March 10, 2009

How do i get my Yorkie to stop bitting my hands?

My 10 week old Yorkie keeps bitting my hands and will chase your feet and bite them. It really hurts and i dont want her to grow up thinking its ok. What should i do?

Puppies bite at our hands and clothing because that is the way that puppies like to play. It is fun, and they enjoy our attention. They particularly like it if we try to fight them off of us. Have you ever seen two or more puppies playing? They like to fight each other with their mouths and paws.

Normally, other puppies teach our puppy not to bite too hard by squealing in pain. When we take our puppy from the litter, these other puppies aren't around to teach proper bite inhibition any more. Some people advise trying to emulate a 'puppy squeal' to discourage biting too hard.

I don't know why, but people just don't seem to be very convincing with their squeals, so I don't recommend it as a training technique. What's more, some puppies seem to enjoy it when their human squeals and will get more excited, resulting in more biting. This is obviously not what we want puppy to do! If you can squeal and your puppy immediately stops biting, then this is an acceptable technique. Monitor the behavior long-term, though, to make sure biting too hard is decreasing.

A different, yet highly effective aproach is to say 'ouch' in a neutral tone of voice (not loud, not high-pitched and not angry) then walk out of the room, shutting the door behind you for 30 seconds. This marks the exact behavior you are trying to punish, then gives a time-out as a consequence.

It may take puppy a little while to figure out the link between his biting and the time-out, but the marker will make it clearer. It is important to say 'ouch' in a neutral tone of voice, and say it exactly at the moment that puppy bites too hard.

Notice that I said "exactly at the moment that puppy bites too hard"? We don't want to discourage young puppies from biting altogether, this would be bite prohibition. We want to teach puppies to inhibit their bite.

my note- don't worry, the biting will stop eventually. I have two French Bulldogs and when they were puppies, they bit my hands all the time too. It stopped in few months, thankk g-d.

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Comments on How do i get my Yorkie to stop bitting my hands? »

March 5, 2009

Sean K @ 6:35 pm

Non humain
get a electric color
they work.
References :

Reece Braveheart Aussies @ 6:35 pm

When she mouths you take her lip and pinch it against her teeth and tell her No bite! Do it every time and she'll stop biting.
References :

Samantha S @ 6:37 pm

Puppies bite at our hands and clothing because that is the way that puppies like to play. It is fun, and they enjoy our attention. They particularly like it if we try to fight them off of us. Have you ever seen two or more puppies playing? They like to fight each other with their mouths and paws.

Normally, other puppies teach our puppy not to bite too hard by squealing in pain. When we take our puppy from the litter, these other puppies aren't around to teach proper bite inhibition any more. Some people advise trying to emulate a 'puppy squeal' to discourage biting too hard.

I don't know why, but people just don't seem to be very convincing with their squeals, so I don't recommend it as a training technique. What's more, some puppies seem to enjoy it when their human squeals and will get more excited, resulting in more biting. This is obviously not what we want puppy to do! If you can squeal and your puppy immediately stops biting, then this is an acceptable technique. Monitor the behavior long-term, though, to make sure biting too hard is decreasing.

A different, yet highly effective aproach is to say 'ouch' in a neutral tone of voice (not loud, not high-pitched and not angry) then walk out of the room, shutting the door behind you for 30 seconds. This marks the exact behavior you are trying to punish, then gives a time-out as a consequence.

It may take puppy a little while to figure out the link between his biting and the time-out, but the marker will make it clearer. It is important to say 'ouch' in a neutral tone of voice, and say it exactly at the moment that puppy bites too hard.

Notice that I said "exactly at the moment that puppy bites too hard"? We don't want to discourage young puppies from biting altogether, this would be bite prohibition. We want to teach puppies to inhibit their bite.

my note- don't worry, the biting will stop eventually. I have two French Bulldogs and when they were puppies, they bit my hands all the time too. It stopped in few months, thankk g-d.
References :
http://ezinearticles.com/?Ouch!-My-Puppy-Dog-is-Biting-My-Hands-and-Clothes&id=244923

tyler @ 6:38 pm

try putting something sour on your hand or something you know it hates the taste of it might work
References :

megan @ 6:38 pm

all puppies do it.
they usually eventually stop.

but you need to start training it anyways.
References :

n8smom96 @ 6:48 pm

Puppies play this way, but you need to teach a dog from the beginning and 10 weeks is not too young to teach her not to bite people even when playing. When she starts to nip at you, give her a firm no and give her a toy that she is allowed to chew on. When she starts to chew on the toy, praise her and give her a treat. The positive reinforcement will teach her to bite the things she is allowed to. Be firm, do this every time she bites you. She will learn the correct behavior. Don't sway from it though and play with her where you allow her to nip. This will only give her mixed messages. I have done this for a 2 year old pup that was a bad biter when he was younger, and he hasn't bitten any of us in play for over a year now.
References :

April 17, 2009

Yorkie in Cali @ 6:09 pm

I agree with the no mixed messages thing. I do not allow my 11 month old male to bite me, but my husband does allow the pup to bite him. I started pairing my "no" with another word to let the pup know exactly what I do not want. So instead of hearing "no" all the time for everything, he hears "no bites" from me when he goes for my toes. He now goes to get a toy. "no begging" we are still working on. Good luck!

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