Play biting

I was requested to make this post.

I have seen many pups that get so excited to play that they don't notice the difference between biting a toy and biting a persons hand.

What I have done in the past with small puppies is I use a leather glove for play time. When play time is over, I would take the glove off. If the pup tried to bite my hand with the glove off, I would use a firm loud NO, and I would immediately stop playing.

The pup needs to be able to recognize when you are playing and when you are not.

For older puppies and adult dogs, I do play exercises where I intentionally play really roudy with the dog, and as soon as the dog puts my hand in his or her mouth, I scold them then play time is over. I have even put the dog directly in his crate for calm down time.

I also work a lot with the dogs at running long distance. I've seen play biting due to frustration. A tired dog is a well behaved dog!

Any more suggestions?

 

Thanks for the post, helpful tips.

 

I will post more tips as I think of them.

 

I trained my dog by first teaching him at a young age tocome and I found whatever his obsession was. My dog loves playing frisbee. I would use the frisbee as his reward for doing something right.. Positive reinforcement.

I started with the command come, and when he came I threw the frisbee. Then I moved to more advanced commands like sit and stay. He was not allowed to chase the frisbee until he did the command. It was all good fun. Before I would work real hard on the complicated commands I would let him burn off any frustration by running. I did both mill running, and road running. For him it seemed that his brent up energy and frustration would not allow him to pay attention. After a good run he was much more likely to pay attention and learn.

More about biting, I always tried to reward my dog when he was soft of mouth by giving praise and a toy. I also provide a toy where hard chewing is allowed, leather, hide, or a bone of some sort. That way when he acted like he really wants to bite something hard he has an approved option.

 

don't you think the pup is gonna get hold of the glove or another glove that might be lying around that somebody accidentally forgot and swallow it, huge vet bill or even worse

 

Play with Prey
Prey Is Play

Hands are not Prey

your hands give him toys or prey
your hands lead him to prey

let him know your hands are not toys or prey

so bring a tug toy out and teach him
when he misses and hits your hand put tug in his mouth

teething pups will hit hands so do not interpret it as a sign of anything

 

That depends on the size of the glove! I've seen lots of puppies play with toys, and i have yet to see one swallow it hole. Nothing is for sure though, so that would mean that a certain amount of supervision be required. When you are not able to supervise your dog, like at work, put them in a place where no hazards are available. I use a crate. In-house crates work very good for potty training and for making sure a dog behaves when he/she is home alone! (one stone, two birds)

I have seen adult dogs eat toys whole, but they were always toys that i would not approve of letting a pit bull play with (such as tennis balls). I don't use just any glove, but more of a working-utility leather glove.

I also don't use gloves with puppies older than 6 months old. Young puppies with those devilishly sharp puppy teeth don't yet know how sharp their teeth are, and they don't know how to play 'softly'. The glove lets me play with a little one. As the pup gets older i would transition to a hide, or chew toy of some sort.

But i am very strict with the puppy that when the glove comes off, play time is over, no biting allowed. I don't know how other people discipline their puppies, but a quick flick on the nose and a very stern, loud (if needed) NO, is usually sufficient to end an undesired behavior.

 

your teaching that dog some real bad habits letting it mouth you like that. its not good for you to let people think that what your doing is something good because its really not. that dog is going to graduate from mouthing to full fledged biting. i will not let my dog think he/she can rough play with me at all. there is a difference between playing, working and rough play and i will not do the rough play. i feel there is no need for it at all especially with this breed.

 

That may be your opinion.

 

Point i'm trying to make, is to be sure to let your dog know that biting on human skin is bad. The best way in my experience to work with a dog, is to show them a good behavior and continually reward that good behavior. When the dog does a bad behavior, discipline them, but don't dwell on it, and move on to something fun.

I have seem better response from positive reinforcement than negative reinforcement!! If you provide an appropriate chew toy, the dog will be less likely to chew on you. If the dog does chew on you, be sure to let them know it was bad and then give them something they can chew on.

Also, it is my recommendation that for any training to work, it has to be consistent throughout the household, mom, dad, brother, sister, everyone needs to be on the same page. And training happens every day, not just after work when you have time!

 

i just refuse any type mouthing or rough play for a energy release. i will work the pup but not rough house with him. i personally just feel that if i rough house with a pup at a young age it will think that that behavior is what i want out of him/her. i wont even play tug o war with the dog. there is no need in my mind to do that. there is a spring pole for that. i dont want the dog growling pulling and thinking he is in competition to pull that rope out my hands. nope not me. all the dog needs to know is play is play, work is work and downtime is downtime and nothing else. maybe i have been lucky enough to have easy keepers. i have seen really excitable puppies before that maybe your advise would work for, but i just know what has worked for me.

 

I agree with this I nip that shit in the butt early on I do not allow my pups to mouth me or my kids period. That shit isn't cute when they grow up and mouth you while they are playing with you and hurts like hell you shouldn't reinforce this behavior you need to correct it ... My male dog who is now 17 months old would mouth excessively when he would get excited as a young pup it took me a good 6 months to fully stop it even now when you touch him while he is excited in play mode he will turn his head to mouth you and then he stops dead in his tracks because he knows better lol. These dog's are very powerful and the last thing you want is to be playing with a grown bulldog and have him mouth you as an adult. To each his own I guess but that's not something we tolerate at all in this house.

The way I deal with mouthing is I redirect that behavior to something that is acceptable for them to bite on like a toy. Now if you have a hard headed pup like one of mine you can take both hands press firmly around the muzzle and say NO in a very stern tone you have to do this immediately when they bite or mouth you so they get the message loud and clear. I know everyone has their own way of doing things but I don't ever want any of my dogs thinking it's ok to bite me, my kids, or anyone else while we are playing so I take this very seriously and correct it while they are young.

 

^^^^^ this