new "mostly" OES rescue biting like crazy!
Anyway, she is just a doll-affectionate, loves the girls, loves all the neighbors and the other dogs in the neighborhood, so smart --BUT when she gets very playful or when she has to go out to potty, she goes into a biting frenzy! I have raised 2 puppies before and this is way more "nippy" than they've ever been. I've been reading up on the breed and understand that this is normal, but does anyone have good advice on what works to help at least minimize the biting? Yelling "ouch" etc as recommended by many puppy books seems to get her more riled up! My hands and ankles look like I've been in a war zone. Thanks for any advice--I've enjoyed reading all these OES posts!! Kimberly |
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| Oh, I've so been there - and even now my 9mth old baby still believes that nipping me from behind is a fabulous way to get my attention. I began by trying to ignore him, but that just left me covered in bruises as he got bigger. Then I began to take some advice from fellow forumers and began to physically show dominance over him. So that meant putting him on the ground fairly quickly and holding him there for about 10 seconds and growling at him at the same time. This didn't hurt him at all, but it did give me the upper hand with him because I did stand over him. After doing that, I would go straight into some obedience with the sit command and he tended to settle down fairly quickly.... He still nips at times. but he is far easier to control as I get him to sit immediately ! Good luck, especially with the kids around !!! |
I would expect it to get worse (since your pup is still very young) before it gets better.  ...just b/c a lot o f us have been there. Our first OES bit a lot whenever it was potty time, but only dad thankfully. Dad was less aggressive and more easy going than mommy who screams her head off. ...just being honest. Our newest bites everyone when he's playing but you can tell he's doing it in an affectionate "I'm playing" way. As long as you stay consistent and patient, they seem to outgrow it. We scream like it hurts, and that startles them enough to stop, turn away from them when biting our pants, and stuff toys in their mouth when inside so they don't have an opportunity to bite. |
| Screaming your head off is the right thing to do, honestly. This breed nips as part of their herding ( I read that somewhere; someone correct me if I am mistaken, please) so the biting is them trying that out. Knowing this, training for "bite control" can be important, though I understand some dogs will just mellow with time.
To train for bite control; when they nip or bite, yelp LOUDLY like you are a hurt puppy. Its what their litter mates would have done. This is going to startle your puppy, but he or she will get the impression that they have bitten too hard, and possibly hurt you. If you continue with this behavior, they will begin to lessen the pressure on the biting. I don't think you can eliminate the behavior 100%; I mean they are dogs after all. A trainer once told me that a dog's mouth is like a human hand; we touch things to get information about them, and dogs mouth them for the same reasons. But if you train them they will mouth and not bite with a pressure that hurts people. |
| When Sammy was a puppy she use to nip my boys when they were playing. One day one of the boys stuffed one of her dollys in her mouth. After that every time she played she would go get the nearest dolly and get physical with them knowing that she wouldn't bite them by accident. She did that until the end of her life. It was like a homemade protector. The cool part was that nobody taught her, she just learned to do it herself.
Missing her so much  |
Thanks for all the great ideas. Puppy training has become the main focus of my days, but I know this smart puppy will "get it". Luckily I stay at home with my children --who are feeling a little neglected with the 'new baby' Kirby! 
It's been 3 years since we lost our dog Zoe (a Samoyed rescue) and this is the first puppy I've fallen in love with since. |
| The one thing that worked for me that my trainer told me to do was get a water gun or water bottle, when she nipped or was biting at clothes, etc. give her a few quick squirts between the eyes -- just enough to startle her, not to get in the eyes -- that seemed to work for us and it just took 2 days. |
| My vet had us push our hans further into the puppy's mouth - they hated that. And if we could push our fingers into the palate, that was a bonus. the pups hated it and the nipping quickly stopped. |
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