Puppy bites too much

[s.boyes75]

Hi I am writing to ask for help as some of the other topics don’t cover exactly what I need help with. My puppy is a kelpie x heeler and on Sunday he will be 4 months old. He can be quite aggressive and bites too regularly especially when the bites feel worse than a nip. One trainer told us to do an ah ah ! or put him in the laundry for couple of mins each time and though that worked for my friends dog who is a beautifully behaved dog now they have not worked for Archie. During play he gets too rough jumps up to grab the rope or toy at the part we are holding and grabs our hand, giving a pretty rough bite. He also gets quite aggressive if we need to adjust his collar or fix the lead even if we are doing it gently. When we walk around the house he will often jump up on us and bite or grab our clothes putting holes in them.

We have bought lots of toys for him to chew if teething is the issue including Kong’s and we put a treat inside though he gives up after a few mins if he can’t get it out. We give him lots of positive attention even when he’s quiet and resting. Lots of praise when he does the right thing and he’s picked up on other training really well. Sit, waits till we say go to eat his food and today we started to introduce the positive interruption noise like in the video but will this technique help when he’s biting? We can be on the couch and he will come and start biting. I’m worried if we don’t get this aggressive biting under control before he’s too much older it will be too late. We play lots with him to keep him active throwing frisbees, balls play tug lots of interaction to keep him active as he’s a working dog.

Please help! Thank you.

[Adrienne]

Hi there,

Welcome to the forums!

You own a mix that can be particularly nippy (particularly heeler) and some pups can be very rough with their mouths during play. I used to be a fan of yelping and saying "ouch" or other verbal expression which were often recommended by trainers, but this method comes with some flaws. Some dogs get more excited by our animated reactions, so I find that yelping or expressing our displeasure works mostly for the most mellow pups with mild forms of nipping followed by some consequence.

On top of this, if we just use an "ah-ah" some puppies will try to bite more just to get us to engage with them again. Sort of like the puppy thinking:"How fun, my owner is like a big squeaky toy, every time I bite he goes "ah-ah!" instead of squeaking. I want to see this reaction again!"  

So I am no longer much a fan of verbal expressions used on their own, unless they are accompanied by some clear consequence that tells the puppy that if he bites hard he will have lost his playmate (who will move out of the room), but once again it seems to work only with certain pups and often leads to pups attaching the the owner's legs upon leaving the area. 

Timeouts also come with several flaws, but they have their place. I think a time-out area works great in the case of a puppy who is starting to nip because he is cranky and is in dire need of a nap. Puppies need to sleep quite a lot as they have a lot of developing to do. Sometimes, they have a hard settling for a nap because they are just overstimulated. So in this case, we are providing a place to relax and doze off. Having chew toys can encourage the pup to gnaw before falling asleep since chewing helps release endorphins and encourages relaxation.

In the case of a puppy biting because hyper and in need to drain exercise, putting him in a play pen or other timeout area as a consequence in hopes of diminishing the  biting behavior falls under negative punishment (removing something or access to something the dog likes contingent on the problematic behavior). In other words, we are basically depriving the puppy from our company/attention and freedom to spend time around the house/room, contingent upon his biting behavior. This is not a major deal, but it can have some unwanted "side-effects."

For example, the puppy may associate the play pen (or other timeout area) with social isolation, so next time, the puppy may play hard to catch or he may nip if we are dragging him by the collar. Or perhaps, the puppy feels our anger/frustration and this triggers him to bite more. On top of this, after being released from the area, he may act super excited again and nip again, meaning that he may end up being put in timeouts repeatedly, but never learn alternate ways to interact with us. Not to mention, this method requires perfect timing, if we don't take the puppy quickly enough to his time-out area, he may not associate this consequence with the undesired behavior. 

While timeouts may come with side effects, we can make some compromises to ameliorate things. For instance, we can make the timeout area extra appealing, we can place blankets and chew toys there so the dog doesn't perceive it as punishment. To ensure the correct associations form, we can verbally mark the undesirable behavior with a "too bad! or "whoops" or "ah-ha" (so he knows in a timely manner what behavior granted the time-out) and we can escort him there calmly without showing any anger or frustration.

We can gently guide the pup with his collar as we use a treat as a lure and then give the treat once he is inside this area (always remove collars when in a crate or left unsupervised). We can then start fading the sight of the treat by holding the treat in a pocket and giving it only once he's inside. 

So if we think the puppy is cranky, we can certainly use this strategy. If the puppy instead is hyper, we can try to catch him before he nips (or just quickly as possible) so to prevent too much rehearsal and try our best to redirect to other activities (hand targeting, play with a flirt pole, sitting for a tossed kibble, sits for tossing a ball etc.)

I find that dogs do best learning what we want them to do rather than suppressing their behaviors. Puppies thrive on training and mental stimulation in the form of appropriate play and enrichment (brain games). Balancing this out correctly  is important to reduce the incidences of nipping. 

So if you have a puppy who is nipping a lot, I encourage trying to engage him in alternate behaviors that are far more rewarding than the biting behavior itself. Of course, this won't cure the biting over night, but you should see improvements over time. 

You may therefore find these exercises helpful:

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

You can also work on refining your pup's biting with these exercises which you can incorporate in your daily training:

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

Here are some more tips. Make sure to catch him before he has a chance to bite your body parts or latch on your clothes. Timing is important considering that once a dog has latched on, he'll be too focused on tugging and biting to easily distract him. Please note that most of these exercises require you to carry treats (or toys) in your pocket or treat bag for most of the day.

-When you expect him to come towards you to bite,  as soon as he is close to you, freeze (become motionless) and offer him a stuffed Kong. Now, it sounds like this works to distract him but he gives up on it fast if he can't get the cookie out. In such a case, we can try to stuff it with some peanut butter mixed with some kibble and crushed dog cookies so he has to lick to get it out rather than trying to dislodge things.  A Kong Wobbler/ Buster Cube filled with a portion of your dog's daily allowance of kibble can also come handy once he learns how to get the kibble out.

- When you notice he is about to bite as you walk around, you can also try to engage him with toys that add movement into the game such as a tennis ball tossed in the opposite direction (make it extra fun!) or a flirt pole (stick with a stuffed animal attached one end). The goal is to find a way to make these toys much more interesting, rewarding and fun to interact with than your body. Dogs who love to herd may enjoy chasing large balls used for the sport of Treibball. 

--Redirect to an interactive game with you. As soon as he approaches you, ask for a sit and reward by tossing one piece of kibble/treat. He'll likely eat it and come for more if he perceives them as valuable enough. Repeat several times. This makes your dog tired, provides an outlet for chasing instincts while you incorporate some fun obedience. Here is how to train sit, which is an incompatible behavior compared with biting (a dog in general cannot sit and bite clothes at the same time).  Here's a link on how to train sit, of course start in a quiet room first and work your way to making sits very fluent.  Initially, as your dog is learning to sit, you can just toss the treat without asking for a sit as soon as he approaches you. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/sit/

-Alternatively you can redirect to an empty water bottle with no lid filled up. Most dogs cannot resist the crinkling sounds produced by chewing on these. They make an economical. temporary chew toy. Always monitor your dog when chewing if your dog tends to ingest things and consider that excess chewing can make some parts sharp. To make the bottle even more interesting, fill it up with a portion of your puppy's daily ratio of kibble so your puppy will keep busy trying to roll the kibble out. You can read more about this fun game here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/high-school/the-bottle-game/

-Targeting is also a great option to divert a pup's biting to something else. You can train to target your hands when you are sitting, and when you are standing up, you can use a target stick or  a ruler and reinforce targeting with his nose with treats/kibble tossed at a distance. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/preschool/targeting/

-Make sure you provide outlets for pent-up energy. Games, training, exercise and opportunities for socialization should wear her out and provide outlets for his basic needs. With brain games that allow him to chase things and get rewards out of them (like kibble out of a bottle or a Kong Wobbler) she should seek these games more and more which can turn your legs pretty boring after a while because she gets more out of these activities when she's bored/frustrated/overstimulated. 

The main goal in getting a puppy to stop biting is to teach that it's boring playing with our bodies and clothes because there are far better forms of play out there. So move less and make your toys move more. Wriggle them, toss them, provide toys that release food. With their strong urge to bite and play satiated with other forms of play, soon, pups should outgrow the habit of chasing legs and clothing just as they outgrow the habit of chasing their tails.

You may have to try several of the above options and see what works best. Redirection to a rewarding treat-dispensing toy or game that uses treats should be moderately easy at this age if these activities are made rewarding. Teaching an alternate behavior is also important because dogs cannot misbehave if they are busy targeting or sitting! It may take a bit of time though to teach these alternate behaviors fluently but it is sure worth the time and effort.

By providing outlets for his energy and needs for mental stimulation and reinforcing appropriate behaviors, you should eventually start seeing a decrease in the biting behavior. Keep track of it so to measure whether things are getting better with time. If things are going well, you should have created a new routine where your dog looks forward to interacting with you in positive ways because of all the fun and rewarding activities you provide (which don't involve biting). 

For the reaction to the collar adjusting or lead fixing, this can remedied by feeding a tasty treat when you need to adjust the collar. You can practice this ahead of time, so you're prepard for when you need to do the real thing. 

1. Equip yourself with high-value treats
2. Call your dog and slightly touch the collar
3. Feed a treat from your other hand as you touch it
4. The moment your dog is done eating the treat, remove your hand from the collar
5. Repeat several times, until upon touching the collar your dog looks at you for treats
6. Add a few criteria: put your fingers under the collar, give treat, then from a distance, call your dog and when he arrives, touch the collar, and give treat. Attach the leash and give a treat, detach the leash and give a treat. 

With practice, your pup should start looking forward to having his collar touched because of all the great associations with treats. To protect your hard work though, please avoid the following:

If you must crate your pup do not grab him by the collar. Rather toss a treat inside the crate or tell your dog to "crate up" and give a treat/stuffed Kong as a reward.

If you must stop your dog from getting a hold of something, don't grab by the collar. Instead, train your dog the "leave it" command (see the course instructions in obedience 101 on how to train this)

Finally, a word of caution: Please consider that it may be sometimes difficult differentiating rough/obnoxious puppy play  from true aggression with an intent to harm without seeing the behavior. If this behavior has an aggressive component, it would be important seeing a dog behavior professional using force-free behavior modification for safety and correct implementation of behavior modification.

I hope this helps!

Let me know if you need any further asistance,

Best,

Adrienne

[s.boyes75]

Hi Adrienne thanks for the great advice! We will give those a try and if we think that it is more aggression than anything we will certainly see a professional once Victoria is no longer in lockdown. 

Susie

[Adrienne]

Sounds like a plan! Keep me posted.

Best,

Adrienne