Puppy Biting/growling --the truth

KenyiGirl

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#21
I pretty much gave up on using the yelp with Molly (she's 8 weeks old, the vet thinks she's a lab/st bernard mix). She would bite harder, plus, she bites so often that our playtime was just filled with me yelping.
Instead I say loudly and real low, "No bite!". I actually try to sound like a man, lol. I've had some success, but she is a puppy, so I realize that biting is just going to be part of it.
 

Romy

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#22
Strider was a pretty mouthy little guy, yelping worked in some cases, but if he was into chasing at all it egged him on.

What really helped with him was just keeping a toy with us at all times. If he ran towards us with him mouth open, we'd literally cram a toy into it and start playing/praising. When he dropped it and tried to go for our hands again, we'd snatch it back up and cram it into his mouth, and play a little tug.

This is really great if you have some nice treats, like little bits of hotdog. You can tug a little, then show them the treat and tell them "drop it" in a happy voice so they let go of the toy to get the treat, and as soon as they eat it you cram the toy back in their mouth. Puppies can't nip if the mouths are full!

Some cheap fun toys for puppies are plastic water bottles, both empty and with water in them, crushed or intact. They like chewing/wrestling with them. You can freeze some water in them for the pups to chew on when they teethe, some puppies really like that. We also got a 1-2 foot long piece of 2x4 lumber and wrapped/nailed carpet around it, kind of like a scratching post. Strider loved chewing on it, wrestling with it, and carrying it around.
 

corgipower

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#23
"puppies ARE MEANT TO MAKE YOU CRAZY".
:D
Welcome to the wonderful world of puppies!!
They do make you crazy, but they also make you smile.

PSS: But wait, one thing still doesn't check out. If she can get away with this with us, why not with other dogs? Isn't it dangerous for this 'slow progress'? If Wanta plays like this with other puppies/dog, she's gonna get some terrorizing and frightening consequences!
Not necessarily. Dogs can communicate with each other in ways that we can't. Just make sure the dogs she interacts with have good social skills with other dogs.

Interesting tidbit is the increase of biting when stressed. Today after I gave it a time-out (nonemotional), she just walked into her crate and I realized just how tired she was. I'm guessing that she missed her home and was getting a lil frustrated. Just my guess at puppy reading
Absolutely stress cna be a factor. Stress can come from being tired (think a cranky baby who needs a nap). Stress can also come from confusion if she's not clear on what you're asking of her.

As for "missing her home", I think that's reading too much into it.
 

antipunt1

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#24
lol thx for the input/info all.

And also, thats an interesting viewpoint on teaching a dog to 'drop it'. Lol and yes I find myself 'cramming' into her mouth sometimes, only to find she lunges past the toys a lot of the time. But I never thought of it as an opportunity to teach her 'drop it'

so I'm taking it that most people consider 'tug' to be a perfectly fine thing to do? I guess its a good way to teach her 'drop it'

Hey interesting news on socialization: We found out that Wanta's sister's [Phoebe's] owner is willing to have a socializaiton! I was kinda like "yay", because I assumed that dog's might know somehow that they are related. THe only thing is that Phoebe came from an earlier litter and is around 8-9 months old. Still the family is very friendly, I am very curious how they will interact. I am having much more optimism than with Ginger the devil-dog and if things go well, we may leave Wanta with them for Thanksgiving! Mm..I haven't heard anything about if Phoebe is socialized, but I am guessing that having nice owners and being RELATED will help a bit. Erm.. I hope

=P
 

Dekka

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#25
I don't think dogs know they are related..

But yes tug is just fine. Its the preferred reward in agility or flyball. There are lots of articles in training magazines on how to get dogs to tug lol and how to build high value toys.

I would never teach no bite. I have met to many dogs who have been taught 'no bite' THen when something happens and they feel they DO need to bite they do some real damage. Bite inhibition is a much safer option in my experience.
 

Ilyena

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#26
Yelping also didn't mean a thing for my dog. I found the most efficient way to stop playbiting when he was a pup was to shove a toy in his mouth whenever he was in that mood and either play tug or teach him the trade command, and of course making sure he got enough exercise. I was with him outside training/playing/walking around three hours every day on top of pottybreaks and indoors playing/training, all at his pace obviously as I know pups shouldn't be overexercised. With enough of that he had no energy left to run around like a maniac trying to climb walls, chew our floor and of course playbite us. Luckily he grew out of that crazy puppy stage much sooner than I had expected, at about 8 months old.
 

KenyiGirl

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#27
I would never teach no bite. I have met to many dogs who have been taught 'no bite' THen when something happens and they feel they DO need to bite they do some real damage. Bite inhibition is a much safer option in my experience.
Dekka, what, in your opinion, is the difference in teaching your dog not to bite your hands or face (these are the times I tell her "no bite") and teaching her bite inhibition? I encourage biting on toys/sticks, but not biting on me.

Punt, I don't think dogs know that they're related, especially if they came from different litters.
 

Dekka

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#28
Bite inhibition gradually teaches dogs that humans are very frail and not to ever bite hard. Dogs with great bite inhibitions, even in stressful situations, will bite with less force-as in not breaking skin. Dogs who have been taught to never put teeth on people (ie no bite) if and when they get scared, hurt etc often bite and bite hard.

Pups DON'T see people and dogs as the same. A dog with great BI with people does not necessarily have great BI with dogs and vice versa.
 

antipunt1

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#29
I think I've heard about that as well. Bite Inhibition is training to prevent accidents, for example if you accidentally step on your dog's foot when it grows up; or so I heard.

Aww sucks that dogs might not recognize that they have the same blood. Still hope Phoebe is tons more friendly than ginger
 

corgipower

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#30
They don't recognize that they're family, but many dogs do recognize their own breed.
 

lizzybeth727

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#31
That's a good point, my chihuahua is not crazy about other dogs in general, but she does love other chis, they're definately her favorite breed. At the same time, rat terriers are probably her most hated breed, I really haven't figured out what the difference is that she's cueing in on.
 

lizzybeth727

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#32
We found out that Wanta's sister's [Phoebe's] owner is willing to have a socializaiton! I was kinda like "yay", because I assumed that dog's might know somehow that they are related. THe only thing is that Phoebe came from an earlier litter and is around 8-9 months old.
Are Wanta and Phoebe from the same mom?
 

antipunt1

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#35
Is that bad?... GOD what will my breeders think of next? >=P

But if it makes you feel better, I don't think they really plan..well.. anything. I recall asking them a billion questions and they were like 100% "we ..don't..really know. It's been a while since we had puppies". Them selling me the pup at 6 weeks (and Phoebe to her owner at 7 weeks) is proof of that. *slaps forehead
 

lizzybeth727

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#36
"we ..don't..really know. It's been a while since we had puppies".
Six months is not "a while." Good grief.

Yes, having two litters six months apart is very bad for not only the bitch but for the puppies as well. She has not had enough time to recover from the immense physical stress of having a litter in six months. I think most good breeders breed every 1 1/2 to 2 years.

Of course it could have been an accidental breeding, those happen to the best of breeders.... But considering everything else (they're mixed breed dogs, they didn't stay with their litter long enough, AND the owners apparently can't remember six months ago), it sounds like they're just bad BYBs. Sorry.

When do you get to meet with Phoebe??
 

Aescleah

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#37
hi everyone
Llyr(GSD something or other) was great with not biting to hard all i had to do was yip and it shocked and distressed him so much he stopped bitting hard. then again he is a very thoughtful dog as dogs go.
now my little demon argo was definatly another story (min pin) he was rehomed because he was more then a bit mouthy ok he was horrible.i did alot of research on bite inhibition and thought i knew exactly how i was going to deal with this boy. not only was i wrong but i had no clue even my vet was commenting on how mouthy he was. i yipped. i howled. i was a tree i walked out of the room nothing stopped him one night i even got so frustrated i scruffed him all i managed to channel was anger and frusteration he did not get that either. ok the vet said when he bit stick your finger own his throat all that did was result in wrestling matches he got a bad taste in his mouth and all i got out of it was a wet sometimes sore finger.
one night i was leaned over my chair and argo ran up on my lap and bit the snot out of me. i calmly got up got a leash got some treats and ran him thru his paces obedience wise. i sat back furious still and with great restraint i wrote a post on another board.
this is the advice that i was told. when he got a bit cheeky i came over to him on all fours staring down over him tense in my body language GENTALLY scuffed him this was more to get his attention not the use of force and growled and really meant it and kinda pushed him down till he was in a down position. and held him there a moment he whines i waited a few seconds then got up and turned my back to him and ignored him for about 5 mins and that was that. i think i did that 2 more times and all the bitting stopped the vet commented on that too on the next visit.
i save this punishment for only very bad things i can almost count on my hand how many times i have to do it. now he will do a alpha roll without me touching him when he is corrected like that with alot of rolling around and licking me. i am not sure i would recommend this to anyone cause somehow its also a state of mind too. but it definatly worked for us i dont think at least with argo it was trying to dominate me but he was i think pushing his limits to see how far he could go and i set limits that day. i think its fair to say if you do that to the wrong dog you will get your face bitten off.

so there is my two cents dont know if its a help or you all think it sounds crazy but for us it worked

Ashley
 

Dekka

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#38
Well of course he is rolling and licking you. You are giving him death threats... I would beg and try to appease you if you threatened to kill me! You are lucky your pup was a non confrontational type. Doing what you did is a good way to get your face bitten off. (some dogs give in and just hope you won't kill them... others fight back)

I am glad it worked for you.. but I wouldn't suggest that anyone try that. I would hate to see people bully pups into submission or getting badly bitten. In future I would suggest a good trainer/behaviouralist. Its often easy to see from the outside what is and isn't working.
 

lizzybeth727

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#39
i am not sure i would recommend this to anyone
Then why did you?

I would probably never suggest this method, but I know I would certainly never suggest this method to a dog and a person that I had never met in person and would not suggest anyone try it until I could coach them through exactly what to do in person.

Also - if you want training advice, go to a TRAINER, not a VET.
 

Aescleah

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#40
wow a death threat i dont think so and to say i bully my dogs is more then a little out of line i love my dogs they are most definatly NOT scared of me what i did do after slowly esculating my reaction after everything DID NOT work i set limits that is all. so say what you want to say in fact i dont even yell at them. i am done here

Ashley
 

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