How Did You Get On Top Of Biting?

[TCB]

My lovely 14 week old Tibbie has little brain snaps and goes mental with biting every now and then. He loves to go for both feet and hands.

For the first week we had him I would use a yelp if he bit but he stopped paying attention to the sound after a few days .

Since discovering clicker training my method has been to try and reinforce the calm behaviour and using kikopup's clicker training guide with biting, as well as offering him an appropriate chew toy instead of my hands/feet. I realise it's early days still but we have three small kids visiting in a months time and I'd like to at least try to make curb some of the biting before then.

What sort of methods do you use to help reduce/stop the biting in your puppy/adult dog?

[The Spotted Devil]

Pretty much ignoring and redirecting as you have been doing. They do get better with time but I would be separating pup and small kids unless under direct supervision as kids can't help but scream and run which tends to send pups a bit silly.

[persephone]

You may enjoy reading thru this site CLICK HERE :)

it has some good resources /guidelines . about kids & dogs.

[VizslaMomma]

You may enjoy reading thru this site CLICK HERE :)

it has some good resources /guidelines . about kids & dogs.

My husband will be grateful to read this article.

New puppy bites him frequently.

I may be kidding myself but I like to tease my husband & say the puppy would not dare bite his Momma...he might not get feed.

Helpful post again. Thanks

[sandgrubber]

My lovely 14 week old Tibbie has little brain snaps and goes mental with biting every now and then. He loves to go for both feet and hands.

For the first week we had him I would use a yelp if he bit but he stopped paying attention to the sound after a few days .

Since discovering clicker training my method has been to try and reinforce the calm behaviour and using kikopup's clicker training guide with biting, as well as offering him an appropriate chew toy instead of my hands/feet. I realise it's early days still but we have three small kids visiting in a months time and I'd like to at least try to make curb some of the biting before then.

What sort of methods do you use to help reduce/stop the biting in your puppy/adult dog?

Most of the puppies I've owned have liked to chew on hands and feet, as well as almost everything else they can get in their mouths.

You could call it biting, but it's not biting out of aggression, it's more play, or teething, or just something puppies do.

I haven't had enormous success with the usual suggestions, such as pressing down on their pallet with your thumb when they bite, which is supposed to make the game less rewarding.

I find mouthy-ness tends to decline from 6 mo onward and my adult dogs don't do it at all.

[Tassie]

I've had success with the "fun stops/redirect to acceptable chew object" methods. As with other things, consistency is the key. I advise the people in my dog club puppy class to live with the fact that their house may look like a bomb site for a few weeks, since I find it helpful to have a legitimate chew object almost within arm's reach everywhere - even if it's something like the inside tube from a paper towel roll - doesn't have to be an actual toy. Something you can grab quickly, waggle it a bit to get pup interested.

What you're doing is giving the pup the consistent message - "Not that, do this".

Here's another useful article

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And Another article

ETA another link

Edited February 24, 2014 by Tassie

[Nekhbet]

scruff or thumb under the tongue. Don't get angry or gruff, just firm and fast. If he yelps or carries on like a pork chop just ignore him.

[TCB]

Thank you for all the replies and for the links, some good reading

Tassie: what are the fun stops you mentioned?

[Sandra777]

Agree with Nekhbet - if this pup was with mum or other adult dogs, if he persisted in biting or other unacceptable behaviour at this age he'd get snapped at and possibly nipped - time for the softly softly is over, he needs to know what he is doing is not acceptable behaviour.

Never had much luck with the yipping - with mine it just ignites the evil gene, they get a gleam in their eye and go - right, that hurt, lets do it again :laugh: :laugh:

[sheena]

Agree with all the above & keep up with the clicker training. But when there are other kids around, I would crate him or lock him away from them. As someone else said, kids squeal & jump around, flapping their arms & that will only excite the pup more & all your good training will come undone. Be fair on the pup & when things may be too hard for him to control himself, then lock him away :) Otherwise you are setting him up to fail.

[Salukifan]

The difficulty I have with redirecting mouthing is that distraction and redirection is not actually teaching the pup that mouth on people is not acceptable. Offering something else bright and shiny isn't the same as giving a boundary here.

Sandgrubber I suspect that you telegraph this message to your pups quietly and consistently, even if subconsciously because I have had the unfortunate experience of meeting an adolescent Lab with no bite inhibition and it was PAINFUL.

This is what we are teaching –bite inhibition or even more plainly that any mouthing of people is simply unacceptable. You only have a limited timeframe to do it and if you don't do it, it is a lesson a dog may NEVER learn. So as pup owners we have to consistent whenever a pup does it in teaching that it is simply not on.

So my advice, firmly and plainly teach the lesson. I don't have mouthy breeds but my preferred method is to encircle the muzzle with my hand and apply sufficient pressure for the pup to break contact. Generally this is not extreme and no different to what Mumma dog would do on her pup's muzzles if pressed. Pups get the message very quickly.

You should also avoid play that winds a pup up to the point where you get a mouthing frenzy – this is where other more appropriate games would be useful. This is one of the reasons I would caution against allowing the pup to tug on clothes or hands. If you wouldn't want it in an adult dog, don't allow it with the pup EVER. Lots of folk have learned that one the hard way.

Edited February 25, 2014 by Haredown Whippets

[Tassie]

Thank you for all the replies and for the links, some good reading

Tassie: what are the fun stops you mentioned?

This is my preferred method for those situations where the pup has got a bit carried away and is grabbing at moving objects whatever they may be. So I would use an interrupt noise - like uh-uh, which will often make the pup pause, then go very still and turn away from the pup - maybe for a couple of seconds, then re-direct the pup onto something legitimate to grab - not necessarily a toy as such - could be cardboard tube, plastic drink bottle.

There's a bit of a dilemma here - do we want the pup to learn that dog teeth do not go on human skin - in that case, IMHO we have to be totally consistent in never allowing it - inhibited bite or not. It's a much clearer rule for everyone - pup and human.

Or do we want bite inhibition, where the pup learns to use his mouth safely - that seems to me to be what the pup is taught in the litter. Certainly when you see even adult dogs playing bitey-face, there is no rule about "not using your teeth on dog skin" - the rule then becomes "inhibit your bite when you're playing."

While I certainly want my dogs to have bite inhibition among themselves, I don't really want even an inhibited bite on humans - hence the "no teeth on human skin" rule.

[Salukifan]

Thank you for all the replies and for the links, some good reading

Tassie: what are the fun stops you mentioned?

This is my preferred method for those situations where the pup has got a bit carried away and is grabbing at moving objects whatever they may be. So I would use an interrupt noise - like uh-uh, which will often make the pup pause, then go very still and turn away from the pup - maybe for a couple of seconds, then re-direct the pup onto something legitimate to grab - not necessarily a toy as such - could be cardboard tube, plastic drink bottle.

There's a bit of a dilemma here - do we want the pup to learn that dog teeth do not go on human skin - in that case, IMHO we have to be totally consistent in never allowing it - inhibited bite or not. It's a much clearer rule for everyone - pup and human.

Or do we want bite inhibition, where the pup learns to use his mouth safely - that seems to me to be what the pup is taught in the litter. Certainly when you see even adult dogs playing bitey-face, there is no rule about "not using your teeth on dog skin" - the rule then becomes "inhibit your bite when you're playing."

While I certainly want my dogs to have bite inhibition among themselves, I don't really want even an inhibited bite on humans - hence the "no teeth on human skin" rule.

Ian Dunbar recommends complete lack of contact for pet dogs. Mainly because the challenge of teaching appropriate mouthing is more complex for owners. It is possible to teach "soft only" but for a novice owner, avoidance is a an easier lesson to train.

[The Spotted Devil]

Yes I agree that for novice owners complete lack of contact is easier.

I play a version of "bitey face/body slam" with my Springer - it's heaps of fun for both of us but I didn't set out to consciously train it. She definitely mouths my arms but with zero pressure and will break off at the height of "feral" on command. I am the only one who she plays with like that apart from the Dalmatian.

[Zarb]

We are going through our puppy's biting stage at the moment, and she doesn't pay attention to the yelp or growl whenever she bites (people or other dogs). She will carry on until we have to physically pry her mouth off our flesh or off the other unfortunate dog's ear.

Sometimes we have success with ignoring / redirecting to appropriate toys, but unless we are playing with her and the toy for hours on end she will just go straight back to biting feet and hands.

It gets to the point where we have had to put her outside to avoid the biting. Is this the right thing to do? I feel like it's bad for her and that there should be another way around this.

We take her for 2 sometimes 3 long walks a day to the beach to play with other dogs, so it's not like she is lacking in exercise... suggestions?

[persephone]

We are going through our puppy's biting stage at the moment, and she doesn't pay attention to the yelp or growl whenever she bites (people or other dogs). She will carry on until we have to physically pry her mouth off our flesh or off the other unfortunate dog's ear.

Sometimes we have success with ignoring / redirecting to appropriate toys, but unless we are playing with her and the toy for hours on end she will just go straight back to biting feet and hands.

It gets to the point where we have had to put her outside to avoid the biting. Is this the right thing to do? I feel like it's bad for her and that there should be another way around this.

We take her for 2 sometimes 3 long walks a day to the beach to play with other dogs, so it's not like she is lacking in exercise... suggestions?

the answers are probably in this thread :) do another read..have a look at the links . How old ,and what breed puppy?

[Zarb]

We are going through our puppy's biting stage at the moment, and she doesn't pay attention to the yelp or growl whenever she bites (people or other dogs). She will carry on until we have to physically pry her mouth off our flesh or off the other unfortunate dog's ear.

Sometimes we have success with ignoring / redirecting to appropriate toys, but unless we are playing with her and the toy for hours on end she will just go straight back to biting feet and hands.

It gets to the point where we have had to put her outside to avoid the biting. Is this the right thing to do? I feel like it's bad for her and that there should be another way around this.

We take her for 2 sometimes 3 long walks a day to the beach to play with other dogs, so it's not like she is lacking in exercise... suggestions?

the answers are probably in this thread :) do another read..have a look at the links . How old ,and what breed puppy?

12 weeks old, Aussie Shepherd.

[persephone]

at 12 weeks ..she shouldn't really be going on "long" walks , and should be having several very short training sessions each day ..plus training inside being calm . ;) the more walks/running on teh beach ,and playing she gets - the fitter and more active she will learn to be !

The methods listed are all good..if NONE of them work ..you may need professional help

...be CALM around this pup .... give her lots of mental exercise ,,in 5 minute bursts .... and provide her, in a safe spot away from other dogs and kids, ..with large bones for chewing.

[Zarb]

By long walks I mean we take her to the beach and she plays with other dogs. Nothing forced.

[LisaCC]

My aussie was a very nippy pup, they are a herding dog remember

Redirecting only helped a little, thumb under tongue and time outs worked for us.

If you can catch the pup BEFORE it goes to bite and time out I found it sped up understanding, if you watch closely you can tell when they get to that overexcited stage. Nova got time outs in his crate which he was trained from day one to see as a nice place to chill out and relax, so instead of getting overexcited and bitey he would be placed in crate to time out. Chew toys are in there!

If he nipped it was consistently thumb under tongue and press down, then crate. Be consistent and make sure everyone who comes in contact with pup knows the routine.

When calm I would open the door, give a release word and he would be allowed to come back out, but often he would remain in there on his own.