# Gracie's Biting Punctured Daughters Hand - HELP



## Gracie's Mom (Sep 7, 2007)

I know there are threads on biting, and great tips on how to stop it. But what should I do? Gracie bit my daughters hand and it actually punctured the skin. Should I take her to the doctor because of diseases she can get from her? Gracie is only 11 weeks and is developing a bad habit of biting. She was nipping my sons ankles to the point of much pain, and now my daughters finger. We don't tolerate it and try to give her some sort of chew toy to distract her. But she is furiously chewing on EVERYTHING!! Right now my main concern is my daughter - does anyone have answers?

Karen


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## Beamer (Jan 29, 2007)

Hi Karen,

What triggered the bite on the finger? Puppy teeth are pretty sharp.. soo.. hmmmm..

Hope your daughter is ok!

Ryan


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## Judy A (Jan 13, 2007)

Karen,
You are right....you really need to stop the nipping and now biting. With Izzy, I would put my hand out for her to have the opportunity to bite and when she would try, I would scould her with a loud sound like (I don't know how to describe it, but it's kind of a hiss with a T on the end) and I would keep my hand there because she would lick after the sound and I would praise her for that action. This worked really well for me and she never became a biter. My daugter gave her dog a toy for her mouth as she was very mouthy and when they played. I like my way better as she learned not to use her mouth and teeth on people. Everyone in the family needs to work on it, so if your children are small, they may have trouble keeping there hand "available", but if they pull back, then that's what Gracie is going to keep going after....the moving hand. Someone else might have help for the nipping of the ankles...I'm not sure on that one..


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## Gracie's Mom (Sep 7, 2007)

Ryan - My daughter was kneeling down playing with her, and Gracie has it in her head that it is OK to bite people. We need to convey this in a way that she will understand, but I don't think our approach is working. She is clearly teething or something - it was not done out of defense or aggression. My daughter is 8, and knows pretty well how to play and not irritate her. She nips/bites even when we have a toy in our hand. She does it really to everyone in the family. (It was more on the knuckle.)

Is rabies a concern with little puppies who haven't even been exposed to the public doggie world?

Karen


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Dog bites aren't nearly as bad as cat bites. With a cat puncture, you do need to see your doctor right away, but you may want to call for medical advice to ease your mind.

Here are a couple of past topics on biting:
Biting 

Biting when playing

Nipping

Puppy bit friend (protective/territorial bite)​Since I'm not sure of what triggered the biting, I thought I'd like these older topics for you to see what has been suggested in the past.


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## Paige (Sep 12, 2006)

I always would tap my boys on the nose, when they nipped like that...not hard, just a little tap...they don't like it so they stopped..

I also read where you can put peanut butter on you hand and let them lick it off to teach them to be gentle..


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Oh, I see you've posted while I was looking up those former topics.

Puppies play with their mouths. That's how they played with their littermates and their mother. When it is too harsh, the siblings would yelp to let the biting puppy it is too much. It is very normal, but you do need to teach her to stop. You can "yelp" an "OUCH!" in a high pitch voice and watch the puppy stop. It will be harder to teach the children, but they will catch on too.

There are a lot of suggestions in those first three topics I linked for you. That last one doesn't really pertain to your situation.


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## Gracie's Mom (Sep 7, 2007)

Thanks Judy! I'm thinking your advise is great. We probably "encourage" her to do it without realizing it. Gracie gets in her play stance and so do we - with our hands out in front. She probably sees them as fair game to nip. I think we will stop that and I will offer my hand waiting for a nip so I can correct. I like idea. I will try it right away. We have been saying "Nahhhh" in a sort of "growly" way, but that is not working right now. I'm willing to try anything.

Karen


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## Cheryl (Mar 17, 2007)

Brutus was a nipper when her got very excited. We made a point of always having a soft toy to put in his mouth when we played with him. Now at 10 months old, and for the last several months, he grabs a toy when we come home from work, because he is so excited.


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## Gracie's Mom (Sep 7, 2007)

Cheryl, Kimberly & Paige - Thanks for the great ideas. I think I will be able to get my kids on board. They are 8 & 10. I think we begin with the "Ouch" idea. The light thump on the nose really doesn't work with her - we've tried it. I believe she thinks it is just more reason to "play". 

Kimberly - Thanks for the links to biting. I will look into them a little more. I tried to do brief research earlier before I started this thread and didn't see any reference to puncturing skin. I was desperate for help.

Thanks so much. I have a call into Ask-A-Nurse. I will let you know what they say about where I go from here with my daughter.

Karen


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## The Fussy Puppy Gang (May 21, 2007)

Karen,

We always stopped playing and yelped or said a sharp "yow" if a puppy got over excited with nipping. We then waited for the pup to calm down a bit before resuming play. It worked. 

If you fear your daughter is at risk for infection, call your doctor. I'm guessing Gracie has not been bitten by anything rabid, so rabies should not be a concern for you at all. 

Hope your daughter is fine and that Gracie settles down real quick for you guys.

Wanda


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

Tori has been play biting and I usually do what Kimberly suggested, I "yelp". She will usually stop but, will then do it again if we keep playing. If she does it twice, then playtime is over for awhile. Her bites have gotten much less frequent in the last few weeks. She will, however, sometimes bite a sleeve or some piece of our clothing instead of our hand (as if somehow that's ok! LOL!). Like Cheryl w/Brutus, we will then give her a toy instead.

I hope your daughter will be ok.


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## Gracie's Mom (Sep 7, 2007)

Good news!! I called the Ask-A-Nurse at Children's Hospital, and she recommended I get a second opinion from our own doctor. We love our doctor! He really has a good common sense approach, but never hesitates to treat when necessary. We had already scrubbed it really good with a soft brush, and put betadine on it. He didn't recommend doing more. (Ask-A-Nurse thought we should make it bleed again for at least 10 minutes to flush out infection, but he didn't think it was necessary) If Gracie were an older dog (exposed to other things) or if my daughter was not current on her shots - there would have been more reason for concern. He hesitated putting her on antibiotics, but decided not to. We will watch for infection. He said rabies has not been a concern in Colorado for at least 20 years. 

Anyway, it looks like all will be well. Thanks so much for all of the great tips. I will nip this biting with Gracie next opportunity we have. I appreciate all of your great ideas.

Karen


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## Lynn (Jan 2, 2007)

Karen,

I just got Missy and she is 3 1/2 months old and also tries to bite us all the time. I can't believe how sharp her teeth are!!! I also had this problem with Casper when he was that age, but I don't remember his teeth being as sharp as hers.

Everything with a puppy is a stage, you just need to correct the puppy repeatly until the action is corrected. With Casper our dog trainer told us to stick our finger down his throat when he tries to bite us,this was hard for me to do, but it works. The other thing we would try is to pinch his mouth shut and be sure and tell them NO when he bites. 

I am trying to remember how we got Casper to quit barking sooo much, that is what Missy is doing now. She is very vocal with her needs!! 

It seems like the first year with a new dog has its challenges, but after you get them over the puppy stage it is so rewarding to have them.


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

I hope your daughter is alright! My stepson was bit recently, well..attacked by a big dog and bitten..so I know how frightening that is! He needed several stitches and his lip was severed. It was *very* scary!

We did survive the puppy nipping/biting phase and I do remember it being particularly bad when she was around 12-16 weeks old (somewhere in there!)

I did post for help here and took a few 'tips' that were given to me and they worked!

One thing I would do, is the "YELP!" Make a high pitched 'bark/hurt like sound' so Gucci knew she hurt me and I would flip her over on her back, very quickly and firmly hold under her chin and growl a "no" to her (I can't really explain it, so I hope I make sense) and then when she would nip/bite at the kids...I would do the same thing BUT I would hold her and also have my finger down her mouth. She HATED that. I have kids in the 8-12 range and they really werent' very good with reprimanding her, so I always stepped in, I would just watch closely and pounce if I needed to break it up..and the playing got 'rough'. THey just need to learn how to play nicely and not to hurt anyone! Oh, and when you hold them down, don't release the hold until she 'fully submits' and relaxes, or limp.

I also started using the command "easy", when Gucci was getting too wild or nippy, if she didn't take it down a notch..I would put the toy down and walk off, she learned quickly.

She won't nip or bite now, but occasionally she'll be mouthy..but very gentle with me, she knows not to hurt us.

I'd say within about 2 weeks of reprimanding her, it stopped. Just keep her chewing other toys. I think we gave her alot of ice to chew on, that seemed to help soothe her teething alot.

Kara


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## mckennasedona (Feb 20, 2007)

Karen,
You can ease your mind on the rabies issue. I don't think there's been a dog/human transmission of rabies in the US in a VERY long time. Most rabies transmissions are from wild animals or bats.
McKenna was a nipper as a puppy. It's a part of puppyhood that we, as pet owners, have to deal with. I did the toy approach and it worked fairly well for us. One thing too, if the dog is mouthing one of the kids, tell them to try not jerk their hands back but try to stay still and get the puppy to let go. Often it's the jerking back that can cause tearing of the skin. (I learned that the hard way). Just remember that this too shall pass...... I hope your daughter isn't in too much pain.

Susan


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## Cosmosmom (Jan 12, 2007)

Your puppy is teething and her mouth is sore and like Kimberly says puppies also like to play bite .. That is why puppy class is so helpful they really learn from other dogs .. if they bite one another too hard they are put on notice .. They yelp or may roll them over .. 
Also in the litter the other puppies teach their siblings and sometimes Mom has to step in .. meaning the mother dog .. 
One thing that sseems to attract them is fingers wiggling so tell your children to make a fist and then say Unh Unh No bite!! .. You need to use a serious voice like you mean it .. Be consistent so this means not allowing the dog to mouth your hands either .. 
There are a lot of other threads on this topic . Maybe Kimberly can find them for you - she is the best at research ..
Also if you can get Ian Dunbars Book - he has a whole chapter on dog biting and bite inhibition as does Cesar Milan have good information ..


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## JASHavanese (Apr 24, 2007)

mckennasedona said:


> Karen,
> You can ease your mind on the rabies issue. I don't think there's been a dog/human transmission of rabies in the US in a VERY long time. Most rabies transmissions are from wild animals or bats.
> Susan


We had a cat/human transmission of rabies a few weeks ago way on the other side of town. I know the man was positive for it after he got scratched, but I'm not sure what happened with his girlfriend who also got scratched. The city got on it right away and rounded up all the stray cats but it sure was spooky at the time.


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## JASHavanese (Apr 24, 2007)

Gracie's Mom said:


> I know there are threads on biting, and great tips on how to stop it. But what should I do? Gracie bit my daughters hand and it actually punctured the skin. Should I take her to the doctor because of diseases she can get from her? Gracie is only 11 weeks and is developing a bad habit of biting. She was nipping my sons ankles to the point of much pain, and now my daughters finger. We don't tolerate it and try to give her some sort of chew toy to distract her. But she is furiously chewing on EVERYTHING!! Right now my main concern is my daughter - does anyone have answers?
> 
> Karen


The hand biting doesn't bother me, the ankle biting does. Do you have a behavior specialist near you? Puppies losing teeth or getting new ones in usually feel better when they chew on something and normally our hands are right there but 11 weeks is young for that. Does your puppy chase your son to bite his ankles?
I read ahead and saw that your doctor isn't alarmed. That's good news


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## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

Karen, this stage is a tough one, but constant correction will help you all get through it. Ricky would nip our ankles and pant legs when we'd walk around and we'd stop, flip him on his back and growl 'noooooo, no bite' and walk away once he got the message. We didn't hurt him, but reminded him who was boss. It's tough for some kids to do what's right. My daughter who is 12 isn't the best at correcting him. 

Many people make the mistake of using their hands and fingers to play with a new puppy. They wave their fingers about, rub the pup's muzzle, head, chin and keep moving in and out of the pup's face. My SIL would do this and then scold the pup when he'd bite! Well...... duh!! Stop waving your fingers around as if they were a toy, I would tell her! Sheesh. LOL Kids aren't the only ones that forget this simple 'rule'. 

I wouldnt' worry at all about any kind of infection/disease and I'm glad your doc reassured you. Good luck and keep at it. It took us a few weeks to get the nipping under control, so dont' give up!


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## rockluvr (Oct 9, 2007)

Karen,
Sorry to hear about Gracie getting rough and biting your daughter. Hope she is alright and not scared of Gracie now. Roxie has nipped a couple of times at me during play. I grab her mouth and hold it closed and tell her in a loud and firm voice, "No bite." Sometimes it takes a couple of times of during this and if she doesn't stop, play has to.
Can they be teething already?

Find a technique that works for you to get her to stop and then make sure the kids practice the same thing. I'm guessing Gracie is treating them like siblings instead of alpha dogs, especially with her dominant personality. It is so much harder for kids to be firm and consistant with the puppies. Best of luck and let us know what works.


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Gucci used to nip at my ankles (jeans) when she was little when she was *hungry* or wanted a treat. I made the mistake of giving her food a few times but quickly decided to ignore the behavior. It was more of a gentle pull and not playful.

Karen, how's it going today? DId you try any of the training?

11 weeks is about when it started for me.

Kara


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## Gracie's Mom (Sep 7, 2007)

Sorry about not replying today - I worked for a few hours. You are ALL incredible about helping out!!

My daughter is doing fine. I have loved all of the ideas. So far we have tried not exposing our fingers. My whole family has been very guilty of playing with her using our hands. A BIG No, No - I'm learning. It was just an invitation to bite us - DUH!! I has been so long since we had a puppy this age (almost 17 years ago) So, we are now holding our hands closed while she is near. In the short amount of time I (& the kids) have been with her, she has improved drastically already.

I love the idea of putting her on her back until she is limp. I will definitely use that idea. There were so many great ideas - I appreciate all of them. I feel equipped to nip this one (no pun intended). I also think I need to read up on the other threads for biting furniture, etc. That is just beginning. I know there will probably be some great advice already written.

Thanks so much!!
Karen


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## Cosmosmom (Jan 12, 2007)

There are mixed feelings and opinions by various trainers on making your dog lie in a submissive postion or the rollover .. It is best to know your dogs personality first .
As to the fingers my friend Donna would play the wiggle her fingers with her dog Tulip all the time as a game . Tulip for some reason did not bite . Donna thought it was a good way to teach bite inhibition . I have since learned it is a definite No No !!
. Cosmo has a more dominant personality so we had to stress the no fingers in his face no wiggling fingers - no biting . We now present only a fist which he now interepts as his high five .


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

I put my maltese on her back. It is something she hates but she will freeze and lay still without letting any of her feet touch the ground (her way of showing me she is really in charge) but I wouldn't do it to Dora who is a lot more submissive. While she never had bitting issues, she had other issues that we used to this for. I also make her do a down when I can't physically place her on her back. Belle knows I mean business when I ask her to do a down and she usually complies. It took many dog classes of trainers making me feel like I was a wimp not being able to make a 4.5 lb dog do a down but if you knew Belle, she doesnt care that you are bigger than her.

Amanda


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## JASHavanese (Apr 24, 2007)

Cosmosmom said:


> There are mixed feelings and opinions by various trainers on making your dog lie in a submissive postion or the rollover .. It is best to know your dogs personality first . .


I agree, know the dog's personality first. Some trainers feel you can break a dog's spirit with the alpha roll and make them too submissive. I've seen some strange things happen when clients have used the alpha roll on their own. Then again, I've seen some good come from it so I guess I'm caught in the middle on the subject.


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## Cosmosmom (Jan 12, 2007)

I had this wonderful woman In the desert who told me a story about her dog .. She is a behaviourist and I called her to help me with Cosmo . She told me she had a dog who was totally amazing - the smartest dog she ever had .. She said she was so eager to teach the dog that she overdid it and overtrained him . He lost his desire - to please and achieve .. She said that taught her a valuable lesson .. 
She definetly stressed taking things slow and going with the flow . Do not flood them with too much information .. 
When she would come we would work for 15 minutes and then take a break for at least 10 minutes then work again .. sometimes we would just take a walk and she would tell me anecdotes and stories . It was her energy that the dogs loved . as soon as she would walk in they knew she meant business .. She was never strict - just calm and confident and she had a wonderful sense of humor and would observe them and their behaviour and then make recommendations .. 
I just had Cosmo to the Vet today for his annual checkup and I got a wonderful compliment .. She said he is so different now - outgoing and happy and relaxed . .. Yeah !! If you had seen him last year at this time he peed on her floor and she said she had concerns about him.. 
They both did so well today I was so proud of them .. .. 
I took them in the stroller and everyone had a good laugh at us .. They called them the stroller dogs .. Oh well .. the boys thought it was fun and we had a blast !!
We would have never had made it if we did not have our best buddy Ahnold who now weighs 12.2 lbs -- Yeah !!


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## rockluvr (Oct 9, 2007)

Karen,
How is Gracie today?


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## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

I use Binaca, the mouth spray. I have a little spray that I keep nearby. I swear I have only used it twice, and they know they don't like it. So, when they are trying to control the cat, or will not stop barking at the squirrels, I just tell them they are going to be sprayed. They calm down very quickly.


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Cosmosmom said:


> I just had Cosmo to the Vet today for his annual checkup and I got a wonderful compliment .. She said he is so different now - outgoing and happy and relaxed . .. Yeah !! If you had seen him last year at this time he peed on her floor and she said she had concerns about him..
> They both did so well today I was so proud of them .. ..
> I took them in the stroller and everyone had a good laugh at us .. They called them the stroller dogs .. Oh well .. the boys thought it was fun and we had a blast !!
> *We would have never had made it if we did not have our best buddy Ahnold who now weighs 12.2 lbs -- Yeah !!*


Awwwww! I had to smile at that. 
I'm so glad Ahnold has been such an asset for Cosmo.


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## Cosmosmom (Jan 12, 2007)

Absolutely - 
They are so cute together .. Ahnold is the best little guy - he puts up with a lot but he definetly holds his own ..


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## Gracie's Mom (Sep 7, 2007)

Gracie is doing great today. We've hardly had to correct her. I haven't put her on her back once, all we have done is put our fingers away by closing our hands and I once tapped her nose (slightly harder that a light tap) just enough to get her attention - didn't her her, but definitely got her attention. She has been very affectionate today for sure. So good news, yeah!! She is a smart little girl, and picks things up pretty quick.

Karen


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Karen, if she's catching on that quick, you have a really smart cookie on your hands. Congratulations!

Awwww, that's great to read, Cosmosmom!


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## rockluvr (Oct 9, 2007)

So glad to hear Gracie is getting the message! She is such a sweetie.:biggrin1:


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## Paige (Sep 12, 2006)

I'm so glad things are better with Gracie..

I have to say she looks so sweet and innocent in your advatar...she couldn't do anything wrong...right..


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## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

I attest that Michele just says to Kodi or Shelby - your gonna get sprayed - and they stop their behavior!! it is too funny. 
With Logan, we required that he greet us with a toy in his mouth. At 1 year old, he still does it, so there is no mouthing or anything!! Sounds like Gracie is on her way!


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## Judy A (Jan 13, 2007)

That's good to hear, Karen. She must be a quick learner...Yea!!


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

That's great news! 

They just need to learn how to behave and not to get too rough! I'm glad to hear she's being a love bug! I love those days when they are super sweet and dont' get into any mischief! lol

Kara


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## Gracie's Mom (Sep 7, 2007)

Now we just need to work on attacking the toes - she LOVES toes. LOL!! My kids literally have to run to escape her if they are barefoot. She barks at them and think they are fun little toys. I just tell them - they must wear socks for now.

Another quick question - not sure how to research it. It's actually kind of an embarrassing problem. It is probably out there already on a thread. She won't clean herself after she pees. Her mother was wonderful about doing it for her. In fact, she still did it at 10 weeks (Or almost) the day we picked her up. I have tried to shave her a little down there (as much as you can a energetic puppy), but it is STILL getting her little fur wet. If I leave it on there, she won't clean it and it drys yucky and hard like. So, I wipe her down every single time she pees. It's getting kind of old. Is it wierd to try peanut butter down there? Sort of funny, but I'm not sure how to handle this. Or is this something she will just "grow" into?

If there is already a thread on this - could you forward me the link? I'm not meaning to waste everyones time on this topic if it already exists.

Thanks!!:biggrin1:

Karen


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## Gracie's Mom (Sep 7, 2007)

FYI - I started a new thread to reference my question above. . . .


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## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

Cosmosmom, that is good work! It's wonderful that things are falling into place with your two and they are learning. I'm sure Cosmo is happier now that he has more confidence too. Good stuff!


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