Please Help!!!

Bailey the Basset · 11-15-2009, 04:50 AM

Hi fellow basset owners

I'm new to your forum and I'm after some advice, Ive just bought my first ever Basset puppy, A beautiful boy called bailey
Now the problem i have is he wont stop biting and nipping at me or basically biting anything he can get his teeth into walls floors radiators etc.

Ive tried disciplining him by saying no or stop in a stern loud voice but this seems to make him more aggressive!! I'm obviously doing something wrong and not understanding his way of thinking or the need why he is biting all the time.

He is only 8 weeks old and Ive had him 3 days the first day i had him he didn't really bite or nip just in play which wasn't to bad as pups do. But now its at the point where if i stroke or pet him he wants to eat my fingers.

Please help me!!

PS I've checked in FAQ links on the subject and the links are broke!

Thanks and regards.

twobassets · 11-15-2009, 11:39 AM

Mikey T has some great links for this so he will probably post them again for you. This is typical puppy behavior and you need to be consitent and firm in your approach. http://www.sspca.org/Dogs/PuppyNipping.html This will take you to a very brief article by the Sacramento SPCA and it might prove helpful. Good luck and welcome to the board!

Bailey the Basset · 11-15-2009, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Mikey T has some great links for this so he will probably post them again for you. This is typical puppy behavior and you need to be consitent and firm in your approach. http://www.sspca.org/Dogs/PuppyNipping.html This will take you to a very brief article by the Sacramento SPCA and it might prove helpful. Good luck and welcome to the board![/b]

Thanks very much for the reply and the link twobassets,

I will have a read through now. Very much appreciated.

Mikey T · 11-16-2009, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Thanks very much for the reply and the link twobassets,

I will have a read through now. Very much appreciated.[/b]

At this age do do not want to stop the dog from biting and nipping, The very fact they are occurring give you the opportunity and responsibility to teach Bite inhibition. All dog will bite under the right circumstances. It is ourt duty as responsible owners to teach the dog to have a "soft" mouth with human skin should that situation arise. The basic premise to teach bite inhibition is basical to allow bitting and nipping but no hard bites. This is what natural happen in a litter of pups during play.

If a pup bites too hard the other yelps and stops playing for a moment. When the pups are removed from the litter at 8-9 week ( not to imply that they should be left longer because there are other important factors in favor of earlier removal) the teaching of bite inhibition is incomplete so we must continue it. Secondly puppy sking being fur covered is a lot tougher than human flesh aso they will tollerate a much harder bite to begin with,

For more detailed instructions see Bite Inhibition - How to Teach It

Quote:

Rather than "No bite," I strongly, strongly, strongly urge you to teach your puppy bite inhibition instead. Bite inhibition is a "soft mouth." It teaches the pup how to use his mouth gently. Does this mean that the pup will forever be mouthing you? No, not at all. Actually, regardless of the method used, puppies generally grow out of mouthing behavior after a few months.[/b]

While not nipping oriented a couple links that are just as important to successfully raising a puppy.
Countdown to a Crackerjack Canine Companion

Puppy Socialisation and Habituation (Part 1) Why is it Necessary?

Quote:

In one year my practice treated 773 dogs - 79 of them, that’s 10 percent, had problems of fearfulness towards people or the environment due to a lack of early socialisation or habituation and a further 4.5. percent were inept at relating to other dogs, again due to a lack of early socialisation. The problem is immeasurably greater than these figures suggest. Many dogs show a weakness of temperament or inability to cope when faced with a particular situation, without their behaviour becoming problematical enough for the owners to seek help from a behavioural counsellor.[/b]

Puppy Socialisation and Habituation (Part 2) How to go about it

Mikey T · 11-16-2009, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Ive tried disciplining him by saying no or stop in a stern loud voice but this seems to make him more aggressive!! I'm obviously doing something wrong and not understanding his way of thinking or the need why he is biting all the time.

He is only 8 weeks old and Ive had him 3 days the first day i had him he didn't really bite or nip just in play which wasn't to bad as pups do. But now its at the point where if i stroke or pet him he wants to eat my fingers.

Please help me!![/b]

Young pups explore their world through the mouth it is an important learning stage for them, it is normal adaptive behavior. The best practice at this age is through management, puppy proofing the area the puppy is allowed, puppy only allowed acess to puppy proofed areas under supervision, etc.

While simply yelling Ow works for many dog it does not work for all. Also keep in mind what else you are doing at the time you say Ow. Basicall you want to cease all interaction with the dog that is Freeze rather than move away. If the dog continue to nip to hard then you need to seperate yourself from the pup. This is where crate training an use the crate for a timeout can be helpful. Simply get up and walking away is another useful technique.

One can also not forget that part of nipping can morph into attention seeking behavior if it is not handled correctly. It can be an effective way for the dog to get your attention when it wants it. Also continuing to interact with the and how you interact. can be easily interpreted as just being part of play. It is important that the Ow be coupled with a cestation of movement i.e. play. It is quite common for example to see kids react to a nipping dog by yelling followed by pushing it a way, and increasing their own activity. While the did yell Ow the rest of the activity that occured is even a clear signal to the pup that all this is just acceptable behavior during play. Yell is simply not enough if it is not followed will the appropriate lack of movement and interaction with the dog. If the dog gets to overexcited that it can not control itself simply remove the dog frome the overstimulation until he calms downs THis is a process not an instant cure.

2 there is a phenonenom know as extinction burst that can play a role in any technique used to extinguish a behavior, although I do not thing it is relavent in this case I will mention it any way. When trying to eliminatate a behavior by not reinforcing it. Especial if the behavior has been reinforce in the past. The behavior actual gets worse much worse before it end. Think of an elevator button. You push the button the elavator moves. You done this thousand maybe millions of time. What happen the first time you push the button and the elevator does move?, Do yo stop pushing the button? NOt likely instead you push it faster, harder, perhaps even try a button next to it before giving up. This is what dogs do as well. A dog nips to get you play and interact with it. Works for a while, The first time it doesn't the dog is not suddenly going to stop. It may increase the frequency of the nips, the hardness ect. How you react is important, If you vary from the protocol and interact with the dog it simply learnd if at first you do not succeed try harder. NOt at all what you want. When trying to eliminate a behavior, if the behavior is getting worse does not mean the technique you are using is not working. On the contray it could be a indication that you are on your way to success.
What is An Extinction Burst?

Working Links from FAQ

Play Biting in Puppies

How to Teach Bite InhibitionModified from "How to Teach a New Dog Old Tricks" by Dr. Ian Dunbar

Chewing and Biting (Dr. P's Training Library: Puppies)

note: only first link was bad of FAQ page.

An intersting article on applying what you know about your dog to any technique rather than applying it blindly when you have a good reason to suspect to will not work as intended

Insights Into Puppy Mouthing

Quote:

Since your dog's clear intention is to get your attention then yelling "no" does little beyond reinforcing his behavior. He wants your attention, he nips you, you give attention. Worked perfectly. Keep doing it. If it stops working do it harder or bigger.

And about the yelping out in pain technique. I hate when people suggest this as if it is the Holy Grail of stopping mouthing. It totally depends on why the dog is nipping, how you yelp and how they respond to the yelping. With some dogs this idea alone can stop nipping and play biting in its tracks. But as you have discovered there are other dogs who are simply more triggered by the response. And you actually escalate the intensity of the behavior.

...
Since your dog's clear intention is to get your attention then yelling "no" does little beyond reinforcing his behavior. He wants your attention, he nips you, you give attention. Worked perfectly. Keep doing it. If it stops working do it harder or bigger.

And about the yelping out in pain technique. I hate when people suggest this as if it is the Holy Grail of stopping mouthing. It totally depends on why the dog is nipping, how you yelp and how they respond to the yelping. With some dogs this idea alone can stop nipping and play biting in its tracks. But as you have discovered there are other dogs who are simply more triggered by the response. And you actually escalate the intensity of the behavior.[/b]

It then goes into a slightly different way to apply the "time-out" not as punishment but as a reward. This is quite a usefull technique especial for those against "punishment"

Soundtrack · 11-17-2009, 01:02 PM

Quote:

And about the yelping out in pain technique. I hate when people suggest this as if it is the Holy Grail of stopping mouthing. It totally depends on why the dog is nipping, how you yelp and how they respond to the yelping. With some dogs this idea alone can stop nipping and play biting in its tracks. But as you have discovered there are other dogs who are simply more triggered by the response. And you actually escalate the intensity of the behavior.[/b]

I've been observing the pups I have right now, and it seems that the "yelping in pain" only seems to encourage the aggressor. However, a friend of mine who raise a litter of mixed breeds said that her puppies would stop when another yelped. So I can't help but wonder if the breed has a bearing on the correct method to use. In the case of my pups, if someone is getting pounded I break it up and don't allow the behavior.

I've also been paying more attention to what I'm doing when they bite me. I've been raising puppies so long that I don't really think about it any more, they just seem to magically grow out of the biting stage. So this time I've been "taking notes" and observed that I'm doing the following:

Remaining calm. I really don't make a big deal out of puppy biting, which keeps it from being a big exciting deal for them.

I'll make it impossible. I started when they were really small, and if they started biting I'd either pet them somewhere that they couldn't reach me, roll them over for a bellyrub (either on the ground or in my arms), or remove myself from their reach. I do these things without reacting to the actual biting.

They are now 8 weeks old, and most of the time seem content to be petted without feeling the need to chew on me.

11-15-2009, 11:39 AM	#2 (permalink)
twobassets Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Bothell, WA Posts: 182	Mikey T has some great links for this so he will probably post them again for you. This is typical puppy behavior and you need to be consitent and firm in your approach. http://www.sspca.org/Dogs/PuppyNipping.html This will take you to a very brief article by the Sacramento SPCA and it might prove helpful. Good luck and welcome to the board! __________________ Suzanne, mom to Prince Luther & Princess Sammy who think they are Royalty and require they be treated as such! Sasha Foo ATB July 16, 2002

11-15-2009, 04:50 AM	#1 (permalink)
Bailey the Basset Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 3	Hi fellow basset owners I'm new to your forum and I'm after some advice, Ive just bought my first ever Basset puppy, A beautiful boy called bailey Now the problem i have is he wont stop biting and nipping at me or basically biting anything he can get his teeth into walls floors radiators etc. Ive tried disciplining him by saying no or stop in a stern loud voice but this seems to make him more aggressive!! I'm obviously doing something wrong and not understanding his way of thinking or the need why he is biting all the time. He is only 8 weeks old and Ive had him 3 days the first day i had him he didn't really bite or nip just in play which wasn't to bad as pups do. But now its at the point where if i stroke or pet him he wants to eat my fingers. Please help me!! PS I've checked in FAQ links on the subject and the links are broke! Thanks and regards.

Remove Advertisements Sponsored Links
Basset.net Advertisement