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Best Way To Discourage Biting Puppy


EllieDog
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Hi Everyone,

We have a gorgeous little 9 week old Golden Labrador puppy. She is really the most sweetest little thing in the whole wide world.

She is however, a biter!!

The biting started off gentle playing and mouthing....but is getting harder and harder....and developing into me having welted hands and bleeding ears!. Her little teeth are very sharp!

I did some reading on discouraging the behavior and have spent the last couple of days yelping when she bit me (to try and encourage more bite inhibition) but now everytime she wants up for a cuddle, the biting starts. I have been telling her no and popping her on the ground, but then the next time I let her up, she starts up again.

She has heaps of toys (more than the average spoilt child) and I've also tried putting toys in her mouth (instead of my hand).

I'd appreciate any advice on discouraging the hard biting behaviour before she gets big!

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Oh those sharp puppy teeth are horrible!

I went through a similar stage with my amstaff when he was a pup.

You're doing the right things! I still use the yelp when my boy nibbles to hard.

I think stopping play immediately, with a yelp and removing yourself or the pup from the situation is a good strategy.

I also found relief from covering any biteable parts with rid insect repellent, it tastes horrible for dogs and I swear it was a key factor in keeping my sanity until his adult teeth were in.

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I just spent ages reading the tale of Piranha the lab..

I think back to when dozer was a pup and think he couldn't have been that bad.. But I'm sure I'm just remembering the good bits.

Now he's happy to snooze for 20 hours a day and doesn't nibble on my legs/shoes/anything he can reach unless we're playing.

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I found with Roo yelps didn't help, lower voiced growls have helped. I also taught him kissing so his automatic reaction now is to lick me rather than bite. He does still bite but he seems to realise really quickly that he won't get a treat.

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If you're going to have a play session you can keep something handy (like a tug or soft toy) to shove in their gob when they want to bite. It's then handy to pay tug or chase me where the reward is the item not your hand.

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If you're going to have a play session you can keep something handy (like a tug or soft toy) to shove in their gob when they want to bite. It's then handy to pay tug or chase me where the reward is the item not your hand.

This is my preferred strategy. I say to people in my puppy class that they should be prepared to have some legitimate chew object within easy reach all the time when the pups are going through this stage .. could be just a cardboard roll from a paper towel or something like that. I use an interrupt noise .. guttural uhuh, and then produce the approved chew object, waggling a bit if necessary, and having a little play with it with the puppy. This is in line with the general training principles of showing the pup what you do want and rewarding it. And redirecting pup from an inappropriate behaviour to an appropriate one.

As well as this, it's important to be teaching pups to chill, and making sure people playing with the pup are not amping the pup up to the stage where pup can't think. So acting all sad and withdrawing attention for a while can be useful too.

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We have German Shepherds, and the latest puppy was a nightmare for biting. She would bite hard enough to draw blood, and if you reacted in any way (such as yelping), she would continue to escalate. Most of the time we would redirect her onto a toy. If she was particularly overstimulated, she got put into her crate until she'd calmed down enough to be let back out.

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My 4.5 month old Dalmatian was and still is to some extent a very bad biter. Yelping and growling didn't work, stopping play kind of did but she start biting again when we'd start playing again. Putting her in the sin bin has worked best. She still bites a little bit when excited but is much less frequent and not as hard. Some of her puppy teeth have fallen out too which is nice!!

Good luck with your beautiful new puppy:)

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Most puppy schools will accept puppies that have had their first vaccination and given that you're having a few issues, the sooner the better.

I was told parvo was quite rampant at the moment, will she have enough protection with just the one vaccination?

Here's some little puppy candy for you all!

post-53895-0-38236200-1439293450_thumb.jpg

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It's been 9 years since mine was that cute... and she was a terror too... named her Trouble... lol!

I can say that they DO grow out of most of the sillyness and cray-cray stuff by about... ummm... never!

I had a vet tell me once that Labs grow a brain and settle down about 10 mins before they die... tongue in cheek, of course... I think... *grin*

T.

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It's been 9 years since mine was that cute... and she was a terror too... named her Trouble... lol!

I can say that they DO grow out of most of the sillyness and cray-cray stuff by about... ummm... never!

I had a vet tell me once that Labs grow a brain and settle down about 10 mins before they die... tongue in cheek, of course... I think... *grin*

T.

Oh she looks like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth doesn't she!

Haha I agree with the vet, my husband grew up with a lab (who died too soon due to being born with a hole in her heart) and is well aware that it will be like having a destructive toddler in the house for at very least 2 years!

I grew up with a Miniature Dachshund.....so whilst I'm used to crazy puppy, I'm used to it with much smaller teeth!!!

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Depends what area you're in, where you go for puppy school- ie- outdoor or indoors etc. For me the benefits of a well run, knowledgeable puppy school run in a secure indoor environment outweigh the risk of disease in most situations.

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Hi all! I'm also having mouthing issues with my 4 month old samoyed. Thought I'd ask for advice here instead of creating a new thread, hope it's ok OP. :)

I've tried a number of methods (eg yelping, timeout, holding him until he calms down, redirecting to toy) but none seem to help. The mouthing used to occur when he gets really excited, but he recently started coming up to us for a quick bite (on painful meaty areas like the thigh) every now and then. Not sure why it got worse as we've made sure to avoid any behaviour in response to his mouthing that may seem like a reward to him.

Also, a firm no or pushing him away before he goes in for the bite often ends up with a crazy barking fit. Don't think it's an excess energy issue as it happens after his hour-long walk too. Anyone has any other alternative approach to recommend? :(

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Hi all! I'm also having mouthing issues with my 4 month old samoyed. Thought I'd ask for advice here instead of creating a new thread, hope it's ok OP. :)

I've tried a number of methods (eg yelping, timeout, holding him until he calms down, redirecting to toy) but none seem to help. The mouthing used to occur when he gets really excited, but he recently started coming up to us for a quick bite (on painful meaty areas like the thigh) every now and then. Not sure why it got worse as we've made sure to avoid any behaviour in response to his mouthing that may seem like a reward to him.

Also, a firm no or pushing him away before he goes in for the bite often ends up with a crazy barking fit. Don't think it's an excess energy issue as it happens after his hour-long walk too. Anyone has any other alternative approach to recommend? :(

Firstly, Don't forget exercise isn't the only, and always the best, way to tire out a dog ;)

Mental exercise is very effective. If you are just exercising physically without enough mental stimulation all you will do is create a terror with higher fitness levels!

So get teaching some tricks!

Secondly, do you use a crate or puppy pen at all with him?

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Puppies need to learn biting is unacceptable. No toys, no yelping or squealing. Scruff the pup hard the second it lays teeth on you or you slip your thumb under their tonge and press firmly to get the point across. Any teeth on humans for pet dogs is TOTALLY unacceptable so you make sure it's super clear. You don't need to time out the pup I offer a hand again and if they dont bite I praise and keep interacting.

The only pups I redirect to toys are those that will be allowed to bite later. I'm not forming a blockade to that potential path of action I am simply redirecting their attention. If you want that go for gold with toys and yelps.

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