Puppy Biting

[AMY LEWIS]

I have a 16 week old puppy, Gabi. We got her at 8 weeks old. She is a German short-haired pointer/pitbull/doberman mix.

She bites. I know that puppies teethe and bite, but she bites enough to hurt us a lot.

I have looked at tons of different advice online. She has tons of toys to keep her occupied. I have lots of bones and frozen kongs and things to occupy her.

I know that she is a high-energy dog, and we love to take her outside and walk. As soon as I try to speed things up she jumps on me, hugs my leg and bites for all that she is worth. We have tried ignoring the behavior, and we have tried turning away and taking away attention. She just bites more and harder.

Sometimes the only way to contain her when she is being bitey is to put her in her kennel, which I know isn't supposed to be a punishment.... but sometimes its the only way to get her to calm down and stop chewing and snapping at us. 

It's mostly play, but it's exhausting. I have a 7 year old daughter who got hospitalized with a bite from another dog a few years ago, so trying to play with the puppy and getting bitten for it is not working. 

Please help! 🙏 

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi there,

Welcome to the forums!

You can find several tips of reducing puppy biting in the below links.

One very important step is training puppies alternative behaviors to engage in and making these extra rewarding:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/replacement-behaviors-to-stop-puppy-biting/

Here are some more games:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/

Here's how to habituate your puppy to being handled without biting:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-teach-puppies-to-tolerate-touch/

Here's how train a gentle mouth:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/train-dog-take-treats-gently/

This article explains why when trying to ignore puppies they may bite harder: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/why-yelping-doesnt-always-work-to-stop-a-puppys-biting/

A helpful trick for nippy puppies is talked about towards the end of this guide:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/my-hand-made-kong-trick/

When you need to give your puppy some chill time, use a treat to toss in the kennel and give her something to chew on (like a stuffed Kong) so as to not make her perceive it as punishment, more about this is discussed here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/

 Also, make sure to create positive associations with collar grabs, this is covered in the touch/handling exercises under "rewarding collar grabs"

 https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-teach-puppies-to-tolerate-touch/

Unfortunately, puppy biting won't stop overnight, it's more of a process than a one-time fixed ordeal, but if we work on making replacement behaviors more fun than anything else, we may be able to expedite the process.

Your child may be also taught to toss kibble to keep the pup focused on that rather than on nipping her otherwise, "play" between a child and puppy will almost always involve some level of nipping as that is how puppies mostly play (especially if children are moving fast and running around). If the puppy has moments of acting hyper around your child (too over threshold to listen), it's best to keep her behind baby gate rather than keeping on rehearsing nipping behaviors over and over.

You'll know things are improving once you see a higher ratio of your puppy engaging in replacement behaviors more and more and less and less in nipping. 

I hope this helps, keep us posted on how things go.

Happy Training!

Best,

Adrienne 

 

 

 

 

 

[RAYNIN VALLAH]

This is my puppy to a T. Except she takes treats gently. She just has a fascination with eating arms and ankles. When I try to stop her, she gets worse and bites harder and more frequently. I currently have scabs all over my forearm where she’s broken skin. Mind you, when she’s not in this mood, she’s a very gentle love-bug. My question is, would the same method of teaching a puppy to take treats gently also work to temper her bite on arms? If so, how would you recommend I start? 

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi there! I am glad that your puppy is at least taking treats gently!

How are you trying to stop her? It sounds like she's perceiving it as a game or it's heightening her arousal levels. 

If she's normally a love bug and sometimes gets into a super-aroused, highly excited state, I would keep track of that and evaluate what may be evoking this behavior to determine whether there is a pattern. For instance, consider that many puppies can super cranky and nippy when tired. Puppies need a whole lot of sleep to do their growing and sometimes they need us to help them find their "off buttons" by placing them in a quiet area with something to chew on and then fall asleep. 

To answer your question, the method to take treats gently helps puppies learn how to inhibit their bite a bit, but the problem is, when pups are in an aroused playful state, they tend to bite harder and struggle gauging the pressure of their bites. Bite inhibition is a learning process that takes time to master. 

If your pup is biting your arms and ankles, you may find it helpful helping your pup make good choices by training replacement behaviors as outlined here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/replacement-behaviors-to-stop-puppy-biting/