Biting.... The end of my honeymoon period? help please

I am so delighted with Luna and most of the time she is perfect. Hugely affectionate, housetrained etc but she does have a demon side....

Luna can be very dominant and although I have read lots of books, and posts on puppy nipping and biting and followed the advice I would love some experienced owners help.

It has almost become a habit to bite (and growl like she means it) when I put her collar and harness on to take her out, or suddenly for no apparent reason (as far as I can tell) whilst we are on a walk or I join her in the garden. She gets into a biting frenzy and nothing gets her out of it.

No to Luna = Great news, challenge!

When she bites I do a deep nooooooo and at first ignore her. If she continues we then remove her (to the cloakroom). This is accompanied by her thrashing like a shark trying to get a bite.

I did hold her muzzle (softly) closed today, in the hope that she would realise that her behavior was unacceptable. Nope, she still carried on.

PLEASE HELP

Disillusioned Donna
xx

Oh Donna,

I too am in the exact same posotion with my Roxy. She also ignores the stern "NO". Ignoring her makes no difference at all and she also tries to get her teeth in while trying to restrain her etc.... It's as if you are talking about MY dog.

I hope you don't mind if I follow your post closely as I would really like to know how others handle a situation like this.

Good Luck with getting Luna to stop

Lisa

Oh My Goodness Sounds Like Bruno Too. Mind You Their All Around The Same Age, Bruno Is 5 Days Older Than Luna .

Bruno takes notice of a firm no............then does it all over again, suppose all we can do is continue with what we're doing but I sure the more experienced owner will be able to help us

good luck guys they will grow out of it

You just have to keep being very firm and hopefully as Lynne said they will grow out of it!

Thanks for your replies guys

I'm glad to hear that she will grow out of it. I was beginning to think that she was just a dominant pup but it's a great relief to hear that some of you are going through the same thing.


Donna xx

I remember when Jethro was a puppy ( vaguely!! ) and me and my hubby's hands were covered in scars!! Staffys play pretty rough.. and their baby teeth are like needles!!!

She will grow out of it, but only if you keep saying "no" and turning away - totally ignoring her. You need to be firm & consistent!

As to being dominant, you'll not get much more dominant than my Dempsey, and even he grew out of it......eventually!

ha ha i dont think NO means the same thing to a staffy pup it would make memphis worse but i could snap him out ov it by saying kiss as he has always loved giving kisses and it would take his mind off devilment lol
he still trys his luck every so offen even now no nipping just goes down and growls at you but you can soon snap im out ov it.
but as been said just be consistant leave it just once and you are back to squere one again

puppys!! lol, we all who have had pups know this too well! lol, they enjoy testing the boundries haha .. just keep at it and in time they grow out of it! vinnie now at 8months only does it when his overly excited but a sturn AH or NO and he tuns nipping into a lick.

I'm not sure there's much you can do, Nala, is 18 weeks and exactly the same, however I would say slightly better than she was. She is far worse with my kiddies and tries to bite their shoes when they are wearing them! We do correct her, she seems to listen far more to us than them, however, I think if they are teething there's very little you can do apart from provide toys etc. Good luck, hopefully they will grow out of it! I think you have to have eyes on the back of your head with a staffy pup!

Thank you so much everyone!

I must say that after reading your posts I feel very reassured. It's not me - it's the dog (breed) ! I will keep persevering with the no and just wait until she grows up a bit.

Mind you, she is costing me a fortune in kids uniforms

Donna xx

Lunasmum wrote:Thank you so much everyone!

I must say that after reading your posts I feel very reassured. It's not me - it's the dog (breed) ! I will keep persevering with the no and just wait until she grows up a bit.

Mind you, she is costing me a fortune in kids uniforms

Donna xx

haha i bet the kids are feeding her the school uniforms on the QT in the hope it gets them out of going to school!

Wow dare I say it, but I remember this haha and Lola is only 6 months old, but yes Luna will definitely grow out of it. Lola seemed to be better when she lost all her needles (baby teeth). Now we play tuggie and we play ruff and tumble and she has the the most tender grip, like she knows.

Another way I tried aswell, now don't laugh, but try yelping or a high pitched squeel and see how she reacts to that. Lola used to think she had done something to me and went into licking mode as if to say sorry.

The joys of a stafford puppy!!!!! If your puppy is really young you could just hold the scruff of its neck (as though your going to pick it up but dont pick up) just hold thats what its mum would do to tell it off.
Now check out the breed standard tenatious,determined,fearless,bold and realise what you have its all about the breed !!!!!!

I´m in the same situation with Yunke (3 months). And additionally doing what you have mentioned when he bites, I´m also praising with treats when he behaves good. By this I mean we rough play for about 30 seconds..pause 2 sec...and I extend my hand to him...if he licks then PRIZE....if bite occurs then a big OUCHHH and no play for 5 mins.

I hope this makes sense ;-)

the high pitched yelp has always worked for me and one other thing works well ..........and I will mention it but you all have to promise not to think I am being mean, cause I'm not and it doesn't hurt the pup one bit........ when they bite you, you depress their tongue for just a few seconds with your thumb and tell them no or stick your hand in their mouth for a short time telling them no. It's the shock factor that works and most of the time they will do what they can to get your hand out of their mouth and not bite you. It's like turning the tables on them. I have done this with many puppies and it works. I also say "don't bite" when I do it and then when they look like they are going to nip I say "don't bite" and they think twice.

I've often left my hand in a pup's mouth & said "No!" but I've never tried the tongue thing.

I think everyone goes though this with pups, but at such a young age, it's not dominance, it's just play to them. As long as you set clear, firm boundaries and are ALWAYS consistent, they WILL get the message and grow out of it. I know how you feel, like it's never gonna stop, but it will. And they are so worth all the extra hard work.

shontelle wrote:I think everyone goes though this with pups, but at such a young age, it's not dominance, it's just play to them. As long as you set clear, firm boundaries and are ALWAYS consistent, they WILL get the message and grow out of it. I know how you feel, like it's never gonna stop, but it will. And they are so worth all the extra hard work.

I agree, it isn't dominance. That's the way they play with their siblings & other dogs, and you just have to teach them that it isn't the way they play with you!

Another way I tried aswell, now don't laugh, but try yelping or a high pitched squeel and see how she reacts to that. Lola used to think she had done something to me and went into licking mode as if to say sorry.[/quote]

yes I saw Victoria Stillwell do that on Its Me Or The Dog. When the dog nipped she squealed.. immediately the dog stopped... just enough to break its concentration....