# How to stop my 9 week old from biting and chewing me...



## nukezero (Aug 18, 2014)

Hi everyone

I got my beautiful Toto about 10 days ago and she's been great, except for when she acts up and starts chewing our fingers and toes.

I finally read some article that you should say "ouch" as loud as you can and put her in the crate for a 10 second time out. That has worked only 1/3 of the time. 

Today I realized that if I just scream very loud in her face like "ahhhhhhhhhhh" and startle her a little, she quickly stops and stares at me and seems to get the picture. As I try to tempt her again to bite me, she no longer bites me for the time being. It appears to me that using loud voice and yelling seems to show my dominance and my "pack leader" instinct over her. And it's not like she just likes to chew us. She'll chew everything. The crate metal bracket, the pee pee pad, our shirts , or anything that has a small edge capable of fitting in her tiny mouth.

Is this proper and 'ethical' training?? :blink: 

Other than the biting and chewing of our human toes and fingers, she's been great. She responds extremely well to "sit" command. She is totally pee pee pad trained 98% of the time and poo poo on the pad 90% of the time. If we give her time out in the crate, for 5 mins, then pick her up again, then definitely her biting mood stops. 

Her teeth are getting sharper so although her bites are not that strong yet. We're afraid if we don't teach her to stop biting us humans, then friends and family especially my 2 year old nephew that comes over and sticks his tiny finger into her crate, is probably going to get bit real bad.


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## Lou's Mom (Apr 8, 2014)

What worked with my dogs when they would chew and bite as puppies is to say "no" firmly and give them a toy that they can chew on. I would discourage you from screaming as that will frighten or confuse her. Just redirect the chewing to something that's ok.


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## CloudClan (Jan 31, 2007)

nukezero said:


> Hi everyone
> 
> I got my beautiful Toto about 10 days ago and she's been great, except for when she acts up and starts chewing our fingers and toes.
> 
> ...


In my experience I feel this is one of the issues that can be more problematic when puppies are placed so much younger than the recommended age (which for Maltese in the US is 12 weeks). Bite inhibition is something they learn from their mom and litter-mates in this critical period. 

Since this important lesson falls on you it is important to work with her on it. I tend to allow soft mouthing, but whenever it gets in any way painful I make a noise sharp and quick and withdraw my attention. I would be careful of the difference between a marker that says no to her and a scream that is meant to scare her. You should not need to scare her, but rather to get her attention and redirect.


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## nukezero (Aug 18, 2014)

alright, i will try a different method of training instead of yelling... redirecting to toys has not worked for me.


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## eiksaa (Jun 8, 2012)

I would make sure your nephew stays away from the puppy for now. They are both too young for this kind of interaction, especially since you are still establishing a relationship with the dog. 

Scaring the dog into submission does more harm than good. Guess what scared animals do when they reach their threshold? They attack. That's not what you want to teach the dog. 

Try these steps consistently for the next week and if it's not any better at the end of the week, we'll brainstorm something else. 
1. Dog bites, say ouch in a puppy yelp-y tone of voice and stop playing right away. 
2. Give the dog a chew toy
3. If it doesn't work then put the dog in the crate for 10 minutes. 
4. Bring the dog out and try again. 
5. If dog bites again, and you've had enough then put the dog back in the crate and let him nap there or something. Basically, don't go back to playing. 

You said this only works about 1/3rd of the time I'm not sure what that means. It's not supposed to be an instant fix. It will take time but one day suddenly your puppy will get it. Basically the connection he needs to make is that biting hurts you and it means end of fun or play time. 

I've also seen people let puppies mouth playfully and while that works for experienced breeders like Carina, IMO you might need to reset. Absolutely make a rule to do this routine at any skin to teeth contact. You can relax the boundaries later but for now it's good for your puppy to know that human skin is sensitive and teeth grabbing your skin hurts.


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## eiksaa (Jun 8, 2012)

Oh also, 10 second timeout is not enough. It needs to look like end of playtime, not a break.


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## justagirltv (Jun 3, 2014)

Bentley wasn't a big biter/nipper (I prepared myself for the worst) I was prepped for battle from day one. When he did got into "turn up" nip mode I would redirect with a toy right away. Sometimes he likes different toy textures (rubber, bumpy, plastic, smooth, cuddley, soft). I made it a priority to always have a few options around. 

If that did not work I would get up walk into my room and shut the door for 30 seconds -1 minute (my door is slightly raised and I can see his little nose or a paw waiting under), that would usually do the trick and he would "turn down".. I had to do this MANY TIMES! I love him with all my heart and sometimes it was slight inconvenience or annoying but he got it. I tried to convey a clear message to him. When you get hyped up Mommy is OUT!! If he whined or cried I would not come out until he was finished because I didn't want to think I was rewarding him for whining/barking for attention. 
Putting him in his crate for a time out didn't work because he had an ex-pen full of toys but me ignoring him for a few seconds sent a message. 

I hope that doesn't sound mean or harsh but it worked. I'm sure it's harder because you have a kids etc. It's just Bentley and me.


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## nukezero (Aug 18, 2014)

Thanks everyone. The crating does seem to work as when I put her in there, she'll come out of there a changed and more toned-down personality after say 10 minutes. But I read doing this is like a form a punishment.

I do continuously redirect her to toys. But she always managed to get bored of it in 10 seconds and come for my toes or fingers. I only have 2 toys. Maybe I need to buy more?


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## justagirltv (Jun 3, 2014)

nukezero said:


> Thanks everyone. The crating does seem to work as when I put her in there, she'll come out of there a changed and more toned-down personality after say 10 minutes. But I read doing this is like a form a punishment.
> 
> I do continuously redirect her to toys. But she always managed to get bored of it in 10 seconds and come for my toes or fingers. I only have 2 toys. Maybe I need to buy more?


Bentley has a lot of toys because he’s so spoiled and I didn’t know what he would like. In the beginning he really liked soft toys. I wish I knew the name of it . It’s a fuzzy soft toy and it sounds like crinkled paper when he chews on it. I noticed that he also loves toys that are big, like his unstuffed Lion and Giraffe. I also found that mini tennis balls from PetCo were a great distraction. Bounce and toss and he would run after it. Laser pointer (just don't point it in his eye) 

Because I work I personally didn’t like to crate him for time outs. I was super worried about him thinking his Ex-Pen was for punishment. They seemed more effective when I would walk away and shut the door. 

You might have to do it 100 times. I wish I knew this stuff when I had my cousins puppy. She was a JRT and I lived in shark puppy tooth fear…


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## justagirltv (Jun 3, 2014)

P.S.
Toys don’t have be expensive. I’ve found some great toys at PetCo in their 2 for $5 bin, Target Clearance, Walmart clearance bin. It seems like the cheapest and random ones end up being his favorites. I also try to rotate his toys so he doesn’t have access to all of them at the same time. Any toys that he won’t touch or has no interest in I save and bring to the vet and she takes them to the shelter where she works. I also check Amazon if I really like something and find it to be cheaper because I have a Prime Membership


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