Puppy biting hard

Hi everyone,

I got myself one of these lovely little "devils" and i wanted to seek some advice about puppy biting.

Luna is 2 and 1/2 months old and is my first staffy.

She is amazing and very playful. She learned "sit" and "paw" very fast and she also learned "no" when it comes to treats....however whatever i'm trying i'm not managing to get her to understand that biting is not so fun.

At the moment "no" only works for treats which she won'grab from my hand unless i let her. But if she would start biting my hand or anything else no matter what i say she keeps doing it.

My question would be if biting so "violently" is normal for a staffy her age: she bites eceryone in my house, seems like playing but she prefers biting even when trying to distract with something else; she bits hard and drew blood twice on my ear; she jums to bit nose/years/neck/hair mostly any human parts....even when trying to pet her she acts like she does not like it and prefers trying to get into a biting game. It's getting to a point where people don't like playing with her anymore because she only bites and does it harder then any other puppy i've had/met.

Is this a problem or is it normal? She does not seem aggressive...i mean i can take anything out of her mouth...outside she lets people pet her and seems that she-s just licking them (i've just started taking her out, it was her second time today)...but at home her biting is really annoying

Any advice would be great.

Thabk you.

Congrats on joining the mad world of staffy ownership !

This behaviour is normal and your pup will grow out of it eventually. It's very frustrating when it's happening but rest assured it is normal and as you said it's not aggression, they love to have a wee nip and get very excited. You could try a couple of different things, one is to 'yelp' and walk away when it happens so pup knows it's hurt you (all), and the other is distraction of course, replace the opportunity to nip with a toy/treat/whatever it takes to divert the act. Enjoy the puppy phase it seems to go so quick !

My little girl is 6 months old now and I remember that horrible biting stage well. She used to bruise me and draw blood at times.
It does get easier I promise.
I found turning my back on her and ignoring her when she had bitten worked a little. It I take her mind off biting and do some mental training - like sit, paw etc.
I think the key is to be consistent.
Good luck. I promise it won't be forever and she isn't aggressive - completely normal for a staffy

Buddy used to do this all the time - we used to turn away or get up and leave the room for a couple of seconds and then come back in he soon learnt that we wouldn't play with him if he bit- he is 11 months now and still try's to nip if he gets over excited or is very tired ( hubbies feet when tired lol) but a firm enough or no soon stops him.. it will get better just be consistent on how you tell her off she will soon get the message ..she is playing in her eyes ..

It is normal, have a look through past threads in this section and you'll see how many people have asked about the exact same thing.

Turning your back, taking your hands away, is a good way of dealing with it, as is the 'ouch' yelp. Try to make sure that everyone, always, gives her the exact opposite of what she's after - attention! If you even look at her it's worked, so for every nip give her nothing or make it that she's 'sent you away'.

It usually takes time but you'll get there.

Good point Li, consistency is key!!

(Liz - silly auto correct!)

Thank you all for your replies. I'm sure i'll have many other questions

Its very normal. The only thing i can advise is to act professionally with her for a while. Its tempting to cuddle, rough house, snuggle and blow farts on them cause they are so darn cute at that age, but you need to refrain and teach her that you want her to be a calm, well behaved dog. Lots of play but if she gets to the point you feel shes "not in control" you must stop and give her time to wind down. Affectionate interaction should be when shes calm and if she sees this as an invite to start up again, repeat the process as above. If she is calm, do give her a prasing word and a scratch but then leave again, dont work her into a frenzy. It sounds awfully boring, but you will end up with a wonderful dog and one many people envy.

consistency is definitely the key as it patience also keep fingers out the way by crossing your arms in front of you. id also suggest giving her frozen veg a puppy kong frozen teatowel to chew and nylabones are good too.

Thank you all for your help.

Mia can you please tell me what "kong frozen teatowel" is? I have a kong toy if that is what you are referring to, just not sure what to fill it with at her age. Also which veg is good for her? (she does not like carrots, just like me hehe)

sorry should have used commas put an old teatowel in the freezer heres a link about kong fillers https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t60709-interesting-kong-fillers?highlight=kong+fillers.

Thank you...i guess Luna would be really happy if i would just fill the kong with my fingers

Turning my back to her makes her bite my feet and jump on my head to bite my hair (depending on if i'm sitting or standing) ...taking my hands away makes her jump to my face tring to bite my nose/eyebrows/mouth...she just got me right from the lower lip earlier the little spawn of satan haha

Trying to say a good "no" and to ignore her a bit when she's not behaving, hopefully if i keep doing this long enough she will get it.

Would isolating her for a bit as punishment be a good idea? I mean if i would leave her alone in a room for a few minutes when she's biting me or my guests too hard.

It normally gets better when their teeth fall out. Them baby teeth are like pins! All my clothes had holes in them and I had bruises constantly off them nips. It gets better and is so worth it when they settle down. Good luck!

Quietmind wrote:Thank you...i guess Luna would be really happy if i would just fill the kong with my fingers

Turning my back to her makes her bite my feet and jump on my head to bite my hair (depending on if i'm sitting or standing) ...taking my hands away makes her jump to my face tring to bite my nose/eyebrows/mouth...she just got me right from the lower lip earlier the little spawn of satan haha

Trying to say a good "no" and to ignore her a bit when she's not behaving, hopefully if i keep doing this long enough she will get it.

Would isolating her for a bit as punishment be a good idea? I mean if i would leave her alone in a room for a few minutes when she's biting me or my guests too hard.

'Punishment' is and emotive word but yes, in a very technical sense, some sort of 'punishment' can help. I'm using the ' ' to indicate I mean it in the technical sense, so no smaking, shouting, banning to the sin bin for an hour or anything like that, simply a response to the behaviour that discourages her from doing it. First of all, have a read through this piece I wrote on how learning works:

https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t63379-how-learning-works

As biting is a desire for interaction and attention, the 'punishment' is doing the opposite. If simply turning your back isn't working because she has learned ways of making you pay her attention, then leave the room and close the door. You don't want to pick her up and carry her out as that means she's getting a cuddle (in her eyes) for biting. If you think there will be a situation where you can't all just up and walk out, then you need to find another way of preventing her from getting to the bitey stage.

You might want to think about things like starting some basic obedience type training so that you can give her something to do that your guests can even join in with, and give her some attention and reward that way. You could try looking at activity games to keep her occupied, or a treat that will take longer for her to eat. I don't have a problem with rawhide chews while they are supervised, for example.

Are you finding she's hyper anyway? Staffy puppies can be incredibly full on, but it's worth looking at her food if she is manic as that can have an impact. Also, be aware of how you are playing with her. Your play needs to be moderated if you are doing things that encourage rough and tumble. Teach her to retrieve, for example, so you have an energy burn off game that doesn't involve her teeth coming into contact with you.

The real key, though, is in the consistency. It must be 100% clear to her that every single time her teeth come into contact with a human or their clothing, that person will go away. You all have to be super aware, regardless of what you are doing, and you need to train your guests as well. That's the hard bit!

Thank you Liz. Great stuff. I'll try my best to follow your advice.

Here is a thank you pic

What, that little angel face? Never

Looks like butter wouldn't melt I do remember those teeth though, Katy was a nightmare

Omg she could bite me any day!

Every time Kiki bit or tried to bite one of us, we immediately gave her a chewing toy and stopped playing with her. This proved to be very effective in our situation.

she is lovely ...

how cute that face

I just keep saying "no" when she bites then give her a toy to chew...if she keeps trying to bite i ignore her...it seems that she's getting the idea.

She does that cute face when she meets new people, it's like she's making it on purpose so that no one believes she's a little devil hehe.

Gave me a scare yesterday had to take her to the vet for puking and diarrhea with blood. Turned out she swallowed a small coin...coin was puked....everything is back to normal.

glad shes ok now after swallowing the coin