# Almost 12-week old V bites a lot!



## DukeDevil (Jan 8, 2021)

Hi. This is my first post and I’m hoping you can all share your V wisdom (battle stories?!) with me. My husband, two kids and I brought home our boy Duke at about 8 weeks and he is nearly 12 weeks now. He’s always been nippy but he’s a puppy, so we expected that but in the past week or so he has gotten really bad with the biting to the point that I have many cuts all over my hands. It can be a little scary to see those teeth coming for you! 😬 I‘ve read all about shark attacks so assume we’ve entered that phase and this behavior is all normal? Even the biting that causes one to bleed. He goes after me much more than my husband but he also seems to go for my 9 year old daughter too and we definitely remove him when he does that. Is that because she’s the smallest one in the house or am I reading into it? How long should we expect the shark phase to last? Do they outgrow it before they lose all the puppy teeth?? 

When he is especially worked up and really sharkie we remove him from the situation and put him in his playpen / crate to rest. My second question is related to that. His crate is set up inside a playpen in our bedroom, which is upstairs. We know Vs love their people so I’m wondering if putting Duke up to nap / rest away from us is the right thing to do or if we should encourage his napping downstairs where we are? I‘m not sure he gets the best sleep that way but want to do what’s best for his ability to settle into his new home.

We’d love to hear any advice and insights you have!


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

This phase can be extremely frustrating, irritating, and definitely have an impact on the whole household. Let's admit it,It's not fun. It can also be a little defeating ,as all a person wants to do is cuddle and play with their puppy, and all you're getting back is a wrestling match.
Some puppies are worse than others about it. Some never go through this phase, and some seem like demon possessed little devils. I've had six Vizlsas now, and Finn, my 15 month old was far away the worst for the "nippy sharkies". He never actually bit, bit those sharp little puppy fangs would just graze along and make scratches.
At 12 weeks old, your boy is now old enough to begin a little more formal training. He'll have his adult brain in two weeks, and he's now capable of recognizing cause and effect.
I did two things with Finn. First, he was put in a nice dog harness. All the time. Second he drug a really heavy duty nylon 3' long leash around in the house.
The harness was for his safety and my control. It had a handle on the back so that he could be suspended safely while I carried him.
The leash was to be able to get a hold of him without dealing with the wrestling match and puppy teeth. Trying to pull a puppy out from under a chair, couch, or table, that is thrashing about, is just not a pleasurable interaction.With the leash attached to the harness, I could safely pull him out.
After this we would just do walking training for few minutes, and I would either put the leash down, and step on it to anchor him in place, or I would hold it, so that he was restrained. He wasn't getting his way here. I would always try to redirect his focus to something else like leash training, or retrieving a ball.
I also would just put him away. When dogs play, if one doesn't like the way the other plays, it will usually just walk off and ignore the other dog, or snap at it first and then walk away. Still it stops the interaction. Utilize this tool also. He bites and nips, no play, not interaction. You "end the game".

It does end and it will start to lessen as his adult teeth come in and time goes by. It's just a pain. Finn seemed to stop about the 14 to 16 week mark.
It does end though, and I wish I knew a surefire technique to stop it, but I don't.
Finn is now 15 months old and that demon spawned little puppy is now quietly curled up on a dog bed. Ready to play, ready to cuddle, ready to accept pets, or dog cookies. You will get there with your boy. I promise.
I think having a quiet place away from everything is good for the puppy. They need lot's of sleep, but if there is activity going on around them, they may not sleep as well.
Our dog's crates have always been in our living room. When they're puppies, we just cover them up when their inside, and we're in the room. At night when we're asleep, they're not covered.
Your daughters relative size isn't really part of his decision making process. I would hazard a guess that it is because she is the most animated of the three of you, and he gets the most response out of her.
You husband is probably taller and all the puppy can really get a grab onto is the back of his leg at the ankle, which is covered. All your husband has to do is sweep his leg a little bit and walk away.He's not as much fun as your daughter.
Work with him, but definitely at this point he has the ability to understand ""NO" and the correction that follows is being caused by his behavior.
Good luck, but do try the harness and leash. It will also help him understand going forward that you can, and will, enforce a command.


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## InTheNet (Jun 1, 2016)

V pup's are well known for shark attacks and zoomies. 
Lots of energy for short periods of time.

It is a big challenge but at around 6 months it will start to get better.

you can spend hour on this forum reading and will learn a lot. 

It will get better!


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## Kazi (Jun 8, 2020)

DukeDevil said:


> Hi. This is my first post and I’m hoping you can all share your V wisdom (battle stories?!) with me. My husband, two kids and I brought home our boy Duke at about 8 weeks and he is nearly 12 weeks now. He’s always been nippy but he’s a puppy, so we expected that but in the past week or so he has gotten really bad with the biting to the point that I have many cuts all over my hands. It can be a little scary to see those teeth coming for you! 😬 I‘ve read all about shark attacks so assume we’ve entered that phase and this behavior is all normal? Even the biting that causes one to bleed. He goes after me much more than my husband but he also seems to go for my 9 year old daughter too and we definitely remove him when he does that. Is that because she’s the smallest one in the house or am I reading into it? How long should we expect the shark phase to last? Do they outgrow it before they lose all the puppy teeth??
> 
> When he is especially worked up and really sharkie we remove him from the situation and put him in his playpen / crate to rest. My second question is related to that. His crate is set up inside a playpen in our bedroom, which is upstairs. We know Vs love their people so I’m wondering if putting Duke up to nap / rest away from us is the right thing to do or if we should encourage his napping downstairs where we are? I‘m not sure he gets the best sleep that way but want to do what’s best for his ability to settle into his new home.
> 
> We’d love to hear any advice and insights you have!


I agree totally with the experts and for what it’s worth I’ll add my experience. My boy Reggies sharkies made me cry ! I was exhausted trying various techniques to try and curb his ‘enthusiasm’ nothing really worked but as he past the 13/14 week mark I could see improvement. Me & my daughter and granddaughter (7yrs) were targets and like gunnr says I think the reaction from us was worth the biting so Reggie learned who gave him the most fun. I genuinely thought the sharkies would never end but with consistent training and a firm ‘no’ and walking away he learned it wasn’t much fun after all as Mum leaves me ! He’s now 9 months and barely a nip so don’t worry it will pass


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## derwos (Nov 10, 2019)

DukeDevil said:


> Hi. This is my first post and I’m hoping you can all share your V wisdom (battle stories?!) with me. My husband, two kids and I brought home our boy Duke at about 8 weeks and he is nearly 12 weeks now. He’s always been nippy but he’s a puppy, so we expected that but in the past week or so he has gotten really bad with the biting to the point that I have many cuts all over my hands. It can be a little scary to see those teeth coming for you! 😬 I‘ve read all about shark attacks so assume we’ve entered that phase and this behavior is all normal? Even the biting that causes one to bleed. He goes after me much more than my husband but he also seems to go for my 9 year old daughter too and we definitely remove him when he does that. Is that because she’s the smallest one in the house or am I reading into it? How long should we expect the shark phase to last? Do they outgrow it before they lose all the puppy teeth??
> 
> When he is especially worked up and really sharkie we remove him from the situation and put him in his playpen / crate to rest. My second question is related to that. His crate is set up inside a playpen in our bedroom, which is upstairs. We know Vs love their people so I’m wondering if putting Duke up to nap / rest away from us is the right thing to do or if we should encourage his napping downstairs where we are? I‘m not sure he gets the best sleep that way but want to do what’s best for his ability to settle into his new home.
> 
> We’d love to hear any advice and insights you have!


While I have had numerous dogs through my life, "Aly" is my first vizsla. Today, she turned 11 weeks old and exhibits the very same behavior you are describing.

Spend a little time on this site, doing a search for "sharkies"... and you'll find this is just a phase. It'll last some weeks. But, it'll end.

My advise, with limited experience of the breed: ALWAYS try to have a high-value chew toy at your immediate disposal to substitute and redirect the nipping behavior. Aly's "sharkies" began a little after 9 weeks. To date, the substitution strategy has worked really well. Is it fool-proof? Nope! We are dealing with unique lil creatures. They have moments of complete psychosis. 

Additionally, NEVER allow yourself to linger on a "correction" to a negative behavior. Let Duke know (in your decided way), when negative behavior occurs (within 1 second of the negative behavior) and move on with positive reinforcement of good behavior. As smart as Duke is, he has the attention span of a rock, at this point of his life.

Just like your Duke, Aly is A HANDFUL... and I SOooooo adore her for it! She will not be this little bundle of crazy energy forever. I had spent A LOT of time on this site, reading about detailed, real-world experiences of others, in raising lil vizsla devils. At the same time, Lil Aly shows very promising signs (during times other than 'shark week') she's going to be an incredible dog/companion!

Hang in there!! My bet, Duke will be and awesome addition to your family!


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## lucy2005 (Oct 16, 2020)

DukeDevil said:


> Hi. This is my first post and I’m hoping you can all share your V wisdom (battle stories?!) with me. My husband, two kids and I brought home our boy Duke at about 8 weeks and he is nearly 12 weeks now. He’s always been nippy but he’s a puppy, so we expected that but in the past week or so he has gotten really bad with the biting to the point that I have many cuts all over my hands. It can be a little scary to see those teeth coming for you! 😬 I‘ve read all about shark attacks so assume we’ve entered that phase and this behavior is all normal? Even the biting that causes one to bleed. He goes after me much more than my husband but he also seems to go for my 9 year old daughter too and we definitely remove him when he does that. Is that because she’s the smallest one in the house or am I reading into it? How long should we expect the shark phase to last? Do they outgrow it before they lose all the puppy teeth??
> 
> When he is especially worked up and really sharkie we remove him from the situation and put him in his playpen / crate to rest. My second question is related to that. His crate is set up inside a playpen in our bedroom, which is upstairs. We know Vs love their people so I’m wondering if putting Duke up to nap / rest away from us is the right thing to do or if we should encourage his napping downstairs where we are? I‘m not sure he gets the best sleep that way but want to do what’s best for his ability to settle into his new home.
> 
> We’d love to hear any advice and insights you have!





DukeDevil said:


> Hi. This is my first post and I’m hoping you can all share your V wisdom (battle stories?!) with me. My husband, two kids and I brought home our boy Duke at about 8 weeks and he is nearly 12 weeks now. He’s always been nippy but he’s a puppy, so we expected that but in the past week or so he has gotten really bad with the biting to the point that I have many cuts all over my hands. It can be a little scary to see those teeth coming for you! 😬 I‘ve read all about shark attacks so assume we’ve entered that phase and this behavior is all normal? Even the biting that causes one to bleed. He goes after me much more than my husband but he also seems to go for my 9 year old daughter too and we definitely remove him when he does that. Is that because she’s the smallest one in the house or am I reading into it? How long should we expect the shark phase to last? Do they outgrow it before they lose all the puppy teeth??
> 
> When he is especially worked up and really sharkie we remove him from the situation and put him in his playpen / crate to rest. My second question is related to that. His crate is set up inside a playpen in our bedroom, which is upstairs. We know Vs love their people so I’m wondering if putting Duke up to nap / rest away from us is the right thing to do or if we should encourage his napping downstairs where we are? I‘m not sure he gets the best sleep that way but want to do what’s best for his ability to settle into his new home.
> 
> We’d love to hear any advice and insights you have!


We had the same problem you are describing with our Nelson when he was around the 12weeks so you are NOT alone. I read many articles about it as I was scared that it was something bad but later we found out that it’s just one of the stages that most vizslas go through to become a mature pup. We would end up with scars and scratches of many sorts. We realised that when this happens we can’t control it and neither can he as it comes natural. So my very BIG recommendation is that literally saved our lives are these gloves. This is the best thing ever. Your puppy is biting you because its teeth are growing, so as we would do they get frustrated and try to bite everything and everyone. In this case they won’t listen and punishment will be the worst. So what I recommend is using these and let them bite you a bit and play around with them. After 10-15 mins they will get exhausted and fall right asleep. This won’t last long as I can confirm that as they grow up and their teeth grow out the biting will STOP. Our Nelson is 6 months and doesn’t bite anymore.


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## DukeDevil (Jan 8, 2021)

Thank you all so much for the reassurance! Apologies for not coming back here until now to read them...I’ve been a bit busy!! 😂😂😂😂 We are very glad to know this is all normal V behavior. They are interesting animals for sure. We are learning that like a baby, Duke needs lots of naps throughout the day and have come to see that he is particularly “sharpie” when it is nearing that time.

He doesn’t yet have all of his shots so we can’t socialize him with other pups yet but we plan to do that as soon as we are able! We are going on lots of walks though and he is very interested when he sees other dogs so we are excited to see them play. I will say Duke can be a bit skittish getting going on our walks though....I don’t know if he’s afraid of the passing cars and other noises but it sometimes feels like I’m dragging him! I assume that’s just a phase too though and he will be off to the races in no time at all!

Thanks again for listening and for the tips. This board has been so helpful to us!


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## Gidget (Jan 6, 2010)

Just want to chime in. Our 6 month old girl, Bo, was a nightmare as a young pup. I’m not kidding you when I say that we seriously were considering returning her to the breeder. Bo is our second Vizsla so we knew what we were getting into but she was so much more difficult than our other girl. So headstrong, so driven, some resource guarding issues and the shark attacks were absolutely brutal. Broke through skin, scars etc. We started working with a trainer very early. We felt like we had to be in training mode with her constantly. It got so much better as she grew and matured some. She is now almost 7 months and we are really enjoying her. She still nibbles at my hand but now it’s more like a soft hold and when she does this she looks up at me with these eyes that are saying see mom..I’m not biting hard anymore. Nips and bites are virtually gone. She is growing into a great dog. So glad that we stuck with her! Our breeder told me during our one of many phone calls, that in his over 40 years experience with Vizsla’s the dogs that are the biggest pain in the A as puppies turn into the best dogs!


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