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Location: God's Own County
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 7,584
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Originally Posted by
slimjim
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One thing I forgot to ask the trainers was how to stop play biting. I want to try to stop this as soon as poss because when he starts he seems to get carried away and I am worried it will go to far especially with the kids.
Can anyone give pointers how to stop this?
Thanks,
James.
It sounds to me as if you have a eight month old dog behaving like an eight week old puppy, because of lask of training & socializing by his previous owners. So you need to go back to basics.
Firstly do not react when he starts play biting, no yelping, no noise, no eye contact get up walk away & shut the door behind you. Wait for 30 secs or so & return & do some"armchair"training with him for treats.
Clickers are very useful as the click is the cue & then the reward. The I click that
Karen Prior markets are brilliant-a quiet click & small enough to fit easily into your hand.
Teach him a recall when you are sitting down by calling him once with a recall word, such as "Ozzie come"when he comes to you hold the treat in front of you slightly(both hands together)& then bring your hands in to you & up to your chest above his head level. As soon as he sits click & treat. Then throw a treat over his head so he moves away from you & repeat the recall.
If at any stage he attempts to mouth you, no reaction, get up & walk away out of the room & shut the door.
He should soon pick up on the mouthing means you leave & behaving gets a click & a treat. You need to stretch his mind & keep him occupied with good behaviour
Have a look in your local library for Karen Pryors book on clicker training or if you can afford it buy a copy(Amazon are usually good value) Have a good read on the link in red above.