New puppy biting

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Jennifer_J

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Well, this isn’t necessarily a Catholic topic, but I’m hoping someone has great advice to stop our new puppy from biting/nipping/mouthing us. In all other ways he’s a good doggy, but this biting has to stop soon. He’s only about 10 weeks old and starts puppy kindergarten tonight. This is my first dog (i like cats better, but he’s growing on me) so any advice, resources etc would be great! we want humane types of teaching–no hitting or yelling, etc…
Jennifer
 
As a sidenote, if you use Technique #1 and you notice the puppy doesn’t LET you move away…use a baby gate or something and move the puppy away from you, almost like a one minute time-out for every time he doesn’t stop. Removing the social reward of playing with you will teach him quickly. Always go back to get him after a very short time period and let him try again (unless he’s extremely wound up, let him calm down). Make sure when he plays nice and calmly with you to praise him and pet him and love all over him.

Make sure he also has a healthy bite outlet, such as those tiny “bones” or specific chew toys that look similar and only belong to him. Let him bite those to his heart’s content but never let him think biting a person is okay.
 
Hi, Jennifer! I am a professional dog handler and trainer.

Puppies mouth and bite as a form of play (you probably know this but indulge me while I lecture). They regard their human family as part of their pack, and it is up to you all to teach them that they are a part of a new pack, but that they are not the LEADER of that pack. You are…

One way to get them to stop is to make a high ‘yip’ sound in their face or ear every time they bite or mouth on you! This signals to them that they are ‘playing too rough’ and they will immediately stop. When they stop, you say their name and praise them right away…lots of love and praise…and if they do it again, repeat the ‘yip’ in their ear or face.

It will sound really funny and you will feel like a silly fool BUT it is a natural way to teach your puppy that
a) they are a part of the pack
b) they are not in charge of the pack
c) they are playing too rough
d) when they stop it is such a great thing!

When you make the sound, try and sound like a dog who is in pain would sound…that is what other puppies do when they are playing and they signal to each other that they are being too rough.

Another technique is to say, “NO!” and then when they stop, you praise them.

Whichever one you do, do NOT just yell over and over again…give the command, when they respond, even a little, tell them how incredibly wonderful they are…if you have a little treat ready, give it to them to reinforce that what they just did was really fabulous.

Good luck…
 
A method we used was “puppy talk”, when puppy mouthed us we yelped and quickly moved away, the same the puppy itself would do if it was hurt.

This is a good method if you are not dealing with a dominant puppy. For a dominant puppy, you might want to consider another means.

My dog is sooo wonderful! The time I took training him is/was well spent.

cheddar
 
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cheddarsox:
A method we used was “puppy talk”, when puppy mouthed us we yelped and quickly moved away, the same the puppy itself would do if it was hurt.

This is a good method if you are not dealing with a dominant puppy. For a dominant puppy, you might want to consider another means.

My dog is sooo wonderful! The time I took training him is/was well spent.

cheddar
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I think the ‘yip’ or ‘yelp’ method is the best too…and I also agree…a well trained dog is a good citizen!
 
Thanks, all of you! Leslie, want to come over and train him for me? LOL, okay, no, I’ll do it myself. I’ve been trying the yipping and he hasn’t seemed to respond. When I move away, he continues to bite. Should I restrain him with a leash or baby gate? This is just such new territory and I’m worried I will mess him up. We have 5 kids and he HAS to learn to behave and not hurt them. He’s sooooo cute though! He’s a black lab/coon hound mix. He’s gonna be big!
 
The website Abby gave you has some pretty good advice…we used the technique that is listed first…we’d say ouch, and use the no bite command…another effective method of enforcing commands (especially if she is ignoring my commands, which sometimes happens even with the best trained dogs when they are playing or acting on instinct) that I have found with her is to go to her and gently grab her snout (gently, so as not to hurt her, or cut off any oxygen supply) and focus her attention on me…I get her to look me in the eyes, then I firmly give her the Command I want her to follow, and release her snout…it reminds her of her place in the pack as well as my place. I’ve had people say, “that’ll never work” as they’ve seen me do it, and they are quite suprised at her change in attitude after it…it calms her down and she follows the command…Daisy is a very gentle and well loved dog, and she seeks to please us so it isn’t very often that we have to correct her, but occassionally when she’s overly excited we have to help her refocus…this has worked for us, but so did the technique from the website Abby listed…

you could also talk to the trainer at the class tonight…they should have some resources available…

Jamie
 
Jennifer J:
Thanks, both of you! Leslie, want to come over and train him for me? LOL, okay, no, I’ll do it myself. I’ve been trying the yipping and he hasn’t seemed to respond. When I move away, he continues to bite. Should I restrain him with a leash or baby gate? This is just such new territory and I’m worried I will mess him up. We have 5 kids and he HAS to learn to behave and not hurt them. He’s sooooo cute though! He’s a black lab/coon hound mix. He’s gonna be big!
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Labs are notorious chewers and biters as pups.

Growing up, our second dog was a lab mix and I still have scars from her. They will out grow it. We found the best way was a very light tap with a finger on the nose and say no. As soon as the baby teeth are gone, the chewing and biting stopped.

PF
 
Jennifer J:
Thanks, all of you! Leslie, want to come over and train him for me? LOL, okay, no, I’ll do it myself. I’ve been trying the yipping and he hasn’t seemed to respond. When I move away, he continues to bite. Should I restrain him with a leash or baby gate? This is just such new territory and I’m worried I will mess him up. We have 5 kids and he HAS to learn to behave and not hurt them. He’s sooooo cute though! He’s a black lab/coon hound mix. He’s gonna be big!
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OK - black lab/coon hound mix…that’s part of it too…they are instinctive in wanting to hunt and retrieve. mouthing/biting is part of it.

I believe in using a proper leash and collar…the training collar I use looks horrible - like a medieval torture device - but is actually better for the dog than a choke. It’s called a ‘pinch’ and you can get them online at J and J dog supplies.

The pinch collar allows the dog to correct itself…because, when the dog pulls against the collar, it will slightly pinch the top layer of skin and hurt, and the dog will stop pulling. This is better than a choke collar which can damage the larnyx of the animal. If you are going to do leash training I would use the pinch…

Be sure the collar fits properly…if it fits on the dog’s shoulders instead of around the neck you won’t get any results…

You can, with a dog that does not respond to the yip or yelp in their face or ear, use a water spray bottle. This is the next step. But you must be consistent and you stop playing…accompany the spray with a very strong ‘NO’ …

It goes like this:

dog bites/nips…you say “NO” and spray right in his face…step or move away…then holding up your free hand like a cop stopping traffic you say the dog’s name and “Stay!”. wait a few beats, then tell them to come to you and give them praise.

NEVER call the dog to you and then discipline them…this will really mess up the Come command later…

The deal will be to have the kids follow through with this…if you have a 4H in your area, or a Humane society that does free or low-cost training that you AND your kids can go through I would urge you to do it…because that dog WILL get big. You want a well trained, well behaved big dog or you will have tons of trouble on your hands…
 
Jennifer J:
Thanks, all of you! Leslie, want to come over and train him for me? LOL, okay, no, I’ll do it myself. I’ve been trying the yipping and he hasn’t seemed to respond. When I move away, he continues to bite. Should I restrain him with a leash or baby gate? This is just such new territory and I’m worried I will mess him up. We have 5 kids and he HAS to learn to behave and not hurt them. He’s sooooo cute though! He’s a black lab/coon hound mix. He’s gonna be big!
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Our Daisy is a Lab mix as well, does he have a chewing, or biting outlet…when we first got Daisy she would chew on, bite or eat anything she could get her teeth on (and she was already a year old at that point) so we made sure that she had squeaky toys, rawhides and such that we gave her that she knew were hers so that she still had an outlet for those instincts…Labs are fast chewers so make sure you have an extra stock of stuff to chew otherwise he will go for your shoes, sofa, lampshades, anything that doesn’t chew on him first…She still gets chew toys and such, but she doesn’t need them as regularly as she did…we found it was very important to allow her to chew as much as she needed to until she was about 2 years old…so we always had chew toys and such around to keep her occupied…

I would think that need to chew is similar to what happens when a child is teething…but I’m not entirely sure, as I’ve never had a teething child before…but from talking to my friends who are moms, it sounds remarkably similar…

Jamie
 
Jennifer J:
Well, this isn’t necessarily a Catholic topic, but I’m hoping someone has great advice to stop our new puppy from biting/nipping/mouthing us. In all other ways he’s a good doggy, but this biting has to stop soon. He’s only about 10 weeks old and starts puppy kindergarten tonight. This is my first dog (i like cats better, but he’s growing on me) so any advice, resources etc would be great! we want humane types of teaching–no hitting or yelling, etc…
Jennifer
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LOTS and LOTS of chew toys! Oh and if he starts nibbling on you just redirect him to a chew toy. 😉
 
Hi Jennifer…
.a method we have always used is depending on how big the puppies mouth is, is to take 2-3 fingers and shove them in his mouth not to far down but enough that puppy gags a bit, and while doing that a firm NO!
It has always worked for all our dogs.

I know your thinkin yuck! …thank God for clean water and soap 😉
 
When our dog was a pup he liked to play bite our hands.We would say no and put our hands behind opur backs where he couldn’t see then until he calmed down. After just a week or so that worked. We also crate our dog. When they are young pups sometimes they don’t know how to settle down and get overactive from being tired. When Joey was like this we would crate him and he’d be asleep in 15 seconds. He still sleeps in his crate every night but we haven’t shut the door to it since he was a few months old. He’s 6 now and a very good dog.
 
My Lab, now 3 & 1/2 yrs old, was never a biter but a voracious chewer! He went through a rawhide bone in a hour, tops! Then started on the living room chair. (yeah, that chair is history) That chewing thing goes on for about 18 months, so be prepared with toys, toys, toys! Most importantly, use POSITIVE reinforement. We learned in “puppy school” that puppys explore their world through their mouths, which makes sense.
We also learned to never hit not scream at him.
It all worked. He was “potty trained” to go outside with in 2 weeks.
All the effort you expend will show when the pup is grown. The more love and effort, the faster they learn and the better grown dog you have.
My Lab is the best, sweetest, most well behaved dog I’ve ever had and I know it’s because of all the time we put into him when he was a puppy.
Make it a family training session each time!
I wish you a happy, healthy dog.
 
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catsrus:
My Lab, now 3 & 1/2 yrs old, was never a biter but a voracious chewer! He went through a rawhide bone in a hour, tops! Then started on the living room chair. (yeah, that chair is history) That chewibg thing goes on for about 18 months, so be prepared with toys, toys, toys! Most importantly, use POSITIVE reinforement. We learned in “puppy school” that puppys explore their world through their mouths, which makes sense.
We also learned to never hit not scream at him.
It all worked. He was “potty trained” to go outside with in 2 weeks.
All the effort you expend will show when the pup is grown. The more love and effort, the faster they learn and the better grown dog you have.
My Lab is the best, sweetest, most well behaved dog I’ve ever had and I know it’s because of all the time we put into him when he was a puppy.
Make it a family training session each time!
I wish you a happy, healthy dog.
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I am a Scottie girl myself, but I have to tell you that some of my best friends have been Labs and/or Lab mixes. They can be the best family dogs in the world. They are intelligent and loving and loyal, but they are high energy so listen to these Lab owners - they will steer you right!
 
When we got our second dog (a stray pup from the shelter) she was quite a biter. She obviously hadn’t learned mouth control from her littermates. After two trips to the ER for the wife and daughter, I was ready to send the beast back to the pound (lucky for her it was a Sunday and they were closed).

We used the methods mentioned above and things improved. But I think the best teacher was our old dog (also a pound hound). I think he was more responsible for her learning appropriate mouth control than we were. She has grown into a great dog. Now if I could just keep her from chewing the fringe off of every pillow and rug in the house… :hmmm:

By the way, the new dog has given our old one a renewed vigor and cured him of chewing holes in himself. While she sometimes she gets on his nerves, he definately likes the company.

Sounds a bit like marriage… 😉
 
Jennifer J:
Well, this isn’t necessarily a Catholic topic, but I’m hoping someone has great advice to stop our new puppy from biting/nipping/mouthing us. In all other ways he’s a good doggy, but this biting has to stop soon. He’s only about 10 weeks old and starts puppy kindergarten tonight. This is my first dog (i like cats better, but he’s growing on me) so any advice, resources etc would be great! we want humane types of teaching–no hitting or yelling, etc…
Jennifer
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Is the biting hurting you, or is it just annoying? At 10 weeks, it’s actually a GOOD thing that he’s doing this, so that he learns bite-inhibition. Let him chew on your hands, but when he bites too hard and it HURTS, then do the yipe thing, to let him know that us humans are sensitive. It’s very important for him to know how much is too much. As he gets older, as the weeks and months go by, then make sure he phases out of this chewing/biting by allowing him less and less teeth-skin contact using the yiping or “no”.

I highly suggest The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson for all dog owners.

This bite inhibition is very important for a dog to learn: how to stop your bite - ingrained so it’s “built in”.
 
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LSK:
…
I believe in using a proper leash and collar…the training collar I use looks horrible - like a medieval torture device - but is actually better for the dog than a choke. It’s called a ‘pinch’ and you can get them online at J and J dog supplies.

The pinch collar allows the dog to correct itself…because, when the dog pulls against the collar, it will slightly pinch the top layer of skin and hurt, and the dog will stop pulling. This is better than a choke collar which can damage the larnyx of the animal. If you are going to do leash training I would use the pinch…
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I agree with this for a dog, but your pup is too young for a pinch collar. Get a nylon collar, but don’t use any leash corrections - 10 weeks is still a baby, no matter how big he is.
 
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nobody:
I agree with this for a dog, but your pup is too young for a pinch collar. Get a nylon collar, but don’t use any leash corrections - 10 weeks is still a baby, no matter how big he is.
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Also, a note about pinch collars and Labs…or Lab Mixes…Labs tend to have a very high pain threshold, and often if they are focused on an activity, or acting with lab instincts, they will NOT notice any pain…we’ve noticed this with Daisy…she will be so intent on playing that she will not notice a painful stimulus…I’ve had many lab owners advise us to never use a pinch or choke collar for Daisy because of this…She’s fallen while playing fetch, gotten up limping and still continues to want to play…the same has gone with her chewing…she’s been taken in twice for getting twigs stuck in her mouth she never seemed to be in pain, but was annoyed that something was stuck and that she had to go visit the vet…

this may or may not be true for all labs, but it is true for our dog…I know many people who have had good luck with the pinch collars for their dogs, but they’ve been other breeds…so just a thought…
Jamie
 
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