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Originally Posted by Candibee  Ok so I posted about Silver's biting problem when I first got her and I have done some things to try and get her to quit biting my toes such as holding her on her back until she looks away, replacing my toes with her toy, I hate this one but spritzing water in her face, putting her gated in another part of the room for a couple mins and now I'm out of options. She's very hostile when biting my toes she's bit so bad they bled. And she growls and shakes her head when she does it. She's 10wks and 2 days old and I just realized after signing up to this site that the lady sold her to me sooner then what most of you say is good. I know everyone says shes a puppy and shes gonna bite but I don't think shes supposed to be so hostile. Help!  |
This is known as the Alpha Roll or variant thereof, and should never be used on a puppy. This technique was developed by professional trainers for professional trainers to be used as a last resort only for dogs who were scheduled to be PTS for which no other training method would work. It forces a dog into a submissive posture (on their side or back) and they are restrained until they quit trying to control the situation and relax. It doesn't work on puppies because they are submissive to begin with. It will confuse them, cause them to hide and avoid the trainer-owner, and to further regress into antisocial behaviors.
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Originally Posted by MikahsMom I gently grab my Mikah's muzzle w/ 1 or 2 fingers and growl "NO" at him. As his mother would growl and nip him in the face to correct him if she were with him when he misbehaved. It's working good so far. He understands and stops immediately. |
Their mother's only nip if the growl alone doesn't work. They nip at them, first, if the pup's behavior continues. He may get head shy if his muzzle is grabbed each time. I would recommend doing the least amount of correction it takes for him to respond appropriately.
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Originally Posted by ladyjane I am NOT saying that growling will not work. I simply have not and will not do it. I also don't buy the wolf theory the way that others see it.
I subscribe to trainers like Tamar Gellar. And..I better clarify that. She did study wolves. I am simply saying I like her positive approach...not saying that she does not at all think they are not pack animals. Ok...I am making NO sense. hahhaha |
I see your point, and that training will work. My suggestions have not come from any wolf theory or positive training methods, but from my own observations, thoughts, and practices. And frustrations with a new puppy in bed one night who would not let me sleep. The situation was slightly different, my puppy wanted to play and lick my face, and she wouldn't stop. I needed sleep that night, not a day or week later. And I didn't want to teach her that playing and licking was bad, just that I didn't want her doing it at that time, so I had to be very careful how I went about getting this message through to her.
I figured that her Mom growled at her to control her, and if she already learned the lesson to back off when Mom had enough, that tapping into that pre-leaned behavior would be the quickest way to get through to her, rather than teaching her through repetition, at that time when I needed to get to sleep. I knew I could work with her on it, but I needed something that would work right away, and it did. She stopped playing and laid right down and went to sleep.
With the biting, the OP needs to be able to control that before she can begin any type of training, especially before it becomes a problem in and of itself, and the quicker, the better.