How do you handle puppy's biting/chewing?

[Aimeedyan]

I know he's only teething and it's normal, but it's getting old and we can't figure out how to teach him what's okay to chew on and what's not. His teeth HURT! He chews on anything he can get his paws on, and is hard to play with because he just goes to your hands to bite. He has LOTS of teething toys, and he does play with them, but much prefers your hands or feet.

He turned 3 months today, they get their adult teeth at 4 months, right? Will this constant biting stop then?

HELP! What methods worked well for you? We growl at him, make noises, say no, and push him back away from us, but I think he thinks we're playing a game.

BTW-We do plan on attending puppy preschool, which I'm sure addressing this some, but can't afford it right now... so want to get some solutions in the meantime.

 

[Pop Daddy]

if he is a chewer Its gonna be at least a year, maybe longer

 

[phamton]

I know this sounds silly but I used to yelp really loud and then whine like another puppy when my lab puppy would bite too hard. The "yelp" would startle him to get him to stop and then the whining would make him start licking me. It only took about a week before he developed a gentle mouth. He still would chew on toys, socks, shoes, or anything else but he stopped using us as a chew toy.

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

Buy some Bitter Apple spray from your local pet store and spritz it on the dogs tongue when he chews something he isn't supposed to. It tastes nasty and worked well for my male puppy (my female was another story).

Chewies work well for my female. If she has something that's OK to chew, then she's less likely to chew up other stuff.

Our dog trainer suggested filling an empty coke can with ten pennies and tape it shut. Shake it when the dog is doing something naughty to deter the behavior.

Good luck, mine chewed everything for a year. My female still chews things up occasionally but she is really naughty.

 

[JVL1018]

I handle it by telling my hsuband that I can't stand the dang dog and I'm going to sell her.
No I don;t..well yes I do say that, but I don't mean it.
We have a 4 month old black lab who bites bites bites and I have tried everything, saying ouch when she bites, holding her mouth closed and saying NO BITE firmly when she does it, also yelling NO BITE at the top of my lungs.
Making her go in her kennel or outside when I just can't take anymore.
She is in puppy school, but we haven't gotten to stoping the biting yet.
My new thing I started today was running aorund the yard like an idiot and everytime she ran and jumped and bit I would say DOWN!..and did it again and again and again, and when she didn't jump and bite I gave her a treat and lots of praise.

I have 2 little ones, and when she jumps on them and nips them it scares me, so she needs to CUT IT OUT! I thought labs were supposed to be extraordinarily gentle. Ugh!

 

[Jockaroo]

Mac wasn't too bad when he was a pup, but he did take spells of nibbling on us. The pennies in the shaker can worked great with him. When he got a little too rough it was always to our hands. I would grab a small piece of hair near his gum and twist and say "no bite". Since Mac's a Scottie, I had plenty of beard hair to grab. This might not work well with a short hair dog though. (And never do it hard enough to really hurt, just to get attention.)

When he was teething, I would give him ice cubes. This helped sooth his gums. He still thinks ice cubes are a big treat. You can also use something chew appropriate when he bites. The Kong is great, you can put food in it to hold the dog's attention. When he tries to bite, remove the object being bitten and place the appropriate toy in the dog's mouth.

Good luck. And when he starts teething, he will bleed from losing the teeth. Just a warning cause I really freaked out.

 

[RNMOM]

What worked for me was to take his mouth off my hand or shoe, , and close it gently saying "no" softly. It took a while but he got it finally.

Our vet gave us good advice, I think. He said to not give him anything to chew we didn't want him to destroy in the future. Like socks and old shoes. The dog can't tell the difference from the okay to chew ones and the not okay ones. That and they are dangerous if they ingest any parts of them.

 

[diznee25]

Aimeedyan,

We're in the same boat as you! We have a 3 month old chihuahua who also bites everything, including our feet and hands. I've heard puppies start loosing their baby teeth at 3 months, so this is normal behavior at this age.

If your puppy is chewing on something he shouldn't be, take it out of his mouth and replace it with one of his toys. We have dog toys all thru out our condo so we're ready at a moments notice! You will be doing this thousands of times, but you have to stick with it if you don't want your dog chewing on furniture and whatnot.

One tip I'd reccomend is to have plenty of dog toys that your dog likes to chew on. There are also special treats that may entertain your puppy. Our puppy likes rawhide. There is a brand formulated for puppies, it's Mini Dingo Rawhide Chews (chicken or beef flavor) and available at PetSmart.
Puppies can't digest a lot of rawhide so we only let our puppy chew on it for a few hours per day.

Diznee25

 

[Aimeedyan]

I'm shamelessly bumping my own thread for daytime DISers - y'all give such great advice!

THANKS already to those that shared their exps!!!!!!!!

=)

 

[TexasErin]

Sorry to hijack your thread, Aimeedyan, but at least this will bump it back up
I have a 4-month-old puppy with a slightly different problem. She is eating our house!!
She is closed up in our master bathroom since that is like her little doggy den and she does not potty in there. We keep her in there when we are not at home or are sleeping. We do keep plenty of toys in there. We were giving her rawhide squares until she got a piece of it lodged in her throat and started pawing on her throat and then threw up. Gave us quite a scare.
This weekend we noticed she has started chewing on the cabinet. We bought some "Bitter End" spray that is supposed to stop the biting. I caught her licking it off. She is not the brightest dog on the planet, God love her!!!
I came home yesterday and noticed that she had been chewing on the molding around the bathroom door. She is a 4-month-old Great Pyrenees puppy so she did more than enough damage.
I just know I am going to come home today to nothing but a pile of sawdust where my house used to stand. And there she'll stand trying to get splinters out of her mouth.
Any suggestions for this puppy problem???

 

[diznee25]

TexasErin,

Dogs in general feel abandoned when left alone behind closed doors. Your puppy is chewing the bathroom because she is lonely and stressed.

To fix the problem, you may want to leave her else where while you're gone, a place that isn't closed off by a door. I leave my puppy in a pen in the living room and turn on the T.V. so he has human voices to listen to. His pen is small enough that he hasn't eliminated in it so far.

You mentioned you chose the bathroom because she won't eliminate in there. You have the right thinking, just try and find a place that's the size of your bathroom, but doesn't have a door. If the area is too big, buy a pen set at Pet CO, that's what I did. The pen is sizeable to accomodate your puppy. Make it about the size of your bathroom, and you should be fine!

Diznee25

 

[TexasErin]

Thank you, Diznee25.
Hmm, I wonder if I left the bathroom door open and just used a baby gate and maybe left the radio on if that would help my sweet furbaby. She doesn't seem to mind the bathroom. She will often go to it herself if she wants to take a nap and the door is open. Maybe the door open and the radio on would make her less lonely.
I think I'll try it tonight.

 

[diznee25]

Great idea TexasErin! Let us know how it works out!

Diznee25

 

[DrCavin]

Get a nylabone & when he is chewing on something he shouldn't be repalce it with the nylabone. Our wheaton loves his & they last about a month or so. The last one we bought him has lasted about 4 months since he does not chew on things as often.

Like a previous poster said, do not give him an old shoe or sock & expect him to not chew on new ones.

A firm/stern voice & reward when the dog does the desired action works best. Yelling/beating does not work (not that you are)... Our dog trainer had us use hot dogs cut-up into bite size pieces. When the dog did what he was supposed to give him a piece of hot dog. The hot dogs do not fill them up & are easy for most dogs to digest...

Nylabones web-site:

http://www.nylabone.com/

Good luck with your puppy, they take a little work at first, but are great companions for life!!

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

Shelby, my female retreiver, has terrible anxiety. She chewed thru a chain link dog run, chews furniture, moulding in the house , just about anything . . .

When I leave them at home (we have two dogs, siblings) I have to leave them in the kitchen with a baby gate to block off the doorway. She does much better in an open area with the TV or radio on. Sometimes, I put her in her crate when I'm only gone a short time. My male dog, Reilly, doesn't really have a problem. He's happy as long as he's with Shelby.