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Author Topic:   7 month old lab and biting.
rae
Member

Posts: 17
From:
Registered: Oct 2003

posted 12-31-2003 05:46 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for rae     Edit/Delete Message
I know labs have reputations for being mouthy dogs. Ours is no exception. He is right now going through a real bad biting stage and it's frustrating me to no end. We have tried every suggestion there is. Ignoring, yelling "ouch". Our vet suggested the method of holding the dogs upper lip over their own teeth till it hurts (I don't like this) and we did try it. He just then bites me. Tried squirt bottles and loud shaker cans.

At times we resort to putting him in his crate for a "time out" to just calm him down. This does help, but I don't think it's teaching him anything.

His biting is not aggressive at all. He gets carried away when he's excited or when he wants to play. When he gets in his running sprees he'll sometimes stop and just start biting me in his overexcitement.

I'm really hoping it's a phase that will where itself out since nothing we try seems to lessen it.

He's a great pup in every other way...it's just his biting. I have bruises all over my arms and legs!

Are there any other ideas we haven't tried? Any other lab owners have this problem and successfully lessen it?

Thanks, Rae

[This message has been edited by rae (edited 12-31-2003).]

[This message has been edited by rae (edited 12-31-2003).]

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Maisey
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Posts: 1387
From:Portland, Oregon US
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 12-31-2003 07:07 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Maisey     Edit/Delete Message
I am sure some will disagree with me as we are told not to use the crate as a punishment. However I do think you are teaching him something by crating him when he has become out of control. The message is...We will not play with you, nor do we want to be with you when you behave like this. I use my dogs kennels for time outs...and they use them to nap in all on their own. They love their crates, find them comforting and do not view them as punishment tools. Most of the time I put my dog on a down/stay when he is out of control. I will first tell him "enough" if he doesn't stop then it's a firm "time out" and "down and stay". When a few minutes has passed and I can see that I have his attention and he has calmed I quietly say "ok". This is his release command. I do not start the game back up...I expect him to remain calm and I go on with whatever I am doing. When I ask for a down stay because he is "in trouble" I always say "time out" first and then ask for the down stay. You can cut that out if you wish and just ask for the down stay. Don't ask for it repeatedly though. Ask once clearly (not yelling), if he doesn't respond then guide him gently but firmly to a down (body positioning). If he doesn't know down and stay at this point, then don't walk away and expect him to stay in the down. Sit with him while he is in the down, maybe even keep your hand resting on his back so if he starts to get up you can remind him of the down. At first don't ask him to hold it for long periods, he will fail and you will get frustrated. Set him up to succeed and reward good behavior. When you are putting him on a down because he was out of control...release him calmly, don't say OK good boy! all excited because he will get revved up again. If the conventional methods aren't working...get creative. Make a game out of good behavior. Show him what kinds of things you DO want him to do and concentrate on those. If he starts to bite...put him to work. Regain his attention and focus on commands. Sit, stay, down, shake...use the ones he knows until you have his attention. As important as it is for your dog to know what he is NOT supposed to do it's twice as important for him to know what you DO want from him.

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Karriesue
Member

Posts: 277
From:Nellis AFB, Nevada
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 12-31-2003 08:35 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Karriesue     Edit/Delete Message
Here is what worked for me. When my Husky girl was a pup, she was awful with her biting. I was told by a trainer to do this: When she starts her out of control biting, yell "owww!" in loudly in a high voice turn around and ignore her. If she jumps and still wants to play, ignore her and do something else. I usually ignored her for about five minutes and didn't jump into another play time so quickly afterwards. Continue to do every time she bites you. Doing this this for a period of time and she will get the message that biting doesn't work and that you will not play when she does that. When pups play together, they bite and if one bites hard they yelp. That is how pups learn from each other. That is what you are doing with the "Owwww" thing. After a while it worked for us. You have to be consistant. Good luck and I hope this can work for you. By the way, the biting thing does get better as she grows older. Be patient. You just have to get past the puppy stage.

[This message has been edited by Karriesue (edited 12-31-2003).]

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MistressKela
Member

Posts: 275
From:My IQ is higher than yours, I guarantee it.
Registered: Dec 2003

posted 12-31-2003 10:47 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for MistressKela     Edit/Delete Message
The remote collar worked wonders on my poodle. Some people says its cruel. I tested it out on myself and its nothing but startling. When a dog is living in my house...it needs to learn the rules or it will not be living the easy life in my house. My dog was out of control when she was not in my reach. She would bite other people and run around grabbing things off counters ...anything when she was at least two feet out of my reach. The collar worked and it worked fast. Sounds harsh but if the dog is hurting people....drastic measures need to be taken as that is not appropriate behavior.

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dreamer_girl
Member

Posts: 51
From:Mobile,Alabama,United States
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 01-03-2004 09:46 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for dreamer_girl     Edit/Delete Message
I heard on t.v. that in wolf packs when they play and bite each other if the biting hirts really bad they yelp.And if your puppy bites you should "yelp". I probably sounds weird but it works.Hopes this helps

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Nik
Member

Posts: 115
From:UK
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 01-03-2004 02:55 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Nik     Edit/Delete Message
Hi, mine still does this when he's having his 'mad 5 minutes', running around like a lunatic, into every wall possible, then stops and snaps at me before carrying on. I find he does it when he's tired. I didn't relate it to start with until my sister was talking about how from a baby my neice has resisted sleep so been naughty or cried for no reason... then it dawned on me that Floob was doing exactly the same thing. He just flops where he is and nods off for hours sometimes right after he's had one of his bouts.
Anyway, back to the biting... I used to put him on a small leash that was attatched to the bottom of a radiator to have a 'time-out' when he got too excitable and wouldn't listen to me. Now, the leash isn't attatched anymore but still lays there, so at any time he won't stop this 'biting' I walk over toward the leash and he imediatly lays down out of the way somewhere. If, when I walk away he starts up again I put him on it but it hardly ever comes to that now. The leash isn't attatched to anything but the fact that it's on him in the house must feel like a punishment. It isn't a leash he ever has a walk on and is always by the radiator... so he doesn't asssociate it with walks or happy times (that was my logic for doing it anyways lol)
Good luck

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puggleowner
Member

Posts: 228
From:Grand Rapids, MI
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 01-03-2004 04:20 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for puggleowner     Edit/Delete Message
Omigosh Nik, my Cameron does the exact same thing you just described: every once and awhile she has a "crazy" few minutes where she sprints around in circles, and then stops and nips at me before carrying on. AFterwords, she usually always collapses and sleeps for awhile. I never thought of her resisting tiredness to be the reason- but it does make sense! Glad to hear that someone else has this with their dog, because I thought Cameron was just weird

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