Hi, our Chug puppy is 19 weeks old (20 this week) and we have a problem with her nipping/biting fingers (and ears and toes!).

When she is playing with us, she will tug/chew her toys for a bit and then go for our fingers etc. We tell her "No" in a stern voice, remove our hands from the situation (ie hold them out of the way or put them behind our back) but as soon as we put them back down she goes to bite them again. She will sometimes do this just when she is sitting in my lap or am I just stroking her or something. It can sometimes seem like she is being a bit vicious (but I don't think this is her intention as she is a loving little thing at all other times)

We have also tried redirecting her to toys when she does this.

When she gets a bit hyper she bites and nibbles more (she has actually drawn blood on a couple of occasions).

I know puppies have sharper teeth anyway and I am guessing she is probably teething so that may be part of it but I really want her to stop doing this.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I have always found the squeal as if it hurts approach works best, puppies don't want to hurt their playmates and have to realise we aren't other puppies so if they bite us it hurts.

So squeal and take your hand back then redirect the play and biting to another toy.

Bite them on the ear gently, that's what happens in a wolf pack in the wild, that will make the dog submissive. It works.

No. Don't do this it's complete fiction - wolves don't do it, and all it will do is give u a mucky dog ear in you mouth.

The advice above about a squeal is more on point, as high pitched as u can, then stop playing all together. Oh and try not to run or jump away if she goes for ankles - hard I know (from experience it really hurts!) but te running is all part of the game.

am i the only one who instantly thought "What the hell is a chug?" ?

^
this

That is really bad advice, wolves are dealing with other wolves and teaching their off spring to hunt and kill. We want gentle animals that see us as kind benevolent beings not killers.

I am no expert, but we have had 4 puppies during the last 25 years and have always used the method mentioned above. Squeals/ loud ouches and quickly withdrawing the hand, along with ignoring for a minute or two, have resulted in the biting stopping.
The first two pups we had were from a litter we fostered and they stopped biting their litter mates when there was a yelp. I guess it's all part of learning the boundries.

I have no idea what a Chug is either.

When mine was a pup she was a bit bitey and i used to make a growly noise at her and tell her gently/nicely....whilst leaving my hand there and not snatching it away. then lots of praise when she stopped and started licking. The message soon got home and now she never ever mouths or bites when playing.

Funnily enough Your meant to do the same when a cat 'grabs' you (Front paws holding u in, bak paws kicking and scratching), as they are 'killing' your hand. But I've never been have enough to do so - those claws hurt same with puppy needle teeth!

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Ch...w=1024&bih=605

pics of chug puppies


I would say if the puppy bites whilst on your lap, put it straight down and say a strong 'No'. They are playing, but if left unchallenged they will bite when older.

This works, I haven't done a growl though, I am not skilled in that department. When I had my dogs (puppy and an adolescent), in the end they use to freeze at the point they were about to bite, as they knew they shouldn't be doing it, one licked and the other used to freeze with her tongue on you, it was pretty cute.

I wish I could growl, as my greyhound who was an adult, he did a very low tone growl if they got too much, I used to call it a rumble of thunder, they stopped in their tracks, looked at him unsure and backed off!

They stopped completely in the end, they just need to learn its not acceptable, I always did the squeal, or 'leave' it surprises/shocks/startles them and then you just need to find a way to distract them. If they got rough and wouldn't stop then I sent them away and playtime was over.
If they licked instead they got praise, I know some people don't like dogs licking them so this wouldn't be appropriate for all, but we just figured it is better than biting and its affection, its a positive thing, not a negative thing.

When I say growl...it wasn't a proper growl cos they rip your vocal chords out!

It was more of an aaaaargh.... noise.

And it works to stop them doing anything.

For the people wondering what a chug is, its a Chihuahua cross Pug

You find out these names when you browse the dogs wanting homes ads lol

In my post a little up the page I had posted a link to lots of chug puppy photos.

Even mouthing should be discouraged. I agree with Croctacus' method. If that fails you can use bitter apple spray on your hands. It's also good for any furniture or other items he may want to chew. Our dog was chewing the edge of the carpet and stopped pretty quick once we sprayed the bitter apple on it.

It is what it says. Tastes as bitter as fk and makes them shy away.

Also known as a mongrel

I saw that after I posted, but it didn't harm to say anyway

LOL I agree, I think its funny the way people have decided to 'rebrand' Mongrels.

Yes, but a high class mutt. None of your Heinz 57 variety nonsense

Just read a paper on pedigree dog genetic diversity, these cross breeds are doing wonders to widen the gene pool. So I pride my self on helping out (I have a jackapoo)!

Some of the names are funny they have come up with, the 'Sprocker' makes me laugh.

Oh i do like the heinz 57 varieties aswell

They have such lovely temperaments.

All as a way of making money off of puppies that years ago would have been given away.

I know! Me too. I love watching them grow and trying to work out what they are going to grow into! My older dog (well mums) would grow a bit, stop, the his ears would grow, then his legs. He's beautiful now but definitely had an ugly duckling stage......

Oh so it's a chihuahua x pug... "chug" to me is something people yell at a stag party when someone has a large beer

the names are just getting out of hand now...