bitting five month old

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dmoore132

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For the past thirty five years I've had five shelties,four males and now my first female.She's five months old now and she has this annoying habit of bitting our hands as if she's playing.She does this about two times a day,once in the morning after being let out of her crate during a play period.She does this again at about late evening after a long nap.None of my other shelties had this behaviour.Any advice is needed to get her under control.Me and the wife's hands look like we've been in a briar patch at the end of the day.
Thanks this is my first post.
Dan
 
The two males I got as young puppies did this and one who is now 2.5 still does it. Everything you put near him is a chew toy to him. I pull my hand back and say NO BITE. HUbby doesn't do anything...he thinks it is cute, Thankfully Fox does not bite at my hands anymore because I am a diabetic and need my fingers to be scar free to test my sugars. I found offering him a chew toy when he goes to bite gives him an alternative to biting my hands. Fox (the biter) now chews endlessly on the softer chew toys and he loves them
 
dmoore132 said:
For the past thirty five years I've had five shelties,four males and now my first female.She's five months old now and she has this annoying habit of bitting our hands as if she's playing.She does this about two times a day,once in the morning after being let out of her crate during a play period.She does this again at about late evening after a long nap.None of my other shelties had this behaviour.Any advice is needed to get her under control.Me and the wife's hands look like we've been in a briar patch at the end of the day.
Thanks this is my first post.
Dan
Click to expand...

You mean they aren't suposed to bite? Our pup bites us all the time, not agressively but just playfully. We were so glad when those sharp baby teeth fell out! He's still a biter although I must admit now only because we've had to take away ALL his chew toys, toys period for the next few months until his dental appliances are off. We'll probably have nothing but stumps left by then.......sigh.:mad:

All I can say is maybe wear gloves or bring a dog bone/biscut with you and give it to her maybe that will take the place of her bitting you? Hope so.
 
My Edan, who is 2, still bites when he plays; especially when he gets very excited.

I normally say "OUCH!" very loud and take the toy away for about 30 minutes. He usually looks at me with a very questioning look but settles down petty quick. (Usually he'll curl up beside me as if to say 'I'm sorry'.)

This is supposed to associate the loss of the toy and interaction with the teeth on skin. Honestly, it really hasn't stopped it but it is better than scolding them.
 
I taught Bacca "Leave It" which works great with the hands (less great with my ankles!)

It started with putting a treat in my closed fist and putting fist up close to his nose. If pup pushed my hand, I would say "leave it". If he dropped back, I open my hand and give him the treat. Many repetitions later.....if Bacca looks inclined to chew my hand, I close my fist and say "leave it" and he immediately backs off.

He'll back off my ankles too, but as soon as I start moving again, he's right back at it! Sigh! Nothings perfect! :rolleyes2:
 
Romeo used to bite and chew on my hands until they looked abused. I'd have bruises and tiny scars! :eek2: It took awhile and I've had to try many different methods before I found one that worked.

I think the first thing you need to decide is if you want her to bite you playfully at all. I have no problems with Romeo playbiting so long as it's not hard. Some people I know don't want their dogs to bite at all. For me, I taught Romeo bite inhibition (to bite softly), while those others taught their dogs bite prohibition (not to bite at all).

Bite prohibition is taught by either redirecting your pup to a chew toy every time she bites (which will mean you'd have to have toys everywhere or carry one with you whenever you think she'll bite) or giving your pup a time out every time she bites (by removing yourself from the area or put her in her playpen or some other place that is boring as heck with nothing much around for about 3 mins. Then resume play again.). I would use a command like No Bite, just before you give the toy or take yourself/herself away. The first method is purely positive coz there's no punishment. The second one involves punishment to the extent that you deprive her of your companionship and fun! Don't expect miracles. It'll take a while before your pup gets the idea. But remember to be consistent. The minute teeth touch your hands, redirect (to a toy) or remove (yourself/her).

Bite prohibition is fairly similar, except that you let your dog mouth you up until the pressure she exerts starts to hurt then say Gently (I use "pain" because that's what my parents will most likely say!) and remove yourself or her for a 3 minute time out. Gradually increase your sensitivity to the pressure so that when she exerts just a bit of pressure you do a time out. This is the hard part, coz it's hard to gauge the pressure consistently. But don't worry. I've found that it's not affected the trainng much. Eventually she'll realise you have paper thin skin and any amount of pressure will mean an end to the playing.

I've had success with the bite prohibition with Romeo. Now when he gets too excited while mouthing and starts to put a bit too much pressure I say "Pain" and he lets go then when I let him mouth me again, he does it gently as before. My hands are bruise and scar free! :biggrin2:

Having said that however, do provide her with many chewy toys. She's likely teething and softer rubbery materials really help. Also cold icey things will ease her discomfort. The mouthing of hands actually does lessen once their baby teeth all fall out!
 
Puppy nipping !

dmoore132 said:
For the past thirty five years I've had five shelties,four males and now my first female.She's five months old now and she has this annoying habit of bitting our hands as if she's playing.She does this about two times a day,once in the morning after being let out of her crate during a play period.She does this again at about late evening after a long nap.None of my other shelties had this behaviour.Any advice is needed to get her under control.Me and the wife's hands look like we've been in a briar patch at the end of the day.
Thanks this is my first post.
Dan
Click to expand...

They all do it you just have to redirrect it. Give them something more appropriate to bite. Puppy teeth do hurt but they don't mean to hurt you they are playing just like they would with their litter mates. Kia nips, but usually at our ankles, Herding instinct.:winkgrin: These are smart dogs. They aim to please so they will usually learn what you wish as long as you are consistent. Good luck. And welcome to the forum! And the world of being owned by a Sheltie!:lol:
 
I guess I was lucky, biting us and hurting was never a problem with Sadie. While she'd mouth our hands she was almost always gentle and a loud 'OUCH!' always made her stop. To this day when she's playing she likes to grab at your hands but is ALWAYS gentle and NEVER bites down. I debated trying to break her out of grabbing at hands because it some times puts people off but we enjoy playing with her this way and let it go.

When she was young and chewing things she shouldn't we'd redirect her. When she was older and chewing things she KNEW were bad we'd give her a sharp 'NO!' and that was the end of it.

If she's grabbing at our hands at a time that isn't appropriate (like when we're just waking up in the morning. When she see's we're awake she likes to jump on us, roll around, lick our faces and grab at our hands...) I gently cup her muzzle in my hand and say firmly 'no,' this seems to calm her and stop her mouthing and some of her exuberant goofiness without driving her away from us, she's happy to stay and keep being affectionate.
 
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