Help for biting puppy, (out of ideas).

I have an 8 week old beagle. My problem is that all he wants to do is bite us.

I know puppies nip and bite. The problem is that is all he does. You can't pet, rub, or try to play with him at all without him trying to chew on you.

I have tried the "Yelp" really loud. The puppy time out when he doesn't stop. But nothing is working.

He has gotten a lot easier on your hands, (he mouths, but not really bite). But he still will bite the crap out of your arms, legs, feet, heels, toes, ect...

My 6 year old daughter (who the puppy is for) is starting to get frightend of him, and calls for us to come get him when ever he trots towards her. (she knows he is going to bite her legs, cause thats all he does).

He is not growling or anything, and is tail wagging, puppy posing, when he does it. So it isn't aggression, Just playing way too hard.

I am really at my wits end. I have no idea of what to try next. This weekend at night it pretty much was just take him out to potty, and then put him back in his kennel.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Unfortunately, the more time he spends in his kennel, the more boisterous and playful he's going to be when he's out. You've got a Catch-22 situation going on right now.

When Shiva was little and constantly mouthing, we immediately substitued a toy in her mouth. We kept several different types, squeakies, chew bones, chew ropes, even an old sock with a knot tied in it. As long as she was mouthing the toy we played with her and petted her and praised her. As soon as she left the toy to grab us we stopped playing and paying attention to her abruptly and told her "No!" She started to catch on pretty quickly.

It will be especially helpful if your daughter will learn to do this to establish herself as the dominant "puppy" in the family.

You might consider letting him wear himself down a bit playing with a treat ball, too. They can work wonders for energetic dogs, providing not only physical exercise but mental exercise as well.

Another thing to do to help your daughter establish her dominant position is to have her give the puppy his food. Right now your pup sees her as a substitute litter mate, but litter mates don't provide food, so this action will start changing that dynamic right away.

Keep us posted; if I think of anything else I'll be sure to let you know.

thanks for the reply.
I'll try what you have suggested and let you know how it goes. I have worked on hand feeding him a little bit, and have had my daughter do this also. (but very little).
We were actualy trying to use kibble to help him learn to sit.

You know the ole trick of by his nose, over his head, praise his sit and reward.

Well, he smells the kibble and then just lunges and trys to get the food fromyour hand. jumps as you try to move it over his head.. ect...

This puppy is driving me crazy. LOL

I'll keep you updated.

Lorak

They'll surprise you sometimes. They won't learn what you think would be easy, but they will pick up something else that you never imagined. My Bimmer would just look at me and dance around when he was little and I was trying to do the "sit" thing with him. Finally I just lost my patience and looked at him and asked him, "where are your manners?" He dropped to the floor in the prettiest sit you've ever seen, head cocked to the side, ears alert, the whole nine yards. To this day, I just ask him where his manners are and he either sits or lays down with his head at attention. Now Shiva's picked it up from him. Everyone laughs when they see it. My mother's little terrier, Katie, won't do anything but hop around when I tell her to sit, but as soon as I tell her to "park it" she sits!

So don't get too discouraged, he might come up with something unique that will suprise you and amaze all your friends.

Then, too, your older dogs are always great teachers. The puppy will learn by imitating them more quickly than any other way. They might also be helpful teaching him not to nip your little daughter, too, if they are protective of her.