Help Simba stop biting?

I've tried leaving and that will work but if he's wound up and I come back he'll just do it again.

Sometimes, you just have to be persistent and do it every single time for quite a while.  Another tactic would be to leave, come back, and click treat *before* he starts being a jerk again.  Then, you gradually lengthen the time before you click.  

You can always train him to sit when you approach;-)  For some dogs, tethering works.  If you look at some of the old Dog Whisperer videos (not Cesar Millan - the original one, Paul Owens), you can see it done on tape.  Download from Amazon only $5.99

punkchica321

also curious if this is normal puppy behavior or not?

IME, yes.

punkchica321

I've tried leaving and that will work but if he's wound up and I come back he'll just do it again

Then you leave again.  Over and over if that's what it takes to get the message across.  I had to do that with Harry, sometimes 5 or more times in succession.  Just simply turning my back to Harry wasn't nearly as effective as me leaving the room and there being a door between us for 30 seconds.

Do you give him other things to chew on, like bully sticks, to kind of give him a "chewing outlet"?  I found that helped with Harry, to satisfy his urge to chew.

 Hmm I never thought about the whole sit thing, I will try that as well as what you also said and I'll check out about getting that video. :) Thanks!

aerial1313

punkchica321

also curious if this is normal puppy behavior or not?

IME, yes.

punkchica321

I've tried leaving and that will work but if he's wound up and I come back he'll just do it again

Then you leave again.  Over and over if that's what it takes to get the message across.  I had to do that with Harry, sometimes 5 or more times in succession.  Just simply turning my back to Harry wasn't nearly as effective as me leaving the room and there being a door between us for 30 seconds.

Do you give him other things to chew on, like bully sticks, to kind of give him a "chewing outlet"?  I found that helped with Harry, to satisfy his urge to chew.

 

I realize now I really should just keep going away if he's going to do it, so I will. :) I do have bully sticks, which he loves! I will give that to him and sometimes he'll just take it and go, other times he wants to keep biting. Usually its the former though. 

 From your siggy he should be 5 months? Teething is probably going on right now. Can you get him some bully sticks to chew on? Keeper and Zeeva are teething right now and bitter apple spray on Samantha is working great. Im not as easy to nibble on like Samantha is.

kle1986

 From your siggy he should be 5 months? Teething is probably going on right now. Can you get him some bully sticks to chew on? Keeper and Zeeva are teething right now and bitter apple spray on Samantha is working great. Im not as easy to nibble on like Samantha is.

Yep he's five months now! The bitter spray isn't as effective anymore for him, which I heard can happen. I give him bully sticks and rawhides to chew on, he loves those bully sticks(ugh the smell though haha)!

punkchica321

he loves those bully sticks(ugh the smell though haha)!

Yeah, some of them smell reaaally bad, some don't.  I'm pretty sure the ones I've bought from dog.com don't smell, but Red Barn brand are stanky, lol!!

My boys love dried buffalo tracheas, and the ones I buy don't smell hardly at all.

aerial1313

punkchica321

he loves those bully sticks(ugh the smell though haha)!

Yeah, some of them smell reaaally bad, some don't.  I'm pretty sure the ones I've bought from dog.com don't smell, but Red Barn brand are stanky, lol!!

My boys love dried buffalo tracheas, and the ones I buy don't smell hardly at all.

I usually get the ones from petco or stop and shop. Where do you get those tracheas from? 

punkchica321

Where do you get those tracheas from? 

I get them at a local pet food store.  But, you can buy them online, I'm sure.

Yep, here's some lamb ones: http://www.k9cuisine.com/p-236-free-range-dog-chews-baa-lamb-trachea.aspx

I actually do the opposite, i buy 2 garden gloves and let my dog to bite away. My hands are protected, we bond while we play and he develops bite inhibition. Once the gloves come off he knows game is over, everybody wins. You might think that would promote the biting and at some point does but once again, the dog knows that the game is played only when i use the gloves

When my dog wanted to jump and get me i was bending down 45 degrees and open both my arms at around 30 inches from each side of his face (like if i'm going to hug him). The dog gets confused as he does not know which hand to go for and he does not jump since the hands are now at his level. The act of bending down also works a little bit as suppressing the excitement. The dog stops jumping, stops biting and at one point he just sits down. He waits for me to "choose which hand i will give him", of course i dont offer any hand and because he is not excited anymore he just does not try again when i walk away

Am I the only person who just replaces my arm with something appropriate to chew on?

When Cher was in the chewing/mouthing phase, I always kept a toy with me so that I could hand it to her when she started getting mouthy.  She can de-squeak a cuz in no time, but, now, she knows what is & is not acceptable to put her mouth on.

Nikon never got really mouthy with me as a little puppy, which is totally weird for a GSD puppy but I guess I'm lucky.  When we play, there is always some toy interaction, so now when I get him all hyped up in prey drive, I'm never without a tug or a ball, or even an old rag.  I still get bit everyday, but that is from missed targeting.  I often do wear baseball gloves while training.  This past summer he bit my thumb so good it was numb for months.  Sometimes we do play the slappy game where we pat up his sides and slap him on his face while we are running around and he gives little prey barks and is allowed to mouth on my hands since I'm slapping him (for fun), but he shows very good bite inhibition (no chomping down or tugging, just basically applying an open mouth as part of the game).  To be honest if he had a habit of jumping up and snapping at me I'd probably knee him in the chest a few times and tell him to knock it off, but that's the kind of dog he is and the kind of relationship we have.

BEVOLASVEGAS

Am I the only person who just replaces my arm with something appropriate to chew on?

When Cher was in the chewing/mouthing phase, I always kept a toy with me so that I could hand it to her when she started getting mouthy.  She can de-squeak a cuz in no time, but, now, she knows what is & is not acceptable to put her mouth on.

I doubt that you are - and I think it's a great tactic, too.  It's just that some dogs ignore the substitute, so it is always nice to know other approaches, too.  I do not, however, subscribe to the theory that you just let your dog bite at your hands.  I would still want to impress upon the dog that I am not a chew toy, and that an alternate behavior is the one that will produce attention, play or rewards from me.