Pup biting.

P_1

Hey first post on this forum just looking for a bit of advice.

I've had a Red Setter pup (5 months) since February. Now he is a lovely little chap who's very friendly and energetic. The only problem with him is that he is still biting. Now they are only playful little nips and I don't mind when he does it to me I'm only concerned for when I take him for a walk and the possibility of him biting a small child.

Any advice about how I would go about stopping him from biting would be greatly appreciated.

TooManyDogs

The most effective method I found to stop pups play biting was to do a high pitched scream and then leave the room immediately whenever they bit me. You feel like a fool screaming but it tells the pup that it hurt you and then you left, that the game was over. So very quickly the pup realises that if he bites you then you leave, and the majority of pups want to be with you above play biting so it should stop fast. You'll have to get everyone to do the same though until he has stopped altogether. You're right to be worried about a kid, cos even though he's not being aggressive you want to protect him from any mis-understandings of his behaviour by other people. And to be fair, a play bite could hurt a child.

Good luck!

amiable

TooManyDogs wrote: »

The most effective method I found to stop pups play biting was to do a high pitched scream and then leave the room immediately whenever they bit me. You feel like a fool screaming but it tells the pup that it hurt you and then you left, that the game was over. So very quickly the pup realises that if he bites you then you leave, and the majority of pups want to be with you above play biting so it should stop fast. You'll have to get everyone to do the same though until he has stopped altogether. You're right to be worried about a kid, cos even though he's not being aggressive you want to protect him from any mis-understandings of his behaviour by other people. And to be fair, a play bite could hurt a child.

Good luck!

Excellent advice. I've done this too and it works. You just have to follow it through every time the puppy does it and i'm sure it will work.
Good Luck

Galway K9

Many peopel see this as play biting which in a way it is but its a game of dominance, the puppy is tryin to find where he fits in the pack, the idea of the biting is to see whos the leader by testign who is stronger and harder and who will give in first.

With respect to the advice above, if you react negatively to the bite of a pup it may calm down or stop but only on the idea that the pup is stronger and dominat over this person who has screamed or got hurt easily and is seen as weak therefore not a leader.

What needs to be done here is you have to convey to the dog tha your are stronger, more dominant and a good leader. To do this what i suggest is to correct the behaviour by imitating a dog bite to the side of the neck that is stronger to that of the puppies bite and not weaker otherwise the pup is still stronger.

moving_home

I have a cocker puppy who is 5months aswell. She was doing this nipping/biting in the first couple of weeks that we got her but we did the high pitched OW everytime she nipped either of us and stopped interacting with her for a couple of mins and she stopped doing it in a couple of days