My puppy bites me hard, drawing blood. What's the best way to train him?

Question

Spooky bites a lot, and hurts to the point of leaving marks and drawing blood. I tried yelping but he bites even harder. I tried saying no, making a loud sound and redirecting his attention to a toy but he usually couldn't care less about the toy. I tried ignoring him for a while but it rarely helps since he'll just bite my feet and legs until it draws blood. I got a whistle to startle him and it worked some times but grew old quickly. I contacted a trainer who says he's too young to be trained. Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Medium (23 - 60lb) | Male | unneutered | 2 months and 27 days old | 55 lbs

C. Rathjens, DVM · Accepted Answer

I have a couple recommendations for you in no particular order My first is to contact a different trainer because someone truly qualified will be able to help you out. Its crucially important to only work with a trainer who uses positive reinforcement and ideally is certified through the Karen Pryor academy or CPDT-KA (which stands for Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Knowledge Assessed). Spooky is at a great age to start training, and really it's mostly us humans who need to be trained. I recommend reading this free PDF right away: https://www.dogstardaily.com/files/downloads/AFTER_You_Get_Your_Puppy.pdf Finally, it sounds like Spooky is getting "egged on" by your loud noises and attempts to interrupt. He's probably finding it to be a super fun game that you two are playing. So, I would recommend taking the opposite pathway of totally ignoring inappropriate behavior. You mentioned that you tried this but he kept biting - you need to also move away and get space between you. You can use a leash or a crate, or a door to create space. It's very important to give Spooky an appropriate toy to work on when you leave the situation. This can be hard to do correctly, so use the above resources to help. I hope that helps a bit, good luck!

My puppy bites me hard, drawing blood. What's the best way to train him?

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