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  1. #1
    Puppy
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    New from Virginia/Question about puppy teething and biting

    Hello! I am so excited to find this forum because we brought home a little chocolate lab puppy!
    -jojo2-jpg
    She is now 9 weeks old and truly has the sweetest temperament that I could have hoped for. This is my first dog, while my husband grew up with dogs his whole life. This is the first puppy he's cared for as an adult though.

    In preparation for bringing home puppy, I did my homework and read Ian Dunbar's Before/After You Bring Home Your Puppy. So far things are going well, but my husband and I don't quite agree on what to do when she is biting. According to Dunbar, bite inhibition is the most important things you need to learn, and puppies need to bite to learn that. So he recommends playing with the puppy and letting her bite you and yelping/removing yourself/ending playtime if she bites you a little bit harder. Then eventually even if she bites just a little harder, even if it doesn't hurt, you still yelp and end playtime for a while just so she gets the message. And then once the bite is soft, you can work on reducing frequency. So I've been doing that, but my husband basically doesn't let her bite him at all. Whenever she does, she is told "No" and he will hold her muzzle for a few moments. We both try to redirect her bites to her chew toys as much as possible. I'm worried our two different methods are going to end up confusing our poor puppy. Which way is correct?

    Also, I have young children (6, 4, 1) and while they are never unsupervised with the puppy, the puppy tries to mouth on them as well and of course they hate it and start getting very upset, which is why my husband doesn't want her to bite at all, and why I really want to make sure she is taught bite inhibition correctly from the start.

    Thanks in advance! I'm looking forward to learning from you all!

  2. #2
    Puppy
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    Answering my own question, I found the thread on puppy biting from the training forum. That was very helpful!
    Puppy biting!

  3. #3
    Senior Dog Meeps83's Avatar
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    Welcome and she is adorable! Some puppies respond to "no" others do not. As for grabbing her muzzle, that in itself will probably cause her to get frustrated and nippy. I like your method!

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    milo (12-13-2015)

  5. #4
    Senior Dog Abulafia's Avatar
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    We used your method. The biting stage was (in our case) a very brief one. A puppy doesn't know "No," and the muzzle is very sensitive. Holding it shut is painful and dominate (and now how other puppies respond!).

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    Maxx&Emma (12-11-2015)

  7. #5
    Senior Dog Meeps83's Avatar
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    And to go with the yelping, when Maverick got especially bad we'd cut all interaction with him, stand up, and turn our backs. Once he had calmed down we would start interacting again, but more calmly.

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    Abulafia (12-10-2015)

  9. #6
    Real Retriever Zookeepermom247's Avatar
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    With Sophie.. our hands and forearms looked like a battle zone.. when she was a pup. When she did this... I put a chew toy in her mouth. I was very consistent. We started this immediately. I also held the toy or bone for her while she chewed. It was interaction , she still likes me to do this even at 2 years old. Because we always had a toy or bone available when she began her need to bite... to this day.. she has not chewed up anything in the house unless it is a toy or bone. Our furniture and walls are intact. At least so far..lolol

    Thanks,
    Sophie's mom

  10. #7
    House Broken SCLAB's Avatar
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    Welcome.

  11. #8
    Senior Dog WhoopsaDaisy's Avatar
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    Hi and welcome!
    Katie and Aric (7/1/17) Hidden Content
    Whoops-a-Daisy B. 1-26-13 Gotcha 8-25-13
    Jett B 8-17-17, Gotcha 10-7-17




    “Once you have had a wonderful dog, a life without one, is a life diminished.”
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  12. #9
    Senior Dog MikeLynn's Avatar
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    Had no biting problem with Mel, she was a sweetheart; I would just let her know that it hurt and she'd stop. She's drawn blood just once - a long time ago - and I must admit it was my fault as I scratched my hand not being careful enough - those puppy teeth are really sharp.
    Hi and welcome.
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  13. #10
    Senior Dog Jollymolly's Avatar
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    Welcome congrats on your cuteness addition

 



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