Hi there

I have been the proud owner of an eleven week old Tibetan Terrier for four days and am very pleased with him so far apart from one thing.....BITING.

Chewie sleeps mostly during the day, but when he is awake he has about two mad episodes each day. These started with a few barks and then biting on trousers. He doesn't stop when asked and just continues to get more hyper. Ignoring him doesn't work. Neither does squeaking/throwing one of his toys of which he has about four downstairs.

Therefore, I have taken the following actions so far:

*Yelped when his mouthing gets a bit too hard and pulled my hand away.

*Putting him outside the room for around ten seconds. He usually cries and is then let back in. This usually takes about two attempts in order for him to stop this form of play.

*Walking out of the room myself for about the same amount of time then coming back in.

The first solution makes Chewie stop, but then he does a little growly bark and when I go back and let him mouth me he doesn't reduce the force. The second solution worked okay initially, but then started to fail, therefore I decided to adopt the third, which has now also started to fail. He will still whimper when these actions are taken.

Today having woken him at 7am, done the toilet thing, fed him his breakfast and taken him for a short walk, he started biting my jeans and actually made a mark with his teeth through my trousers on my leg. This is obviously a bit OTT. As I type this my leg still slightly hurts and it happened about 30 minutes ago just to emphasise how hard he bit with his little puppy teeth.

Does anyone have any additional advice on how I can curb this behaviour? I'm thinking that he may be over-excited because he's not getting enough exercise, but I don't want to over-excert him as he's so young and sleeps most of the time anyway! Sometimes, this also happens when he comes back from a walk as well. He doesn't always want to come in so this may be a factor.

Just to add to this and provide some (very short) history, I have had Chewie for 4 days and so far he has not made a mess in the house since Tuesday. I make sure to take him out on regular intervals or whenever he starts sniffing around in order to avoid this. He also sleeps very well in his crate at night (which is in my room) without whimpering or crying and also wakes me during the night if he needs to relieve himself. I then take him into the garden and let him do his business without fuss and put him straight back into the crate. He also has a dog bed downstairs which he sleeps in throughout the majority of the day. When he is in his bed downstairs where he has constant supervision/company, he is as good as gold. He loves being comforted and stroked and this usually sends him to sleep when he's tired. he learnt to sit for treat in three hours having got him home and I reward him with these (puppy Coachies) when he goes to the toilet outside or at night in his crate.

Obviously I won't be putting him in his crate as punishment, as I want him to learn to love it, not hate it, but I feel I'm totally out of options here and am begging for advice!!

Please could somebody help?!

Many thanks

Hums well it is just the biting it seems, otherwise you have a very good puppy.

Biting is seen as play and also has who is the pack leader. Such behaviour should be discouraged as obviously you are the pack leader and not the puppy.

Show your puppy that licking is nicer than biting. Praise him or her when they lick.

Teach your puppy the word "no!" They tend to learn it quickly but with the age of your puppy it is better to teach it to lick first as puppies can get issues when they are young.

We used to offer something better to chew on when our were tinies they soon learn what they are allowed to chew and that clothing and hands etc are not to be mouthed.

Hi JJ

Our puppy started biting from day one. Although the rest of the family are quite firm with him, my OH seems to be the one he grapples with the most, he's the softy out of us all and puppy knows it.
We just say a firm no, or no biting at the same time picking him up removing him from whatever part he is trying to bite. He stops and looks sad because he knows he has done wrong and is getting told off.
Another way is to grab the back of his neck and hold him down until he calms down without a struggle. The animals in the wild pick their young up like this to calm them.
Our puppy is very affectionate and loves cuddles but sometimes he can nip you too. We had his claws clipped six weeks ago and need to get them done again, they are like needles.
This is the most important time of you puppies life and he will grow up remembering what he learnt when he first arrived at your home so it's very important to get it right. Good luck with the training.

Was Chewie in a litter still when you got him? Pups learn a lot from their siblings about biting as I'm sure you know so when we got our pup (we got her at 8wks she is now 16wks and is a Golden Retriever) we did the yelp thing (a very loud sudden yelp in order for her to stop). We would also break eye contact and cross our arms and move away from her.

The other thing we have done is get things she can chew, like rawhide chews. So we redirect if she wants to bite with her chew.

She is a lot better so I'd suggest you just persevere as 4 days isn't really long.

Blimey! Thanks for he quick replies guys!

Unfortunately I've tried throwing/showing toys, I ignore him, but it's difficult when he won't let go of your trouser leg or keeps running back to it, and I also put him in a submissive position. I might try the neck thing though! Thanks!

He was one of five puppies born and was with one sister when we collected him as the rest had already left. Saying that though, the breeder did advise he liked to pull his sister around by the tail. Also, when we got to the breeder's house he was pulling her by the skin/fur on top of her head!!

He is nice though, but when he's naughty he a git. As Frisky Python says though, 4 days isn't long, I just worry that he will continue to do this unless it's nipped in the bud.

Thanks again.

Ok, let's get a little perspective here, this pup is 11weeks old. He's a baby, behaving in a natural way, you need to show him whats acceptable with humans. Of course he's going to be biting/mouthing. My hands were covered in scratches&pin prick holes when training my pup. They don't have hands to explore so they use their mouths. If it's not encouraged, he'll grow out of it if you persevere with training. Squealing really only works til about 12weeks, I'd suggest folding your arms until he stops then praise. Don't use a word like no because you use it all the time&it becomes meaningless.

DO NOT grab his neck to reprimand, you want him to associate your hands with pleasure, not a horrible experience! His mother would not pick him up like this past 6weeks so he wouldn't understand. You'll find he'll quickly resort to defence if you do this, plus, why on earth people feel the need to do things like this to their animals is beyond me. How about people train their dogs the right thing to do instead of using negative methods to change behaviours?

Please please don't grab his neck or "put him in the submissive position" he is a baby just a baby Gentle methods, calm methods, don't bully him.

One problem with throwing toys to distract him from biting is that he probably enjoys chasing the toys - so being given a toy to chase becomes a reward for biting.

One thing I'd try would be a firm "stop that" accompanied by immediately stopping playing with him, walking away and ignoring* him. That way he gets the message "if I bite, the fun stops".

*It wouldn't have to be for that long - dogs mostly live in the present - but certainly more than a few minutes, even if he does complain.

Longer term, what about obedience classes?

Or puppy classes ask at your vets they should have a list actually they may run one ours does.

I think if you read your own post back you'll see the problem.

You've had the puppy for 4 days and so far you've tried '3 solutions' and are now looking for a fourth.

You're either over-worrying, or you need to learn that patience brings rewards.

Right now, your little pup doesn't know what the hell to do because you keep changing your reaction to his actions. He isn't seeing any "consequence" and therefore, he isn't learning anything.

At this age it's a great time to mentally tire your pup out by teaching commands and training (seeing as they can't go for walkies until they've had all of their injections).

Forget about the biting, and play something else with him instead. Try playing the games such as "sit for a treat", "rollover for a treat", "bounce for a treat", "wait for a treat", "come for a treat", "spin for a treat" etc. He'll be too knackered to think about biting you after learning all of this.

I did something similar with my pup when I got him last year during the time when they are house and garden bound. Here's the results (we'd had him just 2 weeks when this video was taken):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDkzSyiqpJM

If you need any tips or ideas, let us know. But for now, you need to learn to be consistent with your pup. You certainly don't need to "roll him over" or "dominate him".

Some great advice on here,
don't expect him to know everything, he's a baby and eager to learn...
Please don't go down the rough handling route!

Possitive reinforcement works eventually, my BC was a nightmare for biting as a pup and its was no fun.... the baby teeth are very sharp!

Try clicker training, its fun, keeps their mind active... and you can get them to do anything....mine loves it,

mind you when the clicker comes out she goes through everything she's ever learnt before (which takes a while) before she realizes its something new

When I got my twin pups together at 9 wks of age, the two of them often had (and still have) playing sessions where they have some rough and tumble and look like they're 'biting' each other but they're not actually hurting each other and it's what the whole litter of pups often did. I guess your puppy on its own doesn't have his litter mates to play with in the same way, so he does the 'puppy nipping' to his human friend instead!

Our two have always been able to continue their rough and tumble play together, like they did when they were in their litter of 7 pups and so they don't nip us like yours is nipping his humans. Maybe your pup gets bored at times and is trying to attract your attention and he can do that by catching hold of you with his teeth! Does your pup get plenty of play and has tuggy toys, balls etc that you can play with him with?