Will he grow out of it?

[muscovy94]

I recently adopted a male puppy from the humane society and he won't stop biting. I know he is just playing, but I don't want there to be a problem when he is an adult. Is this just an adult phase that he will grow out of?

 

[ChickenToes]

No, he will not grow out of it. You need to nip this behavior in the bud now, or he will continue to bite into adulthood. Anytime his teeth touches your skin you can yell "Ouch!" and get up and walk away, so that he knows biting = playtime ends.

There are other methods, but I don't have experience with them so I don't feel comfortable suggesting them.

 

[Skyesrocket]

Pups do go through a stage where they will bite at your hands and fingers. To correct this when the pup bites onto a finger make a knuckle and put it inside of the pup's mouth...making it an uncomfortable feeling for him. Be careful not to hurt him, just make it an uncomfortable situation for him to be in. Tell the pup, "no bite". Then, hand him one of his toys and praise him when he takes the toy. It doesn't take long for a pup to catch on and learn the rules when doing this.
When you are playing with the pup, use a toy, not your hand. Pups bite unto each other and need to be taught that they can't play with people like they do their littermates.
Good Luck!

 

[MagsC]

Nope, not something he will grow out of. The previous posters had good ideas for curbing this. With ours, I would hold their muzzles and say "No bite!". Maybe thats not the correct way, but it worked....I just didnt tolerate any biting.

 

[Mugen]

No, he will not grow out of it. Use Cesar Millan's technique to correct the behavior.

 

[Melissakins]

Some folks use a squirt bottle with water in it to spray them when they bite.

Replacing whatever he's nipping on with a toy on hand helps a lot too.

Something we did (I know this sounds odd, but...) was to yelp whenever our almost 5 yr old Newfie would take our hands and walk away.....he freaked OUT and looked quite shamed for having done the nipping....

If the pup was taken away from its mum too early, they didn't learn the rules of bite inhibition from her or its siblings. You can teach it though that nipping/biting is not an acceptable behaviour.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
We hold their muzzle, rolling the top lip in on their teeth a bit and tell them no (nein!). Then I replace my hand (body part) with a toy.

 

[chickerdoodle]

The best way is to behave as another pup would--when he bites scream "ow!" in your best puppy squeal voice while you quickly remove your hand and don't play with him for at least 5 seconds. When he does it again, repeat and wait 10 seconds this time and so forth. You are telling him that if he continues to hurt you he does not get to play with you. Puppies want to play and he'll get the message. If you listen to two or more pups playing you are bound to hear it if they are very young and learning to inhibit their biting. I used this for my clients (I am a behaviorist) and it works wonderfully.

 

[dntd]

My bichon was really nippy as a puppy I had to show her I was dominant, I used to put her on her back and hold her muzzle until as stopped, she hasn't nipped a person since. Mouthing is not allowed , replace a hand with a toy .

 

[hollyclyff]

I've used both the hold muzzle, replace with toy and the scream and ignore methods and they both worked for me. Some were easier to teach than others, but every puppy I've ever had has had to be taught not to bite except my now 13 year old boy. He's never put his teeth on anyone and I've had him since he was born. He's such an angel.