Puppy Training - Nipping/Bite Inhibition

[dolmod]

DOL Training Guide for puppies: Nipping/Bite Inhibition


No debating which technique is better or worse, just simple step by step guides from members for members.

[ouesi]

We cheat - the other dogs teach the puppy! We have been very fortunate to always have at least one dog in the group who is a "puppy nanny".

For those without a puppy nanny (or who's puppy nanny is too lenient), some tips:

For objects:
-> If puppy is biting inaproprate objects, get their attention, and redirect on to an approprate toy or chewie. (Its also fun to name the toy when you give it to your pup, and you may eventually have a dog who knows the difference between "ball", "toy", "rope", and "stick".)
-> Teach "drop it" and "leave it" (drop it means object must exit your mouth. Leave it means it doesn't go in the mouth to begin with, ignore it completely).
-> Crate or otherwise contain when you can't supervise. Its easier to prevent chewing to begin with, than to try to re-teach a dog who has discovered a liking for shoes, underwear, socks etc...

For humans:
There are a lot of opinions on whether a pup should be allowed to ever put his mouth on humans at all. I'm of the mind that dogs who are never allowed to mouth, don't learn bite inhibition quite as well as those who are allowed to mouth. So in our house we teach appropriate mouthing intead of zero mouthing.

-> We allow pups to bite hands only, gently, in play. Biting around the face is NEVER allowed, nor are any other body parts. They pick this up quickly as there seem to be similar "rules of contact" when dogs play bite with eachother.
-> If pup gets too rough, play ends and human ignores pup completely. No eye contact, no talking, nothing that may reward the pup with your attention.
-> During quiet moments, snuggling or massaging, stick your hands in pup's mouth as you would to examine teeth or gums. Puppies learn to really like this duing teething, especially if you gently rub a gum where teeth are coming in.

Bite Inhibition:
Ian Dunbar has excellent advice, and step by step exercises for teaching bite inhibition in his booklet "After you get your Puppy". Available here: www.dogstardaily.com

IMO bite inhibition is the single most important thing you can teach a family dog. Any dog who can open and close its jaws can bite, and will under the right circumstances. What will minimize the damage is proper bite inhibition.

[3XDaneMom]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwSEYLMI5wU&NR=1"]YouTube- How to Control Your Puppy's Mouthing For Dummies[/ame]

[hunthr]

Thanks for the video! I will really try that method, we have a 8 week old dane and she bits my hands and my face! It is really difficult to be patient when she takes a chunk out of my nose, LOL! Haley =)

[Janiejane]

thank you

those are good tips. I need to kick the habit of my puppy mouthing me. cuz he tries to snap at faces when he gets too involved in play. he does calm down when i ignore him though.

[ouesi]

those are good tips. I need to kick the habit of my puppy mouthing me. cuz he tries to snap at faces when he gets too involved in play. he does calm down when i ignore him though.

Did I read correctly that your pup came home at 6 weeks? If so, this is going to make your job all the harder.

I highly recommend you read cover to cover the booklet "AFTER you get your puppy" available here as a free PDF: http://www.dogstardaily.com/files/AF...ur%20Puppy.pdf

Try to remember that your pup will need consistency of rules, and before you teach him NOT to bite, you have to teach him HOW and WHAT to bite. He can only bite hands, and he can only use minimal pressure. He is actually primed right now to understand this as that's what his littermates would be teaching him right about now. Any time he breaks the play "rules", walk away. Close a door behind you if you need to, but walk away. Social isolation sends a hugely clear message at this age.

Once your pup has learned how to bite, then you can work on never biting at all. But that is a ways down the road.
It is important to teach pups this way so that they do have experience with controlling their mouths and bite pressure, even when excited. This will lead to a safer dog in the long run. ALL dogs will bite under the right circumstances, and its the dogs who have learned how to control themselves who do the least amount of damage.

I would also recommend looking in to puppy classes for not just your pup, but the whole family, and puppy socials where your guy can learn appropriate play from other similarly aged puppies.

[Janiejane]

Did I read correctly that your pup came home at 6 weeks? If so, this is going to make your job all the harder.

I highly recommend you read cover to cover the booklet "AFTER you get your puppy" available here as a free PDF: http://www.dogstardaily.com/files/AF...ur%20Puppy.pdf

Try to remember that your pup will need consistency of rules, and before you teach him NOT to bite, you have to teach him HOW and WHAT to bite. He can only bite hands, and he can only use minimal pressure. He is actually primed right now to understand this as that's what his littermates would be teaching him right about now. Any time he breaks the play "rules", walk away. Close a door behind you if you need to, but walk away. Social isolation sends a hugely clear message at this age.

Once your pup has learned how to bite, then you can work on never biting at all. But that is a ways down the road.
It is important to teach pups this way so that they do have experience with controlling their mouths and bite pressure, even when excited. This will lead to a safer dog in the long run. ALL dogs will bite under the right circumstances, and its the dogs who have learned how to control themselves who do the least amount of damage.

I would also recommend looking in to puppy classes for not just your pup, but the whole family, and puppy socials where your guy can learn appropriate play from other similarly aged puppies.

Yes I got him at 6 weeks. He is now 10 weeks and we are doing the puppy classes. I believe they have a new one starting in the beginning of March.

[Titan_87]

The best thing to do in any behavioral modification is to look at the motivation behind the behavior and then do the exact opposite of what the puppy wants to happen. This will cause the puppy to realize that their chosen method of getting attention no longer works allowing you to step in to reward them when they act politely. Since nipping is an attention seeking behavior the best thing to do is to give them absolutely no attention, including negative attention. Before the behavior modification steps are in place the equation is: nipping=fun reaction from person

If puppy nips me during play, I'm just going to stand up and ignore the puppy until they calm down. If this doesn't stop the puppy and he continues to nip at my pant leg, I will get on the other side of a physical barrier (door, baby gate, etc) until he is calm. Once he is calm, I will encourage play again. Now the equation has changed: nipping=end of play, calm behavior=play continues. It is important to reward the replacement calm behavior otherwise the puppy may develop a new rude way of asking for attention.

[Janiejane]

yeah if he nips at me during play i usually stand up or i turn my back towards him. Which I believe he is getting the hang of since he will stop immediately and try to play differently. He is learning fairly quickly which is nice. He actually hasnt nipped in about 3 days. And his mouthing has gotten better!

[EmoAbstracts]

What if Nothing Works?

So, I've read the articles, the books, the forums...watched the videos, tv shows, etc. Nothing is working with my Great Dane pup Berkeley. He is a big nipper/biter. This is all he wants to do when we play in the house. It has gotten to the point where I nearly dread sitting on the floor to play with him because he refuses to focus on anything other than my feet, hands, arms and crotch.

If I try to distract him with a toy, he just goes straight for whatever hand/fingers is holding the toy. If I just stand up and look him in the eyes and ignore his actions he just starts biting at my ankles/socks/pant legs. If I turn my back and ignore him he starts biting/chewing my shirt or belt. If I yelp or make a loud noise when he bites, he gets excited and nips at my face. If I get up and leave the room and close the door he might whine for 20 sec and then start chewing on something in the room like the curtains or the molding. If I put some coins in a coffee-can and shake them, he thinks its a game and starts going after my hand.

If I am sitting on the floor trying to get him to focus on a toy and he actually does manage to play with it, he always climbs into my lap to chew his toys and won't stay anywhere else - which after about 30-60 seconds always leads to him chewing/biting legs, pants, shirts, crotch, etc. Sometimes he'll bury his head into my crotch and try to bite the zipper or drawstrings and if I try to distract him or move him away he will get angry and growl and try to nip at my hands.

Can someone please help me with any ideas?!?!?

[Dozerboy007]

I have one similar to your Berkely. Nothing works! I am about at my witts end. Puppy teeth are sharp!

[Jade75]

Have you tried a Kong toy smeared or filled with something delicious? It may be enough to divert his attention. Rather than yelping, a firm"Ah ah" or "no bite" or even a growl, surprising them into breaking contact then 2 seconds later give the kong to re-direct onto. Or a Pet corrector (compressed air) - biting means a loud whooshing sound, again startling them to break contact then reward after 2 seconds of no contact. I think the thing is that the reward for not biting has to be even more interesting than chewing YOU.

[EmoAbstracts]

Have you tried a Kong toy smeared or filled with something delicious? It may be enough to divert his attention. Rather than yelping, a firm"Ah ah" or "no bite" or even a growl, surprising them into breaking contact then 2 seconds later give the kong to re-direct onto. Or a Pet corrector (compressed air) - biting means a loud whooshing sound, again startling them to break contact then reward after 2 seconds of no contact. I think the thing is that the reward for not biting has to be even more interesting than chewing YOU.

I have tried a Kong toy; a Kong toy frozen; a Kong toy stuffed with peanut butter and a Kong toy stuffed with his favorite treats. They only keep his attention for about 20-30 seconds before he's back at me. I have not tried the compressed air or squiring with water. I also haven't tried the yucky spray that they're not supposed to like the taste of but I feel like if I did that I'd have to take a bath in it.

[ouesi]

How old is Berkley and how much exercise does he get?

[EmoAbstracts]

How old is Berkley and how much exercise does he get?

He is 9 weeks old this week. I think sometimes I exercise him too much. We get up at 6am and before work we play and do a morning walk (very short). At lunch we do more play time in the yard and then a longer afternoon walk. When I get home from work it's lots of indoor and outdoor play and a longer evening walk (about 15 min). Also 3x week he goes to doggy day care and every Monday has puppy preschool for an hour.