My pup bites too - but

My "New and Improved" theory (which is not backed by any literature I know of - or by long time experience - since this is the first time I'm trying this or by anybody else) is:
"Let her bite"

There are reasons for this.
1. She obviously enjoys it.
2. She very seldom draws blood, but if she does its usually my own fault. I pull my hand out of her mouth to quickly and cut myself on her canine teeth.
3. If she causes real pain, like when a fingertip is caught between those bone-crunching molars in the back of her mouth, she lets go immedeately.
4. She never does it to strangers. She loves strangers. Strangers are better than liver & sausage and no command, known to her, works when she sees one, but she doesn't bite them. Not until they become friends.
5. She bites as long as we participate. When we get tired (which is -Way too Soon - for her) and ignore her, we go through a - Waff waff - Ah c'mon - this is fun - Grrr waff - Spoil Sport!!! - Waff Waff Waff Grrr - Sometimes I think I hate you - stupid human - Waff - Oh Crap. And then she settles down.

What I would like to know is: "Am I digging my self a trap that I won't escape from in the future?"

Nav

IMO never let a dog bite you no matter how gentle they are being. As soon as the teeth touch the skin play should stop. As a puppy it may seem like they're having fun but once they've got those nice shiney adult teeth through ... ouch.

Thanks for your oppinion, but -
I'm actually looking forward to those nice shiny adult teeth. I think they will hurt a lot less that the puppyteeth.
Time will tell.

Nav

Hi Navigator I would say biting is normal behavior in puppies, if a puppy doesn't bite there is something wrong with it . Puppies bite for a number of reasons, to explore the world around them (as a small child does with mouth and hands)/during play/to 'practice' using their teeth and jaws for a time when they may need to catch prey in order to feed themselves/ when teething to help the teeth to come through .

Puppies first start to use and learn about biting when suckling from the dam, the will often nip her and are quickly dissuaded from doing this by a growl from the bitch and her getting up and walking away. Puppies continue to learn about biting when playing with siblings. Watch a litter of puppies at play, they bite each other in turn/yelp/run away, this is 'Play biting' and they soon learn how much they can bite each other without inflicting pain and bringing play to an end.

When we take on a puppy we need to continue to teach it about biting, a lesson which was interrupted when the puppy left its litter mates ..We need to curb the play biting and to channel it in the right direction ideally before the puppy reaches 4 month of age and certainly before it changes its small needle teeth and weak jaws for the strong teeth and jaws of an adult dog.

The best way to curb play biting is to do so gradually by teaching 'Bite Inhibition', the puppy should be encouraged to bite ever more gently until no pressure is exerted at all . If you try to stop a small puppy biting altogether it will never learn to 'inhibit its bite' and to 'develop a soft mouth', teaching Bite Inhibition is one of the most important things you can teach a puppy so that should he have cause to bite in the future (for instance if he is in in pain/at the vets being treated /gets accidentally hurt) he will have been taught never to sink his teeth into human skin. Teaching bite inhibition and preventing a dog from biting can in certain circumstances save its life.


Teaching a puppy bite inhibition takes time and patience and won't be achieved in just a few days also everyone in the household needs to adopt the same approach. People frequently say it doesn't work and this is usually because they haven't been consistent in applying the technique, many expect instant success when it can take weeks (I know this because they come back on here after two days and post to say it doesn't work).

I am not in flavor of putting a puppy in another room if it bites, this to me doesn't teach the puppy anything. A puppies attention span is limited to seconds and by the time you have put it in another room it will not associate this with the action of biting. Better to teach the puppy to bite ever more gently and to walk away yourself and end play instantly if a puppy is to excited to learn at that time .

Here is a link to teaching bite inhibition ..click here

PS My latest puppy is now 9 months old and was a terrible biter, she doesn't bite at all now but still gently nibbles without using her teeth during rough play .

Thanks Minihaha.

Great advice, and since I have always practised the diminishing "Ouch" I'm halfway thru the list

I can see that Dunbars point about unrequested mouthing will be of great value.

Very young Puppies have to use their teeth on your hands and in order to find out how hard or gentle they have to be. A puppy who is never allowed to experiment with their teeth will not know how much they should inhibit their bite.

Ian Dunbar has written very interesting articals on this explaining why it is important.