Biting/nipping

Status
Not open for further replies.

shafto

Boxer Pal
Hi everyone

Tess is 12 weeks old now and throws about 3 or 4 paddy's a day. Once she is in the playfull mood we get battered by her biting and nipping.

I know she is only playing, but them teeth are sharp and she has caught the wife twice now on the lip and drawn blood.

Can anyone tell me at what stage will this biting lark subdue.
 

gmacleod

Elusive Moderator
Staff member
Well, it probably won't end on it's own. You have to teach your puppy not to bite - it's a perfectly natural thing for a puppy to do, so she wont guess on her own ;)

Biting is a stage that all pups go through to a greater or lesser extent, it is during this period that puppies learn about bite inhibition. Nature gives pups those razor sharp baby teeth for a very specific reason - so that it will hurt when they put the slightest pressure into their bite. Now, what would happen in a natural enviroment is that the puppy's littermates would shriek in pain when the pup bit too hard, and then stomp off to a corner to lick their wounds. In short, they'd refuse to play for a while. The biter would of course pounce on them again a few minutes later, and the process would repeat. Eventually though, the biting puppy finds that if it puts any pressure into it's bite, then the result is that it's friends won't play with him. If he wants to be played with, he has to be more gentle. So he becomes more gentle - in effect, learning the power of his jaws. And a short while after that, his razor sharp baby teeth fall out and are replaced with blunter adult teeth.

The lessons of babyhood and bite inhibition, however, will stay with the pup for life. And this is one of the most important lessons a puppy needs to learn. The reason it is important is that if (actually when, because it's inevitable) a dog feels the need to tell someone, be it another dog or a human, to back off then it will do so with a warning growl and a nip - because the dog knows the power of his jaws. A dog that doesn't know that will have the same reaction, but not knowing the strength of his jaws is as likely to give a hard bite as a nip ;)

So teaching your puppy about bite inhibition is extremely important, and carries over into greater things than just a more pleasant puppy ;)

That being the case, you do need to let your puppy use her mouth and to bite very softly. Then, when she bites harder (as she inevitably will) you do what her littermates would have done - squeal "ouch" in a high pitched tone and retire away from her "wounded". Be ready to play again in a few minutes, but keep that reaction up when she bites too hard. If she's really too persistent and obnoxious about it, then you can take to ignoring her for a few minutes. Be aware that turning your back on her and ignoring her that way might not be enough to deter a really persistent pup - and if that's the case, then the appropriate thing to do is to get up and leave the room. Do it without acknowledging her, not even eye contact, and shut the door so she can't follow. A few minutes is long enough (and you don't need an accident on the carpet through being gone too long). That effectively shows the pup that biting too hard has the consequence of nobody to play with at all - and worse, isolation (which is a severe punishment).

Now, she won't learn in five minutes flat. It will take days and likely weeks. But she will learn, and the lesson will stay learnt. In the meantime, however, I would strongly recommend that all people's faces are kept out of reach of puppy jaws. If you put your nose where she can reach it, then it's likely to be bitten ;)

Here's a short article on puppy biting that you may find useful: www.boxerworld.com/puppy/biting And there are many many previous threads about this if you care to search. Use the term "biting" or "puppy biting"
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top