I read the website about puppies biting and being the pack leader. I have a new beagle puppy, 50 days old. I have had him now 2 days and the screaming in the cage is still there… only gets louder now, I will give it more time though. The potty training is doing fine, I am doing what the website said. It actually seems to make much more progress than I thought surprisingly, maybe I am just lucky and taking him out exactly when he needs to go.

Anyways, my problem is that he bites like hell, and LOVES to bite humans more than all of his toys and everything else, maybe because we move, or he wants to know his rank. At first it was cute and playful, now though it seems his teeth are either sharper in the 2 days I have had him or my hand is weaker, and his bites are starting to hurt. I can’t seem to make him stop. I read on the website to be careful not to screw him up by scaring him too much. So I pick him up by the cheeks. Pretty much I am grabbing his head. Is there some technique to this? The way I see it I am just grabbing his head to force him to look at me. His body though is still free and he is looking me in the eyes, sometimes looking around. I tell him boldly “KNOCK IT OFF” or “STOP IT” but he doesn’t seem to care. I grab him immediately after he bites me and sometimes he is still trying to bite me as I grab him. After I am done saying knock it off he doesn’t look very submissive, more like just not caring and then his body wiggles around and he tries to get free and then screams if he really can’t get out of my grips. Sometimes though as soon as I put him down he, like a bullet, jumps at my arm or something to bite again, as if we were just playing a game. He constantly snaps at my face when I get close or my arm when I am petting him. I am not saying he is aggressive, I think I am just doing something wrong here. I tell him “KNOCK IT OFF” pretty firmly, should I be more firm, like anger? Should I make it so he can’t move his body and he feels locked? As it is he can’t move his head, I hold him in place, and I have tried this maybe 10 times and it doesn’t do anything, maybe 2 times he slipped free on accident and then I pick him back up but I realize he probably forgot what he had even done by now so I just put him back down. Also, do I have to stop when he starts squealing? He also squeals when he reaches the end of his leash when we are out, and he tries to wiggle free from that too. It’s weird though, when we go outside at night and he can hear the cars and motorbikes he all of a sudden is very shy and timid and will hide between my legs.

I don’t know how many tries at disciplining him I get before he just blows everything off. If I fail the first times for being soft will it ruin him forever? Or is it better to be too soft than to be too hard? So I can just keep retrying until I finally get it firm enough, each time raising my firmness a little bit?

Tyler

Try redirecting all that mouthy energy onto a puppy rag or a ball.

Hopefully you can convince him that they're as interesting as your hands.

(In his mind, all those corrections are just part of the game.)

When my pup was that age I would try redirecting and if that didn't work I would remove myself from the game, either by turning my back on him, or standing perfectly still and ignoring all of the mouthing and jumping, or leaving the room for a minute.
This helped him get the idea that when he was rough with me I didn't want to play anymore.

Corrections like scruffing or holding him down only added fuel to the fire.

If all else failed putting him in his crate for a few minutes with a kong or treat ball so I could get a break always worked.

I also didn't wrestle and play rough with him until he was a little older and understood No bite!

Instead I would roll a ball on the floor, or play a little tug with a rag or a roap.

He is also not to little to start doing very short upbeat marker training sessions several times a day to teach him things like Sit, and down.

Mental stimulation is just as important as physical and will help wear him out.

I had a pup that was afraid of nigh time too.
The first time we took him camping during the day he was in puppy heaven but the minute the sun went down he was velcro puppy and wanted to on my lap or held the entire time.

He outgrew it with no problem with more experience, confidence and exposure to the world.

Ok, a friend told me I should hit him with a rolled up newspaper when he bites. Supposedly it won't hurt him but he won't like the sound and so it will scare him. Anyone would advise that?

 Quote: Tyler Buth

Ok, a friend told me I should hit him with a rolled up newspaper when he bites. Supposedly it won't hurt him but he won't like the sound and so it will scare him. Anyone would advise that?

Sorry, but your friend is an idiot...it will hurt him and it will scare him. Is that how you want to start your relationship with your pup?

 Quote: Tyler Buth

Ok, a friend told me I should hit him with a rolled up newspaper when he bites. Supposedly it won't hurt him but he won't like the sound and so it will scare him. Anyone would advise that?

omg...please don't ask this particular friend any more questions concerning your puppy.
You don't want to SCARE a puppy into doing ANYTHING!!! EVER.

Do me a favour? Hit your friend with a rolled up newspaper.

Re-directing will usually work. There is something out there that will interest him more than your hands or body parts, it just takes some time to find it, thats all.
If it were me, I would get a knong and put some tasty treats inside and use that ONLY to re-direct for the biting, don't use it at any other times.
The item used for re-directing has to be something (IMO) that is only used for that, and the pup doesn't have access to it at any other time. That way the item doens't get boring to him.

Wendy

Why did the breeder let the puppy go at 6 wks old? Correcting a 50 day old puppy is stupid. A 6 wk old puppy is a baby and i can't believe the biting is as bad as you say. Is this post a trolling thing...................

http://leerburg.com/puppybiting.htm

Someone told you to hit a 50-day-old baby pup?

 Quote: Tyler Buth

Ok, a friend told me I should hit him with a rolled up newspaper when he bites..... Anyone would advise that?

NO.

here are some links to materials that will help you out. You can also search the website on puppy biting.

http://leerburg.com/puppygroundwork.htm

http://leerburg.com/308.htm

http://leerburg.com/120.htm

Hitting a dog with a newspaper will probably work perfectly to stop biting.

It will also be successful in stopping the dog from exploring, trusting you, being confident in his environment and willing to try new things.

If you want a pup that acts like an abused spouse, shrinking and cringing every time you raise your voice or wave your hand, terrified of you... I highly recommend using a newspaper on him.

But I suspect, you want a happy pup, so you'll try the other advice you've received.

Your friend has probably not tried another method.
Once you get your pup to stop without abusing him, you should show him how you did it. So his future dogs can be as happy, healthy and well-adjusted as your puppy is going to be.