Puppy biting please help

vicx

If you say 'ouch' in a way that you would if you jammed your finger in the door and look upset that will (or should) be enough to startle him. Then you pull away, ignore him and stop playing with him for a while. Everyone he comes in to contact with needs to enforce the same strategy everytime he bites. If you keep repeating this he will soon learn that he is in control of the game and when he bites, his playmate (you) goes away and his game ends.

ollow

vicx wrote: »

If you say 'ouch' in a way that you would if you jammed your finger in the door and look upset that will (or should) be enough to startle him. Then you pull away, ignore him and stop playing with him for a while. Everyone he comes in to contact with needs to enforce the same strategy everytime he bites. If you keep repeating this he will soon learn that he is in control of the game and when he bites, his playmate (you) goes away and his game ends.

I think I need to go and jam my finger in the door and record my voice so I now what I sound like. :rotfl: I know this will get better but it's really trying at the moment. Also its such a shame as my LO's won't interact with him too much as he hurts them, he's their dog (well maybe mine as well). I was hoping to make a little dent in it his weekend as they are up their dads but no Archie had other ideas.

krlyr

You won't get over it in 2 days, but it won't be forever either. Personally I wouldn't worry too much about what pitch you protest in - I would pick something consistant but whether it's high or low, I don't think it will make a difference in the grand scheme of things - the more important thing IMO is the immediate consequence, he bites, play ends by you going away or him being taken away. I wouldn't shut him away in a crate (if nothing else, a crate should never be punishment, it should always have good associations) but I would perhaps allow once strike where I tried to redirect, another nip would earn me turning my back or taking a step back, and a third would result in interaction ending completely. Keep consistant with whatever method you choose

Pamela Marxsen is another one with good video on Youtube, she too uses clicker training and is here teaching her pup bite inhibition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk7Truce2OM

OnAndUp

what is he fed on?

I once had a pup that was biting and generally more manic (than a normal pup!!) when I changed food calmed her loads much easier to teach then, in hindsight she must have been constantly wound up before!!

ollow

I know it's going to take a good couple of weeks to ease this problem, I was just hoping to get somewhere whilst they weren't here.

I'm in the middle of changing his food over, the person I bought him off had him on asda smartprice dried dog food. I'm changing him to green dog turkey and brown rice puppy food.

Fire_Fox

Eight weeks is very young to have left his mother and sounds like he has not been socialised properly either. Definitely change the food, you should be able to find episodes of 'It's Me or the Dog' online.

Frugalista

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Eight weeks is very young to have left his mother.

Most puppies are sold at 8 weeks old.

Raksha

I can't believe the advice you've been given by your vet (but then they are rarely behaviourists). If you crate a pup everytime it bites, it will eventually spend all it's time in the crate, and only learn that biting means it goes in the crate, it learns nothing about behaving properly around humans. I have a dog who was about to be PTS because his owners put him in the garden every time he played like this - at 10 months they couldn't manage him and wanted him PTS. He is now 6 and the biggest softest lump you could imagine.
We acheived this by playing LOTS of tuggy games - but the game simply stopped every time his teeth touched our skin. It took 3 months of bruised forearms, but it worked!
Remember the breeds you are dealing with - they are both bred to grab hold of something and not let go - to stop them wanting to do this is going against what they've been bred for.

thorsoak

Have a look at "The bite stops here" by Prof. Ian Dunbar - it is very informative and useful. I'd always add a copy to my puppy packs when we had puppies.

The link is :- https://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/​index.php?topic=64170.0;wap2

kuzya1

I had the same problem, so I took my dog to a vet. He said it was okay, and in case situation didn't change I had to take the dog to a dog instructor. The only caution: be careful when choosing an instructor - some of them might be frauds