Westie puppy 9 weeks / playing=biting

[Noobs]

No one here saw what you described but my first guess is that your puppy (remember, a puppy who doesn't know what anything is) was afraid of all these hands coming at her. There's still no way in heck that it's dominance.

[Zeldacorgi]

Right now, what are you doing to correct him when he bites like that?

[clod81]

they told me to hold him still, until he's completely calm and then give him a treat and pet him for a while.
it looks like he's already better, and he didn't do like that that hard anymore.
anyway, I'm looking fwd to a trainer that will come next week to my home and doesn't believe in dominance as well

[forkin14]

when you say "hold him still", I hope you don't mean by alpha rolling him onto his back or side and holding him still..

[Catie]

I too am having problems with a 13 week old English Cocker Spaniel. I know the play biting is totally normal but he is doing it to my elderly Cavalier King Charles and starting to give her little cuts. Starting to get me a little down as I feel very sorry for the elder dog and that I have caused her suffering. I really hope that this stops soon. Does anyone have any advice? I also am considering getting a dog crate but have never used one before an am not sure I like the idea of a dog being in a cage. Also when buying do I get one that will be the size for them when they are fully grown as otherwise it gets expensive. I was thinking of the medium sized ones.

[clod81]

actually the biting problem for us is almost disappeared. we managed to give him lot of treats while petting and touching him. we still have quite barking problem, but he's a westie, so barking is in his blood. we're letting him socialize, train to stop barking, but sometimes is a bit frastrating.

[Mattie]

Well done, you are getting there Puppies are not easy especially terrier pups.

When you are starting to feel frustrated, walk away, your dog will pick up on this and will get confused because your body language and commands will be different. Far better to walk away and leave it for another day that to continue.

Keep it up and please keep us informed.

[Zeldacorgi]

I too am having problems with a 13 week old English Cocker Spaniel. I know the play biting is totally normal but he is doing it to my elderly Cavalier King Charles and starting to give her little cuts. Starting to get me a little down as I feel very sorry for the elder dog and that I have caused her suffering. I really hope that this stops soon. Does anyone have any advice? I also am considering getting a dog crate but have never used one before an am not sure I like the idea of a dog being in a cage. Also when buying do I get one that will be the size for them when they are fully grown as otherwise it gets expensive. I was thinking of the medium sized ones.

If your CKC is too old to do much interaction with your puppy and ward off puppy bites, it's best to separate the two when puppy is riled up and wants to play.

As for the dog crate, I think of it this way. It is no different that a baby playpen. It's for safety. You will have to teach your puppy to love the crate, and there are plenty of crate training articles on this forum. The one thing you must NEVER use the crate for is punishment. If pup is misbehaving outside the crate, you do not immediately put them in the crate. For the size of the crate, as long as it's not too small, I think it's ok. You need to make sure that pup can stand and turn around. If you have the space to do it, I would recommend a playpen vs. a crate for now. And that way you can have both dogs in the same room getting used to each other, but keeping them safe. Here's what I did with my pup as an example of what I'm talking about: