Will my puppy stop biting?

Factual Questions
1

After reading THIS thread it prompted my own concern about my puppy biting my girlfriend and I.

We currently have three cats and a four year old 65 pound mutt. We got our new puppy last week. She’s part German Shepherd Dog and part Lab and maybe something else. (She’s cute as hell too) We’re working with her to make sure she turns out to be a stable and well socialized dog. She’s great around kids and other dogs. She and our big boy dog play and wrestle all the time and are quite fond of each other. The only concern I have regarding my little girl is that she gets so excited that she constantly nips at my girlfriend and I. Dammit if it doesn’t hurt like hell.

Her nips are simply puppy playing but if I want her to stop how do I go about this? Will she grow out of it? I haven’t had a puppy since 1979 so I’m a little rusty. Right now I’m strictly using positive reinforcement as a training method. I don’t yell at her for negative behavior, I merely redirect her toward acceptable behavior then reward her for it. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

2

They will grow out of some mouthiness. It’s good that there are acceptable things for her to express her biting urges with.
The lady on the radio, “Calling All Pets,” says that yelping loudly when you get bit (just like a dog would) lets the puppy know that she’s hurting you. I think she also recommends stopping the play for a minute after getting one of these yelp inducing bites.

3

Yes, your puppy will stop biting. I thought mine would never stop (yeah, it HURTS!!) but they do grow out of it.

The tip I remember reading is that when the puppy bites, all play should stop. Say NO! and then just turn away and ignore it. Very hard to master with an adorable lil’ puppy but at this stage in her life, being ignored is just about the worst punishment ever. “Explaining” why they should not bite (ie continuing to talk to her) or even smacking her around is just more attention and play to her and doesn’t reinforce that biting is a bad thing.

Another tip is stay out of the sun if you have puppy nip marks on your hands. That stuff just tans right into the skin :slight_smile:

4

Those little needle teeth are SHARP!

How old was she when she was taken from her litter? Puppies taken away too young often have problems with nipping.

What you need to do is scream like she’s killed you when she bites. Yell “OUCH” very loudly, and then isolate the puppy. This is “dog speak”-- it’s what the litter does with a biter: they isolate the offender and won’t play with them for a while.

If you want, you can put your hand gently around her muzzle and exert a little pressure while firmly saying, “No bite!” Then put the puppy in another room-- but not her crate. (Puppy should learn that her crate is a wonderful private place, not a place of isolation and punishment.)

It’s not a problem which will be corrected overnight. It took about two months for me to completely break my puppy of it.

5

I don’t know how old she was but I don’t think she was too young. She’s 11 weeks now and her previous owners only had her for about 2 1/2 weeks. She was taken away from them by my friend’s son because they were spanking her all the time. (Makes me furious)

I absolutely do not believe in hitting my pets so I’m trying to learn their “language” so I am a better dog mom to them. She’s developed a trust of my GF and I and seems to have no lasting effects of being spanked. (I’ve had several abuse cases before and the longer they are exposed to it the harder it is for them to emotionally recover)

I’ll continue with the yelping out “Ow!” I’m glad I don’t have anything to worry about. The last thing I wanted was a 90 pound dog that thought it was ok to bite everyone in sight.
Thanks for the advice folks!

6

Ah, God, that’s awful. I’m glad she has you now, and doesn’t seem to have any scars from the abuse.

Another thing about biting that I’ve found helpful: put something in the puppy’s mouth when you’re cuddling with her, like an edible chew toy. Keeps their mouths busy.

If you never give them a chance to make mistakes, you don’t have to correct them for bad behavior. It’s the same with potty training. Polaris only made a couple of mistakes, and that’s because I kept taking her out so often that she never felt she needed to pee on the rug. When we first got her, I took her out almost hourly. It was a pain in the butt, especially in the cold weather, but it paid off in not having to correct her, instead getting to praise her when she eliminated in the correct area.

That’s why I like the Clicker Method-- it’s a positive training method. My older dog was trained with the standard jerk-and-pop method (meaning that you tug on their collar when they don’t obey.) Yeah, she learned, but the younger one seems to be reacting better to training with the clicker. The only “punishment” is not getting the treat if they don’t obey, and if you’ve got yummy treats, the dog really tries hard.

If you’re not familiar with it, you basically trick the dog into obeying, and then give them a click and a treat. They learn very fast that the click sound means a reward, and they start trying to figure out ways to make it happen. The Clicker Method makes 'em think-- to try to figure out what you want to get the reward. It seems like the puppy thinks the training is more fun, like a game, than the method I used with my older dog.

Now, I’ve found that Polaris needs to be told when she’s not obeying the commands. I just say “No, puppy” and shake my head, and she tries something else. The usual method is just to wait, but I’ve found she learns quicker by giving her verbal feedback.

Dogs want to please you. I’m in Puppy Kindergarten with Polaris, and it amazes me that some of the other owners almost automatically attribute non-obedience to defiance or stubborness. They think their dogs are intentionally trying to make them mad. However, you can see the eagerness to please in the dog-- they just don’t understand what their people want.