Puppy biting hands, furniture, everything! How to stop a 7-week-old?

Chewing on lots of things, including human hands and clothing, is completely normal behavior for a puppy this age - this is how puppies explore the world, and how they instinctively want to play. She will grow out of this behavior as she gets older, but there are some things you can do in the meantime that will help. Make sure that your pup has a variety of different toys to provide an appropriate outlet for this behavior - long floppy rope or fleece toys for tugging, plush toys for biting and carrying, and smaller toys or balls for chasing and fetching. She should also have lots of different chews and long-lasting treats to chew on such as bully sticks, large rawhide chews, cow or pig ears, and puzzle toys like a Kong stuffed with peanut butter. You will need to keep your belongings put away out of her reach for now, just like you would with a toddler or small child. For furniture or other items that can't be put away, you can use Bitter Apple spray to make them taste bad, which should help to discourage her from chewing on them. If you are playing with her and she bites you, just redirect her to one of her toys and use that to play with her instead. If she bites your hands when you pet her, calmly stop petting and wait for her to settle down. I would not recommend restraining her against her will, or pinching her ear to punish her for this behavior - these techniques often make things worse by causing frustration, and do not help her to understand what you want. In addition, doing things like this may cause her to be afraid of being picked up or handled, since she associates pain and discomfort with these things. Just be patient and calm, and redirect her to appropriate things to chew as needed - this behavior will go away on its own with age :)

Mouthing behavior is very normal in 8 week old puppies - just like babies they learn and explore with their mouths. Mouthing is different from biting in intent. If she's generally chewing on your hands and happy, that's mouthing. If she's frightened, lunges and bites, and then retreats and hides or bites and leaves punctures, that is very abnormal for such a young puppy and Angel would need to see a veterinarian behaviorist (not a trainer) right away to work on strategies to keep her mentally healthy. I'm going to assume that she's mouthing. The best thing you can do is not reward her mouthing. Any time she puts her mouth on you, disengage from play, petting, or talking to her. Think of it like a light switch - if she mouths, you just turn off and become super boring. Don't punish or try to scare her, she's being a normal puppy and needs to learn how to interact socially. Also, look for a puppy class to enroll her in. Having other puppies to learn and play with is helpful because they learn that biting can hurt. Finally, check out this free ebook from Dr. Ian Dunbar about early puppy training. It's a gem. https://www.dogstardaily.com/files/downloads/AFTER_You_Get_Your_Puppy.pdf Good luck to you and Angel! Let me know if this information was helpful and post another question or set up a consult if you'd like more advice.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sadly this is a puppy and or breed problem that MOST dogs eventually outgrow. Everything he could chew on should be put away or removed until this phase of puppy-hood is over. The family needs to learn to put their shoes in the closet. All plants should be put up on furniture or shelves. All exposed wires should be hidden or blocked with baby gates. When Damon can not be 100% watched he should be crated for his own safety or penned in a dog play pen or gated in a room that is puppy proofed. Make sure he gets plenty of exercise with walks and one on one play or sign him up for doggie day care during the day. Most chewing occurs out of boredom. Sign him up for training classes or start teaching him "leave it" and be sure he knows how to come when called. This is going to take time and patience and everyone doing their part to prevent injury to their belongings and to Damon. I hope this helps and I wish you the best!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would assume she is doing this to get his attention to play. Bella is young and needs a lot of exercise and interaction. I would add more walks or play time. Consider enrolling her in doggie daycare a few times per week. Otherwise I would have a leash on her at all times and when she starts this behavior, pull her down, make her sit and remove her from the situation. Consider 5-10 mins in "time out" in another room or crate. Then exercise her. I hope this helps!

Biting is very normal for puppies but it should be addressed. You are on the right tract with saying Ouch but then you need to get up and ignore her and keep walking away from her until she stop biting. At that moment you turn around and CALMLY reward her and hand her something more appropriate to play with. This will take time and consistency. Here are two links which will help: https://www.petcoach.co/article/puppy-biting-nipping-of-hands/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/puppy-biting-when-does-it-stop/ I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Good question. Puppies explore the world with their mouths, and at that age, everything is a toy! The most important thing is to not leave Athena unsupervised with *anything* she might chew on that she's not supposed to, as you have to be able to respond to her in the moment. Anytime she grabs hold of something she's not supposed to play with, either gently remove that item from her mouth and redirect her to play with one of her allowed toys, or if necessary give her a stern and sharp "No!" while you take away the object - and then direct her to a toy she can play with. She's going to be exploring and experimenting with her surroundings, so it's going to take time and consistency to help her learn what's on limits and what's off limits. Again, it's very important that she never be left unsupervised with items that are supposed to be off-limits. If she's alone and decides to chew up the rug, and has a wonderful time doing so, it will be that much harder to train her after the fact that she shouldn't have done that (very fun!) activity. Not to mention the risks of ingesting that foreign material - you don't want to end up with an emergency vet visit! Hope this helps. Feel free to request a consultation if you'd like to discuss training in more detail.

Hi, I totally understand you chewing ca be a bit of a problem during these early months. You need to try to be consistent and not to give up and play with your hands. Even during normal play, interrupt play and ignore him if suddenly starting to play too rough. You should try to praise calm behaviour and when he manages (eventually) to sit and be focused. As times goes by, he will get better and better and hopefully grow in a well balanced adult !