8-week pup nipping and biting...

[cwesley]

Our new little boxer pup bites and nips at us when he is playing with us.... do the ever stop that? Is there anything we can do about it? Do they eventually grow out of that ? he's only 8 weeks... his little teeth are sharp!

[whitedaisy]

My Poppy isn't/wasn't a biter so trying to remember back to when Daisy was little... I believe we did a high pitched "ouch!!!" (like a litter mate yelp) and quit playing, walked away, looked away but stopped the fun. It didn't take long for Daisy to learn to be gentle and not mouthy. good luck!!

[KeeperBoy]

We yelped with Boo also. I also pushed on her tongue hard. It took her about 4 months to really get it though.

[bruinsBoxers]

The only way to get hom to stop is to teach him . When he nips you have to give a verbal correction , a yelp or Ehhh noise works well and stop playing. This is how puppies teach each other that biting hurts and if they bite then playing is done . Then when he stops you can redirect him to chew / bite on something else appropriate. The nipping wil not stop over night and may take weeks even to teach him not to bite , but eventually he will get it . You just have to be consistant with training , always use the same words and same reaction when he does bite.

[KeeperBoy]

Make sure you are hard and fast with the training now. IMHO I don't think puppies should be taken from their mother/litter before 10 weeks, they learn so much from the mother, including appropriate biting behavior.

[JoeV]

we had that problem. the vet said it is just normal puppy behavior and they grow out of it. it is a pain, but it gets better. make sure as you train him out of it that visitors/other family members also know the commands/corrections you are using - it is important for all who come in contact with him to train him... that way he knows it is inappropriate to do this to anyone, not just the people he lives with and it will help train him faster.

[cwesley]

Thanks to all for your advise. I guess I need to me more firm with him when he starts that biting and nipping. Seems like thats the only way he wants to play though...lol

[purplelori]

Wally was HORRIBLE at 8-12 weeks especially. You are right, those little teeth are like razors!
He didn't seem to care if we did the high-pitched '0uch', so we mostly redirected him---not ME--here, chew this toy/chewie/plastic bottle/whatever! He's 6 months old (Tomorrow!) now, and while he likes to mouth my fingers (especially when he's getting tired---almost like a baby with a pacifier) he's much gentler--maybe I'm his teething ring. Slowly but surely, we see improvement. Now if he'd just stop jumping on people!

Lori & Wally

[cwesley]

Funny thing is we had a 2 year old kid and 5 year old kid over at the house tonight, and he played with them so gentle, I was amazed! never once nipped at them or knocked them down one time!

[Boxerdad]

Ditto on what the others said, I used a high ouch and he eventually got the message. When you play rough though dont be surprised he might even growl at you lol. It's all good.