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Q:
My Dalmatian puppy is almost nine weeks old. I got him
when he was five weeks. He's playful and fun but I can't
get him to stop biting me. That seems to be the only way
he likes to play anymore — rough! I've been telling
him No!, holding his mouth shut while saying “No
bite!” and even shoving my hand back in his mouth like
a trainer told me to do. Nothing seems to work. In fact,
he thinks I'm playing a game with him and gets more
excited the more I try to stop him. Sometimes he walks
right up and attacks me! What can I do? Is he vicious?
A:
No, he's not vicious, he's just being a normal,
rambunctious, and sometimes obnoxious puppy. To get
control of your pup's biting, it helps to understand why
puppies bite in the first place.
Biting
and mouthing are normal behaviors for puppies. Dogs
don't have hands so they investigate objects and their
environment with their mouths. To a curious puppy,
everything about this big world is brand new and
exciting. He learns as he goes along. You can almost
hear his thought processes as he discovers something
he's never seen before: "Hmmm...what's this?
[chomping on it] Something to eat? No? [tossing it
around] Can I play with it? Maybe. Can I make it
squeak?"
Playing
is also a normal learning behavior for puppies,
especially play-fighting. Play-fighting with littermates
and other animals develops reflexes, coordination and
physical skill. It also helps them develop social skills
and teaches them how to interact positively within their
canine society, their "pack." And it's great
fun for them. Sometimes their fighting and
"attacks" on us appear frighteningly fierce
but to them, it's just a game. Much like a group of kids
playing make-believe games and pretending to be
grown-ups, puppies have their own games and pretend to
be "grown-ups," too!
A
dog's ability to control the force of his biting is
called "bite inhibition." It's a critically
important skill that every puppy needs to learn, the
earlier the better. At first, they don't know their own
strength nor how sharp their little teeth really are.
Puppies learn to control the force of their biting from
the reactions of their mothers and littermates during
play and especially play-fighting.
We
can teach puppies about bite inhibition, too, but some
of the methods most often recommended aren't effective.
Mother dogs' methods, however, are very effective, often
more so than ours. I believe this is because they're
speaking to their pups in the language they understand
best -- dog language! A baby puppy is much too busy
learning how to be a dog to take time to understand our
human words and ways. That takes time and maturity.
Puppies respond to dog language in a very powerful,
instinctive way. We can take advantage of that by
copying a mother dog's actions and using them for
ourselves.
The
idea of using mother dog's natural training techniques
isn't new. Respected trainers like Carol Lea Benjamin
have been using them for years. To understand these
methods, let's take a look at a typical mother dog
disciplining her brood. We'll use my Heather (Chow) and
her four rowdy puppies as an example.
When
a playful puppy bites Heather hard enough to hurt, she
squeals in shocked indignation. The puppy, surprised at
her reaction, usually hesitates a moment, unsure of
himself, then tries to bite again. Heather yelps even
louder this time and whirls on the puppy, growling,
showing her teeth and scowling at him fiercely. Then she
turns her back on him and storms away, completely
ignoring him and any further attempts to get her to
play. A smart puppy picks up her clear message quickly:
"if you can't play nice, I won't play with you at
all!"
If
the puppy persists or doesn't take the hint, Heather
doesn't fool around. With a menacing growl and using her
teeth, she grabs him by the scruff of his neck and gives
him a shake. If he sasses back, she gives him another
little shake, tougher this time. She doesn't let go of
the pup till he's acknowledged her authority (in dog
language) by relaxing his body, laying his ears back and
keeping still for a moment. Heather disciplines
especially obnoxious puppies by knocking them over with
her paw and pinning them to the ground, growling angrily
and pinching them with her teeth. The puppies shriek but
they're not really hurt. She doesn't let them up again
untill they relax and lie still. After the correction,
the puppy shakes his fur back into place and goes off in
search of a playmate with a better sense of humor.
We
don't have to growl at our puppies or shake them with
our teeth, but we can modify Heather's technique for
ourselves. The next time your puppy bites you, scream
"OW!" in a high-pitched voice. Exaggerate a
little. Then refuse to play with him or pay attention to
him for a few minutes. If he doesn't get the message,
give him a little scruff shake and scold him in a
low-toned, threatening voice. You can exaggerate a
little on that, too! Sound meaner than you really are.
For puppies that just won't quit or seem to get wilder
with every correction, flip them over on their backs,
scold them in that same low, scary voice (growling) and
gently but firmly, hold them in that position until they
stop struggling.
We
sometimes give puppies the wrong message about biting by
some of the games we play with them. Wrestling and tug
of war can encourage a puppy to bite and make it hard
for him to distinguish when it's okay to use his teeth
and when it's not. To make it easier for your puppy to
learn good manners, it's a good idea to avoid these
games.
Puppies
seem to learn a great deal about bite inhibition and
authority between five and eight weeks of age through
play with their mothers and littermates. This is an
especially good reason not to buy very young puppies.
Puppies that were acquired earlier need to be taught
these important things by their owners. They might
require a little more intense use of Heather's methods
than puppies that stayed with their litters longer.
Puppies that receive little or no training in bite
inhibition, either from their mothers or their people,
may grow up to develop behavior problems.
I
noticed that Heather picked out certain puppies for a
little "extra" correction two or three times a
day. She'd roll them over, pin them down for no apparent
reason, growling at them if they didn't lie quietly. I
noticed, too, that the puppies she chose were the most
outgoing and dominant in the litter. She gave them
regular reminders of her authority and the behavior she
expected from them. I've found that using her technique
myself works very well on puppies that have become too
big for their britches!
Even
with their mothers, puppies act a lot like kids --
they're always testing and pushing their limits. They
have angel days and devil days. With patience,
persistence and a few hints from your puppy's mother,
you'll be able to tip the balance toward the angel's
side!
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