bozthepup Posted January 6, 2009 Author Share Posted January 6, 2009 Hi I too have just discovered this site and it's fabulous! Re your puppy biting I suggest you take your pup to puppy school - a good one that uses the latest techniques and teaches good behaviours rather than punishing unwanted ones. It can be tricky to find a good class but if you go to the Delta website they have a list of trainers who hold puppy classes. It's such an important time of a dogs life so it's worth putting the effort and research in now to set you, and your dog up, for a happy and confident life. I hope this helps, good luck...Nic Thank you ! Yes, he's enrolled to start Saturday. Because he was too young before xmas and the holidays were here, we couldn't get him in until now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bozthepup Posted January 6, 2009 Author Share Posted January 6, 2009 (edited) Hi Bozthepup,have you been able to try any of the alternate suggestions today? So now that it's cooled down a bit we had some playtime and there are a few things I noted. The worst behaviour is associated with him trying to jump up on the lounge. We would like to be able to have him in the loungeroom but don't want him on furniture so now we're kind of in a double whammy situation - the 'off' command plus no biteys. That meant I ended up trying to teach him the 'off' thing at the same time as trying to stop him biting. I experimented with the off command; not sure if i did this right but had kibble in a closed fist - when he jumped up I told him 'off' and when he jumped down, rewarded him. I alternated with a treat and a closed fist with nothing but loads of praise. He got it - a bit. The only (other) issue was he actually was pretty rough with his teeth when I gave him the treat. Gawd ! So much to try and remember (for us) and learn (for him). Any suggestions ? Probably need to get the off rule sorted first - or perhaps alleviate the biting and not let him in the loungeroom for now, until we get the biting figured out (or in loungeroom in his crate at any case). Edited January 6, 2009 by bozthepup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jigsaw Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I had a nipper and somewhere here on DOL there is a thread I started about my pup. She not only nipped but jumped and nipped and then played tug with my clothes. Consistency in the method you use is probably the best thing. I found holding my pup by the muzzle only excited her more and she would chase and jump at my hand immediately afterwards. For MY pup's nipping the best method was yelping and turning away for about 30 secs, then redirecting play to a toy. She's just over one now and she now has a lovely bite inhibition esp playing with other dogs. Occasionally if very excited she will mouth (usually if there is rough physical play with my teenager) but play is immediately stopped and she's given a "time out", but this is now an extremely rare happening I'm happy to say! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogon Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 (edited) Hi bozthepup. I hear your pain. I really think your best option is to stop trying to reward/train etc when he is on the couch or biting your hands. This will only give him the attention he wants. Any attention is good attention-right? Does he have a noticible up or down time. My Roddy does and during his up time I will NOT play rough games with him. I encourage him to savage his stuffed toy during this time. When he has down time he likes to lazily mouth me so I invite him to, always saying gentle, gentle. That way I control his mouthing and can let him know when it's too hard. Keep it simple and simply do not accept what you don't want. So, ignore him when he bites! dont speak, walk away, end the game. I know it's hard. Last night I ignored but it got worse before he gave up and humpfed onto his mat in disgust (with me, for not giving him attention) So push through the worse bit, be calm, dont talk a lot and he WILL eventually get it. Good luck ETA: with the 'off' command I'm wondering if it would be better to teach 'off' in an isolated situation and then introduce 'off' in context when you're confident that he understands what it means. IMO 'off' may not be the command for being on the couch or biting. These are unacceptable to you so you should say nothing/remove or ignore etc. Just a thought. Others here may be better help. Edited January 6, 2009 by dogon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelpie_Pup Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Hi bozthepup. I hear your pain. I really think your best option is to stop trying to reward/train etc when he is on the couch or biting your hands. This will only give him the attention he wants. Any attention is good attention-right? I have to agree. Do not reward him for following the off command.. he will then learn that to get a treat, all he has to do is jump on the lounge, then get off as you say so, and there'll be a treat! You're teaching him to jump up then off again. WHen he jumps up, a firm, blunt "OFF", and physical removal if necessary, then about 3 secs later, a simple "good boy" should do it. Keep it very matter of fact, no excited "oh goooood booooy!!!!" The off command is a correction, unlike the sit or down commands which are not. Just be careful which ones you reward, as he will learn to repeat them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogon Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I have to agree. Do not reward him for following the off command.. he will then learn that to get a treat, all he has to do is jump on the lounge, then get off as you say so, and there'll be a treat! You're teaching him to jump up then off again. WHen he jumps up, a firm, blunt "OFF", and physical removal if necessary, then about 3 secs later, a simple "good boy" should do it. Keep it very matter of fact, no excited "oh goooood booooy!!!!"The off command is a correction, unlike the sit or down commands which are not. Just be careful which ones you reward, as he will learn to repeat them. Well said I didn't think of it that way; off is a correction, sit is a direction. All corrections should be blunt, to the point with no fuss - delay reward or catch being good. Directions, when executed properly should be rewarded right away. Just thinking out loud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BittyMooPeeb Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 My advice - get in immediately with your interrupt, and immediately redirect to a permitted object - or two, and make sure pup is praised for engaging with that. Thank you !! The only real question I have is the timing between scolding for biting me, and praising for taking permitted objected; is this not going to confuse him with a quick change of 'attitude' ? Hiya, My suggestion would be to use the "uh uh" or "off", then redirect to an appropriate toy which will be reward in itself. So you probably dont need to praise when he takes the toy - just make it fun by interacting (throwing it, playing tug etc). My way of teaching "off" wouldnt work with your pup (I have small dogs) but someone else should know how to do this with large dogs. The books look good as well - and we're learning very quickly that the human relations and behaviour is what's going to make the difference. Are you a marriage counsellor also ?? LOL no. As with many things, it's easier to give advice from the outside looking in Also, did you notice the other suggestions on the first page? A few people posted (incl me) but you didnt mention those posts so I wondered if you didnt realise there was extra stuff on page 1? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bozthepup Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 Hi everyone I am pleased to say there's been a bit of an improvement in Boz the past couple of days. He's still jumping on couch a bit but seems somewhat less determined and aggressive in his quest. Taking note of his worst 'up' times, where he gets easily over excited, has been very useful so that we don't exacerbate this time. Thanks to everyone for advice - and also to my newest best friend, the crate ! Boz's latest hobby is destroying my (home) office. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogon Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Boz is such a cutie. Oh boy, I know that naughty look!! Noticing the 'up' times has definitely been my best management tool so far. For Roddy that would be anywhere from 5-8pm so I employ the crate or his pen quite a bit during this time. It does help to send that 'calm' message. So glad that ur getting on top of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebus Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 my dog has the same probelm with the biting play thing but he ionly just started and he is a year old beagle , i have scarres on my arms because of him bt when you tell him off he stops playing and just becomes violent. If you take away your hands he goes for your feet if your take away youe feet he goes for your face... i really need to know how to stop this. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmolo Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Rebus- you need a good trainer to help you stop this ASAP. Whereabouts are you located? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebus Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 perth, but we kind of rescued him in away so i dont know if that would affect the situation, but he only does it once or twice a day and other that this he is the best dog in the world( in my opinion) but we would rather he doesnt do it at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 perth, but we kind of rescued him in away so i dont know if that would affect the situation, but he only does it once or twice a day and other that this he is the best dog in the world( in my opinion) but we would rather he doesnt do it at all Hi Rebus - whether it relates to him being a rescue (ie from how he was handled initially) or what he's learnt from his litter mates or whatever other reason for this behaviour, I would recommend that you get some help now. He should not even be doing this once a day. He shouldn't be exhibiting this at all. It might not be all that difficult for you to resolve the behaviour once you're shown how, but the longer it continues the more ingrained and if it escalates, which it has the potential to do, and you decide then to see about it, it is likely to be more difficult to resolve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 (edited) I have just discovered DOL forum and loving it - so please excuse my barrage of questions !Our lab is 10 weeks old, a very fesity boy and biting biting biting. I'm a Lab breeder. I don't have problems with overly mouthy/biting pups of my own, but do get a few calls from puppy buyers about pups that like to bite. Labs are mouthy dogs. They play with other Labs for hours in mouth-mouth games . . . I've never been able to figure out the rules of the game, but they love it. The pups I raise do this with the older dogs and everybody is happy. I think it likely that a pup on its own will try to fulfill this mouth-contact drive with people . . . with bad effect. This thread will be a great resource for people who have the same problem as you . . .thanks for putting it out there . . . and thanks to everyone who has contributed. edited after reading thread further.. . Edited January 10, 2009 by sandgrubber Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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