Author Topic: Worried about her biting.  (Read 953 times)

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Offline milliemoo80

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Worried about her biting.
« on: January 25, 2017, 09:42:19 PM »
Millie is 7 months..... shes learning well and most of the time a lovely family pet who we all love dearly.  One thing however is worrying.... her biting. she really has this nasty streak where she has a bad bite. She will bite when told off, NO.... she does bite if she wants left alone (understandable i guess), she bites still during play when she jumps up on us..... she jumps up and nips our thighs etc and expects us to chase her.    I fully am aware she is a puppy and biting occurs but when my son is in tears with it i really want to nip it in the bud but how? i stop all play immediately and turn my back but she leaps up and bites the back of me.  we have put her in time out, but she quite likes that and falls asleep.  so we thought it was too long a time spent in time out lol, so after 5 mins we take her out when she is calm but nothing is working.  Ive just tried to lift her now, big mistake as she has bit me..... and it hurt.   any tips to stop her, i dont want to think she will just grow out of it.


EDIT - apologies, just seen the pinned topic on biting.....    how do you delete  ph34r

Offline Londongirl

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Re: Worried about her biting.
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2017, 10:20:39 PM »
Is there a chance she is over-tired? It's interesting that she falls asleep when you put her in 'time out'.

Of course dogs don't really understand 'time out' the way kids do. By the time you've put her in another room, she will no longer make the connection between the bite and why she's being separated from the family. I'm not saying it's a bad idea. It lets everyone calm down. But it doesn't teach the dog anything, in my opinion. But leaving her in peace to calm down is probably a good thing.

I read somewhere recently that 'no' to your dog is also fairly ineffectual. As they don't generalise, they associate one word with one action. 'No' is a general word that applies to many situations - stop biting, stop jumping, stop barking... whatever it is you are saying no to. And they don't understand that. It can interrupt a behaviour, but I reckon that's more to do with the tone of your voice than them understanding the word. Constant positive redirection, though exasperatingly tedious, does help. Hopefully the pinned topic will give you some things to try. Good luck!
Rachael (me) and Henry (him)


Offline Joules

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Re: Worried about her biting.
« Reply #2 on: January 26, 2017, 07:55:45 AM »

EDIT - apologies, just seen the pinned topic on biting.....    how do you delete  ph34r

I will let this run for now as it might help to hear the experiences of other members  ;)
Julie and Watson

Offline Markr64

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Re: Worried about her biting.
« Reply #3 on: January 26, 2017, 12:37:32 PM »
Iread this earlier and went away to think about it more as I didn't want to write something wrong.

Even after a few hours I am worried about what you have written, the cockerdile stage should have stopped by now and to hear a child is still being nipped fills me full of concern. I think you need to get proffesional help from a behaviour therapist as there is a lot of work needed to be done. Biting is not acceptable and it does seem that your dog has now got the idea that this is totally acceptable. I am able to go to my boy and wake him up, pick him up, move him and know he will just look at me and do nothing which is how it should be, if I pay him little attention or turn my back on him he will sit and wait. He will bark at me if I have not noticed that he is sitting by the door and needs a wee. I don't want to harp on about it but you need help urgently as the dog is now being the dominant force in your family and it should not.

I hope others will be able to offer more than I have done, but please be assured I am not having a go at you but think things have got a bit out of hand. I hope things are sorted quickly for all concerned.

Offline Londongirl

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Re: Worried about her biting.
« Reply #4 on: January 26, 2017, 01:02:57 PM »
I think you make a good point there, Markr64. I hadn't taken on board the force of the biting when I wrote my reply. Even at 17 months, Henry can be a bit 'mouthy' if he's over-excited or I'm doing something he doesn't like, but he has complete bite inhibition so it's an open, soft mouth, just to communicate (either 'I love that belly rub, keep going! Or Stop trying to pick the burrs out of my coat, it hurts! It all depends on the situation).

It may be that a lot of the play and reaction is normal, but the force of the mouth is not?
Rachael (me) and Henry (him)


Offline JeffD

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Re: Worried about her biting.
« Reply #5 on: January 26, 2017, 01:18:05 PM »
Teal was 10 months before she stopped what you would call the cockerdile stage, I have had many pups but she was 10 times worse than anything I had experienced before. Nothing really worked she did just grow out of it
Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly

Offline hoover

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Re: Worried about her biting.
« Reply #6 on: January 26, 2017, 01:38:55 PM »
Yes, play biting is one thing (which I think you are describing in part) but biting when being picked up or when being told no or being bothered is a different kettle of fish and something you want to take steps to diminish.  It is understandable to a degree that a dog may not like certain things but the hope is that they come to tolerate this at times graciously rather than resorting to using teeth.

For the time being however you probably want to avoid provoking those situations so that your dog doesn't keep practising this behaviour, and so that you can put  a plan of action together about how you are going to train and manage these situations.  So teach your son to avoid behaviours that might put him in danger (I don't think I saw how old he is?). If you feel it can be safely done I would be involving your son in feeding and training - if he is the one giving food to the dog (and issuing commands first - sit, lie down etc) the dog may come to respect him a bit more.  Similarly with training for treats - it will help him establish some authority in their relationship dynamic.

I would try to instill this as part of the household routine - the dog has to do something to get something they want, be it, food, out for a walk, play time etc. 'Nothing in life is free' - google it, a sort of dog training technique, but it will help you establish a better balance in the house,as at the moment the dog is telling you what she finds to be acceptable behaviour, not the other way around.

We had all of your problems with our dog, especially at the age yours  is now, but he is so much better now at 18 months (and was well on his way to this at 12 months).

When you feel ready you can approach some of the situations that currently cause the dog to react in a new way to help train a new response.  When Ollie was snapping/ biting at being lifted as a pup we started a training regime with my partner and I both being present - one lifting in a new way (sideways on, arm under rump and chest) which is more comfortable for dogs, whilst the other occupied the head area with treats.  The treats should be good enough that the dog is more interested and focussed on them than she is bothered about being picked up.  We did this 2 or 3 times a day for a couple of weeks and then maybe once or twice a week after that so he did not relapse to his former snapping response.  During training we would simply avoid lifting him until we could get all these conditions right - the 2 of us had to be present, the treats had to be good enough, because we did not want to risk a bad lift that would set him back again.   Now he can be lifted by one or other of us with no bother at all.. we still give him treats and make a fuss when we do.

Offline ScruffersMamabear

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Re: Worried about her biting.
« Reply #7 on: January 26, 2017, 01:45:04 PM »
milliemoo80, I feel for you as we have experienced the same with our little lad. The turning away, does not work for us either but DOES work for my mother-in-law... though I feel Markr64's comments helpful I wonder if it is the age (coming out of being a petulant teenager stage). You may choose to take the course that he has suggested. Our Scruffers used to be just like this but has improved somewhat since we introduced, firstly a hula hoop on the floor (as a boundary) where we put him & tell him to stay (just once, then did not make eye contact but held our index finger up in his sight at him & walked away). He would stay in the hoop until we returned to him & he would get a treat. I think that the length of 'time out' is too long, in my opinion... we would only leave him for a min, their attention span is very short though I am no expert it's just what we have learnt in Puppy Class. Do you have a Puppy Class nearby? His eyes would constantly look like he was falling asleep so he knew he was in trouble. The other thing you could try is, do you have a crate for him? We have one in the living room & since he has improved we mix things up by putting him in his crate for a minute if he misbehaves. You need to act straight away with their bad behaviour or they will be wondering why they have been put in 'time out'. They may not understand it like children but they do understand when they are in the wrong. I am not dissing anything anyone else has written, all comments are helpful. I just think that there may be other routes to investigate. Hope I have been of some assistance as I am a 'newbie'! You have to find what works for you as all of our furbabies are as unique & lovely as we are :)