Puppy biting is driving me insane!

[barbarianlibrarian]

Help! My 5 month old pug puppy is driving me insane! I've been a dog owner my whole life, but this is my first pug. We adore her and she and my 3 year old are best buddies. When she is super playful though, she is nearly unbearable. We live in a 2BR apartment and I make a point to take she and my son out to the fenced-in tennis court every day (weather permitting) to run around for an hour. The problem is the chewing/biting when playful. I cannot get her to stop chewing on my son's jeans. She's always tearing at them every time I turn my head. It makes my toddler scream and try to kick her off his pants, which in turn makes her think my son is playing with him... it's this awful cycle. I've tried everything - wearing her out, redirecting her to proper toys to play with/chew on, whatever. She will not stop. It's worse when he is at the table and eating and she pulls on his pants and nearly pulls him out of his chair.

We also cannot get her to stop biting. I know she is teething, but I don't remember any other puppy I've ever had that ALWAYS chewed fingers/toes and would lurch forward and playfully bite your face if you are holding her. I've bought so many toys, and I don't want to give her a stuffed Kong all the time, it's only going to make her weigh a ton which is not healthy. It's beginning to make me miserable. Any advice?

[Beardsley]

I've always heard that children need to be taught to immediately stand still and ignore the dog whenever she starts to jump up/bite on pants/etc... I have a nephew who is only 3, though, and it is hard to imagine him being able to follow that advice. Maybe as he gets older, though, he can learn this technique?

I've also heard that teething stops at around 6 months, so maybe this will just get better when that stage is over. My puppy is only 15 weeks, so I'm sure you will receive a better response from someone with more experience than me!

[barbarianlibrarian]

Yeah I can't imagine my kid sitting still for anything haha. He's very good with her though, aside from the pants thing. We are also getting her spayed in June, so maybe that will take the wind out of her sails. I did find a tip on here about a frozen washcloth I am going to try, that's about the only thing I've not tried.

[Hellas]

There's another thread going on about puppy biting. I've given some advice there. Here I'll add that I think that a 3 year old probably isn't the best playing partner for such a young puppy. The reason for the biting, as I've written in the other thread, is probably excitement. If I were you, I would stop with the play sessions for now. The puppy can't handle them. I know how small children tend to play with dogs and it's usually a lot of chasing, waiving of arms and squeling. Worst case scenario, she hurts your son. Or, your son kicks her and accidentally hurts her.

Your puppy, as she seems prone to over-excitement, needs to learn some calmer games. I've suggested a couple in the other thread. Chasing, ball throwing and tug-of-war are probably not the best idea right now.

Whenever she does bite, all the fun must stop immediately so that it isn't rewarded. If somebody jumps, she will take it as play. If the puppy lunges at your face and tries to bite your nose (which is a typical pug thing), she should be calmly put on the floor. For a pug, any attention is a reward, pretty much. So ignoring is the best strategy. Corrections often don't work with pugs and will often make an excited puppy even more excited.

[GotPugs]

I feel your pain. I'm going through the crazed puppy biting with my almost 15 week old french bulldog. Tug is never a good idea in my opinion. Chasing a ball is a very good way to burn off some of the energy. Normally a tired puppy is a good puppy so the more you can let him go run off some energy the better he will be.

[barbarianlibrarian]

Just checked out the other games you suggested in the other thread, I am definitely going to try those tonight. I'm not too worried about the interaction between my kid and the puppy if I can just get the pants biting to stop. He's not a hyper toddler and is very patient with her and gentle (he's grown up with older dogs since birth, so he's becoming schooled on how to properly interact), but the pants biting sets them both off. I think we are going to also try a puppy kindergarten. I know a lot of people don't like Petsmart's classes, but they allow me to bring my son along, which I think is helpful in teaching them both how to coexist properly.

[pugtown]

Can you keep the puppy busy with a treat ball, IQ Ball? Maybe putting her feed in there and making her work for it will tire her out.

[barbarianlibrarian]

I don't have an IQ ball, but I am def going to pick one up. My friend's dog has one and I completely forgot about them until you mentioned it!

[Gabmaxi]

Can you spray his pants with bitter apple?

[Leonardo Dipuglio]

Leo will be six months on the 28th and he was absolutely horrid with the pants grabbing and nipping hands..what worked for us is a spray bottle for the pants/feet and bitter apple on hubbies hands.He is finally understanding that nipping is wrong wrong wrong lol...