Puppy keeps biting?:(

LiteratePotato

My five month old dog keeps chewing on my hands whenever I try to pet her and my shoes/feet whenever Im sitting at the table (in a playful way, not attacking me..) it's incredibly annoying and nothing seems to stop her? Why is she doing this and am I able to stop her?
It used to not be that big of a deal because her teeth weren't sharp but now they're getting really pointy And the bites are starting to leave scrapes:/
My toddler cousin is in my house very frequently and he loves to pet the dog but I'm scared sh*tless one day she'll bite him???
Sorry if this sounds like a stupid question this is my first-time owning a dog, slightly clueless about discipline >.>
any advice is appreciated thanks:)

planetX

Don't use pepper - the last thing you don't want to make the dog frightened of your hands.
She's doing it because she's a 5 month old puppy, and that's how she would be playing with other puppies.To teach her to stop you need to show her that it's not fun. A lot of people have success with letting out a yelp of pain, and then ignoring the dog. I found it better to have a lot of toys around, and every time the puppy starting biting I'd put a toy in his mouth, and distract him by playing. That way he learned to bite toys not hands. If he persisted with the hands he got put outside the room for 30 seconds.
According to my puppy book you should allow some mouthing up until 6 months though.

mav79

Aloe vera on your hands should stop a puppy mouthing, they just won't like the taste and it doesn't harm them. Every dog is different and you just need to find out what methods work for you and your dog. Just be consistent when you do find a method. As the previous poster mentioned giving a yelp of pain worked great for me. Stay calm and best of luck and with the training

DeeRottie

I'm sorry but tahina's advice is utter nonsense and all of it should be disregarded - sounds like someone has been watching too much Dog Whisperer (don't even get me started ...)

planetX is talking much more sense. When puppies are in a litter they learn something called 'bite inhibition'. This basically means that when they play bite with their siblings, if they bite two hard their playmate will yelp in pain and immediately stop playing with them - and withdrawal of attention is a big deal for a puppy. So if your dog nips your hand, even though you may feel stupid, give a little yelp then walk away and ignore the puppy for a few minutes. Puppy learns biting = removal of attention, oh no!!!! This also applies for nibbling at feet, etc. The puppy will learn to have a 'soft mouth' and not to bite.

While a small amount of mouthing is acceptable in a small puppy, always redirect them to a toy or chew but remove yourself if the puppy is starting to bite too hard. I used this method with two of my dogs as pups and now they actually work with children.

DO NOT do anything as stupid as putting your hand in a dog's food or taking it away. If someone kept doing that to you in the middle of eating your dinner, I can guarantee you would end up pissed with them. If you want to prevent protectiveness over food then the dog needs to see that you being near the bowl is a positive thing - stealing their food is exactly the thing that leads to protectiveness and aggression. Instead, as you walk past the bowl, drop a treat in. Oh wow, when the human comes to my bowl I get a treat!!!! Start by doing this frequently, then decrease the amount of times you do it until you are happy the dog has no issues around the bowl. Other members of the family can do this too. I know this was not part of your original question but was afraid that you might end up getting a dog bite by using old fashioned, disproved 'dominance' techniques :rolleyes:

Kash

Yep, agree with the yelp and ignore technique - and tell everyone else to use it too (often easier said than done!). If she has already learned a 'you're doing it wrong' noise, then that can be used instead of a yelp, to help you feel like less of a tit Ignoring can either be turning your back and looking away from her for 30-45 seconds, or popping her outside of the room - again 30-45 seconds should be all that's needed.

As for the toddler, I have zero experience with them, so have no idea at what stage children can learn the techniques, but showing them how to do the ignore
trick can only help, as can showing them how to pet the dog without getting her over-excited.

But it is perfectly normal behavior for a 5 month old pup, and with training, you'll have nothing to worry about.

Graces7

Great advice; huge difference between biting and play nips.mouthing.

I had a Siamese cat who used to nip me frequently. It was a sign of great affection and acceptance as he simply did not realise that I did not have the same thick skin as he did. Just the same here. I used to pull my sleeve over my hand so he did not hurt.

Intention is everything.

LiteratePotato

Thanks very much everyone for the advice will be put it in action:)

Mountainsandh

I have a little puppy too, he's 6 months now, he was exactly the same, and it's only the last week or so I've noticed he has totally understood now, with the methods mentioned above : yelping, and offering a toy to chew/bite on. It took that time though, and I expect he might still forget sometimes.
It was harder to get the kids to understand that they had to take part in the training and yelp too.
There's no restriction on destroying the toys in my house though, he can pull and chew as much as he wants, and we play great games of "tug" with awfully bedraggled teddys .

DeeRottie

Sounds like you have things well under control Mountainsandh, great that your kids are taking part too. Between 6 and 18 months is a very common age for dogs to end up in shelters, many people just don't bother to find out how best to raise a happy and well socialised dog so I'm heartened to see so many people on here with their heads screwed on! LiteratePotato, best of luck with your puppy, I hope you have many happy years together!:D

Solair

The same thing applies to cats too.
If you get bitten or scratched you yelp <& hiss (if it's a cat)> , then walk away and ignore them for a while.