New puppy barking after saying oww

[s.flores986]

What do I do if my 9 wk old puppy barks at me when I yell ow when she hits my hand to try to teach her the no biting?

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello, and welcome to the forums,

It sounds like your puppy is barking either to entice you to go back to playing with her or perhaps out of frustration of having lost her playmate. I can see this behavior occurring if your "oww" is followed by withdrawal from play and she's particularly upset about it.

 

Now, this may also be an extinction burst (if this barking didn't happen before and you are seeing it now) if you have been saying "oww" and withdrawing from play for some time and your dog is starting to get the idea that when biting hard she is losing her playmate. In other words it's as if she's saying "I want to play with you and since my biting doesn't get you to interact with me, I will now try by barking." You see this behavior in puppy play when another puppy decides to do something else and one puppy instead wants to continue playing.

 

In such cases, you can try to stick to your plan, keep on saying "oww" and withdrawing from play, and when she barks in protest, walk away. This will point out to her that her barking won't get you to interact with her in any way, and actually makes things worse, with you leaving. But if she is very persistent (like while you are leaving she latches on your legs) or your "oww" seems to stimulate her even more, you can skip the "oww" method and go straight to working on training alternate behaviors to the biting when she is in play mode (which all puppies should learn in any case).

 

These alternate behaviors revolve around teaching her how to interact productively with you but also teaching her to play solo with interactive toys when you cannot actively train. In the midst of all this, just like with kids, the puppy should also have quiet time (many puppies misbehave when they are cranky and tired but still overstimulated) and should therefore be provided with a quiet/dark place (like a crate covered with a blanket) to settle down after chewing a puppy-safe chew toy. Here's how to make the crate a great place: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/

 

Now, upon your puppy approaching you with the intent to play, start asking for a replacement behavior (that you have trained prior, to the point of a certain level of fluency). You have several options as to what replacement behaviors to use. They all offer the puppy an opportunity to perform a behaviors that is incompatible with biting. Teaching these replacement behaviors requires you to carry a treat bag on you during the day so that you are a ready to redirect at a moment's notice when you notice her approaching you with the intent of playing.

 

Kibble rather than treats can be used if concerned about extra calories or digestive upset. With your pup's daily ration (one kibble tossed across the room to reinforce a wanted behavior) you should have lots of opportunities to reinforce desired behaviors while your pup gets a workout and you incorporate some obedience training presented in a fun way.

 

I like to use hand targeting as a replacement behavior for nipping. With hand targeting, your puppy learns that it's more rewarding touching your hand with her nose rather than biting. Here' how to teach targeting: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/preschool/targeting/

 

Alternatively, you can use 'sit." Here's how to train sit https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/sit/As your puppy approaches, say "sit" and then reward by tossing the kibble/treat the opposite way. This again works great because you are adding obedience training, giving your puppy a workout and preventing her from rehearsing the troublesome behavior. Win-win!

 

What to do in the meanwhile, prior to your pup learning the replacement behavior/behaviors well? As you work on training a replacement behavior, you may wish to redirect her when she approaches to some interactive toy with treats inside or you can toss a puppy-safe ball the opposite direction.

 

Here are several fun games to train bite inhibition:

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

 

Although you aim to stop a puppy from biting hands, you don't want a puppy to stop all forms of mouthing altogether. Puppies need to learn how to inhibit their bite (put less pressure) before their jaws develop and they are able to inflict quite some serious damage. As tempting as it may feel to start rough-housing or wrestling with the puppy to teach this valuable lesson, it is best to refrain from doing so as this only teaches the pup to play rough.

 

Instead, try using a tug-toy in lieu of your hands. Should your puppy ever miss and bite your hands, drop the toy and stop playing. Investing in intermediary tools to use in lieu of arms and hands can help pups learn that hands are not for play. Redirect your puppy's or dog's intent to bite body parts to biting tug toys, ropes and towels. Praise him when he makes choices.

 

Puppies need to learn that human skin is extra sensitive. An option to train this is to keep a treat in your closed hand and release only when the pup is gentle with his mouth. Here's a guide on training "gentleness pays."https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/train-dog-take-treats-gently/

 

Puppy classes (run by dog trainers and with a great emphasis put in hygiene and prevention of infectious diseases) can turn helpful as it provides puppies the opportunity to play with other pups and further refine their social skils/bite inhibition and opportunities for socialization with humans, which is f primary importance as the window closes at 16 weeks.

 

Last but not least, provide more training, mental stimulation and brain games (pick brain games that allow her to chase things and get rewards out of them like kibble out of a bottle (supervised) or a Kong Wobbler) so that she should seek them more and more, which can turn your hands pretty boring after a while because she gets more out of these activities when she's bored.

 

Most puppies fortunately at some point outgrow nipping just as they outgrow biting and chasing their tails because they find more reinforcement from other activities in their environment. Failure to provide these other activities may lead though to problematic behaviors persisting because the puppy has nothing better to do and there are no outlets for pent-up energy and lack of mental stimulation.

 

Hope this helps,

Best,

Adrienne

Edited March 3, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli