Hello,
So I guess play biting is a problem for all puppies, but here's the situation:
We're watching our friend's four month old rescued-from-behind-a-market (so, unknown breed) aprox 30lb puppy, for two weeks. They've never had a dog before but felt terrible when they found her close to death and are now doing their best to raise her well. We're watching their animals (pupply + 4 cats!) and their house while they're away for 2 weeks.
Well Molly, the dog, is adorable from afar, but when you approach or call to her she bounds up with so much enthusiasm and starts nipping hands, ankles, pant hems, clothes, bags, whatever's around in a fit of joyous playfulness.
Since she is so big, these bites hurt. I have read a bit about what to do in these situations and often it is said they are bored or that you should walk away. We could play with her more, but always it ends in biting so if we stopped whenever she bit, we would never play with her. Walking away is similarly difficult because if we're more than a few steps away from the door, she'll just bite our heels until we get inside which hurts and therefore undoubtedly gets a reaction. So we're not very excited to play with her and don't know how to do it in a way that doesn't encourage her bad behavior.
To make matters more complicated, we are in a second-world country in a rural area so there aren't big pet stores around selling so many variety of toys. We have a knotted up sheet out there and a dishtowel on the end of a rope. Sometimes we give her bones to gnaw on or chew treats. I'm not sure what else to do...
We do take her on walks twice a day for an hour or more.
Please, any suggestions would be most appreciated!
So I guess play biting is a problem for all puppies, but here's the situation:
We're watching our friend's four month old rescued-from-behind-a-market (so, unknown breed) aprox 30lb puppy, for two weeks. They've never had a dog before but felt terrible when they found her close to death and are now doing their best to raise her well. We're watching their animals (pupply + 4 cats!) and their house while they're away for 2 weeks.
Well Molly, the dog, is adorable from afar, but when you approach or call to her she bounds up with so much enthusiasm and starts nipping hands, ankles, pant hems, clothes, bags, whatever's around in a fit of joyous playfulness.
Since she is so big, these bites hurt. I have read a bit about what to do in these situations and often it is said they are bored or that you should walk away. We could play with her more, but always it ends in biting so if we stopped whenever she bit, we would never play with her. Walking away is similarly difficult because if we're more than a few steps away from the door, she'll just bite our heels until we get inside which hurts and therefore undoubtedly gets a reaction. So we're not very excited to play with her and don't know how to do it in a way that doesn't encourage her bad behavior.
To make matters more complicated, we are in a second-world country in a rural area so there aren't big pet stores around selling so many variety of toys. We have a knotted up sheet out there and a dishtowel on the end of a rope. Sometimes we give her bones to gnaw on or chew treats. I'm not sure what else to do...
We do take her on walks twice a day for an hour or more.
Please, any suggestions would be most appreciated!