Biting and bad behaviour

Well we have had Roxy for a week nearly now and she is incredible, such a live wire. She sleeps amazingly well, and either sleep right through the night, or sometimes we may have to get up once.. considering she is 10 weeks, we are really happy about that.

However her nipping and biting is really bad. We have tried the injured person technique shouting ouch, and making my hand limp. she normally goes crazy with this one, and bites even harder. We have tried saying "no" really loudly.. and then giving her the chew toy, but that mostly doesnt work for long.

The other technique is treats, which works, but only when I have the treats in my hand.. as soon as I dont she is back to biting again. My hands and arms are looking atrocious, scratches and bites everywhere. P.S she sometimes even has temper tantrums.. when she does that we put her in pen or crate.. what else can I do.. this is the only thing thats driving me crazy.. apart from that she is so good.

By the way she isnt getting her 2nd injections for another 2 and a bit weeks so we cant walk her yet to make her tired.

How do you do your 'ouch'? I find it more effective if you make it loud and quite high pitched, so it's a real yelp sound. I'd then hide your hands - I don't think she'll understand the limp hand - and turn your back on her. When she doesn't bite, then give her oodles of praise.

Keep an eye on your consistency and timing, so that she knows that each and every time she bites she will get what she wants (your attention/play) taken away, but when she doesn't bite she will get her reward.

If you haven't already, it's worth watching the series 'Six puppies and us' on BBC. There are 2 episodes on iPlayer already. One of them has a bity puppy. I'm not a fan of aversives (punishment), especially for puppies but if really nothing else is working, have a look at the pet corrector they show.

Do be careful about using the crate as a punishement. I needs to be a nice place where a dog can go and feel safe, and it's really easy to turn it into a 'sin bin' if you're not careful.

I agree with Liz, the six puppies programme will help you understand the whole hand biting thing. Take hands out of the equation, they are great toys for puppies. Fold your hands under your arms and ignore Roxy. Replacing hands for a rope toy will reinforce your dislike for being used as a pin cushion.

I would also urge caution about using the crate for time outs, much better to use another room if possible and keep the crate as a safe haven, you might well be glad of that when firework season starts again.

Hi there thanks for replying, yes I watched that programme, it was brilliant, but sometimes I'll take my hands away and she goes for my arms or legs instead. If I walk away she after my ankles.. Sorry I meant to say, the time out I give her is in the pen, not the crate.

As for my ouch, I guess as I am a girl with a pretty feeble voice to be honest, it doesnt come over to well. I shall try more of a confident high pitch ouch

It will get better I assure you. In the meantime try replacing whatever part of your body is being nibbled with a toy, that should reinforce the idea that toys are fine but humans aren't

I always used the very high pitched sueal. Another thing you could try is clench your fists and fold your arms with a firm no. Its all very normal she just needs to know the limits

Hi
Although you can't walk her yet, you could try the things I did with Toots at that age.
I carried her into as many places as possible, shops, the park to see ducks and swans, traffic, and asked people to stoke her and make a fuss of her. People with hats, beards and glasses.
This will help her cope with the 'big bad world' when you can eventually walk her, plus she will find it stimulating and tiring

i would stand up as well as fold your arms if the dog tries to bite ankles i would just keep moving around in a circle. try playing with a ball or another toy such as a rope toy at home. you could also try some basic commands such as sit stay leave lie down this is a good way of also tiring them out.

Thanks everyone for your replies, she has actually calmed down a lot now thankfully. Oh yes she still has a go at me sometimes, but we are getting there. Though my war wounds are looking dreadful lol. Hopefully I will start to heal soon lol Oh yes we have socialised her quite a bit now, and she is as good as gold when she is out and about x

My OH's hands and arms were awful when Bane was a puppy! They do hurt! But as previously mentioned, as soon as she starts to bite and nip just get up and walk away. If possible walk into another room and just shut the door behind you just for a few seconds.

Training also helps as a distraction! Get started on her sit, stay, lay, paw, high five, anything and everything Mental stimulation can be even more tiring than a walk!

I found that out dog seemed to get more excited if we yelped so he'd bite even harder! So we would say no quite firmly and move away from him or out of the room

Puds was really bad with his nipping and biting. We had a little celebration when he started losing his needle-sharp milk teeth! Giving him toys and ropes and cuddly toys didn't work, and neither did yelping in pain (not all of the yelps were voluntary!)
The only thing that seemed to work was a time-out, and praising him when he was a good boy.
Ice-cubes were used as treats, and the smallest rawhide sticks were a godsend! I'm 100% in debt to the rawhide creators. even though they aren't the healthiest of treats, they are the single reason that we have furniture, and fingers, left.