Hi guys, I have a 6.5 week old puppy (I know I broke the 8 wk rule, too late), and she playbites a lot. They don't hurt too much, but she has a tendency to not let go once she bites. She does have a couple toys that she loves to chew on, but loses interest in them fast if I don't play the toys with her. She loves biting my feet and hand. I'm wondering if it's ok to start correcting her with either shaking the neck method or bitter apple method at this age. Would it destroy her prey drive and affect her mentally later on? Any advice is appreciated, thanks

Andy

At 6.5 wks your pup would be learning what play behavior is acceptable from it`s littermates. So instead you have to teach her. Teaching her that it`s okay to bite your body now could result in big problems later. If she clamps down on any body part squeeze the sides of her jaw to make her let go and end the play. Start it back up with something acceptable for biting. It`s worked for a few friends of mine but other people on this board would know more about how it could affect prey-drive and might know of something better.

A quick, firm pop on the nose with an open palmed hand paired with a loud "ack,ack" or "no" is usually ok for that age. I wouldn't pick the "bitter apple method" or scruff shaking as my first choice of punishment for puppy biting.

Bitter apple doesn't really convey the message clearly. Dogs that get this punishment can become uncomfortable with their mouths touched from the past memory of it being sprayed. Plus, you have to have the bottle around at all times to use it. They figure out they can keep biting if you don't have the spray with you. Too inconvenient.

Scruff shaking displays a severe message. I would use that when he pulls something like food guarding or a dominant behavior instead of puppy play biting. Save it for the big stuff. The pop on the nose should cause enough surprise, pain and convenience to cure it.

Make sure you don't fall into the smack, puppy comes back and bites more, smack again, puppy comes back and bites more... routine. Make it a good pop on the nose so he knows it's not fun and games. If he comes back for more hand biting, end the game by a "soothing/calm down session" by restraining him and soft, slow petting or find a toy and distract him to playing with it instead of your limbs. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Always distract him away from your hands/flesh with his toy or go get one if he comes to you wanting to bite. If he's just too rowdy to even try and behave put him in his crate for a 3-5 min. time out so he can calm down. This helps alot!
Of course you could always wear a bite suit around the house! Good luck with your little man-eating pup! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I would agree - a mouthy 6 -7 week old is normal, shaking is probably not what you want to do at all. I have found that yelping (like a hurt puppy) is a great inhibitor; this is what puppies do with each other and it is a noise your puppy will understand to mean the bite is too hard. I have also seen success with gagging - when the puppy has your hand in its mouth, just gently slide your fingers down the dogs throat. Do not make any negative noise or be rough with this. The dog will pull away from the bite, and get the idea that biting on your hand is strangely uncomfortable; this association should inhibit more hand biting if you are consistent with it. It is important to do this gently and non-agressively - you do not want to choke the dog, damage it's esophagus (sp?), or make it traumatic in any way. You just want to have a vague unpleasentness associated with mouthing your hand. Also note that this only works when the dog is mouthing your hand - do not shove your fingers down the dogs throat when it is chewing on your pantleg, foot, etc.. Besides this and yelping, substitution of an acceptible chew item (always have one with you) whenever the dog starts to chew works, plus praying for 4 - 6 months when the dog outgrows the mouthy stage.

Good luck.

Your telling me you would gag a six week old puppy? How stinkin hard could it possibly bite? put the bitter apple cream on your fingers, don't spray the bottle at them. (6 wks) Don't rough house with the puppy, for example, Don't scrub it real fast with your hands. When it grabs your nasty tasting hands and you stop paying attention to it, it will stop. Puppies like to make you do things. It gives them power. if you take away all the jumping around and pulling your hands back, and make it taste nasty to boot, the biting gets less interesting. No one wants a Dad that makes them gag.LOL

And re-direct the stupid hand biting behavior. Use a Jambierre. ( go ringsport! )

Fer cryin out loud. I am not talking about trying to tickle the dog's stomach lining, just make the mouthing unpleasant to the dog, without a big reaction. Just like bitter apple would make it unpleasant to the dog. Techniques - just like something else we all have... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Substitution (re-direction) is probably the best way, and can lay the foundation for other things.

Yes, it's perfectly acceptable to slide a finger down the pups throat, it's still an aversive that can be used effectively.
No, it's not a good idea to pop the pup on the nose, always correct a dog in the manner that it will understand, i.e. a gentle scruffing or yelping when the bite is too hard. Dogs don't correct other dogs with their feet ("He's got no thumbs Focker!" <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.
Correct the behavior, then redirect it, just make the timing right, don't wait a few minutes to find something appropriate to stick in his mouth, always have something handy to do it quickly.
Part of the problem is that the pup was split from the dam and littermates too early to learn any bite inhibition, something that the human has to teach now. It's a fine line to walk, you must teach the pup that biting is a no-no, but at the same time, he also has to learn a soft mouth is a good thing. I will deliberately stick my fingers in a pups mouth to gauge softness, too hard and I yelp, soft mouth,I say gentle and praise.

Ahhh! The bitter apple cream is a good idea. I always refer to bitter apple as a spray...I have a bad habit of biting my nails and I prefer not to self-disipline. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Gosh that stuff tastes awful!!!!! lol

Imagine how B.S. I was when I first heard about it in the early 80's and sprayed it in my mouth to see if it would work. I was a believer after that!