Playbiting never stops

1467 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Mikey T, Dec 21, 2006

Tim Pourciau

Discussion Starter · Dec 20, 2006

Coltrane is 11 weeks old now and still has a problem with biting us. He is not trying to attack us. When he wants to play, he'll get close to you and start barking. When we try to pet him, he starts biting at us. we tell him no, give him something to bite, yelp if he bit too hard. I have taken the approach of leaving the room and ignoring him for a while until he calms down. All of these tactics work for a little while, but he gets right back at it. I know it'll just take paitence and time for this to stop, but it is aggravating. At first the vet told us to "dominate him" by grabbing his muzzle and holding him until he calms down. That wasn't working out too well and resulting in him biting harder, so we switched to the other tactics. I wish he would jsut calm down. He's young and i guess he'll grow out of it, condsidering we keep telling him no and ignoring him if it gets too rough. He hates being ignored.

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woodrowsmom

· #2 · Dec 20, 2006

Woodrow is 14 weeks old today, and he still does this all the time. He has gotten tons better about biting ankles and shoes, but will still try it. However, he knows that as soon as I stop walking, I am going to fuss at him, and he just runs off.
As far as fingers and arms, I have marks all over my hands from this. When I am trying to pet him or play with him, he thinks it is a game and automatically starts biting.
I don't really have any advice other than all of the stuff you've been told already, but I just wanted to let you know that you're not alone, and that Woodrow is older and he is still doing it. Good Luck!

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Tim Pourciau

Discussion Starter · #3 · Dec 20, 2006

Thanks, i figure evenutally he wil stop if i deep up with telling him no. Good to know i am not alone.

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2hounds

· #4 · Dec 20, 2006

My dog Lily will be 2 in January and still bites. Most likely I wasn't firm enough with her as a pup. So keep up what you are doing or you will have a 2 year old who still bites...like I do....I still love her though.

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Shermie's Mom

· #5 · Dec 21, 2006

I had this problem with Sherman when he was little, and he eventually stopped. Yelling at him didn't work, he would just get more excited. Ignoring helped some, but not always. the best thing I found was to get him tired out, long walks, play time with other dogs. A tired puppy is a GOOD puppy. Good luck.
sally and Shermie

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Mikey T

· #6 · Dec 21, 2006

Coltrane is 11 weeks old now and still has a problem with biting us. He is not trying to attack us. When he wants to play, he'll get close to you and start barking. When we try to pet him, he starts biting at us. we tell him no, give him something to bite, yelp if he bit too hard. I have taken the approach of leaving the room and ignoring him for a while until he calms down. All of these tactics work for a little while, but he gets right back at it. I know it'll just take paitence and time for this to stop, but it is aggravating. [/b]

Now for the bad news just about the time the puppy mouthing stage ends the puppy teething stage begins

To help speed up the puppy knowledge of appropriate and inapproriate things to chew/mouth you might want to consider adding "tug-of-war" to your play. Given what the vet has told you in the past you have probably heard "tug-of War" created dominance issues in dogs. Nothing could be further from the truth
I highly recommend the following article from the San Francisco SPCA on Tug-of-War

Dog owners have been admonished for decades to never play tug of war with their dogs because of the risk of it increasing aggression and/or dominance in the dog. Even many dog resource people such as breeders, trainers and veterinarians caution against this game. This is partly a failure to discriminate between agonistic behavior (conflict resolution & defensive aggression) and predatory behavior. Also, many people have issues about witnessing intensity. Intensity is not aggression, however.

Played with rules, tug-of-war is a tremendous predatory energy burner and good exercise for both dog and owner. It serves as a barometer of the kind of control you have over the dog, most importantly over his jaws. The game doesn't make the dog a predator: he already is one. The game is an outlet. It’s intense, increases dog focus and confidence and plugs into something very deep inside them. The big payoff is in lowered incidence of behavior problems due to understimulation and a potent motivator for snappy obedience. There is a maxim in training: control the games, control the dog. It's also extremely efficient in terms of space and time requirements.[/b]

and later on in a section by Ian Dunbar

Firstly, games are good exercise for dogs and owners – good physical exercise and good mental exercise. Also, games are fun for dogs and owners. As soon as the dog learns the two of them can have fun together, he begins to focus his attention on the owner, rather than always looking to other dogs for enjoyment and amusement. Similarly, the owners learn they can actually have fun with their dog (a sad realization, believe it or not but many owners have to be taught how to have fun with their dogs. In fact, someone has even written an entire book on this topic). Suggesting and describing games is one of the best ways to motivate owners to train their dogs - games, and of course, which have been intricately integrated with basic obedience skills.

A number of trainers have designed entire obedience programs around game-playing, following the maxim - control the games and you control the dog. Indeed, there is nothing like a controlled game of tag to give moribund recalls a spark. Similarly, the dog's favorite tug o' war toy is an ideal lure for teaching sighthounds to come, sit and heel, for teaching terriers anything (and everything), or for re-motivating moose-like dogs and getting them to enjoy obedience and enthusiastically perform with verve and vigor.
The above advantages are really no more than attractive fringe benefits, however, when compared with the primary reasons for playing tag and tug o' war and roughhousing with dogs. When played according to the rules, these games:

1. increase the level of control owners have over their dogs, specifically proofing control at times when the dogs are excited and worked-up and

2. motivate, build confidence and make the dog less aggressive, specifically improving and maintaining his bite inhibition.[/b]

Bold added as emphysis by me

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