Puppy BITING!!! Teaching Bite Inhibition

[Cassidy's Mom]

Originally Posted by arby665

Toy put into mouth-toy dropped-goes after arm or leg.

Do you make the toy move? Try a long tug type toy - braided fleece are good for puppies. And don't just shove it into the mouth, play with her with the toy. Like this:

Michael Ellis: Tugging with puppies - YouTube

Michael Ellis: Tugging with puppies - YouTube

[arby665]

Originally Posted by Cassidy's Mom

Do you make the toy move? Try a long tug type toy - braided fleece are good for puppies. And don't just shove it into the mouth, play with her with the toy. Like this:

Michael Ellis: Tugging with puppies - YouTube

Thanks. I never really thought about it too much but I guess I do have a habit of shoving the toy into her mouth. More like protecting myself with the toy by placing it between her mouth and my arm/leg. I guess it's hard not to do when she's doing the alligator snap. Just trying to save my own skin! I will be looking for the braided fleece tonight!

[mandiah89]

My 9 (almost 10) week old GSD puppy has the most vicious "alligator" bite, the sound of the snap is crazy! I never had a problem with my other GSD (now passed) biting, but Im finding Im a lot "softer" with my new puppy than I was with my other dog. I often cant stop myself from laughing even when Penny's razor sharp puppy teeth are digging into me! She is so calm with other people, wags her tail, ears back and gives them kisses. But when she is at home, OMG wild animal! She gives me kisses only when she is tired or just woke up lol.... Cant wait till the teething stage is over!

[Sitz&Platz]

Since I started reading Dr. Ian Dunbar's book and reading through the threads here, I now understand how important bite inhibition is. My question is, when do I know that I'm done teaching bite inhibition? When I play with my puppy, I let him mouth my hand gently, and when I say "no bite", he stops. Is that the goal? Or do I have to let him hurt my hand and then throw a fit when he does?

[Luna1101]

I have a 11 week old German shepherd husky mix who is biting a lot but really soft biting. We are replacing out own body parts with her favorite toys. We have not tried any other method. Any suggestions?

[GSD Snowball]

Originally Posted by Sitz&Platz

Since I started reading Dr. Ian Dunbar's book and reading through the threads here, I now understand how important bite inhibition is. My question is, when do I know that I'm done teaching bite inhibition? When I play with my puppy, I let him mouth my hand gently, and when I say "no bite", he stops. Is that the goal? Or do I have to let him hurt my hand and then throw a fit when he does?

As I'm sure many others in this thread will agree, teaching bite inhibition never truly stops. Your dog needs to be worked with and reminded of the concept regularly so that they never forget it. If your dog mouths your hand without causing you pain (or more accurately what someone else would consider painful) AND he stops when commanded to do so then yes you are at the point of maintaining bite inhibition. If he does well, consider it a job well done...for now because I'm sure he will have his excited moments where he will get to firm with his mouth. Great job though!

[Krystyn and Noah]

Hello all,

This site has been tremendously helpful at easing my worries. My wife and I adopted an 11 week old Shepherd mix a week ago and needless to say, she is quite the handful. I had been worried that she was just too out of control. However, after reading through here, I can see, for the most part, we are all in the same boat.

Islay (eye-luh) can be the sweetest girl in the world and she is super smart (sometimes probably too smart for her own good). In one 10 minute clicker and treat session I got her listening to sit, up, and wait. Also, except for a few tinkles when she was overtired or over stimulated, she has been eliminating on schedule in the same spot in the yard since her second day home with us. We have also started puppy classes with her once a week and although she was the most active in the class, she was also quick at picking things up.

She is however, quite the biter. Once she is wound up, pretty much nothing will keep her from my socks (on my feet). Once she gets a hold my foot or my wife's she's tough to get off, plus her little teeth seem to be getting caught in the fabric causing her to bite even harder, no amount of yelping, ignoring, or redirecting will calm her down. Usually at this point, I lure her into her crate, which she already has been feeling safe in, and close the door. She'll cry for a minute or two, but then settle in and chew on her antler toy, eventually falling asleep. Granted its only been a week and I understand I need to practice patience.

My biggest concern, is no amount of treats or food is ever enough for her. When they are all gone, she becomes like a junky and starts getting frantic looking for more food. This really gets her worked up and her bites get harder.

As I side note, I should mention, that my wife and I live in a good sized apartment with a small side yard. I've been keeping her tethered and confined to the living room carpet when we play or train inside. She as stopped for the most part trying to run off while in this position, but man, when she gets a smell of food, the demon comes out.

Anyway, not so much a question I suppose as a ramble about my puppy. But, I thought I'd share. Thanks again for all the great info on here!


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[kgawley59]

You are all so right...this stage will pass. My 9 week old pup, Romo, is corralled in the eat-in kitchen for play while the family can interact with him. He, too, "mouths" and gets rambunctious. The knotted rope toys are great to play with. What really is exciting for him, and helps with teething, is to play with ice cubes. He gets to chase them, and the cold probably helps his gums.

[CurvyOne]

I'm glad I revisited this topic. I guess I just wanted a little reassurance. Huter is 4.5 months old right now. He'd actually stopped the puppy biting for a couple weeks, like completely. So I thought we were done. This week he started again. However, we are about to move, and I'm packing up our stuff, so I know he's more stressed. And also, he has been loosing baby teeth and bringing in adult teeth like NO OTHER. He's almost done. So I'm sure that's why the biting started again. He's no where like he was before, and I can redirect him with a little effort or walking away. But still sometimes he gets me pretty good. And he's "herding" me more. lol. Anyway, glad to hear other people's stories. Makes me feel better. I know since he's still better than before, he's learning. Cant wait till the move is done and his teething is over with!

[CurvyOne]

I LOVE your attitude. Sometimes its easy to forget that these are puppies and are LEARNING how to communicate. Biting at this age is pretty much just another form of communication. "My teeth hurt" "I'm bored" "play with me" "Im hungry" "I'm scared" etc... Its OUR job to fulfill their needs; food, play time, discipline, confidence etc... and teach them proper ways of interacting and communicating.

I used to say "stupid human" when Huter would have an accident. Because it was ALWAYS one of us human's fault. We didnt have many accidents, but none the less it was always because we were paying attention to his pretty clear attempts at communication.

Originally Posted by JoMichelle

I was just reading through this thread and other websites, desperately searching for a way to stop our puppy hanging onto our clothes when we're walking around, jumping up to nip, air snapping at us. Nothing has worked so far, the penny jar has gotten old, water spray is fun, yelping is fun.

Now I know what the problem is, she wants to play with us! Not by herself. Poor thing. I guess I should leave the housework until she is tired and wants to sleep - not during her crazy hour! Stupid human