Biting

Hey there, I have a staffy bitch who is 6 months old today
She is a lovely, friendly loving girl who gets a good daily exercise and she is brilliant with my 3 year old daughter.
We had her at 9 weeks and we always taught her biting is not acceptable, I used to yelp whenever her teeth come into contact with my hand and it worked so she hardly ever bitten us.
However, the past few days she has started biting again. All her adult teeth are through so I know she is not teething.

She gets all frenzied, gets a mad look in her eye and starts biting my hands, arms and clothes (just me though, she doesn't do it to my partner or daughter) and the yelping no longer works. I have tried turning my back and ignoring her and she just bites my legs and bum, I have tried grabbing her mouth and firmly saying 'no', I have tried all sorts of suggestions from other people. The bites are starting to hurt and because it's only really been these past few days I want to nip it in the bud.

At the minute I am giving her a time out every time so goes like this and this so far (surprise surprise) it's not working.

We will be getting her spayed on our next pay day.
Someone told me that like any other adolescent her hormones could be kicking in as she is due to go into season soon.
Either way we are getting her spayed.
The only other reason she is doing this I can think of is that she is trying to dominate me.
Any suggestions peeps?

Emma.

She's a teenager. When Loki hit six months, his recall went out the window and he became a nuisance even more than usual. The good news is it's just a phase she's doing what all teenagers do and being rebellious. Just continue with your training, how you did it when she was a puppy, and she'll learn. Might take a bit of time because they are very stubborn, but she'll get there.

Also, if she hasn't had her first season yet, it's always best to wait until they've had their first one at least

It sounds like you have you self a teenage rebellion she's pushing the boundaries to see what she can get away with, just keep up all you have taught her she'll soon learn

Please don't think that getting her spayed will solve anything!

What she's going through now is just the teenage years - knows everything, listens to nothing & nobody understands her! You'll get through it, but only with training & firm consistency.

(P.S. Spaying before her first season will delay the closure of her growth plates & she'll be leggier & taller than she would otherwise have been. Also, her vulva may not grow to its full size & she could end up with urinary burn.)

Your right she is trying to dominate you, I find a good loud rollicking does the trick , if i rollock Duke he goes to the floor ears flat and submissive , he is 8 mths now and started pushing it about a mth ago , be firm with her let her know your the boss, i agree getting her spayed wont solve it .

Please don't think that getting her spayed will solve anything!

i agree getting her spayed wont solve it

I agree with you both.
I'm not getting her spayed to stop her from biting, I never said that I was.

mickgill wrote: Your right she is trying to dominate you.

Yeah I'm more inclined to believe she is trying to dominate as well as being a rebellious teenager
Just because she only does it to me and no one else.

I don't think it's dominance. Depending on who does most feeding, training and walking, she might just see you as the one to rebel against. Loki was the worse with me with biting, but he listens to me more than the rest of my family, and he still bites and messes with my brother because he sees my brother as the sibling to mess around with. I think it's just plain old "NO I WON'T DO THAT!" either way, it's the same way of dealing with it, really, just continue with the training and she'll learn. Just have to be more stubborn than she is.

Yes I work part time evenings and my other half works all day mon-fri so I do most of the walking, feeding and training in the day. When he comes home from work he has a play with her, I don't always have time to have a good play with her in the day cos I'm always doing a million and one things.
Someone said to me that she is probably just trying to get my attention. The biting is by no means aggressive although it can bloody hurt when she gets carried away. Looks like I've got a typical stubborn Staffy