It's funny, my Thor was never really like this, but now that he's older, he's made a big habit out of it!

Whenever I go to pat him on the head or just try patting or scratching him in general, he always tries to bite, not in an aggressive or snappy way, so obviously he thinks it's a game, but he does tend to bite down harder. Another reason this is an issue, is because he loves to bite our 13 year old Staff on the back of the neck or her legs, and this just leads to a grudge match.

Not really sure what the best course of action would be as it's only bee the last few months he's been really doing it (he's 10 months old now!), generally I tell him 'No' in a stern tone when he does that, or i'll just walk away and shut the gate behind me and leave him alone, but it's not really affecting him in any way.

I'll be looking into taking him to some sort of obedience training, but anything I could do, I would be grateful for! Any advice?

This is what I did. Not saying it's the best way to go about it, but it's what worked with me.

When I got Pippa at 6 months she was extremely mouthy. She nipped and got very rough when we were playing.
After trying other, kinder methods, I finally started grabbing her muzzle closed and saying "NO" in a low, growly voice.

It worked, but I wouldn't suggest it if the dog is fearful or skittish.

I've also heard of people grabbing the lower jaw and pushing the tongue down with your thumb. Works for some, but Pippa didn't seem to mind it.

katiesham wrote:

This is what I did. Not saying it's the best way to go about it, but it's what worked with me.

When I got Pippa at 6 months she was extremely mouthy. She nipped and got very rough when we were playing.
After trying other, kinder methods, I finally started grabbing her muzzle closed and saying "NO" in a low, growly voice.

It worked, but I wouldn't suggest it if the dog is fearful or skittish.

I've also heard of people grabbing the lower jaw and pushing the tongue down with your thumb. Works for some, but Pippa didn't seem to mind it.

I've tried doing this with Thor, both the tongue method and grabbing his muzzle, but as soon as I've released him, he goes back to doing it again, so I can only assume he thinks it's a game!

Funnily enough, my father has 0 issues with the biting, he's NEVER tried biting him, so I'm beginning to think it could be an authority issue?

Could be. Pippa never nips at my dad, but is pretty mouthy with me.

I really don't know what else to suggest! Maybe someone else will chime in with a brilliant suggestion?

Otherwise I'd just say stick with it and make it really boring when he starts. Just ignore him until he calms down? Sorry I couldn't be of more help!

Can someone suggest something for when you are out on walks and your puppy is biting like a fiend? Lola is 4.5 months and yelping excites her, holding her jaw works for a few seconds, saying "No" or "ouch" don't work. She has amnesia for all commands if we are outside except from time to time "sit" and "come". She is a relentless biter of both my husband and myself. No pattern. No triggers like dogs. Loose leash....extended leash...no difference. We've sprayed water, vinegar and water...she was licking it last time
I've read a lot of biting posts but I don't have access to time out outdoors. I'm at a loss.
So far 2 ruined coats. Any ideas?

TIA

I have the same problem with Mishka and biting outdoors. I haven't found a solution yet. I do grab his muzzle and tell him no but he just thinks its a game. He's already managed to out holes in a few garments from his biting.clothes. :/

simplify wrote:

I have the same problem with Mishka and biting outdoors. I haven't found a solution yet. I do grab his muzzle and tell him no but he just thinks its a game. He's already managed to out holes in a few garments from his biting.clothes. :/

willow put a hole in my pajama pants yesterday. she also thinks its a game when i try to grab her muzzle. she is starting to back up quicker than i am when i reach for it.

My Micole is almost 3 months old, she had all the same problems. This worked for me... Biting me on my legs when i walked and turned away from her, I would kick my feet up behind me to make her keep her distance away from me so she wouldn't bit me. Trying not to actually kick her in the face. You got to be kinda careful of that. Micole LOVES to play rough. I have an older dog he is about 6 and the way she plays he doesn't get she is a puppy and it can get kinda bad. She is the instigator. I put her up. I have a baby gate and I lock her up in the kitchen and sometimes in the bathroom. She can not stand being away from people and not being the center of attention.

That is the best advice I can give as well... Lock her up (not in her sleeping crate) and don't pay any attention to her for a while. If she keeps yelping and barking I still pay not mind to at all...EVERY TIME she does it you have o do this. You have to stay on top of it as everyone else keeps saying.

Micole is not 100% broken of this, she STILL nibbles at me to test what she can and can not do. Even with the smallest nibble I will put her in time out.

But I can see the difference in her, it work but takes weeks.... I have been working on this since the day I got her and like I said I am still working on her. But I can actually see the difference in the way she plays now with me. Now with our other dog... Not so much lol she still playing very rough with him.

These tips they are telling you it does work, you just have to keep up with it. and when Micole licks me instead of biting i keep telling her how much of a good girl she is and i praise her

Okay seriously, I have been trying so hard to curb Mishka's biting and NOTHING is working. I do the muzzle grab and say "no bite", disengage, and he honestly just thinks it's a game. I don't have anywhere to put him in time out that he can't destroy anything. I've tried redirecting his attention to toys but he would just rather chew on my hands. Will this ever end? I know he's only 11 weeks old but MAN this is driving me insane!

Can you lock him in a bathroom or laundry room after his correction?

I locked him in the half bath this evening and he broke my mom's vase. I think the problem is I don't live at home and there's no real place to stick him where I won't get my ass chewed if he does any sort of damage to the room. Laundry room is no go because the litter box is in there.

See my puppy she plays really rough. She will jump up on the couch when I am sitting down watching TV and tackle me. She will bite my hair and also go for my neck and ears too. I try to stop it by going to another room, yelling ouch, and turning my back on her. But it is like she thinks that I just want to play harder. Playing is all that she thinks about. I think that as she gets older then things will be better but it is still getting on my nerves and sometimes I feel that she might do that to a stranger or even worse a child.

Maybe you could get an x-pen and put it in the middle of a room and shut the door. If you're worried about him chewing/destroying the floor underneath, you could find a cheap rug or carpet remnant to put under the x pen. Or clear out a corner in a quiet room, and use the x pen to block him in the corner.

Put something that taste bad on you, ours loves biting our hands, and it works well, they are smart dogs and usually learn not to keep going for stuff that they don't like. This was recommended by several people for us and ours has gotten alot better about biting/nipping at us even during play she usually goes for the toy now.

When you all use the 'ouch'/yelping method, did you all follow it up immediately with a stern NO, or did ya'll just ignore after that?

It's only been a few days but so far Chuck is not responding well to No. Even the more intense 'flip over,' physical no hasn't done anything so far. I feel like I'm doing both the verbal and the flip method firmly, I wouldn't be comfortable doing it much more intensely. As other people said I then give him a chew and he stops in the short term but he still can't play with me without biting.

I'm struggling to reconcile the feedback I've gotten to be firm with bad behavior, the fact he's not responding, and the feedback that playing is important for a good relationship. Whenever he plays I have to yell at him...am I putting my relationship with him at risk? I guess I could play with toys rather than more roughhousing for now.

Thanks for putting up with my spam during Chuck's (and my) infancy!

I would avoid rough housing at this age and stick to playing with toys. For me, yelping just got him more excited, he thought I was playing with him and he would bite more. In terms of flipping him over, I think that's a really bad idea. If he can't play without biting then don't play for now. He bites when he plays because that's how puppies play with each other. For him, it is not bad behavior, it is normal, natural behavior. The only thing you are teaching him when you flip him over is that you are a scary, unpredictable person that freaks out when he tries to play with you. I found the best way to deal with the biting was time outs, not to punish him, but to calm him down (and sometimes calm me down too). 10-15 min in his crate to bring him back to a calmer state was much better than a constant escalating battle. Remember, you're dealing with a 8 week old puppy here, you don't need to intimidate the puppy and keep it 'in line' Think of being firm as ending the game, and not having the discussion (ie time out). In my opinion, which might be different than others, you are putting your relationship at risk by yelling and flipping him over. Imagine how scary you are to him. He may not act like it, but huskies are very sensitive, always be gentle and loving. You have to earn his trust. Again, would you yell at a human infant? Probably not, because you know that the kid won't understand, but will be scared. In my opinion, he's too young to understand what's happening. Adult dogs will pretty much put up with anything from a puppy, so to suddenly go from that to being yelled at and flipped over is very unsettling for a puppy. For the first few weeks with my puppy, I was just serving his basic needs, and establishing trust. Once we got past that initial phase of him acting like a wild animal, we were able to start playing and bonding.

*Edit - also, once we got past that initial phase, I started training. The first command he learned was 'off' which is my release command for his mouth. It's similar to leave it/drop it. I taught him by putting a treat in my hand and letting him lick/bite it and saying 'off' as soon as he gave up trying to get the treat I marked it and gave him the treat. It was very helpful.

Thanks WP, I appreciate that perspective. It's interesting to get that versus the "becoming alpha in the pack" mentality, I've seen this dichotomy on here a few times now and it's been extremely helpful to understand the two ideas.

Also thanks for the command advice - I think I'll start that one immediately.

He's having fun tearing up coardboard boxes now...as cheap of entertainment that is there is a family business at home here so I'm thinking of curbing that :/

Finley is 5 months old and 48 pounds and still biting when he has pent up energy. When he wants attention, he wants it now and he will come up to my chair or bed and grab my arm or foot or leg with his teeth. When is in his tired out period he never bites. Nothing really works and just gets him more aggravated. I do not see a mean bone in him because he thinks he is playing and playing hard. If I correct him too hard, like a tug on his collar he will scrunch up his nose and open that mouth of his and try it again. Sigh.

We are having trouble with this too with our 9 week old. There is some good advise on this thread. Thanks! It's good to know that there is a difference between mouthing and biting. She LOVES having our fingers in her mouth, and will often put them there herself but is very gentle. However, when we start playing she snaps and bites, this is getting a little bit more aggressive each day. We try to ignore her, but she just thinks it's all a game. Saying NO! and Oww! is working for now, but when you turn away she just nips your ankles and trousers. I guess it's all just a learning curve and we'll just have to keep on doing it more and more each day.

zeppy wrote:

We are having trouble with this too with our 9 week old. There is some good advise on this thread. Thanks! It's good to know that there is a difference between mouthing and biting. She LOVES having our fingers in her mouth, and will often put them there herself but is very gentle. However, when we start playing she snaps and bites, this is getting a little bit more aggressive each day. We try to ignore her, but she just thinks it's all a game. Saying NO! and Oww! is working for now, but when you turn away she just nips your ankles and trousers. I guess it's all just a learning curve and we'll just have to keep on doing it more and more each day.

Just keep with it as it is a commitment but eventually it will pay off. Last night Finley went to his first obedience class at Petsmart for dogs over 5 months. There was only 3 of us in the class which I think is good. Not much training for the first class just a lot of talking but he did very well. On the way home he received his first plain hamburger from a drive through as a treat! He was happy. Today he also did a first. He laid on the bed and went to sleep while my wife and I watched TV. Usually when he gets on the bed he goes crazy. Slowly but surely the biting is getting better. A spray bottle really helped us. Good luck!

My guy is pretty bad about this when he's on his line, but it's mainly out of frustration of being tied up. When he's in the house, I don't have much of an issue. If it gets really bad I have an extreme method that I use for both cats and dogs. It's kind of gross, but whenever they bite I just stick my hand far enough into their mouth that they almost gag. It's almost like a reverse psychology. It's like, "Oh, you want to bite me? 8D Here, let me help you with that! Oh, not as great as you though it'd be, huh? Suit yourself...". Seriously though, it works better than telling them "no" when they don't know the meaning of it, as opposed to them just deciding for themselves that they don't benefit from doing it. After you do this for a while you can finish up with turning around and ignoring them.

Question for you guys.... i have a 7 month old alaskan siberian husky that has a play bitting problem and constantly does it.. whats your opinion on a muzzle for when he constantly does it or when kids are around, or taking him around other people

Hi guys my pup is about 8 weeks old and today I was playing with her outside in my yard, I tried to grab a leaf from her mouth and my finger got caught and it got sliced open. I think it was an accident. But should I be worried that she has a bad biting problem?

Well she has razor sharp teeth, and if you put your fingers near or in her mouth you will get cut. So many of us on here have stories of our hands and arms and calves having cuts all over. It's normal and part of having a puppy, especially a Husky puppy. They are very mouthy and nippy.

Based on what you've said it sounds like an accident. I don't think it's fair to call it a bad biting problem. She is going to put her teeth on your skin for a long time. It's your job to show her when or if this is appropriate. She has a natural need to chew and nip and "bite" (use her teeth to interact with her world and her mates). If you're gonna correct her it needs to be in the moment, quick and to the point. Then move on immediately with something positive that you want her to do and is appropriate. I am a firm believer that "No" is useless without the corresponding "Yes."

I personally recommend refraining from any roughhousing whatsoever and playful situations that provoke her to put her teeth on your skin while she's this young. She will do this enough on her own and you should minimize the times it happens.

This will be one of the toughest life lessons you teach her.

Good luck

Thank you for that quick response. I was thinking the same. I didn't get a chance to correct her because I ran in the house to apply alcohol and bandaid. But next time will try to correct next time the does it.