# Our 6 month old female Vizsla will not stop biting! any ideas?



## lovemyava

My husband and I are new Vizsla owners, we got Ava when she was 8 weeks old, she is now 6 months. All her baby teeth are gone and she has been spayed. For some reason Ava won't stop biting, she jumps up and bites us on our backs, legs, arms, etc. There is no provocation for these nips if we turn our back while she is begging for food as we have been told to do she bites in the back or our butt!! Nothing seems to work, yelping did nothing, putting her in a time out in her kennel does nothing, we go for an hour long walk a day and she spends a lot of time playing in our yard so I don't think she is bored. She also grabs our shirt sleeves and pulls us places, and then bites our wrists with her entire mouth. Please help.


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## Crazy Kian

TOUGH LOVE..... when our guy went thru that phase we would shock him...not literally though.
If he bit us (which was more like a nip) from behind we would turn around, grab him by the collar and hold his mouth shut. Followed by a firm "NO BITING" or as someone mentioned on this forum we would take him by the collar and place his lip into his mouth as he was biting down, so he was biting his own skin. That would work too. Nothing drastic but enough to make him umcomfortable.
It's a phase and it should go away soon enough. Now he will just nudge us with his nose the odd time from behind, that's his way of saying "Hello, I'm over here can you pay attention to me"

Good luck.


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## lovemyava

Thanks, we have tried holding her mouth shut and she yelps but then bites as soon as we let go again ans jumps and bites as we walk away, she starts obedience school on Monday so maybe that will help as well. We say "no bite" while holding her mouth, but it has no effect. In general no means nothing to Ava, she has dug a mini hole in our carpet in the living room by pulling out the strands of carpet...it's amazing how fast she can get into trouble I am home with her most of the time and watch her like a hawk.


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## gunnr

Ava needs to learn some manners.

At 6 months old she's big enough now to take a little firmer lessons, no beating or abusing, but firm. I have/had a biter too, and it sucks, she's a lot better now, but there are still moments.
You are going to set her up, literally. The next time she bites, you need to be ready, and just before she bites, come unglued. I mean go total bananas and really rock her world, not hurt her though. Psychologically "make yourself as big as possible", it's a game of bluff. You spin around, grab that collar and yell NO!. If you don't yell loud enough to scare everyone else in the house, it's not loud enough. You take her by the collar and put her in the kennel quick as a snake. This is all a very controlled emotional response. No roughing her up, or hitting her. Grab her and yell, and into the kennel she goes.
If she bites while playing, put your thumb in her mouth, catching some of her lip, fold the lip over her lower molars, and push the lower jaw toward her chest, and tell her no biting. Once again this is very controlled. You're not trying to hurt her, just trying to convince her that you can back up the command. Apply pressure for a few moments and repeat as necessary. 
Don't hurt her, if she yelps or cries let her go. You're not looking for a pain response, just a firm pressure to get her attention.
You will probably struggle with this for the next year or so. Be patient with her, and she should get a lot better.


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