posted 01-10-2004 05:05 AM         

Maya is starting obedience classes Jan. 28th.

Maya has a big problem of biting and growling. She bites constantly. I know this is mostly puppy, but she bites very hard, sometimes breaking the skin. We have been working with her for about two weeks now by pinching her lip against her teeth when she bites, but she's not getting any better. She goes for anthing on a person she can bite, clothing, fingers, hands, forearms, feet, legs. We have also been working with her by clutching a kibble in our hand and only giving it to her if she doesn't bite the hand. This works only in this situation, once the training session is over, it's back to attacking us.

Also, if she is picked up or stopped from doing something she's not supposed to do, she will growl and show her teeth. She doesn't lash out and viciously attack, just gets nasty.

This behavior is starting to change our feelings for the pup. We don't want to dislike her, but at this point this is where it's leading. My 8 year old son has scratches all over his hands and I'm afraid she's not going to get over this; in which case we will be forced to get rid of her.

posted 01-10-2004 05:57 AM         

This is an article I found which I think has good information in it. I have tried to do these things with my puppy. (Sorry it is so long)

Bite Inhibition for Puppies
by James O’Heare, Dip.A.S.

Bite inhibition is the single most important lesson a puppy has to learn. An extremely close second is socialization. Learning to not bite people hard is vitally important. Puppies are biting machines with needle sharp teeth and weak jaw strength. They are like that for a reason. The needle sharp teeth ensure that their bites are painful if they apply even moderate pressure and the weak jaw strength ensure that no real damage is done. Most puppies will bite everything they can, animate or inanimate. By biting each other puppies get feedback on the strength of their bite so that they may learn how hard is too hard. They are after all not trying to kill each other, they are playing and exploring. We too must give the puppy feedback on the strength of his bite so that he will not bite hard in the event that he ever does bite. The focus of the first phase of bite inhibition training will be to develop a soft mouth. The second phase will teach the puppy not to bite at all. The reason we develop a soft mouth before we teach the puppy not to bite at all is because it is unrealistic to expect a puppy to learn not to bite at all right off the bat and more importantly because if the dog is ever pushed past his bite threshold and does bite someone he will be more likely to bite very softly rather than very hard. It is very important that these exercises start right away upon bringing your puppy home. That means you should start at about 8 weeks of age. Hopefully the breeder will have already started these exercises. The reason you want to start right away is because it will be easier to train a behavior from the beginning rather than teaching him it is okay to bite now but not later. The second reason is because it takes a few weeks to do the training and it must be complete or well under way before his adult teeth come in and his jaw strength increases and his teach become dull. As for dogs who are not biting, you must get them biting at least for the exercises below otherwise they will not learn to soften their mouth. If they do not learn this they may some day bite hard if and when they do bite.

Phase 1 Soft mouth development

There are two parts to this training; real life and set-ups. You will set up training exercises by choosing a barren room without toys or other things the puppy can amuse himself with. You can use a baby gate which you can step over or a regular door, as long as you can leave and the puppy cannot. Sit down with the puppy and start playing with him. Avoid rough play or mock combat. Use toys and generally allow the puppy to start munching on your hand. You will start by targeting rather hard bites. It is important that you be consistent. The targeted bites should not be the strength that you are not in the mood for on a particular day but a consistent amount of pressure. As soon as the puppy crosses that line of too much pressure you will screech “OUNCH!” as if it hurt like hell, stand up, cross your arms, look away for 30 seconds to a minute without looking at or saying anything to the puppy. The puppy should be looking at you with apparent concern wondering what stopped all the fun. If the puppy runs in terror under a table with his ears down and tail between his legs then the response for your particular puppy was too harsh. Next time tone it down a bit. If the puppy thinks that was quite funny and lunges in for the kill then it was not quite harsh enough. In that case you will scream a little louder next time, say “NO!” with an angry look on your face and immediately storm out of the room where you will wait motionless and quiet for about 3 minutes. Please note, this can be stressful on dogs and is only for the rare ones who are stimulated by the weaker version. The time frame is important. If you return too quickly the lesson may be lost and if you wait too long there will be less contrast between your fun presence and your not so fun absence because the puppy will simply find something to play with. The contrast is what is important. Use that as a guide in determining for your puppy what time frame your absence will be. After the isolation you will return, request a sit if he knows how to yet (he should be well on his way with this, even at 8 weeks of age) and then reward the obedience with continued play. Repeat this exercise several time is a session and with several sessions throughout the day. Target this same pressure for about 1 week. The real time frame should be determined by the pup’s progress. When he no longer bites at that level of pressure you can start the next level. The next level will simply be doing the same exercises but this time targeting bites with even less pressure. Use the guidelines above to work on successive levels of bite pressure until your puppy is not biting very hard at all.

In real life your puppy will bite when not in that exercise room which is good because we do not want him to learn that he cannot bite you hard when in that room only. I know it is embarrassing but you must continue the screech and withdrawal of attention when your puppy bites with the level of pressure you are targeting at all times. If you do not the puppy will learn quite quickly when he may bite without consequence. For example many dogs will bite and otherwise misbehave only when the owner is on the phone. The dog has learned that there are no consequences when the owner is on the phone. This is a common complaint and illustrates why it is important to provide feedback each and every time.

Phase 2 Bite inhibition.

This will simply be a continuation of phase one except now you will target all contact of teeth to skin or clothing. You may have to use artificial means of provoking a bite now. You can place small pea sized treats between your index finger and thumb and offer it to the puppy. If he is snatchy and touches your finger with teeth then try not to let go of the treat. Snatch it away, screech as before and withdraw attention for a few moments. You can also use tug of war for these exercises. Refer to hand out for teaching tug of war. You should use a specific toy for tug and he should drop it when told and take it when told. You should initiate this game not the puppy. When playing tug of war he may get carried away and accidentally touch your skin or clothing. In that case screech and withdraw attention; game over. Take your toy and leave with it.