Nipping,bitting,jumping on leg

[sandi]

Hi, I was wondering if I could get some good advice on stopping his bad
habit of putting his sharp teeth on my skin;sometimes a little harder than
others. I say firmly, OFF, and sometimes he will do it, and I also have to
grag his neck scruff and shake him a little, but he is very stubburn, and does
not like it and sometimes comes back for more! I know about the Biana spray
in the mouth, works sometimes for a while, spray with water, not too
bothered by that. What would a dominate male unfixed poodle have to have
done to him for him to stop these habits?? Am I expecting too much of a
3 mo old puppy? Sorry for the lengthy type...

Thanks again for help
Sandi

 

[AndrewF]

Hi Sandi,

Firstly, welcome to the forums!

As far as biting goes, yelping was recommended to us by our vet. It's a queue that puppies use to say 'enough' or 'that's too hard'. My wife finds this works well with Jake, our almost 4 mo. old. Another idea which will curb it which I generally use is I start having Jake go through his basic training of sit, stay, come, lie-down and all that. It keeps him too busy to rough-house. One other thing you can try is teaching him 'gentle' - which I'll also use. If Jakes biting too hard, I say 'no' very sharp to get his attention and have him stop what he's doing. I'll then say gentle and the moment he gets too rough, I repeat it. As my last resort, I'll say 'No', mimicking a growl. This always gets Jakes attention and he immediately stops what he's doing.

With the jumping on your leg, is he trying to 'assert his dominance'? or is he just jumping up and only reaches your let?

If he's just jumping, I've taught Jake to jump up at me. This also allows me to give the counter to that of 'down'. This way, if he's excited to see me and stands up, pawing at me or anything, I say 'down' and that's that.

If your little guy is trying to mount your leg, I don't have too much experience there, but others here will have some ideas.

Hope it helps.

 

[CreatureTeacher]

Hello Sandi, and welcome!

I think Andrew's got a great idea with the "yelping" tactic. I've used it on several dogs who have rough play habits and it works well. Puppies are socially immature and it's important to communicate to them in a way they understand which play behaviors you consider acceptable.

Remember that to a dog, any attention--even yelling and other "punishments"--is good attention. Your puppy thinks he's playing with you, and he thinks you're playing back. The only way to show him that you're not playing the game is to get up and walk away, or to close him alone in a room for a 5 minute "time out". If you take away his "toy" (which is you in this situation) when he plays too rough, then he'll learn to play nicely.

I would avoid using a scruff shake. No matter what some other trainer or book may have told you, your puppy isn't "dominant". He's just confused. Physical punishment from you will only confuse him further. This applies to mouthwash in the mouth, spray bottles with water, and all of those other cruelties that supposed "professionals" try to pass off as training techniques. It is not necessary or even desirable to punish your dog in these ways, because his mind simply doesn't work that way. There are easier, more humane, and more effective routes to follow in teaching your pup. Your dog's rough play behavior is a social misunderstanding between you, not a dominance issue. You need to explain to him in a way he understands what it is you want from him. Start out with the yelp and/or the time out. If they don't work, let us know and we'll try something else. There's no need to use physical violence against a 3-month-old puppy.

As a final note, think about having him neutered. Behavioral reasons aside, neutered dogs live longer and have fewer manifestations of genetic reproductive disease than those left intact. And of course, there are millions of homeless dogs in the world, and we don't need to add to the population surplus.

I hope this helps! Let us know how it's working out.

 

[danitashop]

Yelping helps a lot with biting puppies. Also, keep in hand an alternate item that they can chew on whenever thay bite your hands, like a toy or something, that way your dog will learn what's acceptable to bite and what is not. Puppies like to explore the world with their mouths and that phase will pass in time, but your dog must learn that humans are not chewable items

Something that helped us a lot when teaching our dogs was using some chew deterrent, like bitter apple spray. Spray some in the areas you don't want your pup to chew (in your hands it's ok too), it's safe for the dog, it just tastes bad.

Keep the positive reinforcement route, punishing your dog will not correct the problem and may even make it worse because of anxiety. Be patient, with love and training it will be solved.