Intentionally biting to get a reaction

[KatieWelker]

Hello,

I have a four month old golden retriever. Every time my husband comes home, Jasper starts to bite and miss behave. He will jump up on the couch as well as bite our entire family. When he bites, he will do the behavior and then look at my husband. 
 

In our early training, my husband tended to get angry when the dog would misbehave.  Nothing physical, just vocal anger. This coupled with more hands on techniques that were recommended by different trainers actually has caused Jasper to be aggressive. The techniques we tried were holding the collar, holding the mouth shut and depressing the tongue. 
 

Since purchasing the program, we have noticed a difference in Jasper. However, he is still exhibiting this attention craving behavior. Our kids are scared of him and we are very frustrated. Any help is greatly appreciated. 
 

Katie Welker

[Adrienne]

Hello and welcome to the forums,

If this behavior tends to happen mostly contingent upon your husband coming home, there can be various dynamics at play. I will be listing a few possible causes for this behavior (not meant to be a "diagnosis" as this can be only obtained through in-person observations and in-depth history- taking,  so just throwing out some possible causes) and then we can look at some possible solutions. 

-A Matter of excitement. If your puppy stays home with you most of the day, and things are rather quiet calm and quiet, your husband's arrival may the perk of the day. In such cases, your puppy will likely start anticipating the event each day which builds up his arousal levels. High arousal levels must spill out some way and therefore your puppy may "vent" by misbehaving. The more pups get overstimulated and aroused, the more they'll get nippy, barky and jumpy.

Some puppies can get particularly wild when husbands have a history of roughhousing with the pups, wrestling with them on the floor. In such cases, pups may get super hyper because they are waiting for their favorite play partner to come home and this riles them up even more.

-Some Level of Anxiety. Puppies may also misbehave when they feel some level of anxiety going on. When dogs are anxious, their minds and bodies are flooded with hormones due to the fight and flight response. There are also other types of responses going on such as the freeze or "fool around" response.

The fool around response in particular is seen when dogs feel under pressure causing them to engage in behaviors that may seem out of context (displacement behaviors). Puppies may therefore start acting silly, jumping, playing and acting hyper or over the top when in this state.

Some pups may be a little anxious about certain family members. If a particular member scolds a pup or uses hands-on corrections (these are still often recommended by trainers or even veterinarians) that can lead to several negative repercussions and some build-up of stress. Some pups may also be naturally intimidated by men due to the fact that men often have deeper voices, facial hair and move in a more intense way.

-A Matter of Seeking Attention/Engagement If your puppy is normally calm in your presence and starts acting hyper when your husband comes home, he may misbehave as a way to get some attention. Perhaps when hubby comes home, you stop paying attention to your puppy and start talking to your husband, cooking or watching a favorite TV show together.

Your puppy may feel left out and may try to find ways to get attention or at least gain some more engagement from both of you (or the entire family). Here's the thing: when it comes to getting attention, puppies, just like toddlers, seem to appreciate any form of attention, even if attention of the negative type (pushing the puppy away, scolding the puppy). So just like a toddler starts misbehaving when you are talking on the phone, an attention-driven puppy may start nipping, jumping and chewing shoes the moment you and your husband are sitting on the couch to watch a movie.

-Getting Overstimulated and Cranky. Many puppies are very active during the morning, then they may take a small late morning early afternoon nap and then get active again and they may stay active until your hubby comes home. By this point, your puppy may be getting increasingly tired, but your husband's arrival likely keeps him awake and overstimulated. An overstimulated puppy eventually needs to crash, but if there's too much going on, he'll struggle to fall asleep. At this point, he'll therefore feel quite cranky and a puppy feeling cranky causes is the perfect recipe to misbehave (just like kids!), which leads to excessive jumping, barking and nipping.

So here are a few suggestions for tackling Jasper's (I love this name!) behavior, but firstly, some good news! If your puppy misbehaves mostly when your husband comes home, you have one main advantage on your side: predictability. Predictability of a behavior offers you the benefit of preparing a plan and having it in place prior to your husband's arrival so that you can work on decreasing the chances for the problematic behavior. So here are some tips/ideas:

Prevent Rehearsal of the Behavior. The popular saying "practice makes perfect" applies to dogs as well. Just like an actor gets better by rehearsing parts over and over, dogs get better at performing behaviors whether desirable or undesirable to the point of them becoming almost habit-forming. It would be therefore important preventing Jasper from rehearsing the problematic behaviors you describe when your husband comes home by using several management techniques.

For example: you can temporarily keep Jasper behind a baby gate or in an exercise pen or crate with something to chew on to stay occupied when your hubby comes home and allow him time to chill out here a bit before letting him out and go bonkers upon hubby's arrival. 

-Train an Incompatible Behavior. Management works well for those times when you do not have time to train or when you are in the early stages of training, but your ultimate goal should be training your puppy to engage in an alternate behavior and reinforce that heavily so that your puppy chooses to engage in this behavior more and more when your husband comes home. 

As your puppy increasingly chooses to engage in this alternate behavior, the problematic behaviors should start going to the backburner until they are abandoned for good.

Examples of alternate behaviors can be:

Training your puppy to lie on a mat where he will receive a valuable chew. Here is how to train that: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/

 Training your puppy to go grab a special toy on cue (using different ones each time to keep he interest alive) and play with it. Being a retriever, Jasper *should* be adept to picking up and carrying things around.  See the section on how to train "take:"

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/

Alternatively, you can offer him to take a bottle filled with treats/kibble right when your hubby comes home:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/high-school/the-bottle-game/

 Training your puppy to go on a treasure hunt when hubby comes home by tossing a handful of kibble mixed with treats around and telling your dog to "find them!" Here's a guide on Treasure Hunt Games:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-treasure-hunt/

Providing your puppy with a muffin game, Licki-mat or stuffed Kong that you keep ready on a shelf and offer it only when your hubby comes through the door:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-muffin-game/

It goes without saying that such training/brain games should be taught initially when hubby is not around and should be practiced up to a fluent level so that it can then be asked when hubby comes home. This training and games can be mismatched so to offer some alternate, calmer activities that your pup can look forward to and that will help take some "steam" off. 

-Change the Underlying Emotions.  If your puppy is a bit stressed or anxious when around your husband, he may be too over threshold to listen and it's therefore important to take baby steps to ameliorate the situation and establish a strong relationship of trust. Any forms of punishment such as angry scolding, or physically correcting the puppy should be completely stopped.

Behavior modification in such a case is required to change a pup's emotional response about being around hubby. For a good part, the training and brain games above can help accomplish that too as "great things happens when hubby comes home" but some pups may need more work.

This can be accomplished using behavior intervention techniques based on desensitization and counterconditioning. 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/

For correct implementation of these techniques and for safety (if there is  defensive biting involved), it is recommended enlisting the help of a force-free dog trainer/dog behavior consultant.

So for example, in the case of your husband entering the home, you can keep your puppy leashed at a distance and feed him treats as your husband enters the home or you can have your hubby toss him treats as explained in the treat-retreat game for fearful dogs https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/treat-retreat-game/ always ensuring that the puppy is kept as under threshold as possible.

Steps should also be taken to do some remedial work and aim to create positive associations with hands. Here are some helpful exercises that can help create positive associations with collar grabs and touch:  exercises to get puppies used to handling. and here are some bite inhibition games: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/

-Make Sure Your Puppy Gets Enough Rest! While many puppies get hyper when they aren't exercised, played with and interacted with enough, on the opposite side of the spectrum are puppies who get hyper when they aren't given an opportunity to relax and get some rest. Puppies needs scheduled downtimes  and several opportunities to rest and a get a nap throughout the day. Keeping them in a crate (some benefit from a blanket over it to create darkness and visual stimulation) or in a quiet area away from overstimulation and with something to chew on can help them relax and learn to self-sooth and eventually take a nap. 

I hope this helps!

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Happy training,

Adrienne 

Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your puppy or dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting) for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional who uses force-free behavior modification techniques for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this course and forum, you are waiving any liability claims or other type of claims related to any dogs' behavior against you or others.

[KatieWelker]

That is a lot of great information! Thank you so much. 
To be honest, my husband had handled disciplining him a bit aggressively/physically. Jasper tends to follow us biting our legs as well as jumping at us and biting while we are on the couch. Not much stops him. My husbands reaction to that was a bit aggressive and now I think Jasper is doing it to get that reaction from him. He will go after my kids or myself, biting pretty hard, and will then stop and look at my husband. If he doesn’t pay attention to it, he will keep going until my husband tries to stop him. It would seem like it’s a game/playing for him. Jasper will also try to initiate play by relentless biting. My husband no longer disciplines him in these ways but the effects of it seem to be cemented in to Jasper. With this information, is there anything from above that we should really focus on doing for him? He does still nip when my husband isn’t home, like a normal puppy, but it’s so relentless and painful when he is around. Thank you so much for all your help and knowledge! I look forward to hearing what you think. 

[Adrienne]

 With this information, is there anything from above that we should really focus on doing for him? 

Based on this information, I still feel it's important taking a multi-faceted approach, managing the environment, training some replacement behaviors, creating positive associations, ensuring he gets enough nap time, incorporate training (especially impulse control frustration/tolerance which puppies gain more and more as they mature https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/  walks and brain games and work on relationship building and trust (handling exercises). 

It would be therefore fundamental as a starting point limiting the opportunity for him to get to this point because it gets very habit -forming. So if it happens when hubby comes home,  keep him away from the couch area (baby gate, exercise pen, placing bulky items on the couch so he doesn't get on the couch whatever helps reduce the behavior) and then aim to provide alternate ways to keep him occupied that are much more valuable to him than practicing this behavior. 

I know you mentioned not much stops him, but most pups will not give up a game of chasing tossed kibble/treats (you can train the smacking sound to redirect him at a moment's notice and then toss treats/kibble https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/, a Kong stuffed with some peanut butter placed on a mat, or a Licki-mat to lick with some meat-based baby food (with no onion or garlic) smeared on it, or if your pup is very toy-driven, a flirt pole can be very attractive. This to keep him occupied on something else, create positive associations with your husband's return and create a new routine that replaces the undesirable one. 

If he is so focused and over threshold https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ to eat or engage in these activities. in your husband's presence, then it would be best  keeping him in his own area and work on very small sub-steps, like providing the alternate activities behind an exercise pen when hubby comes home in a way that Jasper sees your husband, but is at distance from which he doesn't feel the need to practice the behavior and then gradually move the exercise pen closer, then remove the pen and have him tethered or on leash, and then as he proves himself calmer through several trials off-leash.

Think about this as a way to "rewire his brain." His brain is on automatic mode "gotta start biting when hubby comes home". You will need to find ways to re-wire his brain to seek other forms of engagement that compete against the reward he is getting from jumping and biting. You can start with the easier games that provide food without much thinking involved (smacking sound followed by treat toss, treasure game, bottle game -most pups can't resist this game-, muffin game), and then gradually move to games that require more thinking (hand targeting, going to the mat, grabbing a toy on cue).

More tips on puppies and biting in households with children:

I hope this helps,

Keep me posted on how things go. I am here if you have more questions and would like to do more troubleshooting. 

Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your puppy or dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting) for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional who uses force-free behavior modification techniques for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this course and forum, you are waiving any liability claims or other type of claims related to any dogs' behavior against you or others.

[KatieWelker]

Hi Adrienne,

So we have been working with Jasper daily on his behavior. A lot of your recommendations have really helped. We have also been trying to stay as calm as possible at all times.

We are still having trouble with Jasper and the couch when my husband gets home. Jasper continues to jump up and bite aggressively then immediately looks and waits for a reaction from my husband. In the link below we took a short video to help give you context. 

We have tried a lick mat, brain game, prized treats, etc. All work for a very short period of time which then he proceeds to continue the negative behaviors. As of writing this, we are just keeping him on a tether while in the house to hopefully eliminate the high stress situations until we can rewire his brain. 

Our kids are scared and we are just feeling defeated and a little hopeless.  Any further advice would be so appreciated.  Thank you so much for your time and help.

Katie Welker

https://www.dropbox.com/s/71vknis62dvulxh/Video Apr 30%2C 7 57 07 PM.mov?dl=0

[Adrienne]

Hello, 

I am glad to hear that several of the methods posted have been working for you. I would suggest continuing with the ones that work best. 

I am looking at the video and see a pup who is looking for interaction/engagement. I don't see aggressive behavior in this clip.  

Here's the thing. Teaching a young puppy not to bite, takes time. I know, the puppy biting stage seems to last forever, those puppy teeth are so sharp and sometimes it can be difficult to teach these pups other ways to interact with us that doesn't involve biting. Fortunately, with time, most puppies grow bored of this way of interacting unless we encourage rough play or allow them to perpetually keep on biting us without providing alternate activities.  

In order to better understand why puppies seem to keep coming back to us for biting rather than chewing on their chew toys, it helps to take a look back into their life in the litter. At 8-12 weeks of age, most pups leave their litter mates and their past time when in the litter entailed for a good part roughly biting and chewing on each others' ears, legs and tails. A good amount of their day was spent this way, so once welcomed inside our homes, they'll want to play with us and interact with us the same way.

With no more litter mates to play with, these young pups are eager to play with us and they'll do so by engaging in the only way they are most familiar with: nipping! And this means they'll be nipping our feet, legs, arms, fingers, pants, skirts, hair, ties, hoodie strings and even shoe laces! 

Fortunately, by the time the puppies are ready to go to their new homes around 8 weeks, most have learned to play a little more gentle. This is because when they played too rough, their playmates squealed (as if saying "ouch!") and withdrew from play. Play session after play session, bitey pups learned to bite with less and less pressure. However, us humans have really sensitive skin compared to their litter mates so these pups need to learn to interact with us at a whole new level and this takes some time. 

While it's true that puppies are attracted to toys, once the novelty effect is over, they'll get pretty boring. If your puppy sees the same toys each day laying around, after some time they become quite irrelevant. Rotating them is a good idea, but if your puppy keeps going back to you after maybe playing with them a bit, it's a sign that the chosen toys may not be entertaining him enough, he has excess energy to disperse, is overstimulated, and he may need more mental stimulation.

One of the biggest reason why puppies ignore their toys and choose to bite us owners is the fact that toys are rather static and lack the level of interaction they crave. In other words, what stimulates dogs the most is movement. The average dog chew toy is pretty much static when it's laying on the ground and even if your pup carries it around, it's not likely to move around as much as people do when those sharp teeth make contact with your skin. Us humans therefore rank as the best thing around to play with, at least the closest to his former playmates he has left behind and misses playing with.

From your video, I see that he is repeatedly looking for engagement while you are sitting on the couch. The arm withdrawal stimulates him to nip more because he perceives it as a fun game. Sort of like cats who will chase a string that moves. Pointing to get a dog off, will only make them have more fun in biting as they are after movement. Wrapping the arms away, so that we no longer extend them may work with some pups, but it's difficult to stay still with a puppy nipping with sharp teeth. On top of this, pups may get frustrated and try to nip more or do other things just to get a reaction from us or as an extinction burst. 

It is interesting to see his reaction when you said "ouch". That seemed to stop him, but I can't see if the "ouch" is what stopped him or if there was something redirecting him as I see him turning around and trying to mouth something else. update: now I see that it was your husband's hand and he was trying to mouth it.  Some pups may learn to react to our "ouch" and nip more softly (as they did with their littermates),' but in many others it overstimulates them more and makes them more nippy. We sort of become like a fun toy that on top of that squeaks.  So the reaction can vary on an individual basis. 

Afterward, it looks like he stops nipping you, and he goes for your husband, trying to hump his leg and biting. This can be just overstimulation/ frustration or just continuation of the play. It's almost as if he enjoys an orchestrated game of "I nip mom and then dad interacts with me and now it's time to interact with him." Telling "off, no bite,  stop" is mostly perceived by pups just as random words that accompany the play and therefore become just an insignificant part of the play repertoire. 

I like the praise he gets when he stops biting. However, praise will only work for a bit at this age because the drive to play and seek engagement is very, very strong. Also puppies find it frustrating when we are sitting on the couch because they are bored and want something to do (think toddlers who whine and get cranky when we are on the phone or watching a movie and they don't have much to do).

In any case, I would just suggest preventing rehearsal of this behavior as much as possible and continuing offering alternate activities. Take baby steps. If the lick mat, brain game, prized treats, have worked even if for a very short period of time I take that as a small success that is paving the path to more and more. When we get a little improvement like that, it opens up the chance for more. 

 I would suggest protecting this improvement. So one can try providing him this alternate activity (lick mat. brain game, bottle game etc) when hubby comes homes and then once he's done calling it a day and removing him before he has the chance to practice the undesirable behavior. I can see the use of a flirt pole for dogs (Google it) helpful to engage him and use the flirt pole to gently tug him away to an area to chill down (play pen, exercise pen, tether) where he is provided with some type of calm activity. 

A flirt pole can work greatly in redirecting because it provides movement. With nippy pups I keep always handy by carrying it with me looped around my waist or just wearing it like a purse over my shoulder to use at a moment's notice to redirect the biting, preferably intervening before the puppy even starts to bite. 

Or if this happens mostly when hubby comes homes, you can change the routine and spend time in the yard organizing a treasure hunt, take him on a walk or maybe organize a fun play date with another pup who was vaccinated that can provide him some of the play he is craving. 

We want to create a new highly rewarding and fun routine to replace the one of "biting mom when on the couch and then involving dad in the game" or if it's a frustration/overstimulation driven behavior, we want to provide an alternate outlet. We also want to start implementing training because we want to build up better impulse control and frustration tolerance as he's getting closer to doggy adolescence. 

Finally, I want to share a little background history from my early childhood. When I was 6, my dad came home with a special gift: a black Lab puppy. I was ecstatic and the happiest child ever. Until when the pup started biting my legs and my mom grew concerned about me running around and squealing in pain with a mix between a crocodile and landshark firmly attached to my leg. She finally, out of desperation, decided to give the puppy away although I missed the pup and cried. 

Fast forward a few weeks and my cousin gets a puppy too for her kids. The poodle puppy was biting and scratch their kids arms and legs up to the point of them crying. She also gave away the puppy assuming the pup was coming from bad breeders. With my mom and my cousin talking things over, we assumed that some pups must be just nuts and not family friendly. Until later on, as I grew up and moved out and decided to get my first dogs. I finally understood that biting is a normal part of puppyhood, of course, no longer being a child made it easier. You can read many threads here about biting puppies in families with children by searching the forums. 

Of course, there are puppies who do actually engage in aggressive behaviors, but these are more an exception rather than the norm. We see this with pups who resource guard things mostly, or pups who start biting defensively because they were physically corrected, or developed some fear. Every pup is different, and therefore no blank statements can be made. If you have seen aggressive behaviors, its important to work along with a behavior professional using force-free behavior modification. 

More threads on nippy puppies and children: 

 

 

Of course, close supervision is always a must considering that a 4-month old puppy with little bite inhibition can cause bruises, scratches and wounds to a child's delicate skin. Any sign of overstimulation that may turn into boisterous jumping, nipping and scratching should be promptly redirected. Also, an extra level of protection is offered if you can spend some time training the pup better bite inhibition, here are some games: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/.

I hope this helps! 

Best,

Adrienne 

Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your puppy or dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting) for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional who uses force-free behavior modification techniques for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this course and forum, you are waiving any liability claims or other type of claims related to any dogs' behavior against you or others.