Play Biting

[SydneyWright]

Hey Adrienne!

 

My name is Sydney and I just bought your training guide! I have a quick question: How do I stop my dog from play biting? I have been doing the brain training eye contact games, and that has been helping. However, when he gets excited it is hard to keep his attention and to keep him from biting and jumping. He bites people and tears up things when he wants to get my attention. When I ignore him he just keeps doing it. When I try to pull away, he just pulls harder. I basically have to grab him and hold him to calm him down. Do you have any tips? 

 

He is a 2 year old Lab/Pitbull mix.

 

Thank you!

[Adrienne]

Hi Sydney, 

Welcome to the forums!

Your dog is at the peak adolescent stage, and with this comes an increased need for mental stimulation and boundless energy. You can read more about this stage here:

 https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/

If this is just play biting (no aggression) and his bite is inhibited (not breaking the skin or hurting), and your dog responds well to sit,  you can find the Jazz Up and Settle Game helpful:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/high-school/jazz-up-and-settle-down/

This game gives you a sort of "off" button for those times he's acting overly excited. 

If your dog hasn't been trained to sit yet or struggles to sit when he's too hyped up and it's difficult to keep his attention, you may find these tips below helpful as a starting point, until you can get a more fluent response to sit and lower his threshold. Here are some ideas:

-Avoid as much as possible exposing him to triggers or situations that seem to get him overly excited. If possible, therefore compile a list of circumstances that get him riled up and try to avoid them. For instance, don't encourage  the kids to play wrestling games if that gets him over the edge or avoid letting him chase you if that starts the behavior. We don't want to avoid these situations altogether in the long run, we are just trying to prevent him from rehearsing this excessively excited behavior while in the meanwhile teaching him a little better impulse control through redirection. 

So what can you do though when you recognize his trigger and you know he's about to start play biting? In such a case, it's best to catch him before he starts play biting, than after he has already latched on. Notice how I emphasized the word "before." It is far easier to redirect this before if you can catch it before, considering that once dogs have latched on they are already too focused and too over threshold to listen. So here are a few things you can do as soon as you notice him going into "bitey mode." (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. 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. 

--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 us 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 dog'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/

-If he loves to tear up things (always better than biting people!) you can try to redirect him to play with a cardboard box you always keep handy on some tall shelf or keep always handy nearby so that you can grab at a moment's notice. Toss it and tell him to "rip it up!" as you point at it. After several reps, you can put the behavior on cue and use it to your advantage when you know he might get overly excited. Of course avoid this if your dog tends to ingest parts of boxes or other items. You can also turn this into a game where you hide a cookie in a box, ask him to sit and tell him to "rip it up."

-Targeting is also a great option to divert a dog'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 and exercise should wear him 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) he should seek these games more and more which can turn biting you pretty boring after a while because she gets more out of these activities when he's bored/frustrated/overstimulated/excited. 

The main goal in getting a dog to stop play 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, most dogs should outgrow the habit of biting us. 

-Don't forget to train him better impulse control through these games!

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/

Finally, a word of caution: Please consider that it may be sometimes difficult differentiating rough/obnoxious 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,

Happy training!

Best, 

Adrienne