Bite Inhibition

[Molly's Mom]

I am sure this is a toic that has been discussed before, but I am hoping for a recap as I am sure there are others out there, maybe new like me, that would love some advice?!?!

Molly is a lab, she is 17 weeks tomorrow. And she is a "biter". I am aware of why they do it, puppies learn through using their mouths. But it seems to me with my limited knowledge that she seems to be doing a bit more of actual biting than is good. So, for example, she is obsessed with eating her leash while it is on. And it moves quickly up to very fast lunges at me and then hard fast bites. It can get scary. So, I turn away, ignore her. The next thing I know, she is attacking from behind biting my legs, and she has torn through 5 shirts, and 2 pairs of pants.

I try to get control of her, but I cannot get near her because she is moving so fast and biting so hard. I have done time outs in her cage, but I hate to abuse them, and I also know I may be doing them for too long.

Any suggestions? I know this is something that requires a bit of time to "fix" but I feel like I am just not doing it well. Any words of wisdome would be awesome, thanks!

Michele

[Nettle]

She can't bite with something in her gob, and she is a breed that has an in-built desire to carry. So when she is on-leash give her a toy to carry, but not all the time - swap it for a titbit sometimes so she learns to give and take on command.

Give her raw bones and raw vegetables to gnaw to use up her need to chew.

Teach her to retrieve once she knows about giving and taking.

I'm sure others will have more suggestions.

[lisalone]

I have a very similar problem with my dog. It's not trying to be vicious but can be frightening all the same. using toys sometimes works but are not suitable in every situation, and isn't it encouraging the dog to bite in the first place if he's rewarded with a toy? If you find a method that nips (pardon the pun) this behaviour in the bud then please share!!

[emmabeth]

No, you are pre-empting the behaviour and giving the dog the toy BEFORE they start to bite, in the case of the dog above.

For your dog a different approach may be needed as he (I assume from reading your post) bites in different situations and slightly different reasons.

Dogs need to bite and chew especially young dogs - taking care of that need by feeding bones, giving large recreational bones to gnaw at, and other suitable toys will reduce their need to bite/chew on people.

Then, pre-empting the behaviour and doing something that rules out that behaviour occurring (so you know your dog wants to bitey bite something when he walks, stick a toy in his gob before he goes for the lead) teaches him to do it in an acceptable manner.

Then if you DO mess up and he has the echance to do it before you have distracted him with something else, ignore it and/or change the subject.

So if you stick gloves on and two pairs of jeans, you can ignore bitey bitey dog.

If you pop the lead on and he immediately goes into biting, drop the lead and walk away - YOU want no interaction with mr bitey bitey, and since he wants fun, and the novelty of biting a lead with no one on the end of it will wear of VERY fast, you will 'win' that battle (you can increase your chances by dropping the lead, walking away and heading somewhere your dog likes, such as the fridge.. or your garden, assuming you start out by the front door and havent done something crazy like take the dog out OFF thelead ad try to put it on in the street - obviously dont just leave your dog somewhere unsafe!).

[catrinsparkles]

Just to add to this, to add to the biting of the leash i would spray it with bitter apple spray each time you go to use it.

You could then clip her on it as normal and ignore any mouthing of it, i would suspect she would very quickly spit it out. Usually this nasty taste makes them stand still or even sit down for a while (while they are considering the horrible tast), i would take that chance to give her a gentle praise.

If you use this spray consistently enough she should give up trying on the lead.

With the other biting - it is difficult to know quite why the dog is doing it when we can't see the pup in the situation but, one of the reasons she might be doing it is she may be wanting to instigate a game. Of course she also might be doing it because of over excitement, frustration or because she has learnt it gets a reaction ....even a reaction sometimes can be good enough!

It's hard but i think with puppies you have to assess each situation and see what it is they want at that time, is it time out, or is it a game. Obviously they cannot learn that biting gets a game, but if you could ask her to sit and and treat, and then lie down and treat and then offer a game she should not associate the biting with getting a game.

My pup used to hop up and nip the back of my legs sometimes as i was walking past her, I used the standing still method, and eventually taught "off" and then would follow "off" with a game. I know it can seem hopeless when they are doing it but Tonks (my pup) is 5 months now and she bumped the back of my legs in excitement the other day (with no teeth) and it reminded me how often she used to do it as a very young pup and made me realise that the behaviour had dissapeared. .......which is a wonderful very rewarding feeling! oh - and much more comfortable on the legs!!

[Molly's Mom]

So, thank you for the reply. Let me take it a step further. I have spent 2 full weeks soaking the leash in the bitter apple. Molly just loves it! She actually bites the leash in a bigger frenzy. I finally gave up, and dropped it, and she laid down and sucked on that bitter apple for a really long time.

I ask then, what is beyond the bitter apple? Someone suggest vapor rub, but that scares me.

[Mattie]

Try using a chain instead for a lead, it does sometimes work.

[catrinsparkles]

So, thank you for the reply. Let me take it a step further. I have spent 2 full weeks soaking the leash in the bitter apple. Molly just loves it! She actually bites the leash in a bigger frenzy. I finally gave up, and dropped it, and she laid down and sucked on that bitter apple for a really long time.

I ask then, what is beyond the bitter apple? Someone suggest vapor rub, but that scares me.

Haha! never heard a dog loving bitter apple - i've heard of them not minding it that much but loving it! Bonkers!

[Molly's Mom]

I am really just baffled. I spent an hour, a full hour, dropping the leash and turning my back. No matter what I did, she continued to bite me every time I turned back or lay down and eat the leash.

I am beginning to believe that there is just something wrong with her, and this is simply never going to stop.

Oh, and she barks...a lot. Nothing stops that either. I cannot believe I could be this miserable getting my first dog.

Michele

[Nettle]

Chill. She's a baby. She has zilch concentration span, a huge need to play and she doesn't understand what you want yet.

You will need the patience of several saints for the first two years, lots of effort, all the help you can take from us and a trainer where you are, and at the end of it you will have a lovely dog and everyone will say "Aren't you LUCKY, your dog is so good!"

[Mattie]

She is 18 weeks old for goodness sake and still a baby, many of our own children will bite until they are taught not to. She wants to chew so give her something she can chew. Our babies need to suckle so we give them dummies so give her something that is safe for her to chew.

[catrinsparkles]

I'm sorry you aren't enjoying your first puppy.

I don't know if you are attending puppy classes but i would strongly recommend that you look on www.apdt.co.uk and find a puppy class in your area. You say that you are thinking their is something wrong with her, well, it sounds just like she is being a puppy, but going to a class could give you hands on experience and advice and you could also see what other puppies are like and hear the horrors/joys that other people are experiencing!

[Lis & Addy]

I am beginning to believe that there is just something wrong with her, and this is simply never going to stop.

Nope!

You're just experiencing Puppy Meltdown Syndrome. Lots of peole experience it with their first puppy; soem people experience it with a second or third pup, if it's been a long time since the previous one, or the previous one was an unusually quiet and docile one.

Labs are high-energy dogs. When young, they chew a lot and, like any toddler, they have no idea what they shouldn't be chewing on. They need exercise to burn off that energy, and they need safe things to chew on, and they need to be redirected to appropriate chewing objects from inappropriate ones every single time until they finally learn which things are theirs and which aren't.

My sister's Lab is, what? Four? Five? and very steady and calm now, and she still will wander around the house or the yard carrying a toy in her mouth.

It might help you to find a good, experienced positive-reinforcement trainer, to see what she's doing, and what you're doing, and to teach you how to communicate with her.

Lis

[Winterwish]

I am really just baffled. I spent an hour, a full hour, dropping the leash and turning my back. No matter what I did, she continued to bite me every time I turned back or lay down and eat the leash.

I am beginning to believe that there is just something wrong with her, and this is simply never going to stop.

Oh, and she barks...a lot. Nothing stops that either. I cannot believe I could be this miserable getting my first dog.

Michele

But it's only been one week since you posted!
One week since seeking and receiving (really good) advice is no where near the time you need to spend helping your good puppy mature to a happy,healthy dog.

Also,spending an hour trying to do the same 'task' is too much time at one time. No doubt your puppy became sort of desensitized to the purpose of turning your back,etc.,making it ineffectual. Not permanantly of course,but for that hour,yes,it became ineffectual.
And this would happen often with an adult dog too by the way!

Well I hope each day brings improvement,and that you bond with her more and more each day.