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     Puppy Mouthing or Biting     

 talalogoa

There are two teething periods in a pups life.  The obvious time is between four and six months when they change those spiky little milk teeth for an adult set.  But there is another between 10 months and a year, which often brings an even more destructive bout of chewing than the first.  The pup must chew, so hide anything you are fond of, and provide plenty of raw meaty bones and raw vegetables.  Also provide plenty of things he can chew e.g. toys.


Mouthing(puppy biting)
Mouthy Behaviour in GSD's
Bite Inhibition

Bite Inhibition

 Stan Rawlinson
www.Doglistener.co.uk

Puppies have painfully sharp little piranha like teeth, almost like hypodermic needles, fortunately the jaw muscles are extremely under-developed, One of the main reasons why you should never play tug with a young puppy is you could dislocate the jaw and misalign or damage the teeth.

Nature has given them these underdeveloped muscles to enable pups to play-bite safely. Whilst very young and still with his brothers and sisters and he bites too hard in play he gets blasted with a ear piercing "yelp" which makes him immediately back off, he waits a while then starts to play again, but a strange thing has happened, the biting is a bit softer. The same thing when feeding from the mother, the pup uses too much pressure she yelps and moves away end of milk bar. He is then gentler the next time round and a valuable lesson has been learned.

This is nature’s way of inhibiting the force of their bite well before the jaw muscles start to form properly at around about 4.5 months, which also coincides with the time that the puppy teeth start dropping out and the new bigger more dangerous teeth start to come through. This is called the age of cutting.

This learning process is known as “Bite Inhibition” it is a vital and important lesson and is the only reason why your puppies are born with those hideous teeth. This is how your puppy learns to inhibit the force of his bite and to control his jaws, It is a vital that he also learns to inhibit biting us humans.

I see many new owners who are told to stop all play biting, however this could potentially have far-reaching and disastrous consequences. If the pup is trained immediately never to play-bite, he will never have the chance to learn control over his jaws. Therefore, your puppy must initially learn that all biting whatever the circumstances must be done softly. Then you can start to teach him never to bite at all.

This is how you should deal with this problem
1. Permit the puppy to play-bite by allowing your pup to softly chew on your hand. When he bites down a little harder than normal, "yelp" sharply and loudly, and turn your head away in rejection. Do not pull your hand away. Let the puppy move away from the sound and your hand, (pulling your hand away will only encourage him to lunge towards the moving object) As an appeasement after your yelp the pup may come up and lick your hand, accept this gesture. Then allow the play to resume, but this time hopefully with a softer bite. If the play gets a little rougher, "yelp" again, thus further confirming that any pressure is totally unacceptable. Repeat this exercise as often as possible. And like the New York police chief who had a zero tolerance to crime you do the same with any hard biting.

You will find within a few days, that the biting turns into mouthing; you will have programmed your puppy into thinking that he must not exert any pressure whatsoever whilst mouthing because of your ultra sensitive reaction. Now you can teach him the “OFF command to stop all mouthing.

The “OFF” Command
2. Put your dog on its 5 foot lead and the *Jingler. Take a treat, cheese, frankfurter, or puffed jerky is ideal, make the dog sit and hold the lead in your left hand and the treat in your right, offer him the treat and gently say Good "take it" do this at least five times, then offer the dog the treat and do not say anything. When the dog goes to take the treat turn your head sharply to the right and bring your hand with the treat up to your chest giving a slight tug on the lead with your left hand making the Jingler tinkle and gently say "OFF" the Jingler really helps the dog focus.

What you are actually saying is by using the word good this acts as a target word similar to a clicker and it acts as confirmation that the behaviour is correct, the “take it” is a permission command you are effectively saying, this is my bone, I am prepared to share it but only when I give permission, the permission is “take it” You are also training control of the greatest resource possible “FOOD”

Repeat the "OFF" command until the dog turns his head away, Watch for the movement and the body language and as soon as he does this say "Good Dog, "take it" in a praising tone then give him the treat, keep repeating the exercise until the dog naturally turns his head away when you offer him a treat.

3. Keep the dog on a lead in the house (you must always be present when the lead is on). When he jumps up or tries to bite the children or you grab the lead and say "OFF” for the bite and “OFF SIT" for the jump, giving a slight corrective jerk on the lead at the same time. Do not praise the dog when he stops you are only praising the bite or the jump. Repeat exercise until he stops jumping up and biting.

If the above does not appear to be working as the puppy is so insistent and is continually biting you or your kid’s hands and feet then get some bitter apple and spray their hands and feet for a few days. However it must be bitter apple as it is the only chew or bite deterrent that really works. All the others I have tried are just a waste of money.

*The Jingler is a simple device I have personally developed, that uses sound therapy, it works by distracting your dog momentarily from what it is doing and makes it concentrate on you. The repetition of the jingle and either a change of direction or a command conditions your dog so that it associates the jingle with a movement or command, it aids concentration and confirms your training command. It can be used for many behaviours like lunging, jumping up, walking to heel and barking. It can also be used in some cases for both interdog and human based aggression.

stan2 © 2007 Stan Rawlinson
Stan Rawlinson (Doglistener) is a Behaviourist and Obedience Trainer with over 25 years experience of working with dogs. He now has a successful practice covering London Surrey and Middlesex.
 Web site www.Doglistener.co.uk   E-mail enquiries@Doglistener.co.uk


reprinted with kind permission from Stan Rawlinson
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MOUTHING (puppy biting)

Joel Walton
 
If you watch a litter of puppies playing, you will notice that they spend much of their time biting and grabbing each other with their mouths. This is normal puppy behaviour. When you take a puppy from the litter and into your home, the puppy will play bite and mouth you. This is normal behaviour, but needs to be modified so you and the puppy will be happy.

The first thing to teach your new puppy is that human flesh is much more sensitive than other puppies and that it really hurts us when they bite. This is called bite inhibition. A puppy has very sharp teeth and a weak jaw. This means that the puppy can cause you to be uncomfortable when mouthing or puppy biting you, but cannot cause severe damage. An adult dog has duller teeth and a powerful jaw. This means that an adult dog can cause significant damage when biting. ANY DOG WILL BITE GIVEN THE RIGHT OR WRONG CIRCUMSTANCES! If a small child falls on your adult dog and sticks a finger in the dog's eye, you should not be surprised if the dog bites. If you do a good job teaching your puppy bite inhibition, you should get a grab and release without damage. If you don't, you may get a hard bite with significant damage.

It is simple to teach a puppy bite inhibition. Every time the puppy touches you with its teeth, say "OUCH!" in a harsh tone of voice. This will probably not stop the puppy from mouthing, but over time should result in softer and gentler puppy biting.

The commands necessary to teach a puppy NOT to mouth, are easy and fun. Hold a small handful of the puppy's dry food, say "take it" in a sweet tone of voice, and give the puppy one piece of food. Then close the rest of the food in your hand and say "off" in that same sweet tone of voice. When the puppy has not touched your hand for 3 to 5 seconds, say "take it" and give the puppy one piece of food. We are teaching the puppy that "off" means not to touch. You should do this with the puppy before every meal for at least 5 minutes.

After a couple of weeks of the above training, here is how you are going to handle puppy biting or mouthing:

a.      Unexpected mouthing (you don't know the puppy is going to mouth,
 
        until you feel the puppy's teeth):
  
        "OUCH!"
 
b.      Expected mouthing (you see the puppy getting ready to mouth you):
 
        You say "OFF” before the puppy can mouth you.
 
c.      The puppy is mouthing you because of a desire to play.  You have to answer the question, "Do I have time to play with the puppy now?"
 
 If you do, then do "sit", "down", "stand" or other positive 'lure and reward’ training.
 
If the answer is "No, I don't have time for the puppy, right now." then you need to do a time out (crate, or otherwise confine the puppy, so the puppy can't continue to mouth you and get in trouble.

I believe, you will find the above much more humane than yelling at the puppy all of the time.

The above training methods have been modified from information that I learned from Dr. Ian Dunbar in his puppy training seminars and from his excellent video 'Sirius Puppy Training'.

Lt. Joel Walton, CPDT - Aggressive Behavior Problems
Prince Frederick, MD - http://www.joelwalton.com
Positive Puppy Training Works, Labrador Retrievers for Dummies
Good Dogs With Aggressive Behavior Problems
http://www.tawzerdogvideos.com/Joel-Walton.htm
Postive Puppy Training Works, Communications and Compliance Using
the MRE System Telecourses,
Canine Aggression Behavior Management,
Addressing Canine Aggressive Behavior Problems Using the MRE System
http://www.raisingcanine.com/Professionals/Green/Pro_audio.htm

contributed by Joel Walton, Certified Pet Dog Trainer
Author of Positive Puppy Training Works and Labrador Retrievers for Dummies which contain positive management and training information for all breeds of puppy/dogs. Founding Member Association of Pet Dog Trainers
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Mouthy Behaviour in GSD's

Much has been written on dealing with this problem but I think many of these suggestions are short term solutions, that don't address the fundamental behavioural problem. What is an adult or adolescent GSD doing while mouthing? I believe the dog is trying to communicate the need for pack affiliation. There is a different quality to this activity than to mindless whining or constant activity that is not addressed toward a person. So, from the dog's point of view, what does she need or want? We know from Steve's observations that she is otherwise needy of human contact and we know that she has been recently stressed and has lost her usual environment and schedule. In what circumstances are canines mouthy toward each other? Puppies lick and mouth at their mother for food and protection. Young dogs will greet each other with leaping and mouthy behaviour. Pack members will greet each other by grabbing each other’s muzzles and legs gently. These greetings have hierarchy information as well.

Developmental stage of gaining pack position:
Many people who are very experienced with dogs in small groups may not have had the experience of watching puppies become adolescents and fit into a pack situation with several adults. The transition between puppy immunity and a fully functioning pack member involves a lot of mouthing from the youngster toward the dominant and sub-dominant adults. The behaviour starts with an extension of begging behaviour that the puppy uses with mom to get lunch, extends with age to purposeful play and pushiness. The youngster is asking for interaction with adult pack members so they will define the puppy's position within the pack by moving aside or by dominance displays. The key concept is that this is a normal developmental stage and that when the puppy's needs for affiliation are met the behaviour declines in frequency. Not that the adolescents are not still rowdy and physical within the pack structure, but they are not usually frantic unless the pack structure radically changes.

What has happened to this youngster? Her former pack has been destroyed at the developmental moment when she was gaining a place. If a behaviour set is frustrated, it often increases in intensity and the signals she would be receiving from pack members, which would alter and calm the behaviour, are not present. Partly this is a 'cultural' problem. The signals we give as humans are not as efficient as those given by other dogs.

What is the response to her behaviour that will end the mouthing?
The long term solution is to give her a place within the family through proper dominance setups, by giving her a job to do which she is responsible for, and by lowering her general frustration level with lots of exercise and play. She also needs mental stimulation especially in a role in which she needs to please a person. One of the methods that can be useful is to put the puppy in a slightly uncomfortable position so that she turns to her person for reassurance. Establishing trust is a very important part of this training. If the mouthiness itself is discouraged without a solution to the basic problem, the frustration will emerge in even less acceptable behaviour like destructiveness and separation anxiety. This kind of long-term work will also allow her to relax concerning the general neediness that Steve has described. In the short term, invest in leather gloves. (NO, of course, I am kidding, that would be the worst possible choice and does not teach bite inhibition). I prefer not to use 'ouch' with adolescents, it works for bite inhibition at an earlier developmental stage (puppies 12 weeks and younger), but it sends a message of submission to the older puppy. I prefer to assert my pack position as leader rather than as playmate by grabbing the muzzle and growling, and by using body language (looming and eye pressure), which gets a submissive response. Then-very important-I want to confirm the puppies place by getting her to do something to please me so I can congratulate her on her place in the pack. This is not just praise; it is congratulating a team member. The frantic mouthing indicates the intensity of the youngster's need to be part of a family. Disengaging while the puppy is frantic is also not the best response, in my opinion, although it can be a very useful technique when the puppy has more confidence.
reprinted with kind permission
From Lynne Crosby lcrosby@slipnet.com
SFBAGerman Shepherd Rescue volunteer

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How to Curb Puppy Mouthing
 Mouthy Biting Behaviour in Puppies
 Nipping Biting and Mouthing Tips

chloebutton  talabutton