Biting/ Nipping- when does it stop?

[Terrier Lover88]

Hi! My husband and I have a cairn terrier who is 4 months old. She doesn’t chew on any furniture, rugs or baseboards. She only wants to bite our hands. We calmly say “no” and give her a toy. But it’s constant biting, to the point she just wants to chomp on our hands. Her terrier stubbornness does not want her to let go. We are very stern and make sure she knows we are in charge. We’ve tried everything to giving her distracting toys, frozen wash clothes to sooth her gums, tire her out at puppy parties and day care. We use the apple butter spray and she has become used it. If she sees up spraying it on our hands, she will go to our arms, shoulders, feet-any part on our body. Nothing works. The minute we brought her home from her first day of puppy party, we sat her on the couch and she went for our hands. 
I know she is a puppy and she wants to play and her Terrier genetics doesn’t help. But we are very mentally exhausted because it is continuous and our hands bleed. 

When will this behavior die down?

Is this normal to be this aggressive every time she is in contact with our hands? 

When she grows her new teeth will she still continue to bite? 

[bradl]

My thoughts and many more here:

In summary: we feel your pain. Some good news is that the adult teeth although enormous are not nearly as sharp (puppy teeth are like needles), and you can teach your girl bite inhibition.

[Sam I Am]

It too will pass.Hang in there. Perhaps a Cong with frozen chicken broth in it might keep her entertained and soothe her mouth. Terriers..gotta love them.

[pkcrossley]

It will pass, yes. I can't help but notice that whenever she bites your hands something nice happens. I don't personally believe in trading up, a terrier will not fail to notice that he or she has trained her human to do nice things when nipped. when my puppy went through this he had on a harness and short least at all times. any trouble, up up and away to time out. when he got better, biting or barking led to me leaving the room immediately. they don't like being ignored. it is better to have something not nice happen after a nip instead of something nice. 

[Ripper70]

I have a method that worked well for me. When the puppy bites, reach a finger into her open mouth and press down on the middle of her tongue. She'll find this very unpleasant and may gag a bit and pull away. In no time she'll be discouraged and you'll be moving on to the next challenge. 

[sanford]

I agree with the above, plus:

Heavy leather gloves! (I'm serious).

[Ripper70]

4 minutes ago, sanford said:

I agree with the above, plus:

Heavy leather gloves! (I'm serious).

Hahaha! Yeah. Those little teeth hurt! But seriously. If done correctly, it requires very subtle pressure on the tongue and the dog's reaction will be to open her mouth while pulling down and away. Follow her mouth down and keep the pressure on for just a few seconds. When you let go, she'll likely swallow a few times and lick her lips and give you a look like, "what the heck was that all about?" Repeat as necessary. She'll stop in no time. Of course, it's always a great idea to have tons of stuff for her to chew and keep her busy and away from shoes, books, chair legs and the like.

[pkcrossley]

10 hours ago, sanford said:

I agree with the above, plus:

Heavy leather gloves! (I'm serious).

that's right --I used wood stove gloves, pretty impervious. your dog has to know you cannot be angered or scared, and when you want to pick her up you have to just pick up (be careful --heavy gloves are very clumsy).

[Terrier Lover88]

Thank you so much for all the advice! I tried to press on the tongue, it worked and I keep on doing it. I tried it again tonight but she was too over stimulated or tired to notice. We took her downtown today and was such a doll, but when she is alone with her people, it’s chomping time. 
Thank you again for all the advice and encouragement!