How to play rough but avoid biting?

[jauger3]

This is only my second post, but you guys are all super - the info/ideas I've found on this site are indispensible.

One issue I've been struggling with is how to play rough while avoiding the biting. My 9 month old pup likes to play rough occassionally - which admittedly I love. We wrestle around on the floor and just "rough house" I guess. My problem is she uses her mouth most of the time. I can't really see how else she could play rough - she's got 4 legs and a head - what else would she do - head butt me? She certainly doesn't "bite" or come close to clamping down, just tries to get my hands in her mouth. The problem however is that with all the tossing/turning/fun I end up scratched/bleeding from her sharp teeth. How do you guys do it? Should I just use toys to tease her with while playing rough? She does know the difference between "mouthing" and "biting" because if I'm watching TV and she wants to play, she might nip at my hands. I tell her no bite, so she might mouth me and jump back (taunting me to play). The next taunt might be a little more mouth and a jump back, then maybe a tooth, then the mouth/teeth at which point I decide on a time out or redirect. Any advice?
Thanks.

 

[Krikkit]

Our Boxers all love to play rough as well and we don't mind the game in the least. It's been 4 years since we have had a nine month old and I can't remember if they were scratching back then or not - they certainly don't now. One of our girls, Amy, is inclined to get a bit carried away so as soon as she shows any signs of this (as in if we feel a tooth) we stop the game - time out and ignore her for a minute or so. Dogs have (or should have) outstanding control over thier teeth.

I can't really see how else she could play rough - she's got 4 legs and a head - what else would she do - head butt me?

That made me laugh out loud

Our dogs play fairly roughly amongst each other too - far rougher than when playing with us and they do use their mouths. I think it's wonderful as for their entire lives they are keeping up with bite inhibitation exercises.

A game of tug is a great thing as well and something we all enjoy here. This article on tug rules is quite good:
http://www.clickerlessons.com/tug.html It may be worthwhile to go over to tug for a little while so there is something between you and her mouth. Then perhaps you can start roughing her again, but just make sure she understands the rules about what she does with her teeth.

Have fun!

Sharon

 

[ljnash]

Originally posted by jauger3
I can't really see how else she could play rough - she's got 4 legs and a head - what else would she do - head butt me?

Yep! I've been head butted many a time, hit the ground about 80% of the time, and required medical attention twice!!

Lenore

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

What I usually recommend for this is when playing, if the dog bites you too hard, yelp loudly like a hurt puppy and get up and walk away ignorning the dog and ending play for a while, then engaging the dog in play with an appropriate toy or game with you. The dog learns quickly that biting skin causes his fun to stop so he will stop biting your skin.

I also recommend an exercise to help bite inhibition which is to give the dog a small treat and hold it firmly in your fingers. If the dog touches your fingers when nibbling the treat from them, again YELP and pull the treat away and look up and away from the dog for a few seconds. Then try again.

You can also do a search here at BW using the search engine and terms such as "bite inhibition" or "soft biting" and find tons of information and tips on how to deal with this typical puppy issue.

Good luck.

 

[natrhymer]

Our boy (1.5 years old) loves to play rough, but we never wrestle with him unless it's with a toy -- like a game of tug turns into a wrestling match. We learned the hard way because we used to just wrestle with him with our hands, and allowed him to play bite. Then he started viewing our hands and everybody else's hands (even strangers on the street!) as toys. We put a stop to that kind of play all together. He will still slip up sometimes and go after our hands. If he does, we do the "yelp" and end play. It's been some work, but he's getting it.

 

[jauger3]

As always - you guys have been very helpful.
Thanks for your responses.

 

[Mikasmom]

This thread is all too familiar!! We have a 3 month old who insists on getting my fiance's hands in her mouth!! She never does this with me but she is very persistant with him. its difficult to determine whether its because of her age; or is this her personality!??! Whichever the case, my fiance is getting real impatient...we've tried everything to distract her while she does this, but she could care less! Any advice???




:confused:

 

[Rocky Pup]

We are dealing with the same thing with Rocky who is almost 7 months old. When he gets carried away and wants to nip, he gets a time out in the laundry room. We tried just getting up and walking away but he still likes to jump up at our hands even if we have them folded and are ignoring him. When he goes in the laundry room, he lays down and relaxes. When we open the door, we continue to ignore him for about 5 minutes. He usually gets his bone and lays down like a good boy.

I have to point out though that he definitely knows that he can play rougher with my husband than he does with me! It's quite funny.

 

[marciafinn]

Mason got out of hand one day and when I was bending over to pick up a toy he ran over jumped up and split my lip. He was only 4 months old! I taught him "enough" starting that day. Basically when he got too rough I would stop and sternly say enough. I would continue to ignore him until he calmed down. Eventually I added sit after enough so now as soon I say enough he sits down. He always gets a treat for this since I think it invaluable.

Mason also plays a lot rougher with men than women. He is also extremely gentle with kids. My neighbors' 7 year old plays tug-of-war with him and he barley pulls on her. When her 2 year old sister tries it, he lets her pull him all over the place. I swear he knows that he is much stonger than them!

 

[Faith]

head butting

Yes they definitely head-butt! I posted in another area about the bad shiner I got when my girl head-butted me. I like to play rough and wrestle with her too - though the first time I got a black eye, she had "boxed" me (swiped me in the temple with her big paw). So just be on guard for other types of rough play as your boxer gets older and is less focused on biting.