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Post by quincy on Feb 13, 2016 19:31:28 GMT
I have a nine month old basset hound puppy who won't stop biting.
We have tried everything. Saying stop. Hiding our hands. Timing him out. Having deterant sprays. Encouraging him with toys.
It's not just during play. He can be asleep and randomly wake up and come straight for our hands. He will eat and drink then come running in and go for our hands. If we hide our hands he will dig for them.
What else can we try. We need help.
Thanks.
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Post by cazypops on Feb 13, 2016 19:43:18 GMT
Hi quincy welcome to the forum. I'm cazypops and have a 3 year old Parsons Russell called Jasper and 2 moggies called Flirty and Bandit. When Jasper was a pup he also liked to bite your hands, and what we did was EVERY time he touched our hands with his mouth we would shout OUCH! and take our hands away. It's sort of like imitating his siblings when they play. If one of them nips to hard they will yelp and run away, so it teaches them how hard they can get away with. Now even though Jasper will still mouth in play he will not use any pressure, and will also stop now when told to. Hope this helps, let us know how you get on.  |
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Post by caz2golden on Feb 13, 2016 19:51:50 GMT
Have you tried going to dog training with him? From the people I meet out walking with my dogs owners of bassets are always saying how stubborn they are! Guess I have been lucky as when mine were very young the pretend yelp and instant get up and ignore or giving them a toy to attack instead of me has taught them I am off limits for that kind of behavior. At nine months I imagine it will take a lot more work to break the habit than with a 8 week old puppy. Maybe this link will give you some ideas positively.com/dog-behavior/nuisance-behaviors/nipping/edit: cazypops description is perfect |
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Post by quincy on Feb 13, 2016 19:56:56 GMT
We have tried the Yelp/ouch but again doesn't work and the instant stand up and ignore again doesn't work.
We are hoping to see a trainer soon but it's driving us crazy and wanted to try get it sort of under some sort of
Control before the trainer.
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Post by smilesbetter on Feb 13, 2016 20:56:33 GMT
Hey there, welcome to the forum.
I see you've already tried this, but what I did with my dog when I first got her (although it was virtually never needed) and my family dog who was a bit older when we got her from rescue (and it was very much needed then!) is just to yelp as if in pain very high pitched and then turn away and sort of nurse where it was bitten, while totally ignoring the dog and completely ending any game played. I'd then not play with them or give them any attention for a while before finally, gently, getting them to come back over and play. It took months of consistently doing this with my family dog but eventually it worked and I tell you she really goes out of her way to make sure she never even comes close to biting anyone now. You have to be consistent though, do this every time without fail, eventually your dog will see that biting has no benefit. If you keep changing up your method then it's not likely to work I'd say as it's just not consistent.
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Post by Pawsforthought on Feb 14, 2016 0:25:12 GMT
Any behaviours you do not want need to be religiously ignored, in my opinion. No reaction whatsoever. You say you have tried standing up and ignoring, did you give ANY reaction, eg. Saying "no," or even looking at him? And did every member of your household react I'm exactly the same way to the behaviour? If a behaviour like biting is really extreme, I recommend that every person within the same room as the puppy leave immediately without saying anything. There is a lot of repetition involved when you are trying to make a behaviour "extinct." You have to consistently provide absolutely no reward (even saying "no!" Or "ow!" Can be a reward in itself,) for this behaviour over a period of weeks for it to work. This means believing in the method. If you don't believe in it you won't be consistent. If I were you, I'd learn your puppy's cues that signal he may be about to bite, and I'd start distracting him as soon as I saw the cues. When you see them, do something he finds rewarding, such as playing a scent game (quickly throw a handful of treats into the room and encourage him to find them,) if he does the behaviour anyway, then stop reacting altogether. An alternative is to teach him a behaviour, ANY behaviour, eg. Sit, or even to play with a toy, and really encourage that behaviour with treats and love and praise until he absolutely loves performing that behaviour. For our setter it is "sit," for our Labrador it is "get a toy." If Finn, setter, is in a silly mood and starts grabbing at your clothes (which is rare now, at 4 I think he's almost finished being a puppy,) I will ask him to sit and completely ignore everything he does, standing still, until he complies. He then gets attention when, and only when, he sits. Milo the Labrador has his moments too but is more than happy to switch from being naughty to fetching toys at even the slightest mention of any of them (his toys all have names.) Whatever you choose to do, it will take work but it will be worth it, and your relationship with your dog will massively improve. Don't be taken in by the idea of a quick fix solution. They are almost all based on punishment (for example "pet correctors," horrible things that can turn a dog into a nervous wreck,) which not only does not work but also damages the relationship between owner and dog. When it comes to dog training, it's actually quite simple. You are either positive, or you are neutral. You either reward or ignore. Never punish. Could he have a painful mouth at the moment (in other words: teething?) usually if you provide no stimulation whatsoever a puppy will stop biting you, unless it has a sore mouth and finds it soothing. If this could be the case, providing alternatives for his mouth such as whole frozen carrots could also help. Above all, keep it positive. Your puppy doesn't know what he's doing is wrong (dogs don't have morals like we do,) and you want to teach him the RIGHT thing to do while ignoring the behaviour you want gone. |
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catherine123
Newbie
Posts: 5 
Animals I love: dog, cat
Pets I own: 2 dogs
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Post by catherine123 on Dec 9, 2016 3:25:58 GMT
Please don't hit or alpha roll the puppy, it's not helping. It sounds like normal puppy play to me, nothing aggressive.
The yelping method works fine, however, yelping alone isn't enough. After you yelp you must withdraw attention. Separate yourself from the pup by either leaving the room (blocked by a baby gate) or crating the puppy for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes go back to playing with him. This way he will eventually learn that biting you means that the fun ends. Give it time, he is only 10 weeks old.
Puppies explore the world with their mouths. Mouthing paper, plastic and other things is normal too. The first thing to do is make sure that he can't get to them in the first place (keep stuff out of his reach). When he is mouthing something say "out" and put a treat to his nose. He should drop it and eat the treat. If not then use better treats, cheese or ham should work, cut some up in advance so you are ready. If the thing isn't too dangerous give it back and repeat a few times.
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