puppy who won't stop biting HELP PLEASE!!

[JosieB2204]

i have an english bull terrier cross lurcher 12 week old pup, he gets a minimum hour walk every day and has access to chew toys all day. I've tried squealing, saying 'no' in a stern voice, filling an empty tin with stones and shaking it to try to startle him but i just feel like nothing is working and i'm at my whits end. I'm 19 weeks pregnant so i feel a sense of urgency to try and break this bad habit but i've just ran out of ideas.
Someone please help!!

[Whoknowswhocares]

Over an hours exercise a day for such a tiny pup is way too much and bizarrely is probably contributing to your problems.
All pups bite as I'm sure you know but they are much more likely to when over stimulated and over tired. One or two 15 minutes walk a day would be an absolute maximum.....aim for around 5 minutes per month of age.
Please, please don't scare him with rattle cans. What he needs is time out when he does this. Either in a crate, or a room alone where he can't see you. Go back and act as normal after 5 minutes.Withdrawal if his favourite thing ie. human company is far,far more effective and a heck of a lot kinder.
At 12 weeks he won't have learnt his bite inhibition yet, so don't panic. Consistent use of the above, combined with simply putting a toy in his mouth when he bites you will soon see an improvement but it isn't instant. Keep faith and it will pass

[coffeeinbed]

He's still very young.
Is he still losing his milk teeth?

[ExitPursuedTheRoyalPrude]

This too will pass.

I still have a search page on t'internet When will my Springer stop biting?

Just keep saying NO

[JosieB2204]

I had no idea walking him that much could be making it worse! I'll start to leave the room when he does it. Thank you for the advice :)

He still has all of his milk teeth that i can see but he does have a sharp little bite haha

[nuttymutty1]

Copied from a thread from 2 days ago.

Puppies do not have hands, so they explore with their teeth and mouth, It is how they learn things. It is normal behaviour. Puppies need to bite and need to play (but before you all think I am crazy) there is a correct way to do it

I would encourage the use of tug toys, encourage the puppy to bite and tug on the toy. This is good in two ways, it encourages the dog to play with you, bond with you and makes everything from recall to basic training so much easier.

It also shows the dog what he can bite- he only ever bites the tuggy toy make sure that it is long enough so he will not grab at your hand by mistake. Do not leave these toys lying around but have them strategical placed around your house so you can have a game at any time.

Using tuggy toys you can teach impulse control, teach the dog to leave, and that all fun things happen around you.

Never every play with your puppy unless you are playing with the tug toy. You will notice very quickly that you will have no more randon bite attacks on you if you play tuggy regularly. Let the dog win the tuggy and you will start to see that the dog will return to you for you to make it more fun.

[coffeeinbed]

Milk teeth are the worst.
I play tug of war, but wrap my hands in old towels.
Dog knows when he's hurt me, stops and then licks my hand.

[NCISaddict]

Also enforce naps, if you have a crate it's easy. When my pup was 12 weeks I put him to bed at least three times a day or he got really nippy, just like an over tired toddler who thumps everyone when they're overtired.

[LEMmingaround]

ouch! puppy biting is soo painful isn't it. the thing to do is ignore ignore ignore when he is biting - do not look at him, eye contact is a reward.

[JosieB2204]

Whenever me or OH play tug of war he always ends up biting our hands so i think i'll have to try using towels!

It seems like less walking and more tug of war play is going to be my best bet.
Thank you all for the advice :)

[littlewhitebag]

I had to stop playing tug of war with my lab when she was a pup as it made her over excited and more prone to biting. I found offering a chew toy to be better.

[Booboostoo]

What does the puppy bite?

If he is biting clothes, shoes, etc. distract with an alternative chew. With such a young pup (huge urge to chew and bite) you should have a variety of different chews all over the floor for easy and constant access. Also experiment with different kinds of chews as some dogs like some kinds more than others.

If he is biting your hands, legs and generally your flesh you need a different approach. If he bites your hand, for example, keep your hand still and low (pulling it back only makes it a toy to be chased) and squeale like you have been impaled. Keep squealing like your life depends on it until he lets go (you may notice him cocking his ears and turning his head to the side as if to say "what?"). You are teaching him that you are extremely vulnerable and he must learn bite inhibition with you. On rare occassions some puppies don't respond to squealing in which case use a sucking breath "tssssssssssshh" sound (still keeping your hand low and still).

You can also work on a 'leave it' command, your training classes will include this work, but don't use the word 'no' without having trained anything in conjunction with it - it's meaningless to the puppy.

[NCISaddict]

Yesterday my six month old Border Collie had a long walk in the afternoon, I didn't put him to bed for a sleep afterwards and he was manic all evening although at least he doesn't nip anymore.

He won't have a proper sleep if not in his crate as he has to police the whole house and make sure he knows where everyone is going.
He's going for a sleep after todays walk.

[JosieB2204]

we got him when he was 6 weeks old, i know that is extremely young but he was hand reared from 24 hours old as his mam ate the rest of his litter mates :(

[JosieB2204]

He bites clothes, shoes, hands, feet... pretty much anything he can sink his teeth into. I've been leaving the room when he does bite and it seems to be working :)

[cashewfrenzy]

If he was hand reared you need to put a lot of effort into this. Hand reared puppies commonly have behaviour issues because they've missed out on all of the learning they would normally do in the litter.

thepuppyplan.com/ has lots of fab info and their YouTube channel is also really good.

[JosieB2204]

He's worth all the extra work ?? Thank you I'll have a look now :)

[ExitPursuedTheRoyalPrude]

She ate them

[JosieB2204]

Yeah :( a very irresponsible breeder let her get pregnant on her first season and I've been told off a vet that if the bitch is too young they can be extremely traumatise by giving birth and then eat the litter. I've also heard it can be a breed trait too but she was far too young to have a litter regardless :/

[Booboostoo]

What cashewfrenzy said. Puppies should spend at least the first 6 weeks of life with their mum who teaches them how to interact with other dogs. As he grows up he is very likely to have problems with other dogs so it is crucial that you take him to dog training and socialisation classes asap. Has he started training classes?

[JosieB2204]

He plays with my neighbors dog and on weekends we look after an older dog so he is socializing :) We haven't taken him to any training classes yet as I haven't found any in my area and I can't drive. But I will keep an eye out for some :)