# Puppy play biting, small children and citrus sprays



## jibosan (May 11, 2015)

Hi folks, awesome forum, have been reading great threads and responses all week! 

We just got our little Buster last week, he's now almost 9 weeks old. Good news is that Buster is basically housebroken and crate trained in the week we've got him. We are very excited about this. 

Our problems revolve around play biting and our 3 small children. We have an 7 year old and twin 3 year old girls, and Buster excitedly wants to play with them all, but ends up play biting and it hurts the kids (and also mom and dad!!) because his teeth are so new and sharp. 

We have been trying the suggestions from this forum -- yell "OUCH" and stop playing, even designated a "time-out" room where we will restrict him for 2-3 minutes to show him biting is NOT ok. We are unsure if bite inhibition is going to work with kids so small, or is biting something we can completely train Buster out of? 

We are considering using citrus based sprays to deter Buster from biting, but are concerned about using it on human skin....especially the hands that literally feed him.

Any advice from our esteemed Vizsla forum buddies here would be much appreciated!


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## dextersmom (Oct 29, 2013)

Try a squirt bottle full of water, set on stream. It tends to just snap them out of biting mode. Other people use vinegar or lemon juice in a spray bottle and shoot it in their mouths when they go to bite (but my aim has never been that good ). And continue with the "ouch" yelping. Lots of stuffed animals to redirect him with too might help.

It really helps if there's another dog for the puppy to take out all the play biting on - when his shots are done, maybe try to set up some play dates for him with other friendly dogs.

You could also try having him wear a light leash in the house. You can step on the leash when he goes to jump up and bite. But I would only do that if he's supervised... you wouldn't want the leash to get snagged or hung up on something!


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## jibosan (May 11, 2015)

Thank you so much for responding, dextersmom! 

We are hesitant to use any leash type restraint just yet because I have read that puppy neck ligaments are too tender at this early stage for that....but thanks for suggesting a spray bottle set to stream. We will start with just water and work our way up from there. We plan on daily dog park walks once he finishes his third set of shots in a month, so we're hoping that will help Buster get his mischief out of the way in the mornings. 

Looking forward to years of interaction with this community!


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## toadnmeme (Jun 7, 2014)

dextersmom said:


> Try a squirt bottle full of water, set on stream. It tends to just snap them out of biting mode. Other people use vinegar or lemon juice in a spray bottle and shoot it in their mouths when they go to bite (but my aim has never been that good ). And continue with the "ouch" yelping. Lots of stuffed animals to redirect him with too might help.


I second the squirt bottle advice! Worked really well on our dogs. Hang in there, eventually he will wise up and learn to put something in his mouth when he wants to play with the kids. Make sure to have lots of options around for this. To encourage this, when you say no bite, grab a toy and give it to him. They are smart and will catch on eventually. It's also a good time to teach the leave it and drop it commands too. 

It will pass! I would also say just make sure your kids feel "protected" from the shark attacks. I had to intervene and supervise all through the shark attack phase with my kids and older one so there wasn't bad feelings and fear developing between my kids and puppy or my kids hurting the puppy protecting themselves. Our second puppy has been a dream because he has the older one to shark attack, lol! 

Congratulations and enjoy the rest of puppyhood, it goes by SUPER fast


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Mine learn to wear a short light weight rope attached to their collar when running around the house. Its just easier to snag them when they get riled up. Dextersmom is correct, never leave them unsupervised with it on. Your going to have to be in the same room, and the pup/kids have your full attention every time they interact with each other. 
If you can't be in the same room put the puppy up. You can use his crate, and baby gates to keep them separated, and safe. Kids and puppies both have short attention spans, so your going to have your hands full for the next two months. The shark attacks should start to become less at that stage, if you've been vigilant. 


If you search online you can find puppy collars that are a little wider. I try and stay away from the narrow ones.


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## Watson (Sep 17, 2012)

I would avoid spray bottles until he's a little bit older - 9 weeks is really still a baby! If you want to teach bite inhibition, then biting is unfortunately part of that. When he starts biting, yell "OUCH" and either put him in his crate (if he has one), or leave the room so he has no access to you/kids for a minute or so. Resume play, and if he starts biting again, repeat. Always have toys to offer him instead of your hands/arms/shirts/legs etc!


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

That's a real cute picture of Buster!! ;D ;D ;D

About the puppy play biting... You've already received some good advice. I just want to assure you that whatever you do (or don't do), this too shall pass. It's perfectly normal behavior. He won't be a puppy forever, and adult dogs don't do that.


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## chilithevizsla (Apr 2, 2014)

Do not use spray bottles, negative reinforcement often has behavioural fall outs meaning it'll maybe fix one problem but may cause another problem out of the fear of spray bottles.
This is a common problem with vizsla puppies but it's not acceptable and it should not just be waited out.
You need to redirect the dog to more suitable outlets.
I'd recommend playing tug, fetch games and nose work for games to wear him out and then mental games to finish tiring him out.
puppies get over tired very easily and tend to get bitey at this point as they're over threshold so have little control over their actions. You need to teach your dog an off switch.

I do this by doing some training, sits, lay down, paw etc and then when they seem tired get them to go to a crate or bed and slowly feed him treats, he'll eventually fall asleep because this type of training is relaxing rather than stimulating like exercise and running around. The sooner you teach this the sooner the shark biting will stop and the better at settling your dog will get.

As for children, it's very hard because they give off a lot of exciting signals. I would work on calm behaviors with them around, leash him and if he looks at them treat, if he looks at them and then at you, treat. Any behavior that is cam needs rewarding. Any attempt to run towards them or getting over excited, get him to turn away and when he follows you treat.

Id restrict any close games with your kids, get them to do fetch and nose work by throwing easy to find treats on the ground, this takes the fun away from them so he's less likely to get physical with them and mental work really tires them out 3x more than physical.

Your puppy is young and isn't meaning anything it's doing, stay strong and if you have any concerns ask, I can gaurentee you'll never find a problem one of us hasn't been through!


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## Spy Car (Sep 3, 2014)

Gently fold the puppy's lips under its sharp little teeth, and let it chew. When it does it will "bite" itself (and learn the lesson that those teeth hurt). It will not stop the behavior immediately, but it will help develop a very soft mouth, which is a very valuable thing for a young dog to learn.

This time is an opportunity to teach and learn. Use it wisely.

Bill


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I guess its possible, but I've never had a pup that was scared of a spray bottle. I've had a couple of them really like it.


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## chilithevizsla (Apr 2, 2014)

Then surely it'll either not work or get them more excited which you don't want to do when theyre already over threshold.

They may be fine with just water as a game but if it has a harsh taste or is painful then that's when the fall outs will occur. There's just simply better ways to deal with this problem that teaches the puppy life skills instead of being scared of things


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## jibosan (May 11, 2015)

Thanks everyone for all the wise responses -- we are opting not to spray because Buster is quite well behaved and we don't want to skew his behavior just because he's teething and young. Appreciate the restraint cautioned here on the thread. We will try to drain his energy with love and play time instead! We will check back into this thread and let you good folks know how we did. Cheers!


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