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she will not quit biting

4K views 23 replies 21 participants last post by  Ontariodogsitter 
#1 ·
My puppy just will not stop biting. It's to the point to where I don't know how much more I can handle.

It is just constant with her. Unless she's half asleep or very tired we can't touch her without her biting and trying to attack us.

We can't walk from room to room because she jumps and hangs on to our clothes. We have tried everything.

We've had her at the vet twice about this.

The vet told us to ignore her when she does it...yeah, doesn't work.

The vet said get a clicker and click it when she does it. They said it will stop her and soon as she stops give her a treat. Yeah...doesn't work.

The vet said get her toys and put toys in her mouth when she does it...yeah...doesn't work.

The vet said get a spray bottle and spray water in her face when she does it...yeah...doesn't work.

The vet said when she bites and does what she does put her in her kennel and tell her bad girl etc..yeah....doesn't work.

The vet said buy spray to spray on our clothes etc..yeah....doesn't work.


She's almost 16 weeks old. I have scars up and down my arms and on my hand from her. So does my girlfriend and roommate.

It's getting way out of hand.

What can we do?
 
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#2 ·
Goldens are called landsharks as puppies for a reason. Good news at 16 weeks you are close to it coming to a end. How much exercise does your puppy get? Does it have chew toys? Do some short training sessions when she gets out of control. Your right at the age teeth are falling out and adult ones are coming in. Give it a few more weeks and it will start to end. Do not scold your puppy.
 
#3 ·
She goes outside a lot. I throw toys for her in the back yard and let her run around the back yard for hours a day.

She has lots of toys. It just seems like no matter how much you play with her or what you do she is always aggressive.

Half way through playing she will quit with her toys and attack us.

I hope it gets better soon. My girlfriend is getting to the point where she wants nothing to do with her
 
#4 ·
You're part of that teething phase! This is all normal and golden puppies are called landsharks for a reason. Please don't use a spray bottle or scold her in her crate. The crate can be used for time outs, yes, but scolding her in the crate will make her associate being scolded with the crate, and she will eventually begin to hate it and hate going into it, which will cause problems in the future.

I think your issue is that you're not being consistent with one method. It's not doing to work right away, you need to consistently stick to one thing until you see improvement. How long have you tried each method before moving on to the next? If you try one method once and give up, you're not going to get any results.

With the clicker training: Have you conditioned her to the clicker first before trying this method with her? You need to first teach her that the clicker means good things are going to happen, and that you like what she did. If you don't condition her to the clicker before doing this, she won't understand that not biting is what you want her to do.

Everyone goes through this. It's okay to be frustrated, but please do not scold your puppy. She's doing something that all puppies go through and you should try to praise her for when she does things you want her to do, NOT scold her for things she does that you don't want her to do.
 
#5 ·
She's not being aggressive. She's being a puppy. Our pup is 17-weeks and she still bites, but now it's softer and easier & not painful. She's a lot more bitey with my kids than any adult- but they do outgrow it. Be consistent and firm and try and ignore when she bites too hard. When we'd Yelp, or yell, or the like our pup would go harder and stronger. We grinned and bared it and turned our heads and she lost interest.

Dogs are quite receptive to emotions. If you're frustrated & upset she's feeding of it. Try and stay calm & patient. I promise she will outgrow it. Some are faster than others.
 
#6 ·
Hey there!

Don't be frustrated, most puppies have a landshark phase.

My sister's chow chow was a complete terror with teeth as a pup.

You can try these out:

1) find a reallly high value chew toy for your puppy to give when she is nipping you. Basically redirect her attention. when she is nipping you, wave the toy in her face, and toss it to her bed/ crate to get her to go inside. it has to be a fun enough game for her so be excited to get her to get the toy instead.

2) As for ignoring her when she bites, you can say 'OWWW' really loudly, then swiftly turning your back towards her and then walking away/leaving the room. Count to 10 till she settles, and then return. I used to do that to my girl when she nipped me. In the 10 counts i was gone she'd start playing with other things etc and her attention wouldnt be on me anymore for nipping. (it might seem like she doesn't give a crap about you leaving, but her puppy brain still loves you, and it'll let her know you don't like the nipping)

3) you can try blowing her face, this one is quite silly, but it's a bit like using the spray bottle. Be careful though as she might thing this is fun and lunge at your face instead!!

im no professional but these are some of the things i did to calm my girl when she was a landshark!!!
 
#7 ·
Agree with others. It's normal and you can help to train her out of it. Clicker training can be very helpful, but there are some subtle and precise ways you need to do it. I think videos are the best:

-Kikopup stop biting

Zak George also has some good YouTube videos on the topic. Hang in there and try to use your frustration to give you the energy you need for positive methods. Punishments might scare her temporarily, but in the end hurt your relationship with her and her trust in you. Good luck and give us some updates.
 
#8 ·
Feel so much for you!

Cedar is also teething (16 weeks) and much more bitey. I can see all his little teeth! I find that I'm time-outing him more than before. Has he got appropriate things to bite? When Cedar was younger, and he wanted to bite me instead of appropriate toy, I would leave him alone. If he is happily biting it, then I praise and cuddle him. If this makes him bite me then again I leave the room. REPEAT a million times lol. He now knows that when I sit down and cuddle him, he's suppose to bite his toy, if he turns to bite me, we stop cuddling.

About all the things you are trying:
Ignore - Best to leave the room, so she can't get to you.
Clicker - I've never tried, but sounds fine
Put toy in mouth - This is fine, just keep going
Spray bottle - Depends how much she hates water on her face
Scolding - Need to say no or bad girl immediately when she's biting then put her away. Then she can see the cause and consequence clearly. My suggestion is to just say no firmly. 'No, no biting, no biting' then straight to kernel so she might learn the words no and no biting.

Please try really hard to not lose your patience, I know it's hard. I still can see all my scars from when cedar was 10 weeks and it's hard to stay calm when GRRR he's just too excited to listen. I found it good advice that it's better to crate them than lose your patience. I also find that the more I raise my voice the more I get upset, so I try to say 'No' and 'No biting' firmly and calmly.
 
#10 ·
You sound really frustrated in your post - and I understand that you are and how difficult and painful it can be when those teeth are constantly coming for you, but I think you need to change your energy.


Your pup isn't trying to be naughty, or annoy you, upset you or hurt you. She is just being a puppy and it sounds like she hasn't got the memo about what is allowed.


She is biting you in the same way that she would bite another dog, she thinks its play and she thinks its fun. If you get frustrated or angry, she will feed off your energy and it could make her worse.


One thing you could try - if she bites your hands / arms, stand up, fold arms and don't look at her or talk to her. There is a good chance that she will try biting your ankles / clothes when you do this and you need to hold your resolve. You need to make yourself as boring as possible when she is doing this - if you can make this biting "game" boring, then eventually she will lose interest. When she stops biting you and moves away to a toy, then you need to give her LOTS of praise, treats, play with her and keep on repeating "good girl" when she plays with you without teeth.
You need lots of positive energy when she is being good and ZERO energy when she is being bad.
This will not stop quickly and you have to keep doing the same thing over and over again - you will be fed up and frustrated but you must stay calm in front of the pup.


Hang in there, it does get better!
 
#11 ·
1) Are you all enrolled in a puppy obedience class yet? If not, my first suggestion is to find a good asap. If you can afford it I also recommend that you locate a trainer who can come work with you in your home a few times and give input on suggestions tailored to your puppy's home situation and your home setup.

2) Puppy play dates: As someone mentioned previously, rough housing with another young dog of a similar breed is a terrific way to teach your puppy bite inhibition (knowing how hard to bite) and also get some of his energy out. Network with everyone you can possibly think of till you find a couple nice young dogs who you can get together with. I've stopped complete strangers in my neighborhood walking Golden Retrievers and made long term friendships with these people. Has worked very well for me. 20 minutes twice a week is enough to make a difference.

3) Someone asked you about amount of exercise. I suggest that you keep a log for about a week of your puppy's daily routine. Just put a notebook on the kitchen counter and keep an honest record of his day. Account for every hour spent sleeping in his crate at night and also while you are at work or busy with chores. How much (to the minute) training time does he get every day? Keep an exact record to the minute of when you come in and out the back door with him from playing and potty breaks.

The reason I'm suggesting this activity log is because (I'm saying this delicately) I suspect you may be over estimating the amount of time your puppy is spending in his activities. I'm making an assumption here that you and your girlfriend have to work full time jobs and you also have lives involving friends and socializing and other responsibilities. It is very, very hard to do all those things and still have a little down time with each other and also give a puppy full time attention. When you said that you "spend hours" playing with your puppy I am thinking it's impossible to do this. Puppies have short attention spans and tend to not play fetch more than a few minutes at a time. Be honest with yourself. Backyard playtime is often not the time spent you think.

My suggestion is to find a place where you can take your puppy off leash hiking or use along line (30 feet of clothesline from walmart is less than $3) and start taking him places where you can keep him moving and make sure he's getting training sessions to work him mentally. 5-10 minutes twice a day learning new things and practicing simple commands will help.

Have a toy handy to stick in his mouth when he is playing and you know bites are coming. Give him a time out in his crate when you can tell he is overstimulated. Just like toddlers they can get wound up and need a break to calm down. Try not to get frustrated, it can be overwhelming but you will get through this. Does he have appropriate chew toys that you give him in his crate? Frozen kong stuffed with yogurt and banana or broth and green beans? Raw beef shank from a butcher? Chewing is an outlet for energy and he does need to be able to do that.

Just throwing out everything I can think of. Some puppies are worse than others, hang in there, you will get through this.
 
#12 ·
Murphy was like that for months. On walks I always had blood running down my arm. He was the sweetest pup that grew horns and was a holy terror. Many people don't agree but I put white vinegar in a small spray bottle and he got a few tastes. Not into his mouth or anywhere near his eyes. After awhile he just saw the bottle and stopped his routine. I did the classes, had a trainer etc. This method was suggested and worked for me. I switched to just water and once again....he saw the bottle and backed off.
I'm sure you'll hear how awful this is but I swear I would never hurt my dog. Not near the eyes...ever!
 
#13 ·
I feel your pain. Ours is 12 weeks and a doll, except for the 50% time she is biting. We have 2 weeks of house guests and it is a little bit stressful....we use the "give her a toy method" and make sure we have those on hand everywhere. Our floor is littered with them Also, the high value toy - a pigs ear to also divert her when it is bad and needs to chew on something hard. When it is at it's worst, typically evenings, we use a crate for timeouts because honesty, she is drawing blood! Last night a visitor dripped blood thru the house into the bathroom on her way to clean up. ugh. She was very understanding but really!
 
#16 ·
Does this ever sound familiar! We had company a week ago. I was like, thanks for coming! Here's a Band Aid! And Trevor is worse in the evening too. We take him out back on our place, run him back and forth, trying to wear him out. Doesn't work. Time. We all need time. :smile2:
 
#14 ·
I had the same issue- my Golden is now 6 mos old, and we went to a trainer, Trainer says " its important to jerk your hand away immediately and make a High Pitched "OUCH" sound. Following that, reoffer your hand slowly and tell them "EASY" . Then praise heavily with a treat and petting when she touches you gently. THIS MUST BE DONE EVERY TIME THEY MOUTH /BITES AT ANYONE, SO THEY KNOW WE DONT WANT THEIR TEETH ON US AT ALL. ITS ONLY BEEN A WEEK AND MY DOG HAS NOW ONLY MOUTHED ME ONCE :) I WAS AT MY ROPE END TOO, I COULDNT EVEN GET UP AND WALK. ALSO WHEN THEY GET EXCITED USE THE WORD SETTLE OR EASY

HOPE THIS WORKS THEY ARE SUCH WONDERFUL DOGS :)
 
#15 ·
We are in similar shoes here with a 13.5 week old so I just wanted to thank everyone for the good ideas. He has gotten a tiny bit better with the mouthing. For awhile, we couldn't play with him at all without being bitten. And while ignoring, turning away, and freezing theoretically sounds like a good idea, we have torn clothes, scars, you name it. Doesn't work for us either. BUT when he is not out of his mind, which is more and more often now, we are seeing his personality finally and he is sweet as sugar. We will get there and this will not last forever. We are trying to keep focused on that. Let us all breathe deep and not let the land sharks win. lol
 
#17 ·
I just looked at this group tonight because we are experience the same frustrations with biting. Our puppy is about 11 weeks and he is relentless. I just keep trying to divert him with toys and that is successful about 25% of the time. Tonight was the first time I put him in a time out, I felt bad, but after reading this it seems like the right thing. We start puppy school in a week and hopefully that will help. We got our last Golden at 4 months of age and he must have been a saint because he never bit us, ever.

We are hanging in there and we try to enjoy his occasional sweet calm moments!

Good luck and I feel your pain, for real, my arms are full of bite marks!!!
 
#20 ·
Our Piper is 10 weeks old and we are in the "land shark" stage. 🦈 She is our 6th Golden, so we know all about this stage but it is so good to read all these posts to remind myself that it is normal, other people have the same issue, it will pass.
We only have 1 Golden at a time, so we tend to forget this land shark stage !!
I agree with @marcyd - that our Piper is the sweetest little gal ever - 50% of the time !!!! LOL
I also read some where once that a Golden puppy owner said "Goldens are the bityest, nastyest puppies that become the BEST dogs ever !! LOL :love:
Good Luck to all of us surviving the LandShark stage !
 
#21 ·
Oh man, I feel your pain! Our little guy is 19 weeks and a part time land shark (recently downgraded from a full-time landshark!) He has improved over the last month, but is still teething pretty bad. Today we were in the yard and he started jumping on me and biting at my jacket and my hands, which he likes to do a few times a week as part of his cardio routine. Usually he won't stop, and I have to physically remove myself and return once he has calmed himself. Today I said "no" and told him to "sit." Usually he takes this as his cue to keep on biting and jumping even harder. To my SHOCK today, for the first time, he actually stopped attacking me and sat! I was so proud. It's the little things. 🤣. I'm told it will end one day!
 
#23 ·
I 100% relate this this! Oudee our little (but growing so fast) guy is 5 months old and just yesterday we said "I think he's less of a landshark!" For a time the biting was so bad we just had to laugh (not to cry from the hand pain😢), kept redirecting and working with your puppy. We are seeing the finish line. Be consistent and stay positive!
 
#24 ·
Very interesting, we just had a discussion on the subject with DH, our girl is 6.5 month and apparently able to exercise some self direction / control,
I brush her every morning after breakfast and she usually holds a little squirrel toy in her mouth, possibly to avoid the temptation to chomp on either me or the brush, but I have watched her closely, when she drops the squirrel she considers my hand for a moment
( teeth at the ready ) and very obviously decides not to bite....
I would like to take credit for it, but it seems that she has made that decision completely on her own, much impressed by this dog :)
 
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