Play Biting - Advice?

Just wanted to get some advice/tips on training our 2 y/o in not biting - even in play.

She only does it with me, and it's more of a nip than a bite (no broken flesh or bruising), but it startles me when she does it and hurts for a microsecond and then goes away.

It's only when she's super excited and playing with me, but I fear that she'll get used to it and may do it to others.

Re: Play Biting - Advice?

There are a couple of things you can do. First, when she starts to get excited, before she starts biting, stop and ignore her until she calms down. She needs to learn to play in a civil way. Another thing you can do is give her an "alternative" to your hand. When she goes for your hand say "No chew!!" and then give her an acceptable thing like a bone or a toy and put it in her mouth and say "good chew" in a nice, lilting manner. If she does bite, you can try what I have done with Oreo: scream "ouch!!!!". It makes Oreo jump about 3 feet back and stop.

Most importantly, be consistant. That means no mouthing hands or fingers at all...not just the painful times. Also praise her when she goes for her toys vs you. Mouthing is the means of play w/ pups, but it's up to you to teach her manners.

Hope this helps!

Re: Play Biting - Advice?

we're battling the same problem with ollie. I read to pretend your hurt and say ow and walk away from her / stop playing with her for a few minutes. We've been trying it but it's hard because Dh and I will diligently do this but once we have guests over it all goes out the window. She seems to back off now when I say ow and turn away from her .

Re: Play Biting - Advice?

all the advice above is great and we did a lot of those things ourselves... also, we would take char's paw and put it in her mouth and motion her mouth so she would bite down -- not hard at all -- but hard enough to feel what it feels like to be nipped.

that with a stern "NO" along with the correction can of coins and the dog NEVER, I mean - NEVER even nips, snaps, nibbles - nothing! and she once had little kids hanging all over her, pulling her ears and tail -- NOTHING. so, the consistency really pays off! GL!

Re: Play Biting - Advice?

Posted by LittleBlueBug

There are a couple of things you can do. First, when she starts to get excited, before she starts biting, stop and ignore her until she calms down. She needs to learn to play in a civil way. Another thing you can do is give her an "alternative" to your hand. When she goes for your hand say "No chew!!" and then give her an acceptable thing like a bone or a toy and put it in her mouth and say "good chew" in a nice, lilting manner. If she does bite, you can try what I have done with Oreo: scream "ouch!!!!". It makes Oreo jump about 3 feet back and stop.

Most importantly, be consistant. That means no mouthing hands or fingers at all...not just the painful times. Also praise her when she goes for her toys vs you. Mouthing is the means of play w/ pups, but it's up to you to teach her manners.

Hope this helps!