Biting

Hi I've not been on the site for a while, and have only ever posted in the puppy forum so will introduce myself again. I'm Hanna, 31, and live in North Wales with my husband Darren and our 2 (soon to be 3) girls.
Peppa is 8, almost 9 months now and we all love her to bits! She's doing really well with her training etc but we have one issue we don't seem able to get a handle of at the moment. Peppa play bites/nips, a lot! We have always discouraged playing with our hands but when she gets excited she still nips and now she's older it really hurts! We've always yelped/shouted no and ignored her straight away but it doesn't seem to work, she gets in that mind set and thats it!

She's at her worst when outside, off her lead, whether thats in the garden or on a walk, and it worries me as I'm scared she will bite someone else and they'll interpret it as aggressive, and obviously don't want anyone else hurt. There is no aggression in it, she has never shown the slightest hint of aggression towards anyone ever, just a little too much love and excitement for everyone she sees. She never does it to my toddler, which is a relief, however she does nip my 8 year old which obviously upsets my daughter as she loves Peppa to bits.
She's just gotten over excited to see me, after me being upstairs for 2 minutes, and nipped a tiny piece of skin on my arm which has marked me, which is the final straw for me and needs to be sorted asap.
Does anyone have any tips on how we can stop this asap, and teach her some better greeting/playing manners? I hate being cross with her   

Almost forgot to mention, we use a spray bottle for training her, which really helps but we don't always have it on us to use it when she nips so if there are any other methods please help!

What do you do when she nips? Is there encouragement to the behavior, is it when she is purely excited? I only ask as the only time Moo mouths is when she is excited at certain places on her walk.

When I don't want i a strong no, and a flat hand out so nothing to get a bite n usually works and a key word, Moo knows naughty - say that and she backs down and calms down.

Sounds to be excitement Xx

When Bane gets nippy we always say "NO" and stop play, ignore him/walk away and he will usually stop. If not, we try some commands to see if that will calm him, so get him to sit and maybe do paw a few times. It helps distract him and gets him to focus on listening to us instead of trying to nibble on us! We found that if we yelped it would excite him more.
Personally I haven't used a spray bottle to try and help discipline, my parents did and they said it worked until their dog realised it was them spraying him at which point it turned into a game.

We are going through a similar age at the moment so are still learning too!

Ah can so relate! Our boy is 6 mths and same behavior. I give a wee smack, "naughty" in my deepest voice, point my finger right in front of his face which stops him straight away. He will then move away, give me the sly eye, sigh super loud & set down to nap. Good luck!!

This link should help. The key is consistancy

http://staffy-bull-terrier.com/stop_your_staffy_puppy_biting

Great advise above, I found the yelp and ignore worked for me  

The ignore is a very powerful deterrent. Delivered cold and silent, arms folded, not even looking.

Another thing to try is setting up authorised occasions when it's ok for Peppa to have a tussle, let off steam. Douglas has a rubber ring and goes bonkers for a tug of war. Learning when it's the end of the game is also useful training (visual/audible signal). For Douglas, a game of tug can definitely send him into the calm zone.

Chasing after a ball, another good strategy for reducing tendency for dog to leap about like a demented spring (though have to watch he doesnt overheat in middle of the day now as it's getting warmer).

Finally, to put yourself out of harm's way when the dog makes mistakes or is a bit clumsy - as they all can be. So in the ball-chuck situation, to ensure to not pick up the ball when power-jaws is also in the process of going for it. That's a painful collision to avoid. Even the best-behaved dog can get over-excited when there's the prospect of a chuck. So never hold the ball visibly at his level - even his jumping level. Obviously, the best thing is for him/her to learn to have the manners not to jump. But before that happy day arrives, a good idea to protect self and, in so-doing, to protect dog through heading-off occasions where you may get annoyed.

So, in summary, to ensure that Peppa has plenty of legal occasions to let off steam, to pointedly ignore her when her behaviour is not up to scratch, and to protect self from the inevitable slip-ups that occur as she's still at a very very early stage in her life's learning curve.

Thanks everyone, will definitely give everyones tips a try. I've actually noticed an improvement in her behaviour today so think the massive shouting at she received last night when she bit me actually did some good, even if I did feel terrible afterwards lol!

Oh don't be fooled by the 'guilt looks' as we call them, you'll soon become immune to them !!! I used to feel awful for shouting, still do sometimes, but then within mins I can give him a love and move on and we're best friends again and my guilt goes (yes it's all about me lol)

I am having the same problem with my boy who is now 13 months old.

He actually caught my hand today at the park and hurt me, so Im finding this thread really helpful.

Do let us know how you get on......