Biting puppy

[alleypalley]

Our mini schnauzer is now 20 weeks old and we are making no progress with the biting, if anything she is getting worse.

My 6 year old takes the brunt of it, I assume because puppy thinks she's another puppy for her to play with. We've taught dd that when puppy is jumping up at her she should just stand still cross her arms across her chest and look up, so making no eye contact or interacting. At first this was working as puppy would just get bored after a few moments and then leave her alone. Now though she is getting more and more out of control and keeps jumping up at dd and tugging on her clothes. She has a mad period in the evenings where I can't control her at all, can't even get her to stop biting me and have to put her in another part of the house until she calms down.

She doesn't bite hard, but those puppy teeth can really hurt. Any advice to get on top of this would be much appreciated.

[Iamdazedandconfused]

I'm far from an expert but I can remember being told when our dog was a pup to yelp "OW!" like a puppy would do if they'd been bitten and turn your back, basically like what your puppy's siblings would be doing whilst playing to say "that bite was a bit too hard!"

Not sure if that's correct advice, I'm sure the experts will be along soon, but it seemed to work with ours!

[Iamdazedandconfused]

Sorry I've just seen about her becoming "out of control" as you describe - maybe that method won't work if she's getting to that level but I hope somebody gives you some good advice soon as it must be hard for you, especially with DD.

Best of luck

[CaptainKit]

One thing that worked for me when the lurcher pup was young was to 'ow' when he bit me, then to put a toy in front of him so he transferred his chewing and biting to something appropriate - this stopped him from getting worked up and frustrated because his need to chew/bit wasn't being fulfilled. Dogs get a lot of reward from chewing and gnawing so it's important to give them an outlet for that purpose.

Can't really help with specifics on your 6 year old - fwiw I would have suggested the folded arms and turning her back. Maybe teach her to point the puppy towards a dog toy if the puppy is too much. Does the dog like to fetch or rope toys your daughter could throw a short way to put distance between herself and pup?

[alleypalley]

Thanks, yes the 'ow' works sometimes, but it's like she's been given catnip (if she was a cat) and just goes a bit nuts for a while in the evenings.

[TheDogsCat]

We did the 'ow' and turn back thing. As ddog got bigger this then moved to either leaving the room when nipped or if that wasn't safe, putting puppy in another room alone (not the crate- crates shouldn't be used to punish). No telling off, no speaking at all. He simply found that biting got him completely ignored and isolated. Seconds later we'd return and ignore him, then praise and play with him once he picked up a toy.

[alleypalley]

Thanks CaptainKit, that does sometimes work with the toys. Maybe I'll try and leave them more easily accessible around the house for dd to grab if needed rather than keep tidying them away.

[TrionicLettuce]

If you can pre-empt the "puppy zoomies" in an evening, try doing a little training session or anything that will give her brain a bit of a workout. It can really help tone down the evening crazies!! Impulse control games like Susan Garrett's "It's Yer Choice" are great for this.

[alleypalley]

Thanks Trionic I'll look into that.

[Roseberrry]

My puppy was exactly the same. He's still a bit bitey at 6 months but I think we're coming to the end of it.
I found that encouraging him to chew on his tug ropes etc instead of my arm helped. It doesn't seem like it at first but if you continue it will.

A firm no and standing still rather than a yelp worked. Just imagine your dc have been drawing on your freshly painted walls, that firm don't mess with me voice is what you need.

We're still working on the evenings. I had to start putting him in the kitchen to sleep because he wouldn't stop attacking me. I could tell he was overtired but he wouldn't settle to sleep with us around. He wasn't keen at first but I gave him some frozen kongs and just kind of pottered around in the kitchen ignoring him until he went to sleep. After a couple of weeks he didn't need me to do this.

If you keep consistent in what you are doing he will stop in time, it's just a puppy thing.

[Roseberrry]

She, sorry!
Has she lost any teeth yet?

[alleypalley]

A firm no and standing still rather than a yelp worked. Just imagine your dc have been drawing on your freshly painted walls, that firm don't mess with me voice is what you need. - ha ha, no need to imagine that, plenty of experience to draw from.

Yes she's losing teeth already.

We've been doing the impulse control game today and she's been responding to that quite well. She started to go into a bit of a mad one tonight and I distracted her with a toy while my dd quietly went off to another room and it definitely worked, she calmed down a lot quicker than normally.

Thanks for the tips, we'll keep going with them and be patient and hopefully we'll turn a corner soon.

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

When they go a bit crazy like that it can often be because they're tired and overstimulated. Puppies need a lot of sleep. I'd pop her back in her crate with a toy to calm down and hopefully have a nap. Don't let her think she's being punished by taking away the fun though or she might come to hate the crate. Maybe try and preempt the craziness and put her in beforehand. Puppies are like toddlers and they don't like to give in to a nap!