# My Puppy Won't Stop Biting Me
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [January 26, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109 "2008-01-26T17:27:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@BanjoPup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BanjoPup)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/1 "2008-01-26T17:27:25Z")
I’ve got a 10 month old Lab/Border Collie who loves to bite my hands. He never breaks the skin but it still hurts. I’ve tried a shake can, yelling at him, keeping my hands in my pockets, nothing works. Any suggestions?
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### Author:  [@Ferns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferns)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/2 "2008-01-26T17:42:24Z")
[QUOTE=BanjoPup]
I’ve got a 10 month old Lab/Border Collie who loves to bite my hands. He never breaks the skin but it still hurts. I’ve tried a shake can, yelling at him, keeping my hands in my pockets, nothing works. Any suggestions?
[/QUOTE]
Sure. Coat your hands with Tobasco sauce and let him decide for himself that hands taste bad. A lab/bc mix ought to be a pretty smart dog, it will only take a time or two for him to learn. Seriously, this works.
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### Author:  [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2008, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/3 "2008-01-26T17:49:33Z")
When he bites, push your finger into the roof of his mouth while you use the rest of your hand to hold his snout. They really hate that. Soon he’ll figure out that biting isn’t a pleasant experience anymore.
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### Author:  [@BanjoPup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BanjoPup)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2008, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/4 "2008-01-26T17:54:24Z")
Thanks, those both sound like good ideas. All I have to do now is make sure I don’t get Tabasco in that cut on my finger… :eek:
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### Author:  [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/5 "2008-01-26T18:02:25Z")
Start chewing on his paws back?
See how you like it, dog!
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### Author:  [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2008, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/6 "2008-01-26T18:16:48Z")
Warning, some dogs LOVE the taste of Tabasco. Most hate it, but be prepared for the possibility that you’ve got one of the ones that won’t.
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### Author:  [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/7 "2008-01-26T18:24:34Z")
[QUOTE=BlueKangaroo]
Warning, some dogs LOVE the taste of Tabasco. Most hate it, but be prepared for the possibility that you’ve got one of the ones that won’t.
[/QUOTE]
Also, make damn sure you don’t have any oven cuts or sores before you coat yourself with tabasco.
And, uh, wash yourself thoroughly before touching any -ahem- intimate areas on yourself or your SO.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/8 "2008-01-26T19:30:56Z")
Watch “The Dog Whisperer” on Nat’l Geo channel until you understand what he’s about. Six episodes or so should do it.
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### Author:  [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/9 "2008-01-26T19:35:23Z")
Pinch his neck. Probably harder than you think. Mother dogs break the nipping habit in their puppies by biting their necks.
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### Author:  [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/10 "2008-01-26T20:05:53Z")
I’ve found that yelping helps. Puppies, when playing with each other, use their voices to signal to each other if they’re playing too rough. If a pup nips at my hands, I let out a high-pitched “Ouch!” and pull my hand away. Then, this is the important bit, _I move away and ignore them for a while_. This reinforces the idea that biting-\>too rough-\>no contact with Human Who Is The High Master And Object Of Adoration. It’s important to do this every time, right at the beginning when he first starts to nip. By the time he’s gotten excited enough to nip hard, it’ll be harder to get through to him.
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### Author:  [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2008, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/11 "2008-01-26T20:15:11Z")
There’s a spray called Bitter Apple that’s a very yucky taste, and probably less likely to cause unpleasant burning for you!
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### Author:  [@FourPaws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FourPaws)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/12 "2008-01-26T20:57:42Z")
[QUOTE=Ferret Herder]
There’s a spray called Bitter Apple that’s a very yucky taste, and probably less likely to cause unpleasant burning for you!
[/QUOTE]
Oh no, it burns. It also “sticks around”, even after washing. I would highly recommend not putting it on your hands intentionally.
As to the OP, I would recommend making a sound when your pup does it. It catches them off guard and shocks them a little. If you do it each time, they learn quickly. I make a sound – it’s a lot like the buzzer sound on a game show when you get the answer wrong. I do it loudly, and the dog was always like, “WTF was that?!?”
Then again, it all depends on what you like. One of my dogs always took my hand in her mouth when we went for a walk, kind of like a little kid leading you into an amusement park: “Come on, come _on_!” I liked it when she did that. It was cute.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/13 "2008-01-26T21:47:54Z")
QUOTE=Chefguy]Watch “The Dog Whisperer” on Nat’l Geo channel until you understand what he’s about. Six episodes or so should do it.
[/QUOTE]
I agree. That guy is amazing. I also read his biography.
Dogs are pack animals. Perhaps your dog is trying to figure out who is the leader of the pack.
IMHO. This can be done with simple motions.
Your pup is only ten months old. He is going to want to chew. His teeth may hurt.
Get him something to chew on besides you.
When tries to bite your hand, stand up, look him in the eye and make sure that he knows that YOU are the leader of the pack.
Nothing but a few stern words should cure this. Do not say the dog’s name. Often a dog that hears its name will feel that it is a reward.
NO!
I have broken up 3 dog fights by wading into them and convincing them that **I** am what they need to worry about. It takes a bit of noise and thunder, but it has worked for me.
You have to convince your new dog that YOU are the pack leader.
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### Author:  [@Montgomery0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montgomery0)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2008, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/14 "2008-01-26T22:17:10Z")
[QUOTE=auRa]
I’ve found that yelping helps.
[/QUOTE]
I’ll second this. When my puppy was biting, a yelp, much like a puppy would do, stopped him cold. Bites often transformed into puppy licks. 😃
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### Author:  [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/15 "2008-01-26T22:41:19Z")
I second the tobasco (or lemon juice) idea and the pinch from the top of his muzzle to the roof of his mouth idea. While you should probably shout “no” simultaneously, loud noises alone probably won’t work. For one, he’s a bit old for that tactic, and secondly, the can full of pennies didn’t work (though that one is hard to do correctly)
Good luck.
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### Author:  [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2008, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/16 "2008-01-26T22:44:12Z")
Also, you could just put the dog to sleep and get a new dog and start over. I know this sounds extreme, but I have read of people putting their dog to sleep because it did not match their new couch.
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### Author:  [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2008, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/17 "2008-01-26T23:03:13Z")
I had a kitten that started biting when we played. So one day I bit her back. Clamped my teeth (lightly but firmly) onto one ear. She gave a high-pitched meep! and after I let go she gave me a wtf look. But she never bit me again.
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### Author:  [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/18 "2008-01-27T00:44:45Z")
This is possibly the worst dog advice I’ve ever read. You people should be ashamed of yourselves. Tobasco?!!! Really?
**Banjopup** , your dog is _teething_. It’s a lab mix. 10 months old. It is going to wrap its jaws around anything in its eyesight. Buy some rawhide. The dog needs chew toys. If you think you have chew toys, but the teething dog is still gnawing at you then you don’t have the right toys.
Give the dog a T-bone. (Not the whole steak, obviously, just the bone.) But tobasco?!! C’mon people this is old wisdom. give the dog a literal bone.
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### Author:  [@schnuckiputzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schnuckiputzi)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/19 "2008-01-27T01:25:28Z")
Labs are really mouthy dogs, plus puppies are like children in that everything goes in their mouths. I have trained a lot of dogs, and a definitely agree with the loud noise/yelping to get their attention,or if they’re in a wild mood, squeezing gently on the roof of their mouth with the trapped fingers until they’re glad to let go. We have a rescue dog right now (Rottie/pit mix) that gets a little frisky with mouthiness, but lets go instantly if I say loudly, “Are you \*biting \* me???”
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### Author:  [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-puppy-wont-stop-biting-me/435109/20 "2008-01-27T02:39:48Z")
[QUOTE=A Monkey With a Gun]
This is possibly the worst dog advice I’ve ever read. You people should be ashamed of yourselves. Tobasco?!!! Really?
**Banjopup** , your dog is _teething_. It’s a lab mix. 10 months old. It is going to wrap its jaws around anything in its eyesight. Buy some rawhide. The dog needs chew toys. If you think you have chew toys, but the teething dog is still gnawing at you then you don’t have the right toys.
Give the dog a T-bone. (Not the whole steak, obviously, just the bone.) But tobasco?!! C’mon people this is old wisdom. give the dog a literal bone.
[/QUOTE]
Some particular reason why the OP can’t do both?
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