Biting!!

[rowdy]

I just bought a 8 week female yellow lab last weekend.My whole family loves her to death exept the biting. I was wondering if there was a cure for this or is it just the pup in her. I would like it to end if there is a way. I know my parents just bought a pup to and he was biting the siding on the corner of the house. Mom then put tabasco sause on the house he aint ever touched the house again! but i dont want to walk around with tabasco on me. Is there a way to cure it??

[jigging-matt]

When I got my Brit last year he liked to get those puppy teeth on me, I read where you gently push their jowels (sp) into their teeth. Between that and just grabbing his bottom jaw and saying no worked pretty well for me.

[Ralph Wiggum]

This is what I learned from our training instructor. Key is you need to be consistent and not allow any biting/mouthing of people. None whatsoever. Ours picked up in a hurry.

When it starts to use it's mouth, give it a no and grab it by the scruff. When you let go, it's gonna come at you again. No, and grab the scruff. It'll probably come after you again after you let go. The third time. Say no, grab the scruff with one hand and pop it under the chin (you've got to whack it pretty hard). It'll probably give up after this and sulk away (if not, do it again). A few days of that and your biting problems should be gone. I realize you don't want to hit your dog, but you won't have to do it many times before it gets the idea. In my opinion, it's a must. They need to learn that using their mouth on people is not okay. There are a lot of sue-happy people out there, and you'll be sorry if it nips one, even if it's just a play nip. You never know how some people will react.

Hope it helps!

[Neighbor_guy]

Try biting back . It has always worked for me.

My problem has always been with the destructive chewing that pups seem to have.

[prov1900]

Been there, done that!! (As far as my hound nipping someone). That was not, I repeat, not fun. The guy was really cool in the end, considering he was bleeding. It wasn't a malicious thing on the dog. Still, after about two or three months I was waiting for papers to be served on me. They never came, thank God!!

My dog was a big biter when she was a pup.

[lenny7]

This is what I learned from our training instructor. Key is you need to be consistent and not allow any biting/mouthing of people. None whatsoever. Ours picked up in a hurry.

Ralph's right. What we did with our lab pup was initially to grab him by the muzzle, give it a shake and a stern NO!, then turn around and ignore him. That reduced the amount of biting, but didn't eliminate it. From there when he'd nip I'd fold his lip over his teeth and press until he started to whimper.

Now that he's 5 months old, on the rare occasion he nips at me (it's never a bite, just a nip), I roll him, grab his neck, say "NO!", and and stare until he turns away. Now by grabbing his neck, I'm not choking him, or even hurting him. It's more like a prong collar actions. I'm sure it looks like I'm abusing him, but it's not at all.

[Ralph Wiggum]

What was explained to me was that when a pup is misbehaving, it's mom grabs it by the back of it's neck to straighten it out. So you're really playing on his canine instincts.

And maybe I should clarify, when you whack it under the chin, use an open palm and give it a good pop. Sounds mean, I know but it works. After a couple whacks, ours started whimpering the first time I grabbed his scruff. No more biting!

One other thing, DO NOT play tug of war with your pup. This is just teaching it the power of it's jaws. Once it grows and matures you can start things like that, but a pup needs to learn that it cannot use it's teeth on people.

[Sandmannd]

You all have good points. I've also closed the mouth and put my mouth over the bridge of their nose. This is a "no" sign from the mothers. Don't have to bite down, just put a little preasure and you're good.

[rattlereel]

I bite my dog when he bit me and also pushed his tongue down his throat with my thumb. Dogs have a gag reflex and they can't bite down with their tongue pushed back.

[rowdy]

Thanks for the advice I keep trying them