[cbc11]

Hi friends, was here last week and shared some frustration with training our 14 week old mix to stop biting us in play (weighs some 18 lbs). Feedback on this board was encouraging for me psychologically. We've been in training classes and learned some bite inhibition methods for a few weeks, but they are not taking so good (wrapping hand on muzzle technique). I've had more success because I'm the primary parent and the person who has done more corrections and is around more. My partner is having less success with the puppy and the biting is real bad. Basically, our puppy only wants to bite my partner after initial greeting. I'm starting to panic about getting this puppy under control. We can't have an aggressive dog here hurting us, intentionally or unintentionally. The disruption and our emotional distress is high tonight. Really hope tomorrow is a better day and there are words of wisdom here in response. thanks CBC11

[Curbside Prophet]

I will try a few words...only in hope that there will be some wisdom. First things first (these may be things you've alrady been advised), stop all play fighting, never give in to your dog's advances to play (only you should initiate play), and ignore your dog if she bites you or your partner. If your partner is being bit more than you, your partner needs to also become a part of her training. Is it possible for your partner to join you during the training sessions? You stated that your puppy bites your puppy only on initial greeting...is it an excitement type of biting, or is she biting out of aggression? Where is she biting your partner? Assuming she's biting your partner at greeting because your partner is offering hands to pet your dog, I would duggest that your partner completely ignore your dog until she ignores your partner. That means no looking at the dog, no talking to the dog, and no touching the dog. Another thing you'll need to look into is whether or not your dog is under some sort of stress. For example, maybe the dog is being over exercised, or maybe too much constant training is going on, or possibly environmental issues like noises are bothering your dog. As for grabbing the muzzle to stop your dog from nipping, I don't like the idea of touching the dog to make a correction. Sometimes the touch alone is a potent enough reward for the dog to continue the behavior. But it's hard to say without seeing the behavior. My preference is ostracism, which I believe you mentioned using. But if you're willing to try another technique, maybe this one will be more appealing to you. Instead of grabbing your dogs muzzle, grab her collar and extend your arm away from you, and keep holding the collar until she has settled...don't do anything but hold her still. At the same time, do not look into your dog's eyes...if you can do it from behind it would be even better. Again, do not release her until she has settled, as she may resist, and then ignore her for a while after your release her. Our hope is that she'll quickly understand that biting ends in an activity that is not worthwhile to her. A final point to this technique or any other technique you wish to employ, your have to enter into it in the same state of mind that you want your dog to be. Therefore, if you want your dog to be calm, you must be calm too. Its all about energy transfer. I do hope this helps...keep working hard!

[opokki]

Good suggestions from Curbside.

Have you tried time-outs? Maybe this would work better for your partner. The time-out can take place in a boring empty puppy-proofed room, a crate, an x-pen, or even on a tether. The puppy should always be encouraged to mouth appropriate items before the mouthing of human skin even occurs. Upon mouthing your partner should respond with a startled "OUCH" only (no scolding, staring, ect.) and the dog should be put in a time-out immediately for about 2 mins. As soon as the dog is released from the time-out he should be encouraged to chew or carry a toy and praised (toned down as to not excite him again) when he does so. Repeat each time he mouths human skin.

Keep in mind that your puppy is probably going to be pretty mouthy until he gets his adult teeth.

Here is a great article by Dr. Ian Dunbar on teaching bite inhibition:
http://www.jersey.net/~mountaindog/berner1/bitestop.htm

[Cheetah]

I agree that whapping on the muzzle can only encourage the puppy to come back for more. That method has never worked for me, and neither has muzzle-grabbing. They both only encourage the dog to keep biting.

In the case of play-nipping and biting, it's best to use forms of correction that don't involve touching the dog, so I agree with everyone up there. >^^;<

[Curbside Prophet]

Elsa is a graduate of Sirius Puppy School, which was developed by Dr. Dunbar. And using the same techniques as described in the article opokki posted, Elsa's bite is very soft. She tolerates my hand in her mouth with no pressure, and if she accidentaly grabs me in play, she releases very quickly and steps away as if to say "I'm sorry". So I highly recommend Dr. Dunbar's method.

[cbc11]

Hi folks

You're all great. We had a great day yesterday. We focussed on avoiding situations in which our hands would be in her mouth's way, we worked more on her sit command than ever before with good results, crated her twice during the day (which we hadn't really done for two days). We did no physical bite corrections and played with her alot (fetch). I was not depressed at the end of the day. I went to bed happy, which was nice.

Today, this afternoon, going south again. Our puppy is still trying to bite my partner-- it's the only thing she seems to want to do with her. And what's worse, she growled at her, which led to a time out in the crate. I am very willing to entertain the possibility that our physical corrections are not working, as suggested by you on this board, but I want to stress that our puppy is very hyper, very head strong, very hard to handle (I was going to write "agressive" but overall I don't think it's right to use that term just yet.)

I understand that I need to be calm but it's hard. I realize there are two separate issues here: a dog training issue and my own psychological issue. The first seems to be a mechanical, technical question, the second one is personal and complicated, unfortunately. When I'm at my worst, I feel trapped in this situation, helpless, desperate. People say that our pets can serve as reflections of our character; I think that puppydom has taught me that I am alot more controlling and impatient than I ever realized before. And perhaps, weak. At this point, I'm not embarassed to come clean and recognize that I may not have good personal qualities.

I don't understand how two well-meaning, animal loving Ph.D's who follow instructions are incapable of effectively training their puppy. And what's worse, we're starting to get on each other's nerves (I'm talking about the two Ph.D.'s grating one each other because we're exhausted with each other's ups and downs, which are sometimes in synch and sometimes out of synch).

Puppy class on tuesday night. I'm really hoping the teacher will come through and adjust with us and somehow someway get us back on track. I need to see some change in the next week or two; it's just not going to work otherwise.

[opokki]

Do you feel that this puppy was trully being nasty when she growled at your partner? What was your partner doing that led to the growl?

I think you are being too hard on yourself.

[kellymac]

Not to sound rude or mean, but I too think you are being too hard on yourself and the puppy. He is only 14 weeks old. You have to expect the biting from a puppy of that age. Daisy is almost 7 months old and she still does it.

[NewfCrazy]

We taught our dogs not to bite by saying "NO BITE" any time they tried to mouth us and all play (or whatever activity was going on) stopped immediately. Now, with the newfs, even if you stick your hand in their mouth, they won't bite. They will try to push your hand out with their tongue, but not biting.