Jumping up & biting

[Leslie]

I need some help on what to do next with my pup, Bella. I just can't get her to stop jumping on me and often biting too. Now, I've had her since birth and have always done the yelp & stop playing method with her - this worked fine when Ellie was a pup (the mom)

I've also never encouraged rough playing and when she jumps up I turn my back on her. She has also known since around 5 weeks old that the puppy who is sitting nicely gets rewarded. (gets to eat first) These methods just aren't working. I even upped the training to grabbing her by the jowls and growling "knock it off!" if she bites, (this method has been advised by some trainers) but this seems to incite her.

At 4+ months, I really need to get a handle on this jumping and biting. Any further ideas? She starts puppy classes next week, so they may have some more ideas for me too.

[rute_paredes]

Hello Leslie
when my boy Iago was a pup, he'd get so excited when we come home he'd jump up and bite at the same time (once he caught my bare arm and I had a pup dangling from my forearm for a couple of excrutiating seconds...).
What my husband and I did was not to engage in any play or petting until he calmed down. When he jumped up I put my hand forward, gently pushed him down and firmly say "No". I tried to keep my face and movements serene and still. I'd look at him and say "Quiet down boy" a couple of times, in a soothing voice. The first couple of times I had to push him to the ground several times. He eventually calmed down and then I would pet him and called him a nice boy once I realized he was staying on the ground.
Also, when we played and he got a bit mouthy I'd call the whole thing to a hault and say "NO" very firmly. If he kept bitting I'd very gently "swat" him across the mouth, extract my finger/wrist/hand and look at him intently and repeat "NO". I also gave him his own chew toys for him to bite. I'd stop playing everytime he got mouthy with me. When things got really serious we would reprimend him and stop playing with him altogether and go off to another part of the house and "ignore" him. He could follow us but wouldnt get any attention for a while.
This worked for us but its not "expert advice". Maybe Wetdog can offer something a bit more "tried and tested" .

good luck

rute

[jai]

Hi Leslie.. I have not had a weim in a long time.. but when Bruno was a pup after he had parvo, he began biting me to get my attention. He bit me in the butt several times when he had to go outside and he thought I was ignoring him. (I had 3 kids, so sometimes he did not get all the attention) Anyways, I started to notice that before he bit me, he did some sort of weird noise with his mouth.. So, I would listen for that and then I reprimanded him with a rolled up newspaper i hit on my hand. He hated the noise and would sit and look at me. I was the only one he bit. He never did it to the girls or my husband. It may be because he and I were always together and I nursed him back from Parvo. On other times when he bit me, like when he was waiting for me to throw the ball, I would end it and just pull him a little on his chain to a sit postion and then make him look at me, Iwould say no, and then walk him back to the house on his leash. I would keep the leash on him and put him the down position in the kitchen with no attention. It took a while, but he learned. I must say though, when he was 4 (before he died) we had moved to a new house and the change of environment started the biting me to go out behavior, but again I got that under control in a few days. good luck.. FYI.. there was a vet who once told me that dominance has something to do with it. Like I said, he was always with me and did not do it to any other family member
jai

[Leslie]

It may be too that I'm expecting too much too soon? As she learns more and more commands, I'll be able to put her in a sit/stay, etc. I just don't remember it taking so long for bite inhibition to be learned in my other dogs. The jumping up, I don't really remember how long that took either. I just want to be sure that this biting and jumping stop soon. She has to learn it's not an acceptable way to play.

[fialCo]

hey, Leslie,
I have the same problem - Brera jumps and bites! I think she is acting like this because of her joy when I come home. Sometimes she even jumps for a while when we are outside for a quick pee:) I mean, peeing isn't of the first matter!
I come from work, quickly let her outside, she pees, and we go home for her meal, then - a long walk and training before the night:)
So frequently she does it. When I'm in the mood, I like that, I am ready to avoid her bites, but Tomas ( my BF) doesn't always like that, since he doesn't want to play with her.
We usually say STOP or NO, when she bites too hard. I think it's because of her growing teeth, toys and bones are not enough.
I am sure, it will stop soon, now she is realising, that she won't be treated when she is jumping when I come home. She has to be patient and maybe better lie down showing her stomach:) than jumping and biting;)
On the other hand, I am glad I have an energetic pupp:) So is Bellatrix:) Enjoy:)

[Leslie]

I thought of something today why she might be jumping and biting longer than my other dogs did. She was with some of her litter mates until almost 4 months, and she has her mom and they rough-house a lot. With my other dogs, they didn't have other dogs to rough-house with, so maybe they stopped sooner? When I got Ellie, Bran was already 10 and no longer wanted to rough-house.

Yes, puppies bite and jump out of joy and wanting to play with us -they don't know that we are not also puppies - but they must learn quickly that this is not an acceptable way to play with humans. I'll give it more time with Bella and just keep what I'm doing for now.