# Nips and Bites



## MyFreddie (Oct 25, 2009)

Freddie is almost 5 months old. He has started nipping at my hands and biting. 
He also hangs on your pant leg's and shoes. I am not sure how to break this habit I think he is teething and I have lots of chew toys for him.


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## KSC (Aug 6, 2009)

Kipling did this too at around that age - we corrected him and stopped playing if he got nippy. Hands folded. No Bite command and disengage. He did eventually stop. He's now just over six months.


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

Mine went through this too, especially nipping at the edges of my bathrobe as I walked. Our puppy trainer said to shriek when they nip and stop walking, stop all play for a minute. That's how their littermates would react to a bite and they need training to learn that's NOT the correct way to get your attention. Good luck! It's not a fun stage!


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## KSC (Aug 6, 2009)

I'm laughing at your description but it's true - a full on shriek was what it took to get Kipling's attention too. My family kept being shocked when one of us would let out a loud shriek but K got the message. He immediately withdrew and went into his down position...submissive. In some ways it was funny..in others quite an annoying stage.


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## Phoebs (May 28, 2009)

5 months is getting to the age where I started using timeouts for Phoebe. She was not only still making some painful bites/nips but was also turning into a chewing fiend at 9pm. I haven't been good about "drop it" or "leave it" which are both appropriate for ankle nipping or sleeve pulling, but that girl knows "STOP". 
Here is how it worked. We have a simple arm chair (not a cozy one, a dining chair). If she wouldn't stop whatever the first time I'd say "STOP", I would say "Too bad" in a negative tone, and simply scoop her up and put her on the timeout chair. No lectures, no trauma. Actaually there was a tether available to hold her by the collar but she tried jumping one time (I was tehre to catch her immediately) and that was enough of a shock that she never tried it again. After 30 seconds or maybe a minute or two, I come back to the chair. Pick her up and tell her she's a good girl. I can't believe how much it works. It really teaches them to listen to you. STOP is a really good all-purpose command, and boy, she understands what it means. I think it's the Havanese in her- she really really wants to do whatever pleases me. She just needs to know what that is. She sits so shamefully on the chair, even though I am very neutral about the timeouts- this is not meant to really punish, just really a "time out- you messed up, listen next time!"
So give the timeout chair a try. As for the nips, I feel like Phoebe has really good bite inhibition at 10 months. she loves to play with her mouth, and to mouth people in play, but we never have a reason to say "ouch" anymore. It takes time, but it works eventually, and you'll have a much safer dog in the end.


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## Beanie (Aug 30, 2009)

*Nipping & biting*

Yes, Beanie is doing this too and if I sternly say "No!" she just heads in for more, so the best solution is to just stop and fold your arms and do nothing. Beanie always looks disconcerted when I do this and it works: she sits down and stops biting. I hope she will eventually grow out of the toe nipping stage.


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## waybrook (Sep 13, 2009)

This is so timely. Panda will be 6 months old in early Dec. I found 2 teeth today on the rug. SHe is now biting and chewing constantly - everything clothes, shoes, towels, furniture, the works.

I've started telling her NO and if she fails to stop putting her in her x-pen for timeout - then just walk away for a few minutes. We've just started this yesterday, so too soon to tell if its working, but she does go on to something else when she's taken out of the pen. Hopefully it will break this annoying problem all together...

Also I've noticed her breath is awful - could that be a by product of teething?


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

yes, the horrible breath comes with the loose teeth! You can also buy sprays that tast nasty and made to discourage puppies from teething the furniture. Make sure she has alot of toys with different textures and substitute them for the objects she is chewing on.


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## Beanie (Aug 30, 2009)

*Bad Breath while Teething*



waybrook said:


> This is so timely. Panda will be 6 months old in early Dec. I found 2 teeth today on the rug. SHe is now biting and chewing constantly - everything clothes, shoes, towels, furniture, the works.
> 
> I've started telling her NO and if she fails to stop putting her in her x-pen for timeout - then just walk away for a few minutes. We've just started this yesterday, so too soon to tell if its working, but she does go on to something else when she's taken out of the pen. Hopefully it will break this annoying problem all together...
> 
> Also I've noticed her breath is awful - could that be a by product of teething?


Hi Donna:
Yes, I've found that Beanie has bad breath too and she is definitely teething. I think the bad breath may be because of bacteria in the old roots of the milk teeth; just a guess. I've brushed her teeth a little with the doggie toothpaste and that helps somewhat. She has lots of chew toys: also I give her little carrots; she seems to like those.

She has lost her lower canines, but now I am concerned because her upper permanent canines are coming in in front of the milk teeth canines which haven't dropped out, nor are they loose. I've heard that sometimes the milk teeth have to be pulled if this is the case. Just waiting to see what happens, but I am wondering if anyone else here has had this experience? Panda is adorable, by the way, I love her colors.


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## KSC (Aug 6, 2009)

waybrook said:


> Also I've noticed her breath is awful - could that be a by product of teething?


Yes - that was my experience. For about a week, maybe a little more Kipling's breath was deadly - this was at the time the teeth were being found everywhere. He's now got his adult teeth and his breath is completey back to normal. I do brush his teeth every day and I'm sure that helps but even without that it was a night and day difference in his breath while he was teething. When I asked about this, I got these responses

http://havaneseforum.com/showthread.php?t=10270&highlight=breath


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## KSC (Aug 6, 2009)

Beanie said:


> Hi Donna:
> I've heard that sometimes the milk teeth have to be pulled if this is the case. Just waiting to see what happens, but I am wondering if anyone else here has had this experience? Panda is adorable, by the way, I love her colors.


Kipling needed to have his pulled - it was done during his neutering appt and didn't seem to bother him one bit. The teeth were pulled, there was a small stitch and that was that.


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## leena365 (Sep 17, 2009)

I am now also experiencing the nipping and biting at the pant leg and the fingers. I shall try all your suggestions above. Does anyone know when their permanent teeth come in and all nipping and biting comes to an end? What type of chewy toys do you guys use?


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## KSC (Aug 6, 2009)

Kipling's seemed to stop from one day to the next....and it was right around the six month mark once the teeth were in. He likes his kong for chewing but also bully sticks and flossies....


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## leena365 (Sep 17, 2009)

What are bully sticks and flossies?


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## KSC (Aug 6, 2009)

This is a good thread on bullies and flossies

http://havaneseforum.com/showthread.php?t=10374&highlight=bully

And ... um...don't ask what bully sticks really are


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## leena365 (Sep 17, 2009)

Thank you! I have ordered some online for them. I am hoping this will solve their chewing needs.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

KSC said:


> Kipling needed to have his pulled - it was done during his neutering appt and didn't seem to bother him one bit. The teeth were pulled, there was a small stitch and that was that.


Kodi never had any bad breath during teething, but all his teeth fell out on time too. I wonder whether something about the retained teeth makes them smell?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

leena365 said:


> I am now also experiencing the nipping and biting at the pant leg and the fingers. I shall try all your suggestions above. Does anyone know when their permanent teeth come in and all nipping and biting comes to an end? What type of chewy toys do you guys use?


I'm not sure the nipping has anything directly to do with teething. I think it's more just part of puppy play, and they need to learn it's not appropriate with people. We just said "OWWWW!!!" in a high loud voice any time Kodi nipped at our clothes or hands, even if it didn't hurt at all, just so he would learn. It didn't take very long for him to stop doing it entirely.

As far as teething is concerned, I'm not sure when he lost his last baby teeth, but he was neutered just around 6 months, and he'd lost them all by then. I have read, though, that some lines of Havanese take a long time to shed their baby teeth and grow in the adult teeth. From what I understand, it's not uncommon for them to need to have some pulled.

Chewing on STUFF is a completely different story. At 7 months, Kodi is still a chew monster. He is completely untrustworthy around any wires... we have to watch him like a hawk. He used to LOVE his stuffed animals with squeakers in them, but we can't let him have them any more. He has learned to almost surgically excise the squeaker, which, of course, is great choking size. He seems to be a little gentler with stuffed animals without squeakers, especially his favorites that he sleeps with.

We've had to go to harder and harder materials for chew toys, as he seems to be able to tear apart anything meant for weaker jaws than a pit bull.<g> We kind of mix them between ones that it's OK for him to chew up without hurting himself (like Nylabones) and ones that we have to watch for signs of damage, and then toss away. Some things that he really likes are just plain totally disposable, like milk bottles. He gets a couple of good play sessions out of them and then into recycling they go! (at least they're cheap!!!<g>)

Kodi is very intolerant of beef, so we can't use bully sticks and the like. We found some lamb ones, but they only lasted about 5 minutes. I'm leery of most of the "consumable" chews because they are mostly wheat products, and at best empty calories, at worst, could cause allergy problems in some dogs. We do get him the hollow stuffed bones filled with chicken. When the chickn stuffing is gone, we refill it with a combination of peanut butter and kibble. These seem to keep him happy for quite a while, and he does actually chew on the bones hard enough that you can see teeth marks on them.


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## leena365 (Sep 17, 2009)

"Do not give them greenies or nylabones (these also have plastic in them) as a treat as they are nothing but flour and grains and cause stomach problems. Havanese like to chew on lamb ears and cow hooves. Get the natural cleaned ones." This is what my breeder recommended when I got the pups.


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## KSC (Aug 6, 2009)

I didn't know this about greenies - the list of ingredients that follows is what the website gives..which are the things we should be staying away from?

Ingredients:
Gelatin, wheat protein isolate, glycerin, soy protein isolate, sodium caseinate, natural poultry flavor, hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, lecithin, vegetable oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), minerals (magnesium amino acid chelate, calcium carbonate, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate, calcium pantothenate, potassium iodide), vitamins (dl-alpha-tocopherol acetate [source of vitamin E], L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate [source of vitamin C], vitamin B12 supplement, niacin supplement, vitamin A supplement, riboflavin supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, biotin, pyridoxine hydrochloride [vitamin B6], thiamine mononitrate [vitamin B1], folic acid), dehydrated tomato, apple pomace, ground flaxseed, dehydrated sweet potato, cranberry fiber, potassium sorbate (to preserve freshness), choline chloride, taurine, carotene, chlorophyll.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

As I mentioned, I don't even use the consumable chews with whet products in them. Kodi doesn't seem to do much damage to Nylabones, so he can't be getting much plastic in his system. As far as I know, except for the ones labled "edible", Nylabonesa re like all other chew toys, meant to be chewed and then discarded when they show signs of serious wear. As I mentioned, Kodi can't eat beef, which rules out cow hooves as well as Bully sticks and the like. I haven't seen lambs ears, but considering how fast he goes through lambs tendons, I'd bet that would be more of a snack than a serious chew.<g>


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## KSC (Aug 6, 2009)

LOL...Kodi sounds like Kipling on that front...a flossie lasted him less than an hour. His littermate can work on one for days. So...then, with greenies an offending ingredient would be wheat protein isolate? On a slightly different topic then, who can recommend a good teeth cleaning chew option?


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