Bulldogs World

I dont think Oliver fully got over the biting until he was 4 months old.  The completely unprovoked bites stopped sooner but when he got very excited during play he would sometimes still nip.  I think the best thing was to yelp like you were hurt and then completely ignore him.  Sometimes he would persist though and at that point we would use the coins in a can trick.  That definitely worked but was a last resort.  Just be consistent and patient, he will eventually get over it.

We currently have a three month old and our arms have some pretty good size gashes in them. While the puppy thinks that he is playing, he can really hurt! We initially started with the loud "ow!" but he thought that was the sign to bite even harder. You are smart to constantly have a toy at hand... we have a plush elephant that 90% of the time distracts him (we also cover our feet with the stuffed animal when he is nipping our toes).

One thing that also seems to be working is walking away. Stating NO BITE and then walking away. The puppy will look at us and follow, but when our backs are to him, it calms him down. 

Just a thought... we are going to a puppy kindergarten class this saturday so if I learn in any new tricks I will keep you posted!

For all puppies, not just bulldogs.

You are doing everything right, especially with the toy.  You can also try the "coin in the can" trick someone mentioned.  Just put a few pennies in an empty soda can and rattle it when he gets too rambunctious (not right in his ears not to damage his hearing).  They don't like the sound.  They also don't like a high pitched yelp, like they are biting another puppy.  It seems to get the message across that what they are doing hurts.

Of course, he has no idea he's hurting.  To him, it's just play.

What worked for me with Stella was, when she started playing too rough, I just said no and got up and left.  To her, the end of play was WAY worse than anything else I could do to her.  Just give him a loud no, walk away, don't even look at him.

He will keep "discovering his boundaries" for a few more months.  Just be patient with him.  As for the grandkids, make sure you are always around when they are playing together.  If you see puppy getting too frisky, end the play.  He'll understand quickly enough that good manners means more play time!!

Best of luck! 

Our 14 week "Olivia" or Olive as we call her is fondly nicked named the "Chew"pacabra!  Our hands are full of puppy teeth pin holes and so is our feet or anything else she comes in contact with.  She is doing better with this.  Time is what it takes!

It's normal given what I saw with Buddy.  I didn't wear socks with my sandles for 6 months. Cause he was too attracted to them

Then we got Brother and he played with him and they do all the rough stuff to each other.

I suggest another pup, but short of that I'd keep redirecting him to other activities, but I know how fast those puppy attacks happen.

It will end, and I also say it's just puppy play, and I worried the very same too, when Buddy was a pup....so read-relax and enjoy.

Steve

Your post could have been written by us. We have young children in the house (2 yrs and 5 yrs) so we constantly supervised Jack and the kids. If he got too wild, he had to put in the crate. He is now 6 months and has calmed down but still bites hands and feet even though its not as bad as before. We've got him in obedience classes and I can see a difference with just one class. (The class taught us what we could improve on with the training.)  One thing that stood out though was not saying "no". The trainer says this word is overused and the dogs tend to ignore it. So she suggested that we make a high pitched "eh" sound. It has worked great for us. When I say "eh" because Jack is biting, he stops in his tracks and looks at me. I guess that sound is uncomfortable to his ears. Jack is our first bulldog also and we've never experienced the biting with other breeds like with him. But it seems to be a common complaint among bulldog puppy owners. It does get better so keep doing what you're doing and hang in there.