Puppy bites

[ErinStone]

We have a 4 month old golden retriever puppy. We are having trouble training him not to bite (playfully) our toddlers when we’re all playing in the backyard. The kids run for a toy and he immediately chases them and latches on to the back of their shirt, arm, or leg. I’ve been trying to play fetch or entertain the puppy with another game/toy but that doesn’t seem to be working. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks!

Edited April 20, 2020 by ErinStone

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi Erin Stone,

Welcome to the forums!

Life can get quite hectic when managing a household with toddlers and a new puppy, so you need a big thumbs up for being able to juggle all. For sure, never a dull moment there! In regards to your situation with your golden retriever puppy, it is not at all unusual as puppies are big biting machines at this age. 

When we bring home a new puppy at the age of 8 weeks, his life just prior to that to a great extent entailed rough and tumble play with his litter mates. Play with his siblings mostly encompassed biting the other pups' ears, tails and legs. Puppies would pin each other to the ground, chase each others' legs while running and grabbing tails using them as tug toys. Sounds familiar?

Indeed puppies once welcomed to our homes, will seek the same type of engagement with us and all the other household members. So rather than tugging at ears and tails, puppies will engage by tugging at clothing such as skirts, pant legs, shoe laces and the drawstrings of hoodies. Often times, they will also bite any moving body parts such as hands, fingers, legs, ankles and feet.

Toddlers are particularly fun to play with because they are full of kinetic energy, closer to the ground and in perpetual play mode. Actually, to put it bluntly, toddlers tend to overstimulate puppies. Their high-pitched voices and unpredictable movements cause predisposed puppies and young dogs to go into hyper-mode, and the more hyper they get, the more and they harder they bite.

So how do we tackle this type of play biting? Here are a few tips:

• Because toddlers may struggle in understanding how the puppy should be handled and they may be too young to follow directions required for implementing dog training, and because puppies are also young and incapable of fully controlling their impulses, it is therefore up to us humans as parents to intervene as needed in these situations. So what can be done? We can try several strategies and see what works best or even use a combo of some. 
• One of my favorite games for teaching puppies to control their impulses a bit more is learning to respond to a smacking sound made with your mouth. First, make a smacking sound and toss a valuable treat for your puppy to chase and eat. Repeat several times until you get a reliable response. Next, practice making this smacking sound when you are in the house and your toddlers are outside with an adult playing and your puppy watches them from a window. You want to basically do this exercise, only that your puppy is observing the children play rather than the Fedex drivers: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ Practice then with your puppy on the leash  as he watches your toddler walk around the house. Then practice with your toddler playing in the yard at a distance. Then practice with your puppy on a long line (longer leash) and then only once he responds reliably, you can practice with him off leash. Make sure to redirect your puppy before he has had a chance to latch on. Once latched on to your toddler's clothes, puppies are more difficult to distract. Once redirected, for longer pauses, rather than tossing a treat to chase, provide your puppy with a stuffed Kong to enjoy in a quiet area away from all the hustle and bustle of children play. Remind your toddlers to keep space when Rover is eating.
• In addition to this, you can try to ask your toddlers to stand "like a tree" and wait for the puppy to lose interest in them. Movement is what puppies are mostly after. If your toddlers are running around, your puppy will want to run around too and chase them. You can even try to turn it into a game of "Red Light, Green Light" reminding your toddlers to freeze when the puppy starts acting excited. 
• Another option is to invest in a flirt pole. A flirt pole for dogs looks like a fishing pole with a toy that often squeaks at the opposite end. Many pups can't resist chasing this, so you can try providing access to this toy exclusively when out in the yard and make it a routine. With your toddlers acting boring and you encouraging play with a flirt pole or the promise of treats after making a smacking sound, your puppy may be helped in making a good choice. 
• Implement management strategies so that both the puppy and toddlers can have some breaks from each other in the yard. Bring along a play pen, where the puppy can go spend some time alone and rest as needed. This is not for punishment, just a place the puppy can go to chill and and play/explore so that he doesn't rehearse the problematic biting behaviors. You can scatter treats in this area as a fun treasure hunt game or provide a Muffin Game. 
• On top of this, make sure to teach your puppy how to be gentle with his mouth. Here are some puppy bite inhibition games: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/ and here is how to train your dog to take treats gently: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/train-dog-take-treats-gently/
• Make sure your puppy receives enough exercise, training and mental stimulation (brain games). Exposing a fired-up puppy full of energy to playing toddlers is a recipe for biting, biting and more biting. It also helps to encourage your toddlers to play quiet games when the puppy is around. If there is a certain type of play that seems to get your puppy overly excited and biting, you can keep your puppy on leash with you at a distance as you entertain your puppy with some fun games such as at Airplane Game https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/airplane-game-training/.
• Make sure your puppy has opportunities to nap throughout the day. Puppies need a lot of sleep because they have lots of growing to do. Often, puppies who engage in a lot of biting are puppies who are cranky and in dire need of some sleep. If you are spending time in the yard with the toddlers and the puppy hasn't slept much earlier, this may be a good time to allow him some quiet time in a crate with a safe chew toy to gnaw on until he falls asleep. 

I hope this helps! Let me know how things go. If you still struggle, feel free to post again and we can do more troubleshooting and try different approaches. 

 
Disclaimer: Dogs and children should always be supervised when together. For stubborn cases or if your puppy or dog is exhibiting worrisome signs of anxiety or aggression, please enlist the help of a dog trainer or dog behavior professional. This is for safety and correct implementation of behavior modification.