biting and nipping issues....

[gr8icefishinmind]

I have a 3 month old british lab who really likes to nip and bite at hands and fingers, especially while playing! Not sure if this is just a puppy thing but it is getting really annoying. Anyone have any ideas of how to cure this problem??

[gspman]

It is a puppy thing and it is really annoying. Don't know of sure fire way to cure it. Try exerting your dominance on the pup. Whenever it bites grab it by the muzzle, put it on it's back and give a firm NO.

[Todd Caswell]

hen the pup does this, roll the lip under the eye tooth with your finger give the pu a firm "NO" and apply pressure pinching the tooth into the lip.

[St_Croix_Banks]

From what I've been told by trainers the pup is trying establish themselves int the pecking order. That needs to stop asap. Rolling the upper lip over the teeth works but so does little whack under the chin or nose with a firm NO. You don't need to whack them hard to they become hand shy or anything but as was said above, establish dominance. I've even got my 5 yr old doing this to our 9 wk old pup.

[Walleye Widower]

You can also whack it with a big stick to show it your stronger then the little puppy, but still wont accomplish anything.

Re-direct the puppy with a toy to teach him your hands are not prey items but the toy is and you will be just fine, without ruining your relationship with your pup.

A three month old is not mature enough to fight for pack leadership, he is a baby. You establish your leadership through daily life, not by hurting it...

Have fun!!

[gr8icefishinmind]

Dominance has already been established by me!! I do those exercises with him everyday! Which was really easy to do, he only struggled a few times with the exercises. Now if I lay him on his side, he rolls right to his back with his tail between his legs, which means he surrenders dominance, and i can keep him there as long as i feel necessary without him trying to get away one bit!! So the dominance thing is not a factor! I think it was just a bad habit that he got into and i did not take care of it right away and now i need to find ways to break that habit!!

[FishLocker]

Trained many young dogs out of biting/nipping/hand chewing for the Humane Society before adoption. Got this technique from a professional trainer. Since your hand or fingers are already in the mouth, rotate your thumb in the mouth and press down in the middle of their tongue with a "no bite" command. They really dislike this and will try to spit out your hand. The instant they try to spit you out, remove your thumb quickly and use your other hand to make them sit (THE INSTANT THEY ARE SPITTING YOUR THUMB OUT) and praise them for "Good Sit" and scratch their chest pretty much as their tail hits the floor. This tells them Bite is not good, and then immediately redirects them to good behavior that is praised.

Worked on 16 dogs and counting.

[Walleye Widower]

Try that with a truly dominate dog and you will get bit. Alpha rolling and sticking your hands in the mouth of a dog is not a good idea, there is better more productive ways. I dare someone to alpha roll one of my dogs, I would like to video tape it to show why not to do it.

Redirect the pup to a toy and use it in your training, prey drive can be used to your advantage, why take it out of the dog?

[FishLocker]

You are right, I would not try this with a 150 pound adult alpha.

I was under the impression he was asking what to do with his 3 month old puppy. For that purpose, it is what was recommended by a professional dog trainer for me to use with the pound puppies we foster. Worked every time.

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[gr8icefishinmind]

Try that with a truly dominate dog and you will get bit. Alpha rolling and sticking your hands in the mouth of a dog is not a good idea, there is better more productive ways. I dare someone to alpha roll one of my dogs, I would like to video tape it to show why not to do it.

Redirect the pup to a toy and use it in your training, prey drive can be used to your advantage, why take it out of the dog?

EASY KILLER......I am talking about my three month old pup and luckily for me i have already established dominance which it sounds like you did not do when your dog was a pup!! IT is a bad habit he has gotten into and i was just curious about ways to treat this bad habit!!

[Walleye Widower]

Its not a bad habit, it is prey drive...Not a habit.... or at 3 mo, its teeth hurt.

Again redirect the pup to a toy and use its prey drive in training. Good luck to you. Happy training

[gr8icefishinmind]

Thanks....so far training is going extremely well and he is picking things up very quickly, with a few bumps in the road of coarse!