Puppy that likes to bite...alot!

Hiya,
I have a little 8 week old staff who just love's to bite us. I've tried shouting ouch and ignoring him but it makes him worse, i have tried saying no firmly and walking away etc nothing seem's to be working. He actually doesn't just bite us he growl's and leaps at our face, hand's, feet anything he can latch on to. He just wont stop it. Any advice in what else to do?

Thanks

firstly, you're not alone - it's happened to just about everyone here!

Unfortunately it does take time, persistence & perseverance. How long have you had him?

Don't shout 'ouch', just yelp in a high pitched voice & stop all interaction immediately. Keep turning away until he's calm, if necessary walk out of the room for a few seconds. If that doesn't help, you can try saying a low 'no' or 'leave', replacing your hand etc with a toy.

Sometimes the only way is a time out. If you have somewhere safe to put him for a couple of minutes, away from excitement triggers etc that might work. Whichever method you choose, be consistent and make sure everyone in the family does the same thing.

You might also want to look at his food - certain additives in dog food can lead to hyperactivity.

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Hi and welcome from me and mine!

If your pup is still only 8 weeks old, you won't have had him long. Training can take time and deep pockets of patience, especially with puppies who have little experience of life and work solely on instinct to start off with.

The yelp, turn back and ignore for a few seconds will help but you need to be very consistent. You must give no other interaction, not even looking at him, as that can be perceived by him as getting your attention, which is what he's after. If he doesn't get the message, actually walk out of the room and close the door for 5 seconds, just long enough for him to wonder why that happened! Get your reaction as close as possible to the nip and he will be better able to learn that what he did caused the reaction he doesn't want.

I wouldn't do the 'no' bit as that could fall into that category, especially as you're likely to look at him as you do so. There is also a risk that falling back on telling off as a method of training becomes your default, and that is not the best way to work.

As well as the above to deter nipping, try and find other ways that your lad can interact with you instead. Play with him with a rope toy, for example, as that will give him something he can bite that is ok. The second his teeth touch either flesh or clothing, yelp and walk away.

Also, when the message starts to sink in, remember to reward and praise him for not using his teeth. Let him know THAT'S the way to get something nice. We humans are very good at telling people, dogs, etc what not to do but less good at remembering to highlight what is the right thing to do instead.

I'd also suggest looking at some very basic early training. There are links (and links within links!) in the welcome message above. In particular, look at the videos we recommend, they can be sanity savers!

As gillybrent says, we've all been there, done that and have several shredded t-shirts. Puppies can be monumentally frustrating but with consistency, patience and guidence they all get there.