Puppy drawing blood when playing, help please!

[sparrow1024]

My 11 week old Shar Pei puppy gets so carried away when playing that she draws blood often It has gotten much worse this past week or so. When she bites, I have 'yelped' and turned away, but that gets her even more excited.... I've also tried holding still, saying 'uh-uh' or no, leaving the room, but she just starts it again, and again, etc...she is also latching onto our legs when we are walking and biting hard. I believe she is just playing, but it's out of control. I am home with her appx 90% of the time, and play ball with her several times a day, and she will run thru the house at times till she is panting, so I think she's getting enough exercize. She will 'sit' when she smells a treat, but I cant give her treats all day, every day We are going to take her to obedience classes, but they don't start till January 19th. Any suggestions much appreciated!

[gwd]

you poor thing. welcome to the joys of raising a little land shark. some puppies are way more oral and bite-y. several of us on the forum have had little piranhas and I can tell you that it takes awhile. but they do grow up! It took me several packets of band-aides and a tube of Neosporin but I too made it though with only a few permanent scars. it sounds as if for your pup, the yelping only excites him more. that is the case for a lot of pups.

basically your approach is three fold. firstly, always have something acceptable in hands reach to shove in the puppies mouth as an alternative to latching on to you. stuffied toys, tennis balls, bully sticks.......and have them handy.

secondly, be consistant with the puppy that anything other than gentle mouthing makes the fun interaction with you end. if he clamps down, get up, remove yourself from the room, .......three, two, one.......then return, have something he can sink those razor sharp puppy teeth into, and resume play at a little lower excitement level.

and thirdly, wear protective clothing. an extra sweatshirt, thick jeans, sturdy shoes all help avoid the arrant battle wound.

good luck and take comfort in the fact many of us have been in your shoes.

[sparrow1024]

Thanks so much for answering! I really do appreciate it It helped a lot... I was feeling like I was doing something terribly wrong, and it's reassuring to hear others have been in the same (painful) situation. I have had puppies before, but never one who loves to bite and sink her teeth in the way she does. She *truly* is a sweet pup, and is doing great w/housebreaking (a few accidents, but I'd say we're 90% of the way there!) and she doesn't get into/tear things up- not yet, anyway! My last boy, whom I dearly love (had to be put down in Aug- cancerous liver tumor+old age) was aggressive and I was afraid she might be going down that same path....I'm so glad I found this place and thanks again for your help and time

[emmabeth]

You are absolutely not doing anything wrong - some puppies bite, bite VERY VERY hard, and find it fun to do so, the more you squeal and yell and wriggle away, the funner it is!

Its tempting to think when you see that glint in a puppies eye and they latch onto your arm or leg and chomp down, that you got a 'bad' puppy, a vicious puppy... you didn't! Honestly!

I have a pup who was like this, just a few short months ago, he was hanging off the underside of my upper arm and the only way to get him off was have my OH get him by his scruff and prise his jaws open, because I could not keep quiet and still and wait for him to let go, it was THAT painful"!


For our pup, as well as time, and all that GWD has outlined, it also came down to a fine balancing act of physical and mental exercise. Insufficient of either, or too much of either, and he would get very easily frustrated, and once frustrated, he needed to BITEBITEBITEBITEBITE.

It took us a couple of weeks to figure out just w hat was the right level (he needs to run in an open space daily, he needs to do some clicker training daily, he needs to experience new things not more than every OTHER day or he gets overwhelmed) and suddenly, we had a puppy who very rarely got so scarily, viciously, bitey. If he DOES get that way (highly unlikely now as he is so much less frustrated now he has learned more) we can give him things to bite and get rid of that frustration.

[gwd]

fear not, as emmabeth has said, a bite-y puppy isn't a bad puppy or aggressive (or a signal of future aggression issues) it simply is what it is. you're doing nothing wrong.

the best thing you can do to help make sure your baby becomes a well adjusted member of canine society is to give him the best puppy-hood you can. mental stimulation, exposure to new things, new people, and in a controlled environment, other appropriate dogs (make sure you know they're good with puppies).

the more confidence you can give your pup and helping her to be self assured is going to go a long way in helping to avoid fear aggression. we can't ever say with 100% confidence that if we do everything right and perfectly that we're going to have the perfect dog.......anymore than you can guarantee your kid is going to grow up perfect! but training, socialization, mental stimulation and age appropriate exercise does stack the odds towards good things happening.