Biting Puppy

    • Bronze

    Biting Puppy

    Ok this will probably sound like a whine.. but here it is.  My wife and I picked up puppy from a rescue organization on Saturday.  All appeared well with her.  We were told that "Maggie" had been returned to the shelter and when we asked why were told... that the owner spent too much time at work.  (Yeah...the alarm bells should have gone off right then)

    Anyway, Maggie is pretty well behaved, already mostly housebroken, and understands SIT and stay pretty well.  She stayed crated from 9PM until 5AM this morning and didn't make a mess.  Her only issue is that she's a bit aggressive.  She constantly tries to bite our hands and she is gnawing on her own paws and hind legs.  When we bring her out in the yard, she gets really aggressive and starts growling and bouncing around and biting.

    At first I thought it was just playfullness, but we found out from the medical papers that the rescue outfit lied.  Maggie had been returned because of her biting.  The previous owner was home all day.  We also found out she was born at the rescue org. and so we think she was never socialized.

    We're working on the NILIF concept with her...and in most other respects she's a great puppy.. it's the biting that has us concerned.  Is this just normal Puppy behaviour or is she heading towards being a real biter.



    • Gold Top Dog
    I think you have nailed it on the head with her non social skills.
    NILIF is a very good start with her as is clicker training. [linkhttp://www.clickersolutions.com]www.clickersolutions.com[/link]
    When she bites, and hard I am sure, I would yelp as loud as I could retract my hand and tuck it in, look away from her also. No eye contact. She should try to appologise to you for the harsh bite. But maybe not if she is not very well socialized.
    I think if you work with her, give her the structure she needs and routine. She will be better off for it.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Hi Spartacus - Welcome!!
     
    How old is your puppy?  To me, who is by no means an expert, that sounds more like unsocialized puppy mouthing, which while certainly inappropriate, is probably not real aggression (although without more information, I don't know that, I am just guessing).  If your puppy was taken away from her mother and the rest of her litter too early, and then, on top of it, she wasn't properly socialized, she may not have learned that this type of mouthing of humans is not ok.  When we got Wesley, our rescue pup, he was 9 months old and mouthed terribly.  The more excited he got, the worse it got (which soulds like what is going on when you take your pup out to play).  For us, we tried to yelp"OUCH" very high pitched and startling when he would do it, but it seemed to just make him crazier, so, we started saying "no bite" one time and redirecting him to something more appropriate to chew on, one of his toys or bones.  If he did it again, that's it, "game over" we would look away, get up and walk off, leaving him alone.  He isn't perfect yet, but my arms are no longer scratched and bruised all the time.  He is learning that if he is rude, no one will play with him...  the minute he mouths, game is over. 
     
    I bet that if you are consistent with this, put your pup on a schedule full of exercise and obedience work and NILIF and work this routine with her mouthiness, you will start seeing imporvements shortly...  Good luck - what you probably have is a good puppy in need of some benevolent but consistent leadership - I am sure you will be able to turn this around!!
    • Gold Top Dog
    From the picture she looks to be quite young. I'm guessing that she was adopted by a family with young children or older folks who didn't quite know how to deal with NORMAL puppy behavior.  This is normal nipping behavior.  Correct (tell her no bite), redirect, by giving her something appropriate to chew on, and praise her to high heaven when she chews on that instead of you.  If she's older than say 4-5 months old you can reinforce the words NO BITE with a half spritz of water from a spray bottle or squirt gun.  Aim for her neck. Tell her no bite, give her a second to comply and if she doesn't, she gets a little squirt.  The BEST thing to do is to do what her litter mates would do and completely ignore her, even getting up and leaving the room, but that's pretty tough to do when those little razor sharp teeth are in your flesh.

    Try to catch her doing things RIGHT, like chewing on a toy and not you.  Praise her for being such a good girl.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Simba is the same he used to be a big biter now if we are playing and he bites me I pull my hands away fold my arms and turn my back on him until he clams down.
     
    It really works, he soon realised that it was the biting that was stopping play not saying he is perfect now as he still bites when he gets over excited but i just put that down to him being a 4 month old puppy.
     
    Good luck oh and Maggie is super cute!!!!!  
    • Bronze
    Thanks for the replies all.... and we have been working on the redirect..bought some bitter apple spray for our hands and her paws at lunch... I just wanted to make sure that what we were seeing is typical puppy behaviour (at least for an unsocialized pup) and that we didn't have a young Cujo on our hands.

    [:)]
    • Gold Top Dog
    Want a pup that doesn't bite?  Find a way for her to play with other puppies.  Get her exercised sufficiently every day.  A tired pup is a good pup, and it's hard to bite with your tongue lolling out.
    It is NORMAL for pups to be mouthy, but when they play with other pups, and they bite, the other pups yelp and play stops.  They learn to bite more gently next time, and the next time, until they have completely learned bite inhibition and no longer clamp down at all.  You can act like another pup and yelp, then withdraw all attention.
    Please don't make the same mistake the first ignorant owner did - they mistook puppy mouthiness for aggression.  Bad manners, or inadequate socialization is not aggression.
    My advice would be to find a positive reinforcement puppy class asap and enroll before the pup is any older.  [linkhttp://www.cpdt.com]www.cpdt.com[/link] or [linkhttp://www.clickertraining.com]www.clickertraining.com[/link] both have trainer searches.
    • Bronze
    My advice would be to find a positive reinforcement puppy class asap and enroll before the pup is any older.
    I actually did that just moments ago at our local humane society.  Thanks for the tip...The only idea I could come up with was to bring her by a neighbors elderly German Shepard up the street.  The puppy play idea is great though.  Thanks.