him a firm no, cross my arms ( removing my hands) ands ignore him until he's behaving in a way that I want, I.e licking me, sitting waiting for attention. If he barks or jumps which he sometimes does I turn my back on him till he settles the lots of fuss! He seems to nip less with me now but if he's over excited during play he does forget!

Roxi nips and bites when she's excited , scratches and blood all over until you learn to keep things out of temptations way :-) , ive been quite ruthless with Roxi , a firm no everytime her teeth made contact or even if she made to bite has taught her right from wrong , she still bites but as soon as i say no she looks at me and stops immediately .... But she still has her deaf moments and then she is taken to the kitchen to calm down .... Its hard work but a Staff is a Staff and i wouldnt have her any other way :-) :-)

My big bone head went to jump onto my bed just as I was bending down to pick something up and bust my nose which resulted in a black eye! Clumsy beggar. He was mortified though and started over compensating with kindness. They are so strong and mine thinks he's the size of a chowawa.

Hi,
We have a very excitable 12 week pup too who loves nothing better then to chew on me at the moment, and has also nipped my face.
I understand completely how your feeling but I've been reassured by vet today he is simply trying to find his way in this world and not to worry too much
X lizzie

Lizziedixey wrote:Hi,
We have a very excitable 12 week pup too who loves nothing better then to chew on me at the moment, and has also nipped my face.
I understand completely how your feeling but I've been reassured by vet today he is simply trying to find his way in this world and not to worry too much
X lizzie

Yes it's all normal puppy fun

Why not come introduce yourself :- https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/f7-new-member-introductions

Every time I read a message from someone who is going through the same ... nipping / tugging at clothes/ scratching/biting and snapping;makes me realized we are all in it together and it gives me hope  
that all will work out well
Hugs to all

I would say it was a accident just hyper.My Staff jumps and does back flips when she sees me.She stuck her nose in my eye trying to lick me.I have to give her a couple of mins to calm down before I pet her.When you do that I think they see you are the boss.

I've got 13 week old bitch and she's always biting ! She doesn't want her toys ! Just hands . Feets and ears ! She does go for your face as well . We brought a spray bottle . Every time she does it we spray her . She's now stopped a bit and is scared of bottle so every time she bites we show her bottle and she stops and goes straight to her bed ! Xx