# Biting, Jumping and toilet training problems for 7 mth puppy.



## Kisig (Feb 22, 2014)

Hi there, I am new to the forum as of today and really could do with any experienced Vizsla advice. We have an adorable Viz pup called Leelu, she is such a bright and intelligent dog with lots of affection to give. However, we have long term problems with biting, jumping up and toilet training since we got her at 12 weeks. 

She came from a breeder on a farm and was kept in a barn ( I was told she was properly socialised within the house.) Toilet training has been really difficult, she wees on the kitchen floor and No2 as well, she also wee's on her bed in the crate, however this seems to have stopped in recent weeks. We like to train in enforcing positive behaviour and do not tell her off when she wee's indoors, just tell her that 'quick quicks, are outside' and show her the door. She will only tell you if she needs toilet if you are in the same room as her, she is only allowed in the kitchen (large room) so we cannot watch her every minute of the day. 

The other issue is biting whilst playing. She gets very excited when in play mode and if you are in the room with her she will suddenly jump up and bite any part of you, legs, arms, belly, back..even boobs!! The bites were sharp when her puppy teeth were in but now she has most of her adult teeth, it really hurts and causes many bruises, some of her bites feel really vicious and this worries me, I have tried diversion with other toys, tuning my back to give her no attention, saying 'NoBite' and also putting her in her cage for time out...non of this works, she just starts all over again. I have even had to get more extreme by turning her lip onto her own teeth to get her to stop, even that just makes her come back to bite as if she thinks its a game. She can then turn back to total submissive and lick my hand! Thing is, she is stopping me going into the kitchen at times as I cannot cope with ruining another item of clothing or losing another chunk of my hand or something. Please don't get me wrong, I do not think she is aggressive, but as she is not changing out of this behaviour and just getting bigger and stronger, I dont want her to seriously hurt someone. 

The last problem is jumping up, she does it all the time to us and to others when we are out, I worry that she will knock over a child or old lady, we turn and continually tell her to stay down but this does not seem to stop her, again this has not changed since we got her.

We have taken her to puppy classes and she did very well, its jus the excitment that gets in the way of her concentrating (which you can only expect in a puppy).

I hope you can help me and will be nice to talk to other Viz owners.


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## Taika (Sep 14, 2013)

Kisig 

I have found this forum a lifesaver for the answers to question that I have had.

Taika and I live in Western Australia but even so the response have always helped us.
So no way would I be a knowledgeable person as far as this breed goes, but I will let you know as to what was suggested to us.
Must admit we have been lucky in the toileting area as Taika had never messed in his crate, he was fully toilet trained by 9 weeks old (I put a lot of this down to his breeder) he had two accidents inside both wees in his first week home and they have been his only. I was told to have treats left close so as you are going outside you can be grabbed, and as the dog is weeing be ready to feed just at the end it must be 3 treats and every time the same amount (3) and say wee / poo or what ever word you use. They must be high value treats and ones that you use only for that training at the time. I used slow roasted liver. People that I have passed this onto have had success as well just a suggestion that was given to me that worked.
Mouthing – we also had this, I was told to have a toy with me at tall times and to put that in his mouth, which we did, now when he gets excited he runs around looking for his toys to put in his mouth, before racing over to us, specially when we come home. It did not take long at all for Taika to do this and mouth the toy/blanket and not us.
Jumping, Taika is now 12 months and still forgets sometimes and jumps, usually when I am not watching what he is doing whilst out. That was turn your back don’t say a word, and when we had guest I always had him on a lead, had treats for them to collect on the outside before coming in and when all 4 paws are on the floor for them to treat. I have two little grandies and they feed him in the crate until he is quite then he comes out and is getting much better with them.
We still have a long way to go yet, but I know that feeling when you have an amazing dog but you just need some helpful suggestions these may not work for you both but I am sure the seasoned members will have some fantastic advise for you both, best of luck and welcome to this site that is truly world wide,

Debi and Taika 8)


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Just to add to Debi and Taikas successes, try this with toilet training. Your on the right track with the positivity side, that's terrific. But you then need pup to understand what's good. 

When pup makes a mistake inside, mop it up with a paper towel. Pick up pup and wet towel and take them both to the toileting area. Put down paper towel. Put down pup. Immediately pup sniffs it praise/reward whichever you do. 

Also take pup out after each sleep, drink, play, outing, eating or every half hour. 

This works if done consistently.


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## Lenalou (Nov 27, 2013)

I can't really help with toilet training as our 14 wk old is fine in that area, but my goodness, the biting!! We are in exactly the same boat. Toby has been terrible for two weeks now. He's gone from occasional nipping to getting into a frenzy fairly regularly. He can go from being a gentle little pup wandering around the garden, park or kitchen then all of a sudden it's like a switch flicks and you see that look in his eye and think 'here we go again'. He'll then run up snarling and go for trouser legs, feet, back of legs, whatever he can reach. If you try and push him away it gets him more riled. We've tried distracting with a toy but that doesn't always work, we've even resorted to pushing his lips to his teeth while holding his muzzle and he just jumps back for more. It can go on for a few minutes then as you said, he goes all submissive and 'normal' again! He's used to do it to just me, now everyone's getting a turn. Our puppy trainer says it's definitely a phase and he will grow out of it but it's quite stressful. My latest trick is throwing some treats to the ground to distract him and just hoping it will pass soon 

Jumping is also an issue for us, but we'll work on that when we get the biting sorted. Pushing him down can also trigger the excessive play biting! We're currently telling him to get down and when he does praising him.


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## hcrowder (Dec 26, 2013)

Penny will be 14 weeks old tomorrow and while she is younger than your pup she is going through many of the same things. 

What works for us with potty training is to take her out all the time. Constantly let her out and have her do her business. Praise her a lot for going out and repeat this regularly. It took about three days and now she rarely has an accident. 

How big is your crate. Penny will not soil her crate because then she would have to lie in it. Make the crate really small, just big enough for your pup to turn around and lay down in. 

Biting is a big deal and one we haven't fully worked out yet. Penny is starting to hold her toys rather than bite us but she still goes into attack mode. This is mostly when she is overly tired and needs to be rested. 

As for jumping up, you are not alone. Penny jumps on everyone and everything. We have been letting her off the lead and we go to the middle of a big field so she isn't distracted by anything. Well today a kid and his dad came near us playing soccer/football and Penny dashed off. Of course the little boy freaked out and sprinted in the other direction. Penny followed thinking he was playing and we chased after them. So embarrassing. We hope this is a phase and we treat her for good behavior. If you find anything that works please let me know.


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## Lyndam (Aug 22, 2013)

Ruby is 9 months . Pretty good at being housetrained, I put a group of keys hanging from the door on a string she learnt quickly if she rattled them she got let out . Then positively reinforced 'outside hurry ups' and reprimanded her a couple of times when I caught her literally in the act in the house.
Crate more difficult for wees ( she once got trapped in there with a poo and freaked out so never did it again). Our crate was quite big. I found that to make it comfortable for her I d packed it with thick soft bedding and that had a 'diaper' effect ie she didn't have to deal with wet surfaces to lie on . So try smaller crate and less bedding. Also check pup for uti at vets. Ruby was clear but vet said she had thin bladder lining . A course of cysitaid seemed to help her not have urge to wee.
Biting for us did seem to be a phase connected to over exhaustion and teething . Pushing down just excited her . Withdrawing attention and developing a phrase other than NO sometimes helped her get we didn't like it . A-A is our 'hey stop that before you start' sound.
We too sometimes used the gums in own teeth but not too painful just enough for her to register doing that to our hands was 'uncomfortable' for her .
Making jumping up uncomfortable too and the stop it phrase helped her stop jumping on us ( tho she still wants to clout us with her paw when excited) but outside she is a work in progress as dog people often reinforce her . Not everyone is a dog person though.... My current solution is to call her in as we spot people. She us starting to run back to me and if I judge the people may have issues with her leash her until I ve spoken to them .


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## Kisig (Feb 22, 2014)

Thank you to everyone for all your advice and for responding to my plea. Its so lovely to actually be listened to on a forum after trying a few and not getting much response. Its a relief to know that its not just Leelu showing this behaviour at her age and its pretty normal. I keep hoping that they are just phases and will eventually pass. Ozkar, I have started to use the mop ups and take her outside so will see how that goes, thanks. We already take her out first thing, after meals and pretty much every time we are in the kitchen which I would say about every hour (we work from home as foster carers). Thing is she has no patten and sometimes even when we take her out she will still go inside when brought back in. I havent used the enzyme cleaner so will try that but we have a super steam mop and thought that would do the trick. 
I think the crate weeing has stopped now, we have a fairly large crate but she seems comfortable in it. She had a hiccup a week or so ago when I had washed her bed and put it back in the crate just before her bedtime where it was warm from the dryer..I thought it would be nice for her (I know, I'm a big softie!)..shame she did not see this as she got on it, sniffed it, then did a big wee on it whilst looking at me!..I was speechless! However, no accidents in the crate since then.
Biting is the issue I am at a loss with, I feel I have tried everything and it just does not work. I have tried to get her to find a toy or a blanket but she either has no interest in them and just wants flesh or clothes or she uses the toys or blanket to hide the fact she is going to bite me via the toy/blanket (sneeky eh!?) Lenalou - I know what you mean about the look in the eye when they loose it, Leelu's eyes become really wide and the pupils almost make her eyes go black! but she does not look vicious just full of mischief. I am assuming that she is going through a teenage stage as she can be very stubborn with me at times and even trying to be dominant, thats when I have to show her whose boss until she submits and then i give her a tickle.


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## Lenalou (Nov 27, 2013)

It's nice to know we're not alone too! It's so frustrating when tips that work so well for other pups don't work for us! It makes for a sad situation all round as we'd love Toby to be in with us in the lounge, but after a few minutes of sitting nicely next to us, he goes for an piece of clothing, or skin and is put back in the kitchen again, looking sorry for himself! 

As being outdoors with him is an even bigger problem at the moment, we've decided to put together a little 'outdoor bag' now to take out with us to pre-emt the silly behaviour, with a new frisbee, ball a few treats etc just to try and distract him if he gets 'the look'. Fingers crossed it will work.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Just don't get too frustrated, or give up.
One day you will notice a light come on, and all your hard word work will show.


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## abatt (Jul 10, 2012)

We have been dealing with biting and jumping for months. We thought it stopped at about a year old, but few months later he started at it again. The only thing that helped is to carry a spray bottle/ regular bottle with water in it. The moment he gets into the excited jumping/biting mode he gets a spray or splash of water in his face. This stops him right on his tracks. We only had to do it couple of times, now just showing him the water bottle will completely stop him from jumping and biting.


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## dextersmom (Oct 29, 2013)

Dexter is 9 months and we still have biting issues too. They were at the worst so far around 7 months. A couple things that have helped us... (and keep in mind this is with an adolescent, not a pup!):

The spray bottle was a godsend... at first. Until about 7 months, it snapped him out of a biting frenzy in a second. But as he got older he started testing us a lot more. If the spray bottle wasn't visible, he realized we were fair game. Then when we did get the spray bottle, he figured out he could zoom around and bark/nip at us if he wasn't on leash. So be careful how much you rely on it! I think it would be more effective if we squirted him more often vs. just showed him the bottle. They are smart and will figure out quickly where the water comes from and if you're empty handed. That said, it's still a great tool when our dog walkers, etc. that can't be disciplining him all the time need it. It still works if he's on leash and can't zoom away to escape it.

Except for the spray bottle, there was no correction we could give him that didn't amp him up even more. Redirection also never worked, he'd spit out a toy just to get at us. We eventually got hooked up with a great trainer that fitted Dex with a slip collar and showed us how to use it properly. Now one check with the slip collar is the only correction he needs. I can't tell you how helpful it is to have some sort of correction that actually registers with him!! Before it I couldn't physically move, restrain or correct him at all. I think this went a long way in getting him to respect us instead of the spray bottle. 

We also still do "time outs." Either we leave the room when he's biting or he gets put in the dark puppy-proofed bathroom for a minute or two. It sure ruins his fun but he comes out ready to kiss and make up. And if he doesn't, he goes back in for a minute. Right after he comes out, we start giving him commands to keep him busy and make sure he's snapped out of it. If he hasn't, he goes back in until he comes out and listens. 

It's been a lot of work, but he's improved a ton in the past month. 7-8 months has been our worst time so far, so hang in there. I think it is finally starting to click with him that biting = time out or getting leashed and corrected. Now most of the time when we reach for him when he's biting he quits b/c he realizes he's in trouble and there's no getting out of it. 

Good luck! By far the best thing we did was find a great trainer. We did puppy classes too to teach him commands but our trainer from that just wasn't qualified to address behavioral issues (and I'm pretty sure V's were just too much for her). In hindsight, I wish we'd found her a lot sooner so a lot of the biting got nipped in the bud (pardon the pun!) a lot earlier when he was smaller and easier to manage!


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## Chaos911 (Oct 30, 2013)

Dextersmom. I'm curious if slip collar you refer to is a Martingale collar. I've been looking to try one for walks. Thanks


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## dextersmom (Oct 29, 2013)

@Chaos911 - No, not a martingale collar. Here's the one we use:

http://www.handcraftcollars.com/snaparoundtrainingcollar.aspx

But proper sizing/technique is important. And it should always be at the very top of the neck behind the head. (The right size helps it to stay up there.)

We do use the Easy Walk martingale harness for walks and it's amazing. We started Dex in it at 4 months and he's walked loose leash since then without problems. Now even when he wears his car harness, etc. he walks at heel perfectly. We still use it though because he's got a lot of extra skin around his neck that makes it *really* easy for him to slip a regular collar. I've heard good things about the Easy Walk martingale collar too but I'm always afraid our dog walkers will forget to take it off when they crate him and I worry about him getting hung up on something.


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## Kisig (Feb 22, 2014)

Its such a help to listen to your comments and experiences with your own V,s, we have had another biting episode tonight and even when I got her to listen to me and calm down, she just snapped back all of a sudden, jumped up at me and nipped my stomach...needless to say she ended up in the crate for time out. It seemed to have worked. I may try the spray bottle or even an air bottle which I have been told about. I think like most of you have said, its being patient, keeping up with the corrections and hold out for the phase to pass with maturity. I've never used a slip collar before and definately agree that being trained in how to use it properly is needed. Leelu is not too bad on the lead, she will not walk to heel and we started to use a harness, which has curbed her pulling for some time, but I have noticed she has started pulling again....don;t ask me about how I get the harness on her..with great difficulty and feeling like I have gone ten rounds with Lenox Lewis!! However once we are in the field or in the woods and she is off the lead, she is amazing and such a joy to be with, she listens to me, never strays too far from me and comes to call every time, even in mid play with other dogs! See she does have good points! ;D Fear not I am not about to give up on her, I love her dearly and see this relationship as a journey (I ride horses so know about building relationships with strong willed animals!  )


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## Kisig (Feb 22, 2014)

Hi guys, thought I would give you a quick update after all the good advice given. We have had our first dry day today, no puddles at all!!! I am so pleased with her. I started to mop up and take the kitchen roll outside with her to reinforce. Then I mopped the floor with bio washing powder and she weed on it immediately (twice!!) but has got better in the last few days resulting in todays sucess..happy days. 

The biting and jumping is still happening, however this is reduceing as we have started to use a water spray. I think that keeping constant and patient goes a long way with puppies and sharing experiences very much helps.


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## Kisig (Feb 22, 2014)

Whoops! Spoke too soon. :-X Oh well, just keep trying with her.


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