kgkinkade Posted November 29, 2000 Report Share Posted November 29, 2000 My wife and I adopted a 10 week old rescue puppy. Maddy is at home most of the day by herself but gets well exercised each night by the two of us. We live in an apartment but are soon moving into a house. Our problem is that Maddy bites us constantly. We can not walk in our house without Maddy biting (not just nipping) at our claves and feet. When I try and correct her she gets wound up and starts biting everything: my hand, me leg, even niping at my face. How can we teach her not to bite us in the house...I know that she is just doing what comes naturally, but there has to be away to keep her from biting her owners at home. What is the best way to correct a border collie...I hate to think about hitting her or locking her up again and again. We have plenty of chew-type toys around and she will ignore them completely to nip after us. We have had her for a couple of weeks and this is just starting to appear over the last 3-4 days and it gets worse each day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko Posted November 29, 2000 Report Share Posted November 29, 2000 Well, I?m not an expert but first I?d have to suggest you contact the rescue people you adopted her from. I think most of them are willing to give advice and help with these situations. Is Maddy biting hard (drawing blood) or is she playing too rough? If she is playing too rough I?m sure it can be fixed. My Rand is always very excited to see me when I come home from work. He jumps up and wants to nip at me. I tried several things but found one method that works great for me. When I come in I make a concerted effort to pay attention to him and to greet him ONLY if he has his paws on the ground. Often when he is sitting he likes to put one paw up on my arm, like he?s shaking. I understand that that is common and not really something for me to freak about so I ignore that and continue to pet him. If he jumps up on me I say ?No sir? or ?paws off me/down? and totally ignore him. Sometimes I?ll even command him to sit. When he does sit or put his paws down I immediately bend down to his level and pet him and love on him for a bit. He still sometimes jumps up on me but he quickly gets down and I mean quick. He is so excited sometimes his whole hind end wags with his tail while he?s sitting there. Anyway. I?d wager punishing Maggy won?t get you very far. Hitting her will probably only make the biting worse. She could interpret it as an invitation to play harder, something you definitely don?t want. And locking her up doesn?t really convey why she is being punished. More than likely she doesn?t understand why she is being locked up. But then I?m more of a positive reinforcement person. A strong ?No? and give her a toy that is acceptable for her to chew and bite will work wonders. Border collies are very intelligent and they catch on quick. Another big thing you could do is train her to bite (hold objects) and drop them on command. And of course basic training is always a good idea. By the way, welcome to the world of border collies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle York Posted November 30, 2000 Report Share Posted November 30, 2000 Is the puppy left alone all day while you and your spouse both work? If so, that is a very young puppy, and especially a BC to be alone that length of time. They puppy sounds excited and frustrated to some extent. I know my puppy at that age tended to do the same thing. She would bite at my hands, my shoes when I would walk, my pant legs, etc. I would verbally let her know that behavior was incorrect while it was happening with a loud "Aaahhh!!" and then I would redirect her to a tug toy of some type to let her bite and tug on. She very quickly learned that "teeth on skin is a mortal sin". Now a simple "That'll do" spoken softly stops the occasional attack of my shoes while I walk. Best of luck with your new baby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMcNairnTurn Posted December 1, 2000 Report Share Posted December 1, 2000 My youngest pup, Rave, was a gripper of all grippers. When we'd run, she'd leave puncture wounds in my calves and ankles. You can teach Maddie not to do it without hitting her. Here's what I did...when she gripped me, I stopped dead, grabbed her (not hitting, not bringing her off the ground just grabbed her) on both sides of her head, bent down, gave her the look of death and told her not to do it...GRUFFLY. She's a rescue, no one's ever taught her. Don't give her back, because she'll just repeat the process all over again. It can be worked with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMcNairnTurn Posted December 1, 2000 Report Share Posted December 1, 2000 By the way Gayle...Flurry was also a strong gripper, so that's probably where Credit gets it from.... ------------------ Sus and the girls Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RinTinJen Posted December 4, 2000 Report Share Posted December 4, 2000 Try "baiting" your hand or calves with a product called Bitter Apple. You can buy this from Petsmart and other pets supply houses. Spray it liberally and invite your Maddy to take a nibble. She will hate the taste and it may deter her. Keep this up until she realizes that biting tastes bad. You may also try ignoring her when she bites. Stop in your tracks and don't look at her, don't speak to her, nothing! When she calms down and stops nipping then let the playing begin again, repeat as needed if she started biting when the playing starts again. She will soon understand that when she bites the fun goes away...no biting = tons of fun. Be patient patient patient...BC's kinda have this in their nature from nipping the heels of sheep/cattle to move them...it wont be easy but constant work and lots of love (no hitting-positive rewards for good behavior will go much further). ------------------ Jen and Dewey Dawg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle York Posted December 14, 2000 Report Share Posted December 14, 2000 Sus: Just saw your post about my baby's mom also being a strong "gripper". Thanks for the tip. I got an e-mail from someone else who knows about the old Sadghyl lines and they say, they are notorious feet biters too. Funny isn't it? They said they were very "mouthy" on sheep also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid's Mum Posted December 17, 2000 Report Share Posted December 17, 2000 I strongly suspect that what you are possibly experiencing is a puppy with very sharp teeth and a 'hard mouth' doing not much more than 'mouthing', this doubled with the the fact that it has been on its own all day and is really excited to see you could be put down to a very painful dose of love and affection. Babies af all species love to have stuffin their mouths even human babies have been known to hurt when mouthing even with no teeth!!! I recomend that when you get home from work and come in the door, when you are greeted by the croc, ease it int a sit and calm it down by rubbing its chest. it gets worse when the start teething! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clare Posted December 19, 2000 Report Share Posted December 19, 2000 I have totally the same problem! Also, my pup is teething now, so its double trouble. I posted something similar and got a few responses, but got a ton from the border collie mailing list I am on. One thing that seems to work very well is to yell "Ow!", kind of like a yelp when Chase bites. He stops, puts his little ears back and makes a cute little gutteral noise. He really seems to know this hurt me when I do that. He will often start again in a few minutes, but he has really come around. This is supposed to simulate a litter mate yelping to let the other pup know it is playing too rough. Also - and I have found this to be *key* - make sure every member of your family is consistent in what they do, and when they do it. If everyone is doing the same thing at each and every incident, it seems to work much, much better. Hope this helps, if not contact me and I can forward you all the responses I got from the mailing list. But have faith, it will get better. ~ Clare and Chase 'The Mouth' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor Posted December 24, 2000 Report Share Posted December 24, 2000 Hi. What mailinglist is that, ive been looking around for one. =) ------------------ Best Regards Thor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vpwolf Posted December 26, 2000 Report Share Posted December 26, 2000 Well, I'm surely no expert either though I've had my share of problems. Awhile back there was a simular posting, and I will try and remember this as close as possible for paraphrasing; Never, Never Allow a dog to bite, nip or put thier mouth on you!!!! There I think I got it as close as I could. This is a sign of complete disrespect and the dog saying "I am above you in the pack order" Personally, there has been alot of good comments, I think, on this problem. What I try if nothing else works is a submission hold. ie... grab dog, put it on it's back, stare it down, hold it there until it willingly surrenders to you. You may need to do this several times. Growl at it. ect... Actually, I even bit a dog back once, it worked well. Ever opening a mouth and directing it at a person is NEVER OK. Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.