Right on schedule...need a new technique

    • Gold Top Dog

    Right on schedule...need a new technique

     Hey all,

    So I have an 8 week old merle pomeranian named Bentley, who my fiancee has nick named genghis kahn and little destroyer haha...

    Anyway, 

    This puppy is a little fireball of energy and is quite comical to watch...but we are having an issue....

    He's biting just as all puppies do his age, but when we use the "eh eh" he just goes in to bite harder, and if we ignore him he doesn't really get the message.  We've also set up a "time out pen" for him when he gets into his little biting fits...

    Additionally, we yelp when he bites...
    The downside is none of this is even coming close to deterring him...and I'm not sure that the short 2 second walk to the time out pen is helping him make the connection.
    If yelping, time out, ignoring him (including turning our bodies fully away from him) and "eh eh" don't work, what's left to try?
    I know he's right on schedule developmentally I just want to know if there are other ways we can put an end to this behavior.

    I will say, he doesn't react at all to us making loud sounds to interrupt him from doing anything...so I'm not sure a shaker can would help at all either.

    Thanks for the help! -new pom mom

    • Gold Top Dog

     I would leave the room. He bites and you leave, he should connect with that situation really quick, Also, the yelping could actually escalate his excitement.

    Edit to add: I didn't know poms came in merle. Pictures? :)

    • Gold Top Dog

     The hard thing about punishment is that it really needs to happen the moment pup even thinks about chomping on you. Failing that, punishment the moment his teeth touch you should work.

    Another hard thing about punishment is you don't always know if it will be a punishment at all. Our puppy Erik is a pretty intense biter as well, but fancy footwork to try to avoid his teeth just turns it into a fun game, trying to push him away with hands or feet turns it into a fun game, grumping at him makes him bite you harder just because he's an uppity little turd sometimes, and while crying out does make him remember that you're not into getting your legs and ankles shredded and the other dog has thick fur and a gentler disposition, it didn't stop him from biting the first time. 

    The good news is that with lots of yelping he is slooooowly reigning the biting in. The bad news is he still bites, only now he only does it when he's really excited, so he typically forgets about the whole tender skin thing and causes pain. We have a few things up our sleeves, though. I have resorted to carrying him when I have bare legs and I KNOW he's going to hammer me because he's got the 7am crazies and is tearing around the house like a maniac. But even in this state, he will sit if asked because we have really driven that home as something to do whenever he wants something. So when I just know he's going to bite me, I can ask for a sit and he'll do that instead. At this point I have a few seconds to either grab something he can bite on, or start walking reeeeeeally slowly to the nearest toy. If I move slowly it doesn't trigger the uncontrollable desire he has to grab whatever's moving and stop it. 

    He respects the yelp, but it's a reaction thing rather than a preventative thing. I like redirecting his teeth onto a toy because then he can bite as hard as he likes and I can walk as fast as I like. I like sits because it'll stop him before he chomps on me. I like asking for sits then tossing him a toy because it completely interrupts the "I'm gonna grab that moving ankle and BITE IT!" obsession and turns it into "Yay, chase and kill toy!" and often he'll run off grab the toy, shaking the living daylights out of it, and then bring it back to me for tug and/or more fetch. Biting me forgotten.

    Don't know if any of that will help you, but sometimes you've got to be a bit proactive and distracting puppies is fun and easy. 

    • Gold Top Dog

    Here are some pictures of him, he's an AKC registered puppy, and totally adorable! I'm in love haha....

    Anyway...heeeeere's BENTLEY!

     

    • Gold Top Dog

    You got a very cute little pup there!

    • Gold Top Dog

     Thanks so much! We love him!

    • Gold Top Dog

    What an adorable little shark...hehe.  Big Smile

    Heidi was very mouthy when she was little too.  I tried every method known to WOman.  I tried to always have a toy in reach to redirect which helped.  Saying "ouch" and giving her the evil eye helped the first couple of times.  But for the most part, whatever I did, she just thought it was big fun.  Turning around, walking away and ignoring helped as she got a bit older.  But, at 8 weeks, they can be (no offense please)...just mindless little mouth monsters.  Big Smile

    If you can always have a toy or kibble on hand, you could try to work on the essential OB stuff too.  Redirect his little brain to doing something else....like "sit."  Wear appropriate clothes....to protect your skin until he gets to a point where he starts to understand what you are trying to teach him wrt mouthyness.

    This too shall pass; I promise.

     

    • Gold Top Dog

    When puppies get too bitey with me, the next time they chomp down I press my thumb against the roof of their mouth or the bottom, under the tongue.  Then they spit me out like "ah!  what was that?"  Sometimes the puppy is just too over-stimulated in general an that's why they are biting.  If this is the case, I do some calming and restraint exercises with the puppy, stroking their body with long, hard strokes or rubbing their nose if they like that (my dog is now 75lbs and I still calm him by holding his head under his chin in one hand and stroking his muzzle or just gently holding my hand there with my other hand....the only difference is that when he was a pup I could fit his whole body in my left hand and stroke down his head and back, now he is so big I am holding and stroking his head and face only, but after a few strokes his muscles relax and his head becomes heavy in my hand).

    • Gold Top Dog

     All great ideas. Thank you!

    oh and no the mouthy monster comment is right on target for this little guy lol....

    • Gold Top Dog

     Absolutely the BEST thing for small puppies, so that they learn to inhibit their bite, is to have them play with other puppies.  Some trainers are doing "petite pal" or similar classes (ours is called Tiny Tykes) so that these tiny pups can get the same interactions early that other puppies get.  The optimal socialization period for puppies is from 8-12 weeks, 16 at the outside, so call around to find a class now.   The suggestion about ignoring the pup and leaving him in his own dust when he bites is good.  If you use aggressive techniques, some puppies react badly later on.  He would learn from litter mates or pals that when he bites down too hard, the play stops, so he will learn *gradually* to nip less hard, and, finally, not to nip at all.

    http://www.clickertraining.com/node/168