Puppy Biting? Ouch, That Hurts!!Is your puppy biting you on your ankles, your toes, your fingers and wherever it hurts? Does she attack your friends that come over to visit? How about the rest of your family? Have you tried everything to stop her puppy biting that you can think of, from friendly advise to a page in a magazine or a website? Maybe, your patience is running thin, or maybe you're not sure about the technique that you are using. Is it easy? No, but it does take a lot of patience and persistence. The method below should help, if not, at least you will get an understanding to why your puppy is biting,
Puppy biting is a natural thing that all puppies do, and the only way I can explain this is to give you a little scenario, a little story. Missy and her Pups
Missy and her new babies were getting along fine. They all looked so cute, and she, a very caring mother. When they got hungry, they knew where to go to get mom's milk, and after they got their fill, they would be so satisfied. Missy would groom her little ones, as a mother should, and if one would get too far, she would pick her up from behind her neck, gently, and bring her back to join her other siblings. As the puppies got a little older, they would play with each other, rough and tumble; chase and stumble; nip and growl. Missy would keep a good eye on all her puppies. She would especially keep an eye on the stronger one, sometimes he would play to rough and be to aggressive. One day, he bit his little sister, and she bit him back, but he came back at her with a harder bite, this time she let out a cry, so Missy had to break them apart. She would grab him at the back of his neck and he would try to bite his way out and get away. Missy held him to the ground, he would with all his might try to escape his mom's strength, but Missy held on tighter until he would calm down and give up. Every single time he got to rough with his puppy biting, Missy would teach him to play gentle, or else. Missy had to get between her two pups and teach the stronger one that biting hard is not playing nicely.. She wouldn't stand by and watch her little girl get overpowered, after all, she is the mother, the leader, and the teacher. You need to be the teacher, the leader, show her that puppy biting is not allowed. Teach her that biting a human hurts and not a form of play, because that is what she thinks, playtime, come play with me.
As they get to know what biting is and the outcome of that action, they tend to stop biting as hard, and learn to bite softly, or play nicely, with one another. This is called bite inhibition, they learn to restrain themselves from biting to hard or to not biting at all. I truly believe that a mother and her puppies learn from one another, and sometimes puppies are taken away from her "doggy family" a little too early, and they cannot naturally learn bite inhibition. My friend actually bites her puppy back, on the scruff or on the ear, not hard, but enough so that her puppy lets out a little yelp. Does it help? Try it, but be gentle.
Let's try a more natural approach and follow
Missy's way
of dealing with a puppy biting problem.
Go Back to Puppy Chewing and the Need to Gnaw Return from Puppy Biting To Homepage
|
