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When
puppies bite their owner's hands, feet and clothing, there can
be many explanations and many different levels of seriousness.
For this reason, this article is just a general basic guide to
the various factors and reasons behind it, and some solutions.
Over the years, we have heard from many owners complaining of
puppy biting behaviours becoming a problem for them. The seriousness
ranges from little more than puppy mouthing with a hint of tooth
contact, through to the most serious of ripping bites causing
severe injury and scarring to owners' hands.
Puppies bite their litter-mates, and many people read this and
therefore believe that they have found reasonable justification
for allowing it, or not being concerned about it. DO NOT underestimate
how difficult and potentially dangerous this behaviour can become
in a very short space of time, if not handled correctly.
When puppies bite their litter-mates they are learning the beginnings
of natural selection and prey instincts. They are, if you like,
practicing their primary skill, to bite, and in doing so, they
learn how strong they are, how their bites can achieve an advantage
over their fellow pups, and how to fight using their mouth to
overcome another dog or animal.
The most important thing to remember is that, whilst you love
your puppy dearly and enjoy his or her playful nature, you are
NOT a litter-mate and must never allow yourself to be seen or
treated as one. I happen to believe that puppies are allowed
to be sold too young, and removed from the security and learning
environment of their litter and mother FAR too early. Having
had several puppies, and having experienced many puppies through
behaviour work with clients, my experience tends to suggest that
puppies taken from the litter at 12 weeks old are much less likely
to suffer behavioural problems than those taken at 8 weeks. The
most common problem is the playful instinct to bite, chase and
effectively hunt which is still extremely experimental in a puppy
at the tender age of 8 weeks old.
When 8 week old puppies leave the nurturing place they were born
in, the world is an extremely big place and one which needs working
out quickly. The first thing a puppy wants and needs to work
out in its mind is the kind of people it is living with. A puppy
MUST know its 'place' and if it doesn't, it will play with and
test every single rule or boundary it can possibly think of,
in an attempt to assess everything around it, namely YOU.
Having said that, i do not want to give the impression that a
puppy biting its owner is a challenging dog which needs 'putting
in its place', that is FAR from what i believe. In contrast in
fact, i think the puppy needs to be nurtured and encouraged to
have confidence, and not knocked down at the first sign of what
would call negative behaviour. This does not mean you are not
dealing with it, you ARE dealing with it, WITH the understanding
of its causes and reasons.
To treat a biting puppy with scorn or anger will firstly NOT
solve the problem, and secondly WILL cause confidence issues,
and when a dog has no mental confidence it becomes nervous. Nervous
dogs account for the huge majority of dog bites in any country
in the world. Fearsome deadly dogs don't exist in the numbers
which many newspapers would have you believe, instead we have
a huge number of dogs which LACK the confidence NOT to bite,
and lack the trust in their environment which is needed to prevent
them feeling threatened.
Puppies biting their owners are usually attempting to play, and
in some rare cases, they are using that play to challenge. However,
regardless of the reasons, ALL puppies work to the same rule "IF
IT BRINGS A RESPONSE I LIKE, I WILL DO IT AGAIN." Having
said this, and contrary to what many people believe, this statement
does not make the reverse statement true, i.e. "If i tell
my dog off, it won't do it again because it won't like being
told off." This is a myth and mostly because what PEOPLE
call a telling off is NOT the same as what a young dog calls
a telling off, and in the confusion between the two, most puppies
simply because nervous, withdrawn and MORE likely to repeat the
behaviour.
In addition, if you use raised voices, heightened stress levels
and heightened emotions (such as anger or frustration) in response
to puppy biting, you will more than likely cause your dog to
have a raised stress and emotional level too, which will never
help you calm the dog down and cease to use its mouth in nipping
you.
If a puppy bites, you need to do whatever it is that you think
the puppy would LEAST want you to do. If your puppy is biting
to get food from your hand, you simply remove that food, make
sure the puppy doesn't get it, and if anything, delay any further
foods a little while longer than you would have without the biting.
If your puppy bites you for fun, then show NO fun in your character,
be calm and quiet and remove yourself from the puppy's company
immediately. If your puppy bites to get your attention, DO NOT
react to it. Do not even look at the puppy, just keep looking
away and walk away, shutting the door behind you.
Try to get into the mind of your puppy, thinking about what his
or her motivations or end goals might be in biting you. It may
be because (as is very common) each time your puppy begins to
make contact with you with his teeth, you move your hand stroke
his belly. This is something you MAY NOT notice you are doing,
so be vigilant of your own behaviour. It may be because you have
read somewhere that when a puppy bites, you should 'refocus his
biting onto a bone or toy' so your puppy has become educated
to the idea that biting gets a toy or bone delivered speedily
by the owner!
Think in SIMPLE terms, it should not be hard to out think a four
legged animal who is not even close to adolescence! Be smart,
calculating and LOGICAL. WHY is YOUR puppy biting YOU? What routine
has he learned, or what reaction have you given to cause him
to ENJOY THE RESULT of his biting? Even an owner who shouts,
screams or cries in reaction to a nip from a puppy is probably
actually unwittingly rewarding the biting behaviour, so find
out what your puppy LEAST wants you to do, and DO THAT the second
he bites or nips.
As time goes on, you should see the signs which give an early
indication of your puppy getting 'wound' up to bite you. If its
a particular toy which causes it, remove the toy for good. If
its the way you stroke your dog (i.e. maybe sitting on the floor
with him) then STOP doing that, instead stand up and bend down
to stroke your puppy until this behaviour has completely gone.
Look for early signs and learn how to engineer the puppy out
of that cycle of preparation.
If you have a serious case of a puppy biting you, you need to
address it immediately, and if you can't, then you MUST seek
professional advice. There is no time to waste on a behaviour
like this one, it won't go away with time, it will get worse
unless you learn either through education or through a trainer
or behaviourist precisely what reactions to offer to your puppy
to cause it to rethink its actions and refrain from this potentially
dangerous behaviour. Your puppy also deserves every opportunity
to live a happy life as a balanced and trusted dog, so you are
doing both of you a favour by addressing this problem without
delay.
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