Ow, ow owowowOW!!!

[Moose!]

I'm new to the boards too and I have a 13 week old puppy who I got when he was 10 weeks old. The first two weeks have been super easy (ha funny right?) and now this week he has really got his "groove on". He was the dominant one of the litter and has not shown massively dominant behavior during this period, but with the arrival of his self-confidence, I've also seen the arrival of his biting and agressive play. Now when we walk he has short bouts of insanity where he starts jumping up on me and biting my legs, trying to bite my hands, and trying to pull off my pants! Today, it was a little toasty out so I took off my jacket. he began trying to play tug of war with it and my pants and I finally had to grab his muzzle, which must have caught on one of his teeth as he let out a yelp (I didn't grab it hard...i just think he must have bitten himself when I did it) and he stopped and started walking like a normal dog, just like that. Everyone says not to "touch" the dog when correcting but I wonder if this is the right thing to do for Moose. It really seems like the only things that works. I seriously can't take a step without him biting my feet or legs or butt for that matter when he is in this mood. Its weird though cause the rest of the walk goes great.

 

So anyway, by the sounds of it, this is semi-normal...but needs to be corrected. When walking, the tough scenario occurs when I am trying to get home and he just starts in and I obviously stop moving and turn from him but then he gets the back of my legs or runs around me to try and grab my attention and I just keep turning and he keeps flailing, growling and biting. If I pull him back with his leash he just seems to get more intense. So how do I make it stop? I'm going to try the orange scent. I keep hearing that works great with borders vs. the sour apple; but I also want to make sure he's just playing and not trying to be top dog.

 

Any input is highly welcomed.

[louboo]

When our dog was a puppy, we'd say "ow" when she bit us and pull away. She eventually learned that "ow" meant to back off or we'd stop playing. One of her favorite games is "attack the hand under the blanket" and she still responds to a simple "ow".

[AdmiralGonsiorowski]

Moose!, Ski also had a really bad habit of jumping and biting our feet when we wanted to walk him, but it's gotten a lot better as his attitude towards us has improved. One thing I've done that I think has helped more than anything is investing in a 50ft rope. I don't walk him on it all the time, but I do take it to the park, so he can explore and learn about things around him. So he gets 50ft of leeway, which he usually doesn't use completely, and if he does get hung up, I can just look back at him, tug the rope, and he comes flying to catch up.

 

The benefit of this has been that he doesn't see walking as a restriction, so he doesn't fight the leash, or me, or my feet. It gives him the freedom to move, and find other, more normal things to be interested by than my legs. If he does happen to decide that it's bite the leg time, I hold his leash out far enough that he can't get to me, and wait for him to get bored and give up. When he does, I give him something more fun to do; toss a ball or frisbee, or just take a break to play wrestle with him and get the energy out.

 

It's mostly just management of the puppy behavior, so that he doesn't develop it as a permanent bad habit.

[Caerus]

He still bites, but it's obviously just puppy play now. I correct him with an "aaht" sound and hold his mouth shut for a moment if he iniates biting, followed by doing something else before he works himself up to biting again. If I initiate it, he can mouth on my hand unless he gets hard, then I stop playing with him.

 

Good to hear.

 

I just wanted to tell you that this is basically what I did with mine (and time outs), and he doesn't use his mouth on me anymore. Even though I allowed soft biting play when he was little I didn't really want him doing it as a grown-up, so I ever so slowly raised the criteria as he got older. What would normally have been "soft" became "too hard!" until his biting play was light that he stopped bothering to do it.

[mbowles]

Coop, six months old April 4th, has been taught soft mouth since he came home at 12 wks. My wife is old school and believes no dog should bite, period. I have to admint, that is what I would prefer. He soft bites/puppy bites most of the time but we have occasions when he goes a little further. If he manages to get into a room he is not supposed to be in or grabs an object he shouldnt have, he gets that "the devil is in me" look, mouth partially open and if you apporach or reach for him he wants to nip.

"Ow" doesnt work, he likes bitter apple and believe it or not, cayenne pepper (just makes him lick his lips alot). Today he took a picture frame off of a table where it has been since he came home. My son tried "leave it" to no avail and then reached for the frame, got it and went to walk away...Coop reached and bit his chest, left a mark....

 

As we have watched, he tends to do this when he is not getting his way. As for soft biting, when it happens to a visitor, no matter how soft....it is unacceptable. Hard biting is unacceptable. I have been reading some of you talk about muzzle grab, tap on nose... My wife is currently crating him for a few minutes and letting him out after he has calmed and lost the (devil look).