10 week old puppy biting

    • Puppy

    10 week old puppy biting

    Anyone have any advice how to stop this behavior. She is a 10 week old bull terrier.
     
    Whenever I or anyone else tries to pet her, hold her or sit down, all she wants to do is bite. I can't play with her or enjoy her company, I can't even pet her because all she wants to do is bite my hands or jump in my faces and try to bite. I'm not sure if she thinks she's playing when she does it or she just doesn't like hands.  Right now when she bites I show her toys to bite on but she would rather bite my hands even with the toy in my hand. I also bought some of that bitter apple spray and put on my hands to keep her from biting and it doesn't even phase her.
     
    Please help us!
    Maggy and Tammy in Indiana
    • Gold Top Dog
    this is typical, normal puppy behavior. she's trying to play with you. Puppies play with other puppies by mouthing them. You need to come up with some appropriate ways to play with her-- get her to mouth a toy instead of you. If you are playing with a toy, and she misses and hits human flesh, stop the game instantly for a few minutes. She'll catch on quickly that if she wants the game to continue she must only bite toys, not humans.
    She may be too wound up to accept quiet activities like petting and being held right now, perhaps reserve such things for times after she's played hard and is tired.
    If she does bite you, yelp loudly and withdraw attention as in stop moving and don't look at her for a few seconds.
    The biting will not go away overnight so don't be discourage, just keep at it. You will see a gradual decline in how hard and how often she bites at you.
    • Gold Top Dog
    This is normal puppy behaviour.  Bull terriers have a high pain threshold and as such they can bite quite hard on their siblings and mother with no reaction.  IME this makes them (generally speaking, there are exceptions) a bit retarded when it comes to bite inhibition when compared to other pups at the same stage of development.  I've had a bull terrier so I know EXACTLY where you are coming from on this one, believe me I can empathize.

    Firstly, make sure you always have an appropriate chew to hand to pre-empt any mouthing if possible.  At the start of any interaction, stick a chewie in his mouth!  Keep his jaws busy in that while you hold the other end of it gently and praise him and pet him.  This reinforces "this is a good thing to chew on" and it also makes the dog relaxed about you being around when he has chews and things, he gets used to it early and doesn't guard.

    Second, when his teeth touch your skin, yelp OUCH and have that as a pre-arranged signal for EVERYONE in the room to get up and leave, shut the door leaving him behind.  Wait 30 secs or so and go back in, ignore him completely for a few minutes and wait until he is visibly calm before attempting to interact to set him up for success.  (PLUS, if he only gets attention for being calm, he will be calm more often and a calm dog is easier to work with.)  Each time you leave the room, make it for a bit longer.  Increase his wee-breaks and make sure anything forbidden is out of reach to minimise accidents during this time.

    This is what we did and it worked but you HAVE to be consistent and more determined than a bull terrier!
    • Gold Top Dog
    My Now Seven Month old rottweiler pup loves doing that. I wish i can stop it too but this is normal behavior. If u want it to stop do what mudpuppy does i think he or she is one of them lol!