# she's all teeth!



## dmp (Jan 23, 2012)

When our pup isn't sleeping, she's super ADHD - going mach 7 everywhere. And...she's all teeth, all the time. I expected some of this behaviour, but wasn't prepared for this. Everything is fair game; she doesn't know 'no bite' after, conservative estimate here, 1000 uses. 

Part of the problem; she's on a "reduced jumping, running - if you can!" order from the vet. Hasn't stopped her much, but we try to avoid games with her running around yard. We focus more on 'find it!' type. Anywho - how long does this phase last? She can't sit with anybody for any amount of time longer than about 2 seconds before she's trying to nibble their arms, or face!


----------



## ryker (Apr 14, 2012)

I'm no an expert, just a newbie myself with a 13 week old but the only thing that has helped for us is to give him a no bite warning, stop playing and then if it continues we isolate him by himself in the laundry room (totally safe!) for 30-60 seconds. He's slowly getting it.

We also have major biting/nipping/grumpiness issues when he is tired. He won't calm himself down. So I pick him up and hold him against my chest where he can't move his legs or bite until he stops struggling and calms down. My vet gave me that advice and it's really helped.


----------



## datacan (May 15, 2011)

Breeder took the new born pups one by one in her lap and kept putting her fingers in their mouth to help them develop a soft mouth. 

We put on soft, all leather work gloves (Home Depot) and did the same thing. Sam's teeth were very sharp and the gloves kept our fingers safe. Long and tedious process but worked. 

Every time puppy bit we yelped as if in pain. If he became too excited and kept chewing our fingers we yelped and crawled away.... just like his litter mates would do. 

Matter of fact he's 14 months and I still place my hand in his mouth form time to time. And yelp, of course.


ADHD ;D we were shocked as well but soon got used. Ours slept a lot if allowed to wind down.


----------



## veifera (Apr 25, 2012)

I have the same problem with biting and nipping, especially in the morning before the first feeding and at any time when she gets carried away with play. 

What I do is completely ignore my puppy in the morning after we return from the first potty break and until I feed her. It seems to calm her down quite a lot. In the first days, the more attention I tried to give her, the more she was trying to bite and bark. I started doing the ignoring thing before each of the three feedings in the last couple of days and it's really working for me.

The second thing I do is growl. Like an annoyed adult dog (my best imitation, of course). It works very well. In the beginning, I had to do it very loudly. Now I can be quite mild. Then I immediately stick the teething toy in her mouth. 

I tried "Ouch" with every intonation and volume level and it's not working for me at all.


----------



## Suliko (Sep 17, 2011)

* dmp*, looks like you have your hands full...of puppy teeth : Our oldest was a horrible nipper/biter. No one could hold her or rub her belly - she was always on the go...NONSTOP...till she was about 7 months. The only thing that helped us was to redirect, redirect, redirect. Every time her teeth touched our skin, we said "eeh-eeh" (our NO) and a bully stick, pig ear, marrow bone, chewy toy, nylabone, cow hooves. We also kept her in small spaces, because she would just chew on anything in her way. The good news is - it too shall pass. The bad - it will take some time! I was a very grumpy woman for a while ;D


----------



## dmp (Jan 23, 2012)

Thanks folks - I'm going to try parts of all of those. 

Course, after I made this post, I went back to her and she was gentle as a lamb. 

We'll keep marching!


----------



## adrino (Mar 31, 2012)

I know squeaky toys are extremely annoying but I think it worked for us. These soft toys help her learn how much is too much. Whenever you have these attacks try to put a soft toy in Her mouth. This would redirect it and teach her what's ok to bite and what's not. Rubbery rings are Elza's favourite toys right now, you could try that too. 
At the end it will worth it! :


----------



## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

dmp Normally a tired puppy is a good puppy. With her on restricted exercise she going to be more mouthy. Just stay calm and keep working with her.


----------



## dmp (Jan 23, 2012)

Thanks again - 

Pup has a squeaky chicken and pig; she seems to go for the plush sleeping blanket/pig-thing. She likes towels too. 

We re-direct instantly; however find ourselves re-directing every two seconds. Until her next vet appointment tuesday, we'll work to play her in the kennel, as opposed to outdoors where she'd want more sprinting and what-not.

Day by day, right?  Thanks guys.


----------



## dmp (Jan 23, 2012)

Today I sat with Aoife for awhile. She wanted my fingers. She'd swallow them, and almost felt like she was nursing on them. She was very gentle; as long as I let her 'chew' a finger she sat still and loving. When I pulled them away she got nervous. I didn't let her for more than a few minutes - but i wanted to see what she's been wanting to DO with her nipping towards hands. Maybe that's it?


----------



## finch (Sep 19, 2011)

I've been told Vizsla's are very mouthy dogs and my V-mix, Finch, is the same. She is a year old now and still every morning she will climb into bed with me and "chew" on my fingers. She is very soft and never bites them, but she seems to take comfort in a little gentle gnawing, so I let her do it.


As a puppy when she was nipping too hard, the only thing that worked to get her attention was a gentle shake of a can of coins. Yipping, ignoring her or leaving the room didn't seem to work. The coins was the last thing we tried b/c I didn't want to make her fearful of a noise, but within one day, she didn't nip hard anymore. She immediately understood she needed to stop but she never seemed to act scared of the sound or can.


----------



## pippa31 (Aug 2, 2011)

Agreed.

Pippa (11 months on Monday!) is also very mouthy. When she is nervous, she'd prefer to take our hand in our mouth. She NEVER bites down, but it seems to soothe her to have it there. I've heard a lot of differing opinions about this and I realize it makes sense to teach her not to do this (if you have kids, they might not understand, etc.), but for now, we allow it. She's incredibly gentle and we don't mind.

Time-outs, as in leaving the room and yelping when Pippa bit, helped us the most. And by helped us, I mean it gave me 20 seconds to regroup and take a deep breath!! 

(P.S. She nipped constantly when she was a puppy until about 16 weeks, maybe a bit longer. Reading these posts bring me right back. It's an incredibly trying time. Just hang in there...it doesn't feel like anything is working, but consistency does pay off.  )


----------

