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Originally Posted by baileysmom31 When he bites say Ouch quite loudly. Usually the noise will scare him. If he does it again, put him down and ignore him. Even if he tries to get your attention, continue to ignore him. Pick him up after a few minutes. If he tries it again, put him down again and ignore him. |
Excellent advice!
This has nothing to do with dominance. This is normal teething puppy behavior. Human babies chew everything in sight, too, when they are teething. Are they doing it to show dominance? I think not.
The advice that you were given about yelping and immediately turning your back on him was right on target. Positive trainers recommend that you do that when puppies bite hard enough to hurt.
When Tribute is biting you but it doesn't really hurt, simply substitute an appropriate item to chew on - a toy or a bone. By reacting differently when it hurts or not, you teach him an important concept: bite inhibition.
To teach him to tolerate being held, you can do a couple of things. One, give him treats when you pick him up. He'll soon learn that in your hands is a good place to be. Also, reward calm behavior by giving him what he wants - to get down. Wait for 1 second of calm, "good boy!" and put him down. Repeat many, many times. Then, you can gradually expect 2 seconds then 3, etc, etc. Being calm gets him released; squirming and biting does not.
Make sense?