How do you teach a puppy not to . . ..

[Huginn]

. . . bite.
Huginn has decided he is an alligator. I know that this is normal puppy behavior (mouthy puppies), but I also know enough to know that it's not a behavior that I should let go untouched. What I have been doing is removing his mouth from my skin, by putting pressure on his upper jaw with my thumb inside my mouth. This started out ok, I praise him when he releases and give him a toy. But now, he is getting worse, biting more often and starting to clench his teeth as I try to pry him off of me, when I finally get him to let go he will growl at me and lunge back at my arm or leg.
I am getting a little frustrated with him. . . I know that I shouldn't, but I am starting to get covered in cuts and scrapes and bruises. I want it to stop now, before he weighs more.
Any ideas?

[eternalstudent]

There are many ways to go about this. However, I only have experience with one method and it worked so I never tried the others :-).

When my little land-shark went to bite by me i would walk her to the corner of the room and stand there and look at it. If she settled I would release, if not I would walk her to another corner.

Eventually she learnt that bitting my legs = corner which = NO FUN!!!

The bitting at a young age is normally a call to play, so after I had her calm I would then get out the tug rope and play.

The other thing that I have noticed with both my pups is that it is not me they bite most often. They know that they get lots of play with me so don't normally need to instigate it. Basically I try to anticipate when they are going to want to play so I start the game not them :-)

Hope that makes sense!!

[MollyWoppy]

I'm really sorry, but I'm laughing. I remember this stage well. It was fun, now I look back :D I remember my husband telling me that he was worried because Mollie too aggressive and vicious. Another thing I remember well is going to puppy class, absolutely covered in scratches and bloody teeth marks, and, everybody else was exactly the same, everyone of us were going 'oh, thank God, it's not only my dog'.
You can try the screaming thing if he bites down too hard (Mollie thought that was funny and would bite more often just to hear me scream).
The other thing was everytime she hurt me, I'd cross my arms and turn my back. But then she'd attack my back or my head or my calves or feet.
The only thing that worked was just her getting older. But, one good thing is that once she got past that stage, she had great bite inhibition,
Good luck, but enjoy it, they are only puppies for a second and one day you will look back very fondly and kindof miss the naughtiness and mischievousness stage!

[Maxy24]

I would stop doing anything physical. Remember the dog is trying to play with you like he would another dog, anything physical you do, short of actually abusing the dog, is likely to be interpreted as part of the game. Our dog was one of the worst puppy biters I've ever met, I too had parents who were seriously concerned about his temperament because of how much and how hard he bit. We all bled daily. We just did the yelp (make it genuine so that random in he house run in to find out what you did to the puppy lol) followed by getting up and ignoring the puppy, sometimes we'd leave the room and close a door so that he couldn't have access to us if he started going after pants or something. Then after a minute or so of ignoring quietly go get a toy of his and sit on the floor, when he comes over show him the toy and if he bites it start playing with him, if he goes for you again yelp and ignore once more. It's just a matter of teaching him how people play, because right now he's just trying to play like dogs play. If he is clamped down and yelping doesn't get him to let go then you may try giving him a puff of air in the nose just to get him to release (but watch out for your face), you must still go through with the ignoring followed by giving him the option to use a toy to play.

[IslandPaws4Raw]

I've always just re-directed with toys. When there is a puppy in my house there are toys strewn around every where, so you can easily put a hand on a toy if they get interested in biting you. If the toy thing doesn't work I always say " ah ah! No bite! " in a low growly voice, then offer the toy again. I guess I've been fairly lucky and my guys weren't super bad biters and they've all learned good bite inhibition really early on.
This is a major rule in my house, and no one is allowed to rough house with the pups. They can tug and growl till they're hearts content, but no teeth on skin until they are well over a year old. By then they know how to play nice with people.
Also, be very aware of him trying to herd you. Kai was never allowed to herd me by biting at my ankles. Be mindful of this if there are going to be kids around. It's probably not so bad with a BC because they are all about the stare, whereas cattle dogs are more geared towards nipping to get the results

[MollyWoppy]

Also, be very aware of him trying to herd you. Kai was never allowed to herd me by biting at my ankles. Be mindful of this if there are going to be kids around. It's probably not so bad with a BC because they are all about the stare, whereas cattle dogs are more geared towards nipping to get the results

Yep, this is very true. Had plenty of nips on the ankles and calves, which hurt like hell. It didn't take long to redirect that behaviour to a good nose poke in the calves. She still does the nose poking which is fine by me, it's just the type of dog she is.
I roughhouse with Mollie all the time, but I sure didn't when she was a pup, needle teeth just hurt too much.

[brandypup]

I use bite inhibition
Dog Tip: Bite Inhibition -- an Essential Part of Socialization

[xellil]

I am trying not to feel smug because I only have old dogs :)

Good luck. It sounds like everyone goes through this!

[Huginn]

I have tried the yelp thing a few times and it just makes him go after me harder lol. I'll keep working at it and try a few more of the suggestions offered. I don't mind anyone who is laughing at me, I was telling my boyfriend about it and he thought it was absolutely hilarious. I've been lucky with the past pups I have been around, they learned early on not to bite.
I have been working on the not herding me thing, I have a couple of scratches on the back of my knee from when I left a room that he didnt want me to leave. But that was easily fixed by me not moving when he tried to do it and telling him "no" with the "ah ah" (weird deep noise that I use for the horses out of habit. . . ), now he just trips me lol.

[monkeys23]

I prefer the redirecting to toys as well. You could yipe and say no all day... Spaz would still gator you, lol. But make him sit for his tug toy and oh man! He will seriously tug for like 10 min at a time. Crazy little booger.

Also I have to say that some of the craziest pups I knew have grown up to be the best dogs. I was like 10 when my aunt got her dog Pig as a small pup and I remember being all scratched up and bruised from the little tasmanian devil.... she's so old now, but she has seriously been one of the best dogs I've ever had the pleasure of knowing in my life. And yeah my parent's are awesome, they were just like well if you don't want chewed you shouldn't be teasing the puppy, lol.