Exercise R Us

Question:

If you watch a litter of puppies playing, you will notice that they spend much of their time biting and grabbing each other with their mouths. This is normal puppy behavior. When you take a puppy from the litter and into your home, the puppy will play bite and mouth you. This is normal behavior, but needs to be modified so you and the puppy will be happy. The first thing to teach your new puppy is that human flesh is much more sensitive than other puppies and that it really hurts us when they bite. This is called bite inhibition. A puppy has very sharp teeth and a weak jaw. This means that the puppy can cause you to be uncomfortable when mouthing or puppy biting you, but can not cause severe damage. An adult dog has duller teeth and a powerful jaw. This means that an adult dog can cause significant damage when biting. ANY DOG WILL BITE GIVEN THE RIGHT OR WRONG CIRCUMSTANCES ! If a small child falls on your adult dog and sticks a finger in the dog’s eye, you should not be surprised if the dog bites. If you do a good job teaching your puppy bite inhibition, you should get a grab and release without damage. If you don’t, you may get a hard bite with significant damage. It is simple to teach a puppy bite inhibition. Every time the puppy touches you with its teeth, say "OUCH!" in a harsh tone of voice. This will probably not stop the puppy from mouthing, but over time should result in softer and gentler puppy biting. The commands necessary to teach a puppy NOT to mouth, are easy and fun. Hold a small handful of the puppy’s dry food, say "take it" in a sweet tone of voice, and give the puppy one piece of food. Then close the rest of the food in your hand and say "off" in that same sweet tone of voice. When the puppy has not touched your hand for 3 to 5 seconds, say "take it" and give the puppy one piece of food. We are teaching the puppy that "off" means not to touch. You should do this with the puppy before every meal for at least 5 minutes. After a couple of weeks of the above training, here is how you are going to handle puppy biting or mouthing: a.  Unexpected mouthing (you don’t know the puppy is going to mouth,     until you feel the puppy’s teeth):         "OUCH!" b.  Expected mouthing (you see the puppy getting ready to mouth you):     You say "OFF"  before the puppy can mouth you. c.  The puppy is mouthing you because of a desire to play.       You have to answer the question, "Do I have time to play     with the puppy now ?" If you do, then do "sit", "down",     "stand" or other positive ‘lure and reward’ training.     If the answer is "No, I don’t have time for the puppy, right now."     then you need to do a time out (crate, or otherwise confine the     puppy, so the puppy can’t continue to mouth you and get in trouble. I believe, you will find the above much more humane than yelling at the puppy all of the time. The above training methods have been modified from information that I learned from Dr. Ian Dunbar in his puppy training seminars and from his excellent video ‘Sirius Puppy Training’ which is available by calling 510-658-8588. by Joel Walton, BSc            Delta Society Certified Animal Evaluator Walton Family Dog Training  Positive, professional, private training. DC/MD/VA 301-855-0355       AB-L owner, Pettable-L owner, APDT-L manager (May be reproduced in its entirety for non-commercial purposes only.)

Response:

Joel, Very good post. Even though this behavior starts in the litter I also believe that an on going problem with mouthing or play biting is a direct result of human contact back to the pup. Especially with children. They are all the time grabbing at the dog and  not being able to use it’s paws as hands, grabs back with the mouth. This has been demostrated in the companion dogs ability to use their mouths to open doors and fetch items for the owners. But I have adults come to me and tell me  stories how they can’t stop their dog from biting them when only to find out that they rough housed with them at a young age. I don’t use the term OFF for biting and/or mouthing. That is reserved for jumping up or getting off the furniture. Take Care Dan O’Connor F.D.L.E. Certified Police K-9 Instructor http://www.bitstorm.net/doconnor

Response:

Walton) writes:

                          < snip > >c.  The puppy is mouthing you because of a desire to play.       You have to >answer the question, "Do I have time to play

    with the puppy now ?" If >you do, then do "sit", "down",

    "stand" or other positive ‘lure and >reward’ training.

    If the answer is "No, I don’t have time for the puppy, >right now."

    then you need to do a time out (crate, or otherwise confine >the

    puppy, so the puppy can’t continue to mouth you and get in trouble.               < snip > An excellent primer post for puppy owners put out by Joel Walton. In addition to the above do ask yourself 1 Am I (or others) overstimulating the pup by playing tug, wrestle, rough house, fast rubbing and chase?? If so then DON’T Instead, play fetch but do not allow the pup to snatch it from your hand and put the toy away when the gasme is over and before pup loses interest in the game 2. Am I taking this pup out for exercise when it needs it, or am I crating the pup as a cop out?? For example most pups  are active early in the AM and late afternoon and early evening. This is when the pup NEEDS leash walks, fetch games and practice on commands. 3 Speaking of crate, I have found that crating the pup in your bedroom tends to calm the pup and therefore it nips less. Bob Maida Dog Training/Problem Counseling since 1969 Manassas,Va

Response:

JW> It is simple to teach a puppy bite inhibition. Every time the puppy JW> touches you with its teeth, say "OUCH!" in a harsh tone of voice. JW> This will probably not stop the puppy from mouthing, but over JW> time should result in softer and gentler puppy biting.     Even more effective is an OWW in a relatively high pitched     voice, imitating the sounds the pup’s litter mates would have     made–or he have made–when nipping was painful.     Side question: and what command do you use to have the pup     get off something?     The method you mention below involves teasing, not     exactly an ideal tactic to take with a pup whom you are     attempting to teach to trust you as pack leader.  It is     much simpler to teach "take" (or any word you prefer) for     the pup to take the proffered piece of food, and reward     ‘gentle’ taking.  Should a tooth touch your hand, then     OWW! and no reward.  A stronger tone can be taken by     saying FYECH or something similar.  I prefer to reserve     OFF for telling the pup to remove himself from a chair,     standing up on people, etc.  (In general, it is easiest     for the owner to use words s/he would normally use, as     long as they are not words that are typically used with     two different meanings.  Thus "down" should be reserved     for a prone position, and phrases such as ‘get down’ or     ’sit down’ avoided.) Avrama & Shomer JW> The commands necessary to teach a puppy NOT to mouth, JW> are easy and fun. Hold a small handful of the puppy’s dry food, say JW> "take it" in a sweet tone of voice, and give the puppy one piece of JW> food. Then close the rest of the food in your hand and say "off" in JW> that same sweet tone of voice. When the puppy has not touched your JW> hand JW> for 3 to 5 seconds, say "take it" and give the puppy one piece of JW> food. JW> We are teaching the puppy that "off" means not to touch. You should do JW> JW> this with the puppy before every meal for at least 5 minutes. .. nfx v2.7 [C0000] No faith has never been broken, except that of a dog.  

Response:

>3 Speaking of crate, I have found that crating the pup in your bedroom >tends to calm the pup and therefore it nips less.

I’m no expert, but I coulnd’t agree more with the above statement. The first three days I had my new four-month-old he spent the night in the crate in an unused bedroom. He would cry himself to sleep every night and freaked out every time I tried to get him in the crate. He would not go in on his own. On the fourth night, I moved the crate in my bedroom right beside the bed. We was reluctant to go into the crate the first night but once he was in there and realized that I was going to be with him all night, he settled right down and went to sleep. The next night he went right into the crate when I started getting ready for bed. I personally feel it is very important to keep the crate in your bedroom and make your new pet feel like a part of the "pack" as soon as you get them home. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->Bob Maida >Dog Training/Problem Counseling since 1969 >Manassas,Va

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