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Biting And Niping


kmchat
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my puppy bites and nips at hands face feet and toes..

i have tried puting her down on the floor yelping like other puppys would if they were in her litter,,

i have 3 kids ages 1 , 4 and 6

they dont understand that running so she cant bite them is only encouraging her...

hands and feet arnt too bad i can handle that but its the nipping at my face and the childrens face that concerns me the most

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I would suggest doing a search there are a couple of topics that have covered this in the puppy problems forum...

do you yelp and then ignore her completely? the worst thing for a pup is being ignored and sometimes they will realise this type of nipping behaviour will not get them the attention they require... couple this with attention and praise when the pup is quiet and she will soon realise.

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Until she stops the nipping and biting, don't pick her up.

Drill it into your kids not to run. This is important. My 3 year old niece has learnt not to run as my rottie pup will chase her. SHe has been bowled over a couple of times but now she understands.

With regard to the biting and nipping, I found it worked for us by ignoring them. If you had your hands nearby and they bite/nip we growled at them and got up and walked off.

If they actually bite around your hand, i pusjed my hand hard into his mouth and he soon discovers thats not very nice.

By ignoring our pup and using the hand in the mouth technique, our pup stopped nipping in a week or so.

Now if he gets a bit excited he might 'pretend' nip but a quite loud 'aarrgghhh' growl stops it straight away.

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I have had the same problem with my dachie girl where she bites and nips at anything that comes near her face really. I have tried growling and lightly hitting her to let her know this is wrong and sometimes she just gets angrier and starts showing her teeth as well (which is a bit scary) so I try and growl louder (as much as my girly voice will allow) at her and if she doesnt stop I move to where she cant reach me and ignore her.

I'm a bit worried that this will start aggression in her as she can get quite fiesty! I have also told my partner to stop "roughing" her up, but that only lasts for a little bit as well :) Its not making a huge difference in her at the moment...I guess I just have to wait longer :s

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ok i tried putting her down and ignoring her!!!

she gets very angry when we do this she growls and bares her teeth....

i have tried to ignore this behavior also but for a little dog she scares me :rofl:

May sound very harsh...but if this puppy scares you now....

Go straight to obedience...do not pass go....etc....

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Okay dogs dont growl for no reason so something is happening to make the pup feel the need to act this way.

Is the dog being picked up correctly,are you over picking the dog up??Are you picking it up when its asleep?/What are the kids doing to the dog ?/Does the pup have a timeout area away from the kids??

Many people feel the need to over manhandle puppies,picking them up,smooching into there faces(the humans) & just overwhelmning the pup.

Dogs are no different to people over fussing & constant in your face touching can be all too much for some dogs & inwhich case you need to take a back step & go back to the basic again.Stop picking the pup up,encourage its behaviour to be on the ground so it learns to be secure on the floor especially with kids involved.You have to address the kids with the pup or set up an area for pup to have its space & you need to start obedience.Your pup is acting just like your kids & until trained otherwise it will do those things especailly in a hyped up environment.

Dachie chick hitting will achieve nothing except make whats happening now even worse & the next swipe will result in you being bitten & a dachie will have no qualms about protecting itself with its mouth & it will stand up for itself with each hit,you will not win the battle that way & at present you have adog that your scared off which means bigtime diaster.

Your partner also needs to realize this dog has big issues & if both dont address the problem with new human actions & pack leadership issues you will have a very aggressive dachie that will most likely end up PTS,Trust me i have been around dachies way to long & seen the worse of the breed & the damage they can do.

Dachies arent fiesty but there tough ,they shouldnt be agrressive .

I dare say your partner rough handles around its face & the hitting of the face has made it very face shy & is reacting to protect itself from the too actions.

You too need to go back to basics & start re educating yourself & the dachie otherwise it wont grow of it .

You need to ask yourself when did it start doing this & what may have been the trigger.I presume the pup never showed signs of this when picked up??

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All of the above Im afraid.

Biting, nipping and mouthing should be put down at a young age and NOT TOLLERATED.

If they dont get the hint from the growl, then roll them over onto their back, look them in the eye and growl at them (dominant pose for the alpha dog - YOU) and then if they cant get it, exclude them immediately from the pack (your family), time out as you will.. Tell the kids not to scream, run or yelp - it wont help. We have a 5YO and it has been an uphill battle, the next will be jumping and that can be just as bad as the nipping.

it takes time, but you must perservere !! :rofl::rofl:

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Im not abeliever off the alpha roll infact i believe its dangerous & doesnt achieve any results as most owners dont do it correctly & when the dog turns its one the battle.

its not ment to turn it into a battle and it is not ment as a long term solution, my OH used it with his dogs, we use with with our two and my family use it with their farm dogs. never ever had a problem.

But I shall digress... :rofl:

There are so many different trains of thought out there, therefore the beauty of a forum..

Edited by Doghouse
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I also would not suggest alpha rolling your dog . . .

It was mentioned in a thread recently

http://forums.dogzonline.com.au/index.php?showtopic=88835

Basically dogs do not alpha roll each other, what looks to be an alpha roll is actually one dog CHOOSING to submit to the other, not one dog physically forcing the other on the ground.

If you physically force your dog onto its back it might bite you - either out of fear or not accepting the rolling. It is best to try to sort out issues in a way that is safe and is not likely to lead to someone being bitten.

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Dachie chick hitting will achieve nothing except make whats happening now even worse & the next swipe will result in you being bitten & a dachie will have no qualms about protecting itself with its mouth & it will stand up for itself with each hit,you will not win the battle that way & at present you have adog that your scared off which means bigtime diaster.

Your partner also needs to realize this dog has big issues & if both dont address the problem with new human actions & pack leadership issues you will have a very aggressive dachie that will most likely end up PTS,Trust me i have been around dachies way to long & seen the worse of the breed & the damage they can do.

Dachies arent fiesty but there tough ,they shouldnt be agrressive .

I dare say your partner rough handles around its face & the hitting of the face has made it very face shy & is reacting to protect itself from the too actions.

You too need to go back to basics & start re educating yourself & the dachie otherwise it wont grow of it .

You need to ask yourself when did it start doing this & what may have been the trigger.I presume the pup never showed signs of this when picked up??

I only give her a little tap and I dont hit her on the face, more around the body side. I only used this as something to make her listen to me and let go (those puppy teeth are needle sharp!). No she doesnt get aggressive when we pick her up its more when we are playing and she takes it one step too far, therefore I have to correct her. I have stopped tapping her and just started the "loud growl" to scare her enough then I replace my hand with a toy of hers and praise her. She is much better now and I only have to say "no" once or twice and she realises.

Every now and then she'll get cheeky and have a go but then I just walk away. Thanks for the info tho, its always good to hear. :rofl:

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Our 12wk lab puppy is a real biter too! I have tried the yelping like another pup, growling like a mother dog, giving her toys to chew (instead of my hand) and praising etc but nothing is working! I have been told that taking our pup to pupppy schools and socialising her with other pups should put a stop to it . They soon learn if they bite other puppies they will get bitten back, apparantly also helps them with their dominance issues or something! We are starting Monday night so will report back whether her nipping subsides. (saying a silent prayer it does!)

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My pup has just finished puppy preschool. he doesn't really bite us anymore, but he was biting the other puppies at preschool. as soon as its play time, he bares his teeth and wants to play by biting. sometimes he would bite too hard and the other pup would cry out, but our pup would just bite even harder instead of letting go. he doesnt understand thats he hurting them. we were told to pick him up and take him away from playing if he does this so that he learns if he does that, he wont get to play. we also did this technique with him biting us. if he bites us, we give him a warning- like "dont bite" in a stern voice. then if he continues to do so, we put him in "time out"- (we put him in his play pen- but it can be a laundry, bathroom etc) you must tell him "dont bite" then completely ignore him and walk away from him. after a while once he has calmed down, let him out again and repeat if he bites again. he'll soon get the idea that if he wants to play, he has to play nice!

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My pup used to bite and nip all the time. I was continually covered in cuts as he was breaking the skin. I tried everything suggested by others on this forum - timeouts, ignoring, yelping, growling, spraying water in the face.....(the list goes on!) Nothing worked. Then he hit 5 1/2 months and has just finished teething, and all the biting and nipping has stopped! My arms are now sore free!

i am not saying don't try everything else, but maybe your pup will eventually grow out of it!

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Alpha roll or no Alpha roll? ~ farmers all use it and their dogs work for them.

I have used it for many years with all my dogs (from 8 weeks old) incl. Chows, Obedience Champion Springers & yes my Cavalier.

Whatever, groom your dog on a table or bench laying on its side or back so you can groom the underside of it. Problem solved. You are the boss and the dog is on it's back. Roll it over to groom the other side... trim claws at the same time.

Best

Edited by Ashka
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Have a personal space place...like a proper dog crate...where the puppy can be placed when getting over-excited. Give the puppy soft toys (which you can get from thrift shops) to play with in that personal space (first cut off anything like plastic eyes that pup can tear off & swallow). Let pup release a lot of its play energy on these toys.

Any time the puppy nips or bites, give a single loud, high-pitched squeal which will startle the pup. The puppy will gradually associate that scarey noise with biting people...so nipping is no longer attractive to him.

Make sure pup goes to puppy preschool...& start the basic obedience. Bottom on ground ('Sit') is what the pup has to do to get treats, pats etc.

For a pup or dog that is growling to dominate, I say 'Down' while gently but firmly putting hand on its back so tummy touches the ground (NO Alpha Roll over), after 5 seconds release & say, 'Good, boy.' A vet dog behaviourist told me to do that a few times a day, anyway, as part of a young bossy dog's training program.

Edited by mita
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Not sure how this one will go down...

A trainer taught me to 'muzzle' Angus - placing a hand on the back of the head and from below circling his muzzle and holding him until he calms down. This does not block his nose or his trach and is based on dominance. When he calms down he is told he is a good boy - he happily then goes back to what he was doing but without the teeth.

In only 2 days there has been a marked reduction in the nipping etc.

Now only if I could stop him walking up behind me when I am walkign and nipping me in the inner thigh!

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