Play biting, need some advice???

Hi everyone,

my 8 week old airedale pup loves to bite during play and when he gets exited. we have been making loud noises when he does to tell him it hurts which seems to work but is it a good idea?

is there better ways to stop him or am i going about it the right way?

i know he will grow out of it if i do things right but just wanted to ask for some advice.

thanks

Hi

It sounds like you are doing what i did with mine. I used to 'yelp' when they got remotely forceful with their teeth. It worked fine and now even when they play fight with each other or even have a proper fight they have never broken skin.

Also if you think the pup is getting OTT try giving a frozen flannel. It cools and soothes the gums and teeth and they can rag it about as it thaws. Plus gives them something they are allowed to chew as much as they like 'crispy flannel' was definitely one of the favourite toys and they are cheap as chips!!!

xx

As well as stopping him doing what you don't want, it is a good idea to immediately show him what you do want - i.e. give him a toy that he can chew and then praise him when he has that.

thanks for your replies, he isnt horrible about it, never broken skin just dont want it to escalate as he is going to be qute big.

thats a good idea about the frozen towel, i will give that a go yeah if he does bite i make a yelp kinda sound and then give him something he can have.

thanks

There is no quick, easy way. What you are doing should work as well as anything. Young Labs, which I know best, and other puppies tend to very bad about biting. You see a litter of them, and all the ones that are awake are biting another one or themselves. I am not even sure they realize that when they are alone, if they quit biting, they would quit being bitten. At 3 to 4 months they are getting their adult teeth, and it seems they spend every waking moment biting or chewing. One thing you can do at that stage is to knot and wet a piece of cloth. Then freeze it. The cooling will soothe the gums. Only let the puppy have it when you are there to watch it. I maintain a Lab's favorite chew toy is another Lab. Otherwise they settle for any person they can. They keep hoping to find one that won't yelp, jerk their hand away, and leave.

You just have to keep on correcting them, hundreds of times, not dozens. Provide sturdy, safe toys such as Kongs and Nylabones. Avoid things they can chew pieces off and choke on them. Keep them away from electrical cords. Crates are essential for most young Labs and other dogs.

The pet stores are full of toys that many dogs will quickly chew up into pieces they could choke on or cause intestinal blockages. If you are not there to watch, stick to sturdy stuff such as Nylabones and Kongs. Keep a close eye on chew toys and quickly discard anything that is coming apart in pieces. Rawhide is especially bad because it swells after being swallowed. I don't trust any of the consumable chews. The dogs just gnaw them down to a dangerous size too quickly. These problems are the worst with, but not limited to, large, aggressive chewers such as Labs.

thanks for the helpful advice. i have a kong which he loves to bite and chew on. i understand it is a phase he is going through and i will definatly try the towl freezing and see if that helps him.

other than the biting he is doing soo well already learned a bunch of tricks and he is a pleasure to have around! cant wait to take him to his puppy classes and walking

thanks

I would advise against you yelping or making any noise when your puppy is play biting, this, in most cases, only makes the nipping worse & especially with terriers.

Adult dogs allow puppies a great amount of normal puppy behaviour(like nipping, tugging ears etc)when the adult has had enough,he/she will get up & walk away & ignore the puppy, sometimes uttering a low grumpy mutter.

If you want to stop your puppy nipping you, then you can do a similar thing or offer something for the puppy to chew on(like a tuggy toy)instead.

I personally never react to being chewed on & this results in the puppy not being encouraged to continue & I also praise when the puppy stops. My puppies pick up on this very quickly & I never have puppy that continue to puppy bite/nip for more that a few days.

thanks, that does make sense just getting up and walking away. the nosies do make him more exited even though he does stop.

i will try this as well.

thanks for all of the helpful advice