HELP...The nipping/mouthing/biting HAS to stop

Hi there,

Just wondering if anybody has a magic wand they can wave my way to stop my little darling Roxy from constantly using her teeth. She is currently 13 weeks old, so I understand that she is going to want to bite and chew to an extent but how can we best stop her from using her teeth on US.?????

We have tried: a firm "NO"
yelping like a sibling would
ignoring and turning our back to her......but this is very hard when her teeth are so sharp and she
continues to bite
giving her a toy to chew in place of us
time-out in a boring area of the house

I feel like i'm getting nowhere fast but am not giving up. I just want to find the best solution to the problem so that we, as a family can be consistent with her. We want to stop this while she is still young.

She has ruined a couple pairs of my pants with her teeth, grrrrrrrrr (that's me growling, not her )

Thanks in advance for any help , hints, tips etc.......

Lisa

I'm affraid there is no magic wand and you are doing everything right, I would hope if you carry on the way you are going then Roxy will grow out of it

She will learn eventually if you keep doing what your doing!!!!!!
Some learn quicker than others the trouble is no other breeds play as hard as a stafford puppy tenacity,determination,willingness to please they are all traits typical to the breed. Your puppy doesnt realise its hurting you the crying thing will highten the drive to carry on so keep calm
Think about the times you play your body language, responses and your all excited you doing the same when she coming at you with teeth will tell her its playtime
Good luck depends how much of a determined young lady you have there!!!!!

As already said, I'm afraid there is no quick fix, I'd stick with one technique as well, find the one that is most effective, even if it just makes her stop for a minute, then keep working on it, and don't forget to praise her when she's calm and not nipping! The praise for good behaviour is just as important as the correction of negative behaviour.

Well said cornish. Consistency, persistence and praising the good behaviour is all you can do really. She will learn eventually. Good luck!

And keep the praise nice and calm, too, or you'll get her started again!

It WILL stop. I've had dogs for 40+ years & believe me, they all stop if you're consistent. As Amy says, stick to one techique, but be absolutely consistent with it. I've always used a mixture of a deep, long drawn out "Noooo!" together with turning away and ignoring. But whatever works!

Also, watch her when she's playing etc, and you'll soon see tell tale signs of over-excitement - that's the time to stop the game & perhaps do a little training, maybe teaching the "leave" command!

Thanks for your responses.

Roxy is my first ever Staffy, so it's comforting to know that it is not just my darling who is like this (my last dog was a Border Collie who I had for 16 fantastic years) Yes, she seems to me to be very strong-willed although we just love her to bits

Caryll...what is the "leave" command ??? She is keen to learn when her treats are involved She already knows "sit"......"drop" as in lay down......"stay"...."come" (when it suits her) and the latest is "wait" when she has to wait for her food before being given the command to "go Roxy"

I got the same problem with Bruno, but we just give a firm no , well a firm no from me and he stops but anyone else he just carries on , our problem with now is the children, when he tries to nip their feet , they tend to move them or shake them as you would. But i am getting on the top it now,

But all i can says is a firm and ignore him, and lots of praise and cuddles : )

Bruno311210 wrote:I got the same problem with Bruno, but we just give a firm no , well a firm no from me and he stops but anyone else he just carries on , our problem with now is the children, when he tries to nip their feet , they tend to move them or shake them as you would. But i am getting on the top it now,

But all i can says is a firm and ignore him, and lots of praise and cuddles : )

Roxy does'nt seem to listen to NO from anybody...cheeky lil' monkey. It's all one big game to her at the moment. I'll just keep on keeping on and hope it gets better soon

like everyone has said, it does go away eventually, then you will wonder what all the fuss was about

Keep up the good work it will get better in the end. As said above keep doing what you are doing and she will eventually realise what she is doing doesnt get rewards.

Loopy wrote:Thanks for your responses.
Roxy is my first ever Staffy, so it's comforting to know that it is not just my darling who is like this (my last dog was a Border Collie who I had for 16 fantastic years) Yes, she seems to me to be very strong-willed although we just love her to bits

I know what you mean, I've had Border Collies & a more different dog you couldn't find!

Loopy wrote:Caryll...what is the "leave" command ??? She is keen to learn when her treats are involved She already knows "sit"......"drop" as in lay down......"stay"...."come" (when it suits her) and the latest is "wait" when she has to wait for her food before being given the command to "go Roxy"

It's one of the most useful commands you can teach your dog - could even be a life saver! Basically it's teaching your dog to leave anything it's told to leave instantly. It's best started on lead, or at least with a collar on. Walk your dog past something you know she'll want, and as she goes to sniff or grab it, say "Leave!" and turn her head away. It sounds simple, but it isn't. You need to get to the stage where there is, say, a lump of chocolate right under her nose, with her mouth open over it about to grab it, and she leaves it as soon as you tell her.

Uses: You're walking down the street & a child's ball bounces in front of you & into the road, with traffic coming both ways. Your dog suddenly makes to bolt after it & pulls the lead out of your hand. You have no control other than your voice. Yell "Leave" and she should stop dead & look at you! Or you're in the park & she's off lead. She sees a tasty morsel of rotting dead bird & wants it badly! You say "Leave" and hey presto, she doesn't get food poisoning!

We had this problem at first with axel..he would want to bite and play with hands and arms and would also give your face a lick then nip your ear lobes..gentle and harmless to him but to the kids is sore.so we kept up a firm no and gave him his kong..he had continued to do this but we kept up with the kong.i disallowed my children or any other adults to use play with him using there free hands or arms.This has now worked and brings his kong to us every second of the day.I just kinda taught him arms and hands are not toys!! kongs are lol!!
good luck
x

Bruiser is 5 months and he is teething and he will happily lay on my lap and chew my hand, hes not as bad as he was a month ago, but i still cant get him to completely stop............think the grow out of it

I thought Mouthing meant that to the dog "Hello I Love You Ive Missed You, Come With Me You Are My Property"?

Puppies do chew cos they are probably teething as well, if they do mouth just put down on the floor and ignore the dog, the dog will then realise that when they do this they don't get any attention and might just stop.

Why do dogs MOUTH then????

I've been having the same issue with Bacon! Bacon does the exact same thing where a firm "no" is an invitation to bite more, a turn and ignore has me walking aroun with a dog latched on to my ankle, and a timeout means I have to shut him somewhere without him darting out before I can shut the door! Good to know he's not the only one an that with consistency it will stop

On occasions where he is extra devilish I have been using an air horn to get him to stop. I'll give it a go and follow with a no. Works well but he does avoid me a bit after that very effective way to get him to stop. Wanted to get everyone's opinion on using something like this to get him to stop. Ok to use?

lol i had to laugh at the use of the air horn and then he avoided you......i bet he did it probably scared the crap out of him....but maybe if you do use it when he mouths he will get the hint and stop.

Nor Cal wrote:I've been having the same issue with Bacon! Bacon does the exact same thing where a firm "no" is an invitation to bite more, a turn and ignore has me walking aroun with a dog latched on to my ankle, and a timeout means I have to shut him somewhere without him darting out before I can shut the door! Good to know he's not the only one an that with consistency it will stop

On occasions where he is extra devilish I have been using an air horn to get him to stop. I'll give it a go and follow with a no. Works well but he does avoid me a bit after that very effective way to get him to stop. Wanted to get everyone's opinion on using something like this to get him to stop. Ok to use?

I wouldn't personally, he clearly finds it distressing and from the sound of his reaction, he feels like you're punishing him which will break down trust and could make him nervy. He's only a baby.

I also want my dogs to ignore/not react to loud noises such as fireworks etc. so would want to make a loud noise like an air horn as positive an experience as possible rather than encouraging my dogs to see it as something to be feared and become sound sensitive.

Could you redirect him into something he can chew instead?

gingernut42 wrote:I thought Mouthing meant that to the dog "Hello I Love You Ive Missed You, Come With Me You Are My Property"?

Puppies do chew cos they are probably teething as well, if they do mouth just put down on the floor and ignore the dog, the dog will then realise that when they do this they don't get any attention and might just stop.

Why do dogs MOUTH then????

I understand the reason dogs mouth to be because it's just part of their natural play behaviour and how pups learn about the world. It's not a greeting/command/possession thing or at least it shouldn't be.

Galadriel wrote:

gingernut42 wrote:I thought Mouthing meant that to the dog "Hello I Love You Ive Missed You, Come With Me You Are My Property"?

Puppies do chew cos they are probably teething as well, if they do mouth just put down on the floor and ignore the dog, the dog will then realise that when they do this they don't get any attention and might just stop.

Why do dogs MOUTH then????

I understand the reason dogs mouth to be because it's just part of their natural play behaviour and how pups learn about the world. It's not a greeting/command/possession thing or at least it shouldn't be.

Exactly, and they should be taught the correct behaviour towards humans sooner rather than later.

I hope you get this to stop... I am dealing with the same thing with my little 9 week old man. Hes a little too bitey - he likes faces :/ We are working on breaking it!

I don't have any techniques to add, just the observation that Callie got much better with not biting around 4-5 months. I didn't feel like we were making all that much progress before then. So maybe they just need to be a little older for all the reinforcement to kick in.

Having said that, when we came back yesterday from a weekend away (she was very excited to see me) she tried to get the whole side of my head in her mouth...

lol, now that's funny....i came home today and Mack did it for the first time in a while, but i take it as a token of love and him telling me i missed you mummy and don't make a fuss of it really!!!