Help! Puppy is a bitter, now what?

[Serena]

Another hint is when the puppy has your hand in his mouth, to gently push it towards the back of his mouth. It's interesting how fast they try to get rid of your hand.

 

[Kallison]

bitter apple spray -- this too shall pass eventually. Also yell real loud when he does it.

 

[edcrbnsoul]

I'm glad I opened this thread I couldnt figure out how you upset your puppy so much he was bitter. That will teach me to read more carefully.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Originally posted by JayCT
We used a product thats called Bitter Apple when our dog was a pup. It stopped him from biting us (put a little on your hand and let him bite you) and from chewing the furniture. He learned quickly what to chew/bite and what not to. In addition we did what cynsaun says to do. Good luck.

I've heard that Bitter Apple works for chewing, too. We bought it and sprayed it on our woodwork where our 2 lab pups were chewing. They not only kept chewing there, but got ahold of the bottle of Bitter Apple and chewed that up... I guess they showed us who was boss....

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Originally posted by NMAmy
I'm really surprised by this chewing on the furniture thing! I've had dogs all my life (all different breeds) and I've never had a puppy chew on furniture or cupboards. Does this happen a lot? We'll be moving into a house from a townhouse this weekend and getting a new dog soon so I'll have to keep my eyes open for that, I guess. The things I learn here!

I agree with the not saying "no" thing, although it's hard to get used to. My ex is a K9 cop and we've always said "fooey" to all our dogs (even the family pets) instead of "no." One of the K9's only "spoke" Czekoslavakian so I can say Lie down and Sit in that language! Probably won't be helpful if I meet a native speaker, will it?

Most of the dogs that I have had in the last 20 years have been chewers-furniture, cabinets, etc. As I said, the Bitter Apple did not work for us. And since we were not always around to witness the crime, we couldn't correct immdiately. We rearranged baby gates and kept them in the least destructive areas.

Right now, I have a Bernese Mountain dog who can start a hole in drywall, and chew a good sized hole in it before we even notice the damage. If she wasn't so darn sweet, she'd be history. Needless to say, our house looks like a combat zone.

 

[Rajah]

I also do the "hold the tongue to the jaw" thing for a few seconds and say "no teeth" firmly, then let go. That's worked for us both on Shih Tzu puppies *and* on my cats.

 

[Van Helsing]

puppy who bites ALOT

Sounds like a Vampire - a stake will do the job