# Another biting thread.



## Kermit_days (Sep 24, 2012)

I've spent hours reading threads about biting, articles about it etc.. But our problem is slightly different.

When we got her at 7 1/2 weeks she would nip lots, there would be the frenzied 'shark attacks' that I'm sure many puppy owners have experienced.

As she's grown she has started to calm down. She's turning into a lovely dog. However she still seems to like nipping me, and only me. I am absolutely covered in nip marks, she is constantly grabbing my clothes, if I go to stroke her the teeth come out and follow my hand around.

I'm her primary carer in the day. I feed her, play with her, walk her and teach her tricks several times a day. I make her work for food, cuddles etc. I try to be consistent with discipline (although I genuinely struggle to shout or be 'hard'), I try walking away when she bites but she follows me round grabbing my trousers. If she's particularly bad I take het into another room. She's a bright dog but nothing I do seems to help. Like I said she's fine with the rest of the family (inc. Kids).

Our puppy is 12 weeks old. I'm not concerned that she's aggressive or that we have a serious problem on our hands. It is however a behaviour that I would like to curb while she's still young.


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## Angie NG (Jun 6, 2012)

I am the one at home with Bella through the day and she is now 6 months old. 
We went through exactly the same with Bella, I just use to yelp at the top of my voice which startled her and walk out of the room. I taught my two children how to do it as well. It had improved until she started losing her teeth. She is more sharkier than ever. Not towards me though, more to daddy and the kids clothes. 
Something we are working on at the moment ???


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## NeverGiveUpRAC (Aug 27, 2012)

It sounds like you know a lot about this already and have tried a few things to stop it. Cole was going this in his 5 month age and it was terrible. Veryyyy mouthy little boy. He was doing similar things as following our hands when we pet him...he still sometimes does it. It is very annoying. 

When we started doing timeout, after he wouldn t listen to "No..." or "Stop it!", he started to get it. We put him in there and he calmed down. He went right back in if he continued. Now, he is 10 months old. I haven't had to put him in timeout in at least a month. 

Also, see how a spray bottle of water works for you. Cole hates that and responds to it.

Since he has gotten better, if we start petting him and he starts using his mouth and trying to nip we just stop. He stops. He wants us to pet. So he changes his reaction next time. Try it in a few seconds after stopping. 

Another thing I think we dont give enough credit to is him playing with other dogs. I think that helped wonders for him. 

Good luck and update us!!


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Realx.... you did say pup is 12 weeks old yeah?? If I read that right, then 12 weeks just isn't enough time to panic about nipping. Some pups will do it long after 12 weeks I assure you......  That of course is not to say that you shouldn't help pup understand what's OK and what's not OK. As Valentino says....For sure... you should take some corrective measures. 

It sounds like pup has you bluffed a little.......   Now who's really the boss in the household?  Just stirring.........

Ramp up the response to the nipping, such as isolating the pup immediately. That's normally the fastest method as they tend to like company. That is if you have exhausted other methods such as the yelp, the no, walking away, removing the fun activity/item/person. 

but.....again....pup's only 12 weeks old...........it's going to take a lot longer the the 4 weeks you've most likely had with pup to create positive habits. So work on rewarding the good more than admonishing the bad. You having a soft voice is a good thing......Vizslas like hoomans who walk softy but carry a big stick.....  Keep at it..... repetition and consistency are the keys to having a wonderful Vizsla. As REM might say.......... :Time=VVonderfull Vs.


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## Kermit_days (Sep 24, 2012)

Thanks for your replies.

I'm aware that she's young. I think what concerns me (concerned about all the scratches/bites on my arm rather than about her behaviour) is that her behaviour seems to be directed at me. It's pretty obvious that she sees my husband as the "boss". She is quite responsive to him, and strangely worse to me when he's around. When he's at work I can have a cuddle with her, but when he's home she has to be exhausted to cuddle up, otherwise she just wants to nip and chase me around. I try not to turn it into a game, stand still, take get out etc.


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## lilyloo (Jun 20, 2012)

For us the biting and shark attacks peaked at 12 weeks. It slowly got better from there. What helped an extreme amount was the spray bottle with water. I would sit in the floor and let Ruby come up to me. As soon as she nipped I would spray and say loudly "no biting!"

Within a few minutes she responded well to just the phrase. Try it, it helped for us when nothing else did.


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## KB87 (Jan 30, 2012)

At that age I was also walking around with bite marks/scratches galore on my arms. Coworkers thought I owned a cat, not a puppy. It does get better but it will get worse first, especially come teething time. We used the spray bottle as well which seemed to make it quite obvious to our pup that we were not happy without physical punishment as I do not find it to be an option. He did NOT like the bottle and quickly learned to that point that so much as taking the bottle out would deter his bad actions. You may also want to try to give your pup a toy to bite on when they go for you. This saved my arm and was quite a good distraction. When the toy trick wouldn't work I simply left the room and paid no attention to our pup.

In due time it will get better but keep in mind that you have a VERY young pup and this is exactly what a V pup does best- be mouthy.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Being mouthy is what ALL puppies do. The behaviour will resolve itself with the passage of time. It is perfectly normal, and all you really have to do is survive.


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## Oscarpup (Oct 18, 2012)

Hi, we have a 11 week old boy who is really putting us through it! We are using the time out method in the kitchen behind a babygate. The main worry i have is that he bites like he means it! Thankfully this happens only during his mad 20 minutes he has everyday. Its a testing time but hes worth it. You are not alone lol


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

Ok Penny is 7 mos old and still horrible about all of these things but I just keep with the plan an I know she'll stop eventually. Just like Dozer did, after several holes in my clothes!

Perhaps it's "directed" at you when your husband is around bec of the deal you make of it. She's jealous that you two are going about ignoring her and to her bad attention is better than no attention. Think about it next time it's happening what you all were doing at the time and how you react to it.


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