Matt,

Re-directly has been very helpful for me. Also if you roughhouse with your puppy or play tug of war I would strongly suggest that you consider stopping till he is out of the teething stage.

My husband used to regularly roughhouse with our puppy and play tug of war. This kind of playing seemed to get the puppy hyper and see biting as a game. Since stopping I have noticed a big difference in the puppy. He is still mouthy but not to the extent that he was before.

The boys are not happy about the no roughhousing/tug of war games rule but my hands are thanking me!!

I am not against outside help, but I have been following the Leerburg dvds, and thus far it has been going pretty well (he is doing great with obedience commands and behaviorly he has a few glitches, but for the most part he is a happy well socialized dog who understands the rules of the house). I plan on enrolling him in obedience class when he is older to proof my training.

I work with him 3 times a day and that is going great. I guess I'm not playing with him enough and opting for walks over play time.

I'm not trying to fight the advice. I welcome it all. I just felt like a lot of it was conflicting.

The reason why I have been writing this behavior off as genetic working dog behavior is because a lot of people (breeder included) have told me that this is the way they are. And, I have had 2 non-working puppies when I was growing up and both were what I considered fairly mouthy, but nothing even close to this pup.

I am sorry if I got a little defensive I just think it is a problem that I can resolve if I keep working at it, and as he finishes teething he will get better.

matt:
"I'm not trying to fight the advice. I welcome it all. I just felt like a lot of it was conflicting"


Welcome to the exciting wide world of internet advice. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
You're going to recieve advice that ranges from excellent to horrible, and everywhere in-between. You'll get advice from sources as varied as from professional dog trainers that have seen and done it all to our resident cat owners that have never owned a dog in their life, but insist on posting here.

The tough part is - now you'll have to determine what advice is worthwhile....

Well I've always found that if what I am doing is not working, I'm will to give a good honest try at something else. And if your pup is still biting you so hard, all the time, after owning and working with him for so long, I'd say you need to try something else.

Our pups are not all in a 'cookie cutter' mold. So while I'm sure there are some dogs housebroken after a week (not mine), and some that never chew anything in the house (not mine), or that never ran off and that's with no training (not mine). I am also sure there are other of us that need more help and guidance with pups that either are more difficult, or more difficult than our previous background and experience prepared us for.

Good for you for asking for advice. And now it is up to you to read everything and try something different to see if it works.

When I yell "ouch" at my puppy he barks at me -- and sometimes it really is an OUCH!. When I point my finger and say No, he tries to bite it. He just wants to play no matter what I do. I redirect him, but sometimes he'll be chewing his toy and then reach over and bite my hand. I haven't been able to tell if he thinks it's part of the chew toy. He's only 10 weeks so I'm hoping he outgrows it.

Jenn touched on a good point here - dog training is much more of an art than a science, because there's a wide range of behavior that can be seen as "normal" between different dogs. Some are calm, some are hyper, etc - very much like the variations in humans. Even some instinctual behavior ( such as strong prey drive, etc ) has been modified or bred out by poor breeding.

So what I should have actually said was - now it's up to you to figure out what advice is worthwhile *for your dog* <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Okay. You guys are going to think I am crazy, but for the last 4 days my pup seems to have grown out of the biting. He still tries to do it but all it takes is a mild no and he stops. And when he first initiates the mouthing his bites are very soft and not painful. (no more cuts and scratches)

Only 5 days ago I thought it would never end and now as he is approaching 5 months he seems to be growing out of it.

I can say that I have tried to play with him more than I walk him lately so that can be a contributing factor, but I am going to have to say that I believe it really was a working puppy thing that he is growing out of.

It's only been 4 days so I can't say for sure that he won't revert back, but everyday my wife and I are in constant disbelief about this turn around in his behavior.

I'll keep you posted on his progress.

And when he first initiates the mouthing his bites are very soft and not painful. (no more cuts and scratches)
Though it's good news he's not 'killing' you anymore, doesn't that make it seem he still sees you as one of his favorite chew toys? He is still inviting you to play by using his mouth on your body part.

I want my dogs to see a TOY as a TOY, not my arm and not my leg. So when my dogs 'invite' me to play (and I have to teach them this) they know that grabbing me means no play 100% of the time. But bringing me a toy? THAT'S where the fun is at. Because that's when I engage in play and fun and craziness. NOT when a mouth part grabs me.

Well, I agree. I would like him to stop altogether, but for the moment I am very happy with this major change.

I think it is a huge step that all have to do is tell him no and he stops. It used to be that "no" either had zero effect, or that it got him really fired up and I was barraged with nips.

I would relly love to here what Ed Frawleys reccomendation on this. From what I have read on from his articles he could cure that dog very fast, and I think he like me would use alittle more harsh correction. Also a great show to watch is the Dog Whisperer on the NGC. Ceser would have that dog on a choker the minute he got there.